Chained Echoes Switch Review

Chained Echoes (Switch)

Developed By: Matthias Linda

Published By: Deck 13

Date of Release: December 8, 2022

Price: $24.99

It's been a very long time since I played a good pixel-art JRPG that didn't just turn out to be a shovelware RPGMaker game. There are so many games on the market with sloppy writing, terrible production values, and stolen assets just slapped together haphazardly and shoved onto a storefront to make a quick buck. That is thankfully NOT what Chained Echoes is. Chained echoes is a one-man effort from German developer Matthias Linda, who drew inspiration from all the games he grew up playing, and his passion shows in every facet of the game. 

From the lushly detailed pixel art backdrops that make up the sprawling overworld and dank dungeons and the finely crafted sprites used for the characters, badass mechas, and enemies the visuals have a decidedly SNES-era flair to them. The majestic soundtrack also invokes fond memories of Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, and the like, with brilliant nostalgic flourishes that really hit home. The production values by far exceed the typical indie offering and feel like something that would have come out on a chunky grey cartridge at retail back in the day for sure.

Chained Echoes also does not hold back with the story, taking nearly 30 hours to get through without showing any hint of getting stale along the way. The turn-based tag-team tactical battle system is also well done, and eases players into the strategic nature of the game quite well, and while brutal at times it doesn't punish newcomers if they fail, offering a chance to retry if the party is wiped. All in all Chained Echoes is like a time machine taking you back to the glory days of the SNES, before JRPGs became so mired down in AAA movie studio type production values. At it's price I'd recommend it to any JRPG fan out there.

DOOM Retrospective

The year was 1993. It was a frigid Canadian December day, you may even say it was as cold as hell.

I was 9 years old, and a pint-size PC gaming fanatic. My first taste of computer gaming had come from the likes of edutainment titles such as Cross Country Canada and The Oregon Trail, as well as some of the Arthur titles which I had played in the classroom. That soon changed when my parents purchased out first home computer, a slightly used but not abused 486, and that opened my eyes to the bold new world of shareware. Through the portal of these magical floppies passed around by my friends I had hopped and bopped my way through the exotic alien worlds of Commander Keen, fought the Nazi scum throughout the moldering corridors of Wolfenstein 3D, and I was totally excited for whatever would come next. Luckily I would not have to wait long.

My friend Ryan called me over to his place, he had just downloaded the newest shareware, something that would "totally blow my effing head off". He bragged about how he had tied up the phone line all night just to download it (he had a 14.4 baud modem, still better than nothing), and then had played all the way through it in the early hours of that morning. He had a damn fine system, a 486 66mhz with 8mb of ram and a sound blaster 16, and a MASSIVE 17" monitor. (It was doubly as good as my own rig, a 486 33mhz with 4mb of ram, no sound card, and a measly 14" monitor.) Ryan told me to have a seat, and simply type in "doom". So that's what I did.

As I typed in the command to launch the game, and the scrolling startup text crawled up the screen, I could feel my heart pounding in anticipation of what could possibly be as amazing as Ryan was hyping it up to be. And then I heard it, the low droning of the title screen theme, and I stood in awe of the color and detail of the green-clad space marine surrounded by hideous, otherworldly foes drenched in the red of the landscape surrounding them. I didn't know it at the time, but this would be the first step on a lifelong adventure through space, hell on earth, and beyond. I chose Knee Deep in the Dead, and my difficulty, and then the screen melted away.

So there I was, in a blue-carpeted landing bay (Oh my gawd, there were floors and ceilings! And different heights too! The walls are at different angles!), the most epic synthesized metal that the Yamaha YMF262 could possibly muster pumping out of the speakers. My hands trembled as I tested the keyboard controls, pleased to find that they responded exactly like they did in Wolfenstein 3D. I took a look around the room, in awe of the colorful and detailed environment visible through the hangar windows. I then walked up to a barrel full of bubbling green goo and did the first thing that came to mind: I started shooting at it.

