As a vintage gamer I’ll admit that there are few things that make me happier than identifying lesser-known or imitated games from the stone age that modern games are carrying on the spirit of. Sure, only a fraction of the people tuning in will likely know, or have even heard of said game, but sometimes it’s all worth it just for your own satisfaction. In the case of Klaus Lee - Thunderballs, the classic game in mind was called H.E.R.O., which could be enjoyed across a variety of classic gaming systems, but I discovered it back on my Commodore 64. While giving it an initial play immediately made me think of that classic, it wasn’t until I looked at some old footage that I realized how much this game was very directly inspired by it.

The objective here is to complete every stage by rescuing an explorer, who has been trapped by the series of creatures, traps, and environmental hazards in the caves. In order to set yourself up for success you’ve been equipped with a handy jetpack and laser, and you’ll be able to pick up other items like keys and bombs the further in you go. For the most part you’ll be focused on simply avoiding traps and navigating the passageways carefully, but the added trick here is that you’ll be on the clock as well. Simply working to get through any given stage versus trying to get a gold medal in it makes for a radically different experience. Especially when moving between screens, the need to be precisely positioned at times can make simple survival a challenge, but trying to do it at breakneck speed can be outright harrowing. While in the early going the game can feel a bit more casual, the further you go the more you’ll likely be gritting your teeth for sure.

The added good news is that on top of the game’s 100+ built-in levels there’s an included level editor, as well as an opportunity to get additional stages from the community. Now, to be clear, this sort of feature is always hit or miss in terms of both the quality and the quantity of stages made by the community, but I’ll at least give the developer credit for trying to prolong the fun and challenge of the game further. As editors go, while I would argue it isn’t entirely intuitive how to scroll through to find all potential objects and actions that you’ll need to produce more complex stages, for the most part once you get your arms around that, it does work. Of course, a controller isn’t the most ideal means of working with such an editor, so Switch 2 support for mouse mode would have been a sweet option, but that isn’t on the table, at least at the moment. All together, while its very old-school action sensibilities are pretty narrowly-focused, it also makes for a play experience that stands apart from the mad amounts of platformers out there. If you’ve been looking for a new challenge, this may be a great option.