Review: Kero Blaster is pure gaming fun in a charmingly retro package

I was late to the party getting into Cave Story and similarly I was tardy in getting to Cave Story creator Daisuke Amaya’s most recent full game: Kero Blaster.

Like the beloved indie hit Cave Story, Kero Blaster is a quirky game in the spirit of some classic NES games. Unlike Cave Story, which had more of a menagerie of gameplay influences including some light Metroidvania-style exploration and a few RPG elements, Kero Blaster is more straight up run-and-gun action. I’ve heard of Contra used as an example of the game’s style but, though I can kind of see where this idea comes from, the game uniquely stands apart.

The premise of the game is you are an employee of Frog & Cat and tasked with investigating the teleporters this company is responsible for. Although there is a bizarre story told in cut scenes between stages, the game is almost entirely a linear progression of simple side-scrolling action. Moving and shooting controls very precisely and the action rarely lets up. Some new weapons and tools unlock as the stages unfold, and enemies routinely drop coins that can be used to bolster health and upgrade weapons. For a small game, there is quite a variety of locales and spectrum of enemies – expect to see something completely new around almost every corner.

A play through is a fairly short affair at approximately three hours, factoring in some time spent farming enemies for coins to purchase most upgrades. Upon completion a hard mode unlocks, and what a gem of a hard mode it is too. Zangyou (overtime) mode switches plenty of things up. For one, it has its own unique story that’s a direct continuation from where the regular game ends. Even though the stages and enemies are mainly the same, they are switched up to such a degree that almost every level has a completely new feel and challenge to it. Kero Blaster’s hard mode is, in other words, a mandatory experience for anyone who wants to get the most out of it.

Looking and sounding suitably retro, Pixel’s distinctive style shines through. Everything has a certain charm to it.

For its price tag, Kero Blaster is a truly fine experience for anyone who enjoys side-scrolling action platformers. It would be nice if the game received support for more platforms, as it’s currently only available on the computer (via Playism and Steam) and for iOS.

My rating: 9/10

Hey good lookin’

Yep, sounds like Castlevania. That was my first impression after loading up the demo of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. Wow, this game is beautiful, was my next thought. The familiar control scheme fit like a glove. When was the last Igavania? Order of Ecclesia? Eep, I remember barely being out of college when that game released. Too damn long in other words. Tychus Findlay would say: “Hell, it’s about time.” Sorry, random Starcraft II reference.

 I am more excited for Bloodstained than I have been for any game in a long time and, if the demo is anything to judge by, that excitement is well warranted.

Going back to first impressions, while Bloodstained played and sounded just like I would think it should, it’s really the stunning art direction and the very competent application of said art direction that were the real show stoppers. Everything looks great, from the environments to the monsters, and for a side scrolling game it has a surprising amount of “this is a living, breathing world” feel to it.

I’m very interested to see how the story will unfold, although unfortunately story cutscenes and such weren’t a feature for this E3 version of the demo.

Some I think were somewhat dubious of a 2.5D Igavania. I imagine those fears are well put to rest now, although it was never a fear I shared. I’d been hoping for a long time for a 2.5D Castlevania in this style. Konami hasn’t delivered, but IGA is. It’s still in development of course, and I can’t say if the final product will meet my admittedly high expectations. Still, it’s lookin’ good.

Too salty: Critical reaction to Mighty No. 9 is annoying

Mighty No. 9 is out and the reviews are in, and overwhelmingly the reviews are not good. Who could have seen this coming? With sky-high expectations, spiritually having to live up to the legacy of a classic series, a lengthy development, several release delays, multiple controversies the media has been quick to jump on, and plenty of outcry from what I’ve thought of as an extremely vocal minority of gamers, who could have possibly seen it coming? There was blood in the water, and gaming critics were only too hungry to bite.

