Back again for our regular Sunday roundup of quick-fire reviews and impressions of everything under the spotlight at Retro Arcadia this week, old and new and a bit of both…

It was well over a year ago I came across some incredibly detailed pieces of dark fantasy pixel art being shared on social media, accompanying what seemed otherwise to be an equally interesting, modernised, old-school, upcoming RPG, drenched in Ultima vibes and more of that vintage. And there was a demo on Steam, which fifteen minutes later I deleted because by then I’d seen enough to know I needed to wait for the full game, and here it finally is! Skald: Against the Black Priory is a bit Dungeons & Dragons in the way it plays, and increasingly Lovecraftian in its developing narrative, which is introduced right in the thick of the mutinous, monstrous action leading to your shipwreck on an island full of unimaginable mysteries, unnameable horrors and, if you’re lucky, some clues on the whereabouts of the missing childhood friend that brought you there. I’m not done with it yet and I’ve no idea how much longer it will go on for but it all seems to be moving at pace and in a pretty linear fashion, although there’s clearly other decisions you could make, branching paths to take, things to do on the side and a huge variety of characters you can create, with all the usual classes and sub-classes, all of which have all sorts of specialities that can be levelled-up to your preference, as well as a load more folk you can add to (and remove from) your party as you go. Tentacled, oozing horrors aside, it’s all familiar swords and sorcery stuff, with the turn-based combat and other interactions subject to on-screen dice rolls, and lots of inventory, attributes, feats, skills and stuff to manage to your nerdy heart’s content on easy-to-use menu screens. The overall presentation is great, with relatively simple but detailed and carefully-lit modern pixel-art supplemented by the mass of gorgeously illustrated static scenes that are so full of character and atmosphere and really add immersion, as do the crunchy sound effects and the surprisingly rich soundtrack. Okay, there’s a few minor bugs and annoyances but this is clearly an indie labour of love and they’re sure to be quickly ironed out and improved upon, and overall it’s a joy to play – especially if you have nostalgia for such things – and was absolutely worth the wait and the £11.50 it cost on Steam!

Hauntii came to Xbox Game Pass (and elsewhere) a couple of weeks ago, and not only did its prospect of haunting stuff jump straight out at me, but even more so did the absolutely stunning hand-crafted afterlife you’re doing it in! It’s a kind of relaxed twin-stick shooter mixed with some puzzling and an almost 3D Mario-like exploration vibe, as you take your new-dead ghost on a surreal journey of discovery to try and work out who he was, what he now is, where he is and why he’s there because at the outset he hasn’t got a clue! Progress mostly involves possessing all sorts of weird stuff you encounter along the way and using it to extend your abilities, for example, a supernatural lamppost to light the demon-filled darkness for just long enough to dash through it unscathed. You’ll be in an out of way more wacky stuff than that though, from furniture to insects to fairground rides, as you gradually reveal this bizarre new world and your place in it, as well as its more melancholic revelations about what you’ve left behind. Apart from a couple of places where the challenge seems cheap and there just for the sake of it, it’s a really good time too, but not as good as the outrageously good artwork! I believe the style is called pointillism, using tiny dots of glowing colour (although it’s almost all monochrome) to create isometric 3D imagery that often borders on optical illusion, especially when things zoom out to reveal these huge, living vistas around you! It’s amazing, and the music behind it is no slouch either, possibly resulting in a bit more style than substance but when it’s this stylish, it will struggle not to be!

I’m already aware I’m going to end up going long this week, so just a quick mention here of the wonderful Galaxian on the Atari 2600, which is as faithful a port of the legendary fixed, single-screen shoot ‘em up from 1979 you could ever hope for on there, as well as unquestionably being one of the best on the system! I’m pretty sure the original was the first arcade game I ever played, with those terrifying sounds and colourfully animated, insect-like aliens swooping down at you adding a unique (not to mention pioneering) personality beyond its very obviously “inspired” gameplay mechanics. And I’ve loved this conversion for almost as long, which totally trounces all over the crappy Space Invaders one on there, with more aliens moving