#Neo-Retro

[carsthatnevermadeitetc]

WiLL Vi Canvas Top, 2000. The WiLL brand was a marketing approach shared by a group of Japanese companies who collaborated to offer products and services that focused on a young demographic from August 1999 until July 2004. Toyota's contribution was a "neo-retro" small car based on the Yaris. The plastic wheel covers were designed to resemble sand dollars. Sales were disappointing and the WiLL Vi was discontinued in December 2001.

[iloveabunchofgames]

#JakeReviewsItch

Arlo The Rabbit

by Joshimations, Crooked Beaker

Price (US): $2

Included In: Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality, Bundle for Ukraine

Genre: Platformer

Pitch: A beginner-friendly platformer inspired by the classics.

My expectations: Mechanically, I'm not sure what to expect, but tonally, Arlo shouts Kirby. The cute protagonist, the visual style of the backgrounds, the HUD; they're all Kirby. It's fairly common for indie games to emulate the monochromatic, low-resolution, dot-matrix Game Boy. Arlo has the Game Boy aspect ratio, with appropriately scaled sprites, but its resolution seems to be arbitrary. It has four-shade graphics in gray, not green, evoking nostalgia for Game Boy Pocket rather than the older model. Am I looking at a deliberately loose riff on Game Boy platformers, or am I just overthinking a sloppy, naïve copycat?

Review:

Arlo the Rabbit combines one half Kirby and one half Super Mario Bros. 2. The result is less than the sum of those parts.

Kirby provides the attitude and aesthetic. It’s an easygoing, nonthreatening platformer for all ages.  From the interstitial scenes between levels to the way Arlo gets launched into the background to the dance after defeating a boss, every part of the presentation points back to early ‘90s Kirby…which serves as a constant reminder that you could be playing the real thing instead of this drawn-freehand-with-a-mouse imitation.  It’s a shame that the homage hasn’t been seasoned with other references or better yet, some original ideas.

Arlo’s only means of attack is grabbing single-use rocks off the ground and chucking them at enemies,similar to the way turnips and radishes were used in Super Mario Bros. 2. While carrying a rock, however, Arlo’s maximum jump height is cut in half. It’s a neat idea, or it would be if the level design ever took advantage of it.

Stage layouts are uninspired and repetitive. All enemies behave identically, shuffling slowly back and forth across set paths. Bosses offer a nice reprieve, but they’re predictable pushovers.

+ An inoffensive and functional game that can be completed in one sitting. + Walk, jump, throw—just the right level of complexity for anyone who's just learning to play action games. + The chipper soundtrack captures that Kirby feeling. + Pos

– Not much design in these levels. Secrets, dead ends, and bottomless pits all look the same as the critical path. Enemies, rocks, health-replenishing items, and 1UPs are just sorta tossed wherever. – Platforming is only ever tricky because the camera is locked to Arlo's vertical position. Jump, and the camera jumps with you. Here, I have a visual demonstration:

– Boring enemies. Some move on the ground. Some move in the air. Some move up and down. But they're all slow, and they're all completely oblivious to the player's actions. – Crummy hit detection. Or maybe they're just serious about COVID prevention protocols. Get within six feet of an enemy, and watch your health drop.

🧡🧡🤍🤍🤍 Bottom Line: So simple that it might actually be more beginner friendly than Kirby. With only a fraction of the charm and attention to detail, however, Arlo the Rabbit isn't likely to inspire a life-long love of platforming in anyone.

#JakeReviewsItch is a series of daily game reviews. You can learn more here. You can also browse past reviews...

• By name • By rating • By genre

[n64retro]

[stephaniepriscillart]

Can’t take my heart 🌸💋🌿 it’s my birthday!

[zemi-noelle-art]

LPS Custom #5: Y2K Millennium Cyber Dachshund I had so much fun designing this one, Got some chalk pastels and clay to mess around with, and I'm just so happy with the colors. The background props were a lot of fun to add as well.

[yonae]

[scipunk]

Blade Runner (1982)

[warakami-vaporwave]

See You Space Cowboy...

[rabbitlegs]

Today on the Sanae & Sumi Show: that one meme.

[tokyostreetphoto]

Round Window, Ueno 上野

[iloveabunchofgames]

#JakeReviewsItch

Anodyne

by Melos Han-Tani, Marina Kittaka

Price (US): $9.99

Included In: Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality, Indie Bundle for Palestinian Aid

Genre: Adventure

Pitch: What if Link traded his sword for a broom?

My expectations: If I'm not mistaken, the Anodyne series is well regarded. I've played a chunk of both games and liked this one better than its sequel, but I still found it underwhelming. Were my first impressions correct, or will it finally win me over today?

Review:

In the original The Legend of Zelda, protagonist Link stabbed Zols and Kees with a sword.

Anodyne’s protagonist, Young, stabs slimes and bats with a broom. Not, like, the sharpened handle of a broom. He just walks up to monsters and stabs them with bristles.

All subsequent, top-down Zelda games had Link swing his sword in an arc, which not only looked less awkward than the slow stab, but added nuance to combat. I won’t go into a thorough analysis of Zelda combat through the ages, but while I’ll concede that cloning the first game’s basic sword attack is a valid choice, it’s an odd one. It worked in that game because the sword was one of many tools, meant to be used in concert with shields, boomerangs, and bombs. The sword could shoot laser swords.

In my time with Anodyne, Young picked up keys, health pips, and eventually a pair of jumping boots. I explored vast swaths of the world, conquering dungeon after dungeon, and everywhere I went, I stabbed the same slimes and bats with the same broom.

It’s a dreary, wearying slog, tragically devoid of nuance and wonder.

+ On rare occasions, fighting monsters, solving puzzles, and collecting keys in a dungeon creates a sense of progress, and a fleeting glimmer of Zelda magic shines on Anodyne. + In addition to functioning as a broom, the broom can be...a broom. Puzzles that involve sweeping up dust and depositing it elsewhere are generally successful. + Simple controls. + Occasionally gets dark and weird. More of that, please!

– If you're ripping off Zelda, rip off Zelda! Where are all the items? – To quote that Zelda commercial, "Which? Way? To? Go?" I want to get a little lost in a game like this, but give me some direction. The map and the fast-travel system are invaluable, but they're not at all user friendly. – Combat stinks. Movement is generally is slow and clunky. – Miserable music that sucks all the joy out of adventuring. If the rest of the game were oppressively depressing, maybe it would work. Instead we have a light, goofy, broom-stabbing Zelda adventure that's determined not to have any fun.

🧡🧡🤍🤍🤍

Bottom Line: Play a real Zelda game.

#JakeReviewsItch is a series of daily game reviews. You can learn more here. You can also browse past reviews...

• By name • By rating • By genre

[expired-chlorine]

[stephaniepriscillart]

My online shop is now open. Link is the bio ₊˚⊹♡

[boanerges20]

BMW R NineT [R9T]

[nestedneons]

By neo retro time