retro

Void Gore is the latest in the ever-growing line of retro-inspired shoot ’em ups from the prolific stable of Eastasiasoft. Their relationship with Panda Indie Studio has produced several games so far such as Null Drifter, Red Space and two Project Starship games and this one shares plenty of DNA […]

Void Gore – PS4 Review

February 19, 2021 in PS4 / Reviews tagged eastasiasoft / easy / panda indie studio / platinum / retro / shoot em up / vertically-scrolling shoot em up / void gore by Richie

Factor 5 were a game studio with long and varied history behind them. Depending on your age, and videogame system of choice, you might remember their name being associated with scores of quality games. Most famously they teamed with LucasArts to make a great Indiana Jones platformer on the SNES […]

Turrican Flashback – PS4 Review

January 24, 2021 in PS4 / Reviews tagged 16-bit / compilation / retro / run and gun / turrican / turrican flashback by Guest

It was almost a year ago when we reviewed Project Starship, a vertically scrolling shoot ’em up from Panda Indie Studio and the prolific publishing house Eastasiasoft, our take away was that it was fun, unusual and quite mad but was let down by being too easy and far too short. We […]

Project Starship X – PS4 Review

January 24, 2021 in PS4 / Reviews tagged arcade / eastasiasoft / panda indie studio / project starship x / retro / vertically-scrolling shoot em up by Richie

Loot Hero DX is the latest Ratalaika offering and a game that comes by way of Swedish indie casual gaming specialists Varagtp. Now with Ratalaika you generally know what to expect – easy trophies, casual gameplay, retro presentation – but this game is somewhat unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. Sure, […]

Loot Hero DX – PS4 Review

January 20, 2021 in PS4 / Reviews tagged 16-bit / easy platinum / loot hero dx / Pixel art / ratalaika / retro by Richie

PlayStation gamers were never able to play the original 2013 Hammerwatch, a hack and slasher from Swedish (not Danish!) coding squad, Crackshell. They have however just dropped 2018’s Heroes of Hammerwatch on us, a game that takes the original hacking and slashing but builds quite a complex upgrading system behind the action. […]

Heroes of Hammerwatch – PS4 Review

January 16, 2021 in PS4 / Reviews tagged classes / hack and slash / heroes of hammerwatch / Pixel art / retro / rogue-like / rogue-lite / upgrade by Richie

We’re self-confessed fans of 10Tons Ltd and their range of twin-stick shoot ’em ups and have been covering their reappearance as PS5 titles happily. It started with Jydge which got a surprising re-release as a PS5 launch title and since then we’ve given positive reviews to Undead Horde and their new joint Tesla […]

Tesla vs Lovecraft – PS5 Review

December 30, 2020 in PS5 / Reviews tagged 10tonsltd. tesla vs lovecraft / action / arcade / retro / twin-stick shooter / upgrades by Richie

It may not carry the same weight that it did forty years ago but the name Space Invaders is still huge when it comes to gaming. It is considered to be one of the great grandfathers of gaming. Not the first arcade game by any means but the first to catch […]

Space Invaders Forever – PS4 Review

December 15, 2020 in PS4 / Reviews tagged arcade / classic gaming / coin-op / forever / intergalactic bastards / retro / space invaders by Richie

I, AI is a vertically-scrolling shoot ’em up from Satur Games who previously brought us the sophisticated twin-sticker Stellatum. Much like its predecessor, this is a game with a focus on upgrading but is a much simpler affair to understand. After a brief bit of plot that explains that you are a rogue […]

I, AI – PS4 Review

December 2, 2020 in PS4 / Reviews tagged arcade / easy / i ai / retro / stellatum / vertically-scrolling shoot em up by Richie

When it comes to genre-defining, all-time classic coin-ops, it doesn’t get more iconic than Taito’s famous Bubble Bobble series. The series has been punctuated with iterations ever since it’s original 1986 release, certainly more than the three that Bubble Bobble 4 Friends dual meant title suggests. To be honest, the story of the […]

Bubble Bobble 4 Friends: The Baron is Back! – PS4 ...

November 19, 2020 in PS4 / Reviews tagged arcade / bubble bobble 4 friends / Classic / coin-op / neo-retro / retro / update by Richie

Skatemasta Tcheco is a follow-up to Tcheco in the Castle of Lucio which was a simple 2D platformer that never made it quite as far as the PS4. Where that game was a screen by screen platformer, Skatemasta Tcheco is an auto-scroller that sees you playing as the titular Tcheco, […]

Skatemasta Tcheco – PS4 Review

October 11, 2020 in PS4 / Reviews tagged arcade / eastasiasoft / NES / retro / runner / skateboarding / skatemasta tcheco by Richie

If you’re going to put ‘Jet Set’ at the start of your game’s title, you’d better come correct given the proud history of that prefix (we’re thinking Jet Set Radio and Jet Set Willy) but here we are with Jet Set Knights, the latest Ratalaika release. The game is a curious mix of hack and […]

Jet Set Knights – PS4 Review

September 28, 2020 in PS4 / Reviews tagged arcade / easy platinum / jet set knights / one screen / platformer / ratalaika / retro by Richie

Tamiku is the latest Ratalaika title and is a familiar mix of retro visuals and gameplay and easy to achieve trophies. It comes by way of Josyan Games, the solo developer who also brought us Zeroptian Invasion which was a very basic Space Invaders clone that did its best to feel like an […]

Tamiku – PS4 Review

September 17, 2020 in PS4 / Reviews tagged 2d / arcade / easy platinum / ratalaika / retro / tamiku by Richie