No, it looks nothing like the gameplay concept images used in the Kickstarter campaign or the early test footage posted online; both of which look far superior to the final product we received. Yes, the game’s development became a public relations nightmare. Yes, the characters and premise are goofy and much of the story is eye-roll worthy. No, the gimmicky dash mechanic is far from loved by all. Yes, it seems the decision to try releasing the game on 10 consoles simultaneously was an ambitious yet ultimately disastrous choice, particularly in retrospect. Yes, this also means how Comcept decided to pitch the game via Kickstarter and plan for achievable stretch goals that would not detract from the core plan was flawed from its implementation.

No, the game is not everything I’d hoped for when I first put money toward the Kickstarter.

Yet no, all this considered, I don’t believe Mighty No. 9 deserves all the foul offal gleefully being tossed upon it.

If I sound like I’m annoyed by the game’s reception, I am. Feels like a popularity contest. I’m not disparaging those who are generally disappointed in the game they ended up receiving; I just think the amount of hate being piled on has become ridiculous.

When I backed the game, I wanted something fun, and I wanted something that was both familiar yet also a little different. As far as I’m concerned, that’s what I received. I’ve been enjoying the game. To me, it’s actually pretty fun. There are still things I don’t care for, but I feel some of the level design is pretty creative and it plays reasonably good. Not great, far from beautiful, but still fun.

Doom slayer

So the new Doom came out a few weeks back. That’s kind of cool. I guess. I have some fond childhood memories playing the original. Suppose it’s kind of an odd game to have fond childhood memories of, but there you go. One of the primary games targeted as a poster child of the stupid “violent video games lead to violent actions” debate, looking back now the original is almost cartoonish – usually anyway – in its depictions of violence compared to many modern games. I’m not a fan of gratuitous and/or graphic violence by any means; there are situations in games and shows where I feel it’s permissible, but there are plenty of others that go way farther than I want to stomach. Brief clips I’ve seen of the recent Mortal Kombat games and Saw movies are prime examples of what I consider going way too far. If you're into that sort of thing, enjoy; I just know they're not for me.

I don’t have much to say on the new Doom besides that it looks pretty fun to play. The glory kills are definitely very graphic but I wasn’t terribly bothered by them – it makes a difference for me that it’s demonic monsters that are getting ripped apart as opposed to people. Anyway, I haven’t actually played the new one, I’ve just been watching Markiplier play through it. I don’t have the hardware capable of playing it myself, and even if I did I’m not anywhere near interested enough to get it for full price right now.

This all did spark enough interest in me to feel like going back and playing the original, so I downloaded The Ultimate Doom from my Steam library. It’s still a really fun game. The gameplay has aged remarkably well. Granted, there is no looking up or down, but the purity of the run-and-gun action is still very much there. I went to the trouble of finding all the secrets and killing all the monsters in every level, something I don’t remember bothering to do back in the day. Was thinking of going straight into Doom 2: Hell on Earth when I finished. Getting through the original three acts ended up being enough for me though before I lost my steam. Maybe I’ll pick up where I left off the next time I get the itch to fill the bodies of demons with white hot lead.

Review: Drift along, Xeodrifter

I’ll say it right from the start: I didn’t love Xeodrifter.

It bears obligatory mentioning Xeodrifter pays particular homage to Metroid, which is to say the first Metroid on the NES specifically. This is actually what drew me to the game more than anything else.

Xeodrifter is a side-scrolling action platformer released in 2014 that is currently available on the 3DS, PS4 and PC (via Steam). The premise is you are a spaceman (or spacewoman or alien – I don’t know, the game doesn’t specify so just use your imagination) with a damaged spaceship, who is in range of four planets with seven energy signatures among them that must be investigated in hopes of finding a replacement warp core to fix the ship. I’m not even summarizing anything there; that is the story from the beginning of the game and it doesn’t really get any more complicated than that.

You can travel between any of the planets from the start as you like, with Xeodrifter offering zero amount of handholding or direction. That much feels liberating – at least initially, yet it also eventually leads to annoyance.