One messy death and respawn later I was off again, exploring the nooks and crannies of the starting room, finding my way up the stairs to the suit of fancy suit of green armor sitting on a pedestal(no undead grunts yet, I had chosen "I'm Too Young To Die" like a wuss). I then came back down the stairs, and proceeded through the first door I found (ignoring the deadly barrel this time), and came face to face with the first of the game's zombified ex-marines. After exchanging fire and dispatching him, and his compatriot around the corner, I came out into a room with a narrow walkway surrounded by glowing green sludge. It was at that point that I took a fireball to the face, and met my second untimely end.

Another respawn at the beginning of the level, I was starting to realize that anything and everything could kill me. I set out again, confident that I could win this time. I sprinted through, taking out my assailants with ease, and this time dodged the fireballs and nailed the spiny creep on the ledge. Feeling cocky and proud, and avoiding the green goo pooled at the sides of the walkway, I strode through the door into the next room and found myself face to face with another of the spiny bastards. Panicking, I fired blindly at it, setting off another explosive barrel which reduced said spiny and myself into a fine red mist. 

Yet another respawn.

With an enraged roar, and a hearty laugh from Ryan, I set off again through the gauntlet. I managed to rip and tear every demonic freak that crossed my path a fancy new asshole, and even find a pump-action shotgun behind the first spiny's platform in the process. Finding my stride at last I continued my rampage through the next six levels, through nuclear plants, refineries and command centers, until I reached the ominous sounding Phobos Anomoly. I had learned to use explosive barrels to my advantage, and so I had no problem shredding the four butt-ugly gorilla-like pink demons near the entrance. Felling confident I took the elevator upstairs, straight into the lair of the two ugliest freaks I had ever seen, the Barons of Hell.

My first encounter with the barons went as expected, with my head immediately finding a new home up my arse. The second time went slightly better, I actually lasted 10 seconds or so that time! After 20 or so attempts I finally became good enough at strafing between their fireballs while delivering a salvo of rocket fire to take them out. As their still-warm corpses hit the floor the walls started rumbling, lowering slowly to the ground to reveal a vast outdoor arena. I braced myself, expecting to be overtaken by an onslaught of new foes, but they never came. I curiously explored the area, and found a teleporter platform at the end.

As I stepped through the teleporter, everything went black. I heard my space marine being torn limb from limb by invisible attackers, grunting in pain as what was left of his health drained, finally falling to his unseen foes. Then the screen melted once again, the ending text scrolling slowly out. It told me of my marine's fate, and of the battles that lie ahead if I was so bold as to face the challenge. I would have to order the full game to continue the experience. That would cost money. My young mind reeled, trying to work out how we would pay for it. 

I came to a decision.

Eyes wide, I turned to Ryan.

"We're gonna have to shovel a HELL of a lot of snow, man!"

Review: Lunistice (Switch)

Lunistice

Developed by: A Grumpy Fox

Published by: Deck 13

Date of Release: November 10, 2022

Price: $4.99

It's not too often that a game comes along out of nowhere that just sweeps me away in a whirlwind of nostalgic feelings. I've been playing such a glut of retro-styled games lately that the gimmick is starting to lose its charm and I feel like I've fallen into a rut. However, when it comes to Lunistice on the Nintendo Switch, things are completely different. Not only does it really look and feel like a classic PSX era release, but it also does such an amazing job of representing that mid-90s time period that it was able to snap me right out of my retro nostalgia doldrum.

At its core Lunistice is a tried-and-true 3D platformer with enemies to stomp, tricky jumps to make, and plenty of collectables to grab. The candy-colored aesthetic with its beautiful retrowave sunsets and chunky low-poly art evokes fond memories of mascot games for the good old PlayStation, and the super-adorable protagonist, Hana the Tanuki, would have seemed perfectly at home on the classic console. She controls like a dream too, perfectly responding to player inputs with no perceptible lag to speak of. 

The graphical presentation of Lunistice is utterly peak PlayStation in all its glory, with pixelated textures and dithered transparencies, sprinkled with chunky pixels galore. Despite all the busy action on screen and the massive draw distance, the framerate is a buttery smooth 60fps. The audio and music are also crisp and clean, perfectly resembling the best of what the 32-bit days had to offer. In my humble opinion A Grumpy Fox should be proud of what they've accomplished here, and I hope to see more of their work in the future. This game is an utter steal at $4.99, and I'd recommend it to literally anyone with a Switch. Go buy it already!

Review: Chasm: The Rift

Chasm: The Rift
Ported by: General Arcade

Published by: SNEG

Date of Release: October 10, 2022

Price: $19.99

In the year 1996 id software released their blockbuster first person shooter known simply as Quake. Building on the success of Doom it featured gorgeous 3D environments and an epic CD soundtrack. It very much redefined what a first-person shooter could be and set the stage for the future of the genre. In 1997, a Ukrainian studio known as Action Forms released their take on the 3D FPS, Chasm: The Rift. it wasn't quite as successful as Quake; however, it became a cult classic over the years to come, and commands quite an expensive resell price due to scarcity. But now in 2022 General Arcade has brought Chasm kicking and screaming into the modern world!

At first glance, Chasm: The Rift could be mistaken as being a sequel to Quake, despite using a far more basic engine, and more simplistic game style. The graphics look the part, though a fair bit more colorful than Quakes murky browns, and the models have a similar style and chunkiness that one would expect from id's classic. However, Chasm is a beast of its own, and in some ways has a fair bit more environmental detail than Quake did, with quaint medieval villages and high-tech bases galore. The wind farm in the first level certainly comes to mind. On top of that you get voiced mission briefings to set up the story, which is a lot more than Quake did to introduce it's lore.

Chasm definitely satisfies with its level layouts, ambient soundtrack, excellent animations, badass weaponry, varied bestiary, and tough bosses. It's definitely a good game to play if you're into game from the era, and an amazing example of what might have been had id software been located in Ukraine. General Arcade has done an excellent job porting it to modern systems with all the conveniences one would expect, with the exception of multiplayer. The original game also comes packed into Dosbox, with a CD image you could burn and play on period correct hardware as well. It's a well fleshed-out package that any boomer shooter fan should consider adding to their collection.

Review: Turrican Anthology I and II for Switch

Turrican Anthology I and II

Developed By: Ratalaika Games

Published By: ININ Games

Date of Release: July 29, 2022

Price: $34.99 each

When it comes to the classic run and gun genre, a lot of people will argue that Contra or Metal Slug are the absolute best. But IMO that crown is reserved for the likes of Turrican. Sure it came out a bit later than contra, but it had a nice level of polish and flair in comparison, with astounding graphics for the time (so good that Apogee Software ripped them off for Duke Nukem II!), and a masterful soundtrack by Chris Huelsbeck. And now with the Turrican Anthology parts I and II anyone can experience these glorious games on modern systems thanks to the work of Ratalaika and ININ. Both collections span three systems from the Commodore Amiga, Super Nintendo, and the Sega Genesis. There's an excellent variety available here, and the gameplay bang for your buck can't be beat.

The first volume contains the first two Amiga Turrican games in all their glory, as well as the regular and directors cut version of Super Turrican and the score attack mode for Mega Turrican. As for the second collection it has the Amiga version of Turrican 3, the regular and director's cut versions of Mega Turrican, Super Turrican 2, and the score attack for Super Turrican 1. Between the two packages there's enough there for any Turrican fan to be entertained for quite a while. They've managed to cram in a new map system, jukeboxes, remixed and CD-based soundtracks, alternate covers, and an absolute buttload of other goodies. This is as definitive as it gets.

The emulation is as far as I can tell spot on to the originals, though you will notice a difference in framepacing for the Amiga games as they run at 50hz. The usual plethora of Ratalaika's superb CRT shaders are on offer here as well. The controls are completely remappable and don't suffer from input lag at all, and playing on the OLED Nintendo Switch's screen the pixels absolutely POP. All in all these collections are the ultimate way to experience the series for anyone new to the scene or hardcore Turrican fans alike. 

It's a shame there was a false start with the previously released and buggy as hell Turrican Flashback, but don't judge these releases on that collection's shortcomings. It would have been nice to have some sort of upgrade path for people who bought that release, but sometimes things can't be that simple. Despite the previous flubbed attempt I wholeheartedly recommend these collections, so if you haven't bought Flashback be sure to skip it and buy the Anthology packs instead. And if you have bought Flashback already, just delete it to make room for these masterpieces.

Wonder Boy Collection Switch Review

Wonder Boy Collection (Switch)

Developed By: Bliss Brain

Published By: ININ Games

Date of Release: June 3, 2022

Price: $29.99

Long ago in the arcade dominated era of 1986, a small company named Westone released a game called Wonder Boy, published by SEGA in the arcades. Starring a blonde caveman on a quest to save his girlfriend, it was a decent hit. It spawned a whole franchise of sequels and spinoffs, and even got a port to home consoles by Hudson as "Adventure Island", spawning an entire new franchise. From there the rest is history.

Wonder Boy Collection on the Nintendo Switch contains the 4 most iconic entries in the series. The original Wonder Boy is a platforming title which will of course feel familiar to anyone who has played Adventure Island, as it is pretty much the same game. Wonder Boy in Monster Land was the second game, and it's very much an action RPG rather than a straight up platformer (it also has some of the most horrifying boxart on the Master System). The third title, Wonder Boy in Monster World, is actually the fifth title and is a metroidvania-lite action RPG. as for the fourth title in this collection? Monster World IV is the only game in this collection that doesn't star the titular Wonder boy, and instead stars a newcomer Asha. it's a full on metroidvania and arguably the best title in this collection.

There is definitely a lot of gameplay here in this set, and unfortunately you don't get much more than that. Each game is well emulated, however some of the graphics settings are a bit odd, with the last two games in the set having forced bilinear filtering with the CRT emulation that muddles the image. All that's really on offer here is a barebones gallery that has boxart and manuals and not much else. On top of that, some of the best games in the series (next to MWIV) are missing, and are instead only available in the limited set from strictly limited games, which raises the question: why are digital fans getting the shaft here? Still, this is a decent and functional collection, with four games that are definitely worth playing. Still would have made more sense to have just one collection with all the games.

Pocky & Rocky Reshrined Switch Review

Pocky & Rocky Reshrined

Developed By: Natsume

Published By: ININ Games

Date of Release: June 24, 2022

Price: $29.99

In the vast world of the shoot-em-up (SHMUP) genre, a theme that often pops up is Japanese mythology. From the likes of Touhou to the classic Guwange, it's a topic that seems to fit quite well. And in the case of today's game, Pocky and Rocky Reshrined, it's clear that this title wears it's influences on it's adorable sleeve. Reshrined is essentially a reboot/sequel of the classic cute 'em up series, Kiki Kaikai.  Playing as the titular shrine maiden Pocky and her tanuki friend Rocky, it's up to the player to eliminate a host of mischievous Japanese spirits that are running amok.

It definitely helps that the gameplay in Reshrined is just as refined as in the original games. It's a scrolling shooter where you can fire your attacks in 8 directions while running around on foot as the stage scrolls about in different directions. It's definitely an effective gameplay system, and with the enemies coming from all directions it can get pretty hectic. Thankfully the fun factor is there. The graphics and soundtrack also do not disappoint, with lush visuals and rearranged tracks from the classic games. The presentation is well worth the price of admission alone.

Sadly not all things can be perfect. Pocky and Rocky Reshrined is only about 40-60 minutes long depending on your skill, though it is worth replaying again to improve on your score. There's also a bit of censorship on one of the characters outfits but seriously it doesn't detract from the gameplay in the slightest, and if you're going to skip the game/harass the devs over some missing cleavage, that doesn't speak very highly of your logic (seriously I've seen people wish bodily harm on the devs/localization team over it. What the hell?). All in all, Pocky and Rocky Reshrined is a worthy addition to the series, and I highly recommend it to anyone who's a fan of either the series or the genre. Diehard fans should also check out the physical versions of the game at Pocky & Rocky Reshrined (gamesrocket.com)