Reviews:
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Retro gaming mash-ups abound, and present quite a challenge, in this somewhat odd and reverent adventure
As someone who has fond memories of playing a pretty wide variety of Atari 2600 games back in my younger years, I’ll gladly admit that when this title was announced I was stoked. With that in mind, I no doubt have a bit of a bias in favor of this collection of mashed up classic games, but that doesn’t mean I can’t step back and see some of the things that could make it less ideal for less “experienced” gamers. First, while I absolutely recognize the vast majority of the titles that are on tap for this experience there are a fair number I don’t remember beyond maybe box art that were either very simplistic or didn’t look very interesting. To Mania’s credit they are able to deal with this pretty well though since the mini games you play are typically composed of elements from more than one classic game, so even if only some aesthetics or a simple concept was borrowed there’s plenty of room to pull in just about anything from that early era. Second, you’d be right in noting that this borrows heavily on the WarioWare formula but without the benefit of its quirky cast of characters and more generally far more unusual games. The thing is, they also don’t fall into the trap of simply trying to be weird or gross, for the most part these mini games are objective-based and present a wide array of legitimate challenges far more consistent with the likes of the NES Remix games. That leads to the last item you could either take as a positive or a negative and that’s the fact that as you progress these games get legit challenging. Not always for the right reasons (looking at you digital control of Breakout paddles, in particular), but this is not a game that has shied away from making you work for your progress, which I respect. While perhaps not as ideal for gamers under the age of 40, anyone with an appreciation for clever but tough gameplay that takes you in a wide variety of directions should easily be able to appreciate this retro remix!
Justin Nation, Score:Nindie Choice! [8.3]