Retro Revengers

This is a clip of me on GamePro TV from more than thirty years ago talking about Ghouls ‘N Ghosts on the Genesis, one of my favorite games of all time. Apparently, I’m not the only one who loves Capcom’s classic horror franchise, because the brand-new action game Retro Revengers plays out like a love letter to all of those ghosts and goblins. From the weapons to the level designs to the big mid-game twist, this is a game that is constantly poking fun at Sir Arthur and his many adventures. So, that means this is the best game of the year, right? Well, not so fast, because this new throwback platformer is no picnic in the graveyard. This is my review of Retro Revengers from Shinyuden.

High up in the clouds sits a streamer castle where the Retro Revengers play classic games, eat junk food and generally refuse to grow up and get real jobs. One day, Taicho introduces his friends to a brand-new Famicom game he got a hold of, one they had never heard of. But when it starts to glow, the five streamers get sucked into a video game world and go from stereotypes to archetypes. Now it’s up to the friends to come together and use their new-found powers to speedrun this game and defeat an evil shadowy entity named DOTA.

With the streamers split up, we’ll fight through five different levels that are based around each character’s unique abilities. The five friends all throw different projectiles, can cast their own unique magic spells and even have different styles of jump. For example, one character can float, while another can triple jump using nothing more than the power of farts. You’ll also fight with a character who throw speedy knives at the enemies, while another will fire, just like in the Ghosts ‘N Goblins series. And they have different abilities, too, including one character that can extinguish nearby fires and another that can use their cat-like reflexes to walk on the ceiling.

Individually, the level designs make good use out of the character’s different abilities. This allowed the developers to make each of the five stages stand out and offer unique obstacles. There’s a wonderful variety of creative enemies to fight and platforming puzzles to overcome. The game does a good job of showing off just how different each of these streamers is. And then, just when you think it’s over, the game throws you for a loop and makes you play through the game all over again, this time as a team.

This is where the fun really starts, as it allows you to explore a group of more challenging stages in ways you previously couldn’t. Maybe that means using the cat’s high jump to literally skip past a bunch of tough bad guys or perhaps you’ll choose one of the floatier characters to have better odds dealing with the bottomless pits. You can switch between them at a push of a button, and I really like how each of the characters has their own health bar.

To put it bluntly, the game’s second half is a LOT more fun that the first, and it’s not even close. This is one of those games where you’ll want to rush through the opening nonsense to get to the great stuff, which comes a good hour into the game. Being able to switch between characters fundamentally changes the game in a good way, especially when it comes to exploring the well-constructed stages. There are a surprising amount of secrets and even hidden characters to find, something you’ll want to investigate further on your second or third playthrough.

Unfortunately, switching between the different characters also makes this game far too easy. Yes, the second batch of stages are longer and more difficult than the first half of the game, but seasoned platformer fans will have no problem beating this game in a single sitting. If you’re good at using the cat, you can use his super jump to skip past most of the tougher obstacles, and there are similar situations you can avoid if you just use the right character. All this is probably really cool if you’re a speed runner trying to shave seconds off of your fastest run, but I found myself wanting the game to challenge me more. It’s just too easy.

And what makes the lack of challenge especially annoying is that it translates to boss fights that end before they even have a chance to begin. I don’t know if it’s because the boss characters have too little life or if the cat’s short-range attack is just too powerful, but there were bosses I could beat in mere seconds. That’s a shame, because I really like the look and design of a lot of these bosses. After battling them the first time, I was hoping that we might get a second, more powerful form. Sadly, that is not the direction the developer went, so we’re stuck with a lot of boss characters that look tough, but give up before the battle heats up.

Visually, the game looks great. Even though the streamers get sucked into a Famicom game, the graphics are definitely of the 16-bit variety. I like how each level looks completely different and comes with their own enemies and obstacles, all of which look mostly authentic to the time Retro Revengers is trying to evoke. It also controls well, though I certainly preferred how some characters handled over others. Couple that with a strong soundtrack and you have a solid throwback experience that should satisfy fans looking for that retro flavor.