The level design is pretty dull. At any given time you’re unlikely to need to deal with anything more complex than a single corridor forward, twist and turn though that corridor probably will. Sure, there are a few secret tunnels off the beaten path (usually devoid of anything besides a power up to reward your luck, perseverance or ability to look up a full map online) and there are some alternate paths accessible by using at least one of six unlockable abilities. Typically though you’ll only be mining one way forward on any one of the given planets. Until, that is, you encounter one of the obstacles requiring an ability to bypass that you currently lack. It’s like hitting a brick wall and it happens a lot in Xeodrifter. I know, for those experienced in Metroidvania games, that sounds like par for course. Coming from someone who has played and loved many a Metroidvania title, I will say I still found it surprisingly irksome. The game basically boils down to finding the correct corridor over and over again among the four worlds. I’d keep in mind the impediments that blocked my path and return once I had the necessary ability to proceed, often only to find the only thing beyond that was yet another roadblock of some kind.

Alright, I admit I might be a little grumpy right now (I played Xeodrifter and wrote this review while starting to come down with a cold for what that’s worth), but the game doesn’t really have anything in my eyes that redeems it of this issue. Once you’ve spent a minute walking down any particular corridor on a planet, you’ll probably see nearly every art asset such planet has to offer. There was never a point where I thought a particular part of a level stood out or was of particular interest, and there was nothing that made me think about what kinds of places these planets were, their ecology, civilization and whatnot. Whatnot. What what.

The six abilities are serviceable in that they aid exploration, and using a few of them to navigate the usual obstacles offers a few fun moments. Phasing into the background is kind of cool and is put into some creative application for both exploration and combat. I understand this particular gameplay mechanic was also featured in the developer’s previous game, Mutant Mudds.

There aren’t many different enemies to run into. Most can be described as “some kind of bug monster” and all but I think two of them are more like traps than actual living creatures that are aware of your presence and want to make you dead. By traps, I mean they just repeat the same movement or attack over and over regardless of your presence or position in relation to them. For me, the primary danger from enemies was how quickly either they or their attacks came at me from beyond the edge of the screen. Simply being methodical and proceeding carefully will defeat most of the difficulty of exploring.

Speaking of enemies, there is only one boss creature in Xeodrifter. You fight it multiple times and each time you do it is a different color and has a new attack to add to its arsenal. I’m not going to necessarily knock the game for this though, as the boss battles actually felt like solid, challenging fights. The relatively unforgiving game, offering only a single save point located on your ship, at least gives a checkpoint before each boss to give some leeway to learn how to fight it. For a game with a minimum of story, there is also a certain ambiguity about this creature. Is it a single entity or is there more than one? Does it/they have a goal similar to the protagonist? Again, the only resort is to use your imagination.

Briefly, I will say the graphics, sound and controls are all serviceable. In aesthetic the graphics have an 8-bit NES look while taking advantage of effects only possible with more powerful hardware. For what Xeodrifter was clearly going for, there’s nothing wrong with the graphics here – they are colorful, clearly portray what they intend to, and offer a consistent style. As I said before though, the level design that makes use of these perfectly functional art assets was sadly bland. The sound likewise has an NES midi ring to it. Nothing is obtrusive, but nor did I encounter any music that stood out or helped give any particular planet a certain feel. While precise overall, a few of the game’s controls were more unyielding than I’d have liked. Every jump goes up to the same height regardless of how the button is pressed. Shooting the gun up is possible while stationary - not while moving though (kind of a missed opportunity).

Xeodrifter is on the short side, taking only several hours to beat even with lots of backtracking. I found that once I had all the abilities and was finishing up my exploration of each area, I had a much better time with the game when I was rampaging around with my superior weapons and abilities than I had when I was feeling lost and vulnerable with only a peashooter.

And so, I will now ask, who is this game for? Xeodrifter’s spiking difficulty and blind progression rules out the casual gamer crowd. If story, atmosphere, characterization and complex environments are all must haves for you, it’d be best to look elsewhere too. I wouldn’t even automatically recommend this game to someone who has an overall love for the Metroidvania archetype. Still, if you like old school, side-scrolling action platformers, you could do much worse than Xeodrifter. Somewhat barebones perhaps, it still feels like an earnest effort to pay homage to the memory of Metroid and deliver some similar gameplay. It is inexpensive, especially if you find it on sale, so at the very least I’d say the game is more or less worth the price for admission.

My rating: 6/10

8-bit retrospective: 8 Eyes, the Castlevania clone that could have been good

Even if you have been gaming since the early 90s, I’d be a little surprised if you knew what game I was talking about when I say 8 Eyes. Somehow or another, child me ended up getting it for my NES collection. There are a lot of interesting and noteworthy things to say about 8 Eyes. Obviously the developers were looking at Castlevania as a template for their own game. Some factors of this include: the perspective of the action, the look of the protagonist and most enemies, the way stairs both look and function, and in particular the prevalence of a near exact looking stone block in level design. I don’t bring this up as a negative, just as an obvious note.

8 Eyes also has some flair from the Mega Man series thrown in, as there is a lineup of eight castle stages that can be picked among in any order. Also like in Mega Man, there is an advantageous order to do them in. The game is no slouch copy and paste though. Levels are varied and interesting looking, and enemies likewise look detailed and are well animated – for NES standards obviously. Music is likewise a high note, with music that stands out and fits the locales it’s paired with, even if sometimes stereotypically. It’s not really anything I’d seek out just to listen to it again, but it was memorable.

So we have a game taking cues from two popular side-scrolling action titles. It both looks and sounds good for its time. Why is this retrospective about to take a more downward tone? Despite its merits, 8 Eyes is punishingly difficult.

Game balance and difficulty were areas I think a lot of developers were really struggling with in the NES era, and that’s very much the case with 8 Eyes. For starters, you only get a single life. One … single… life. For a game with eight stages plus a final level, most of which are quite long, grueling slogs through dangerous enemies, that’s pretty extreme. Once you beat a level you can get a password allowing you to pick things up with your progress intact, although that still means you both have to beat a level on one life and necessitates entering a long password. Password-based saving isn’t around anymore for several good reasons, not least of which is that nobody wants to deal with that crap.

Next up on the extreme difficulty train: attacking. Whereas Castlevania provided a lengthy whip to fight enemies from a relatively safe distance, 8 Eyes offers no such amenity. You get a sword and its range is quite short. This requires some fancy footwork to adequately defeat enemies while avoiding damage, so lots of back and forth with hitting and retreating. Some adversaries are quite mobile too or possess a long-reaching attack, presenting significant challenges. Once you reach a boss though, if you do, care and precision tends to go out the window. The boss fights are wars of attrition: you need to do as much damage as fast as possible because these opponents are fast and unpredictable.

Assuming you are up to the challenge of triumphing over every obstacle in a single stage, you pretty much need to make use of an assortment of hidden items. These are randomly hidden, often in the middle of a wall with no clues. To help access the items, you have an animal friend. The bird is actually a pretty unique gameplay mechanic for its time. Mostly you’ll want to keep the bird perched on your character’s shoulder. At the right times though, he can be launched off to fly around and then be commanded to attack enemies or nab hidden items. The attacking part would be a lot more useful if he weren’t so fragile, hence it usually being a good idea to keep him benched.

In addition to all the things I’ve already mentioned, two levels are also particularly fiendish, requiring a very specific set of movements to proceed, naturally without any good clues.

If you beat 8 Eyes back in the day, that would be quite the accomplishment indeed. I managed it a few years ago, but only after watching a YouTube playthrough by a gamer who knew the game very well. 8 Eyes is an odd, easily overlooked page of gaming history. I wouldn’t recommend playing it and it doesn’t even have any contemporary ports to make playing it easily accessible. Giving it a watch may be interesting though. The sad part about 8 Eyes is there was a good amount of work put into the game, and with only a few easy changes it could have been much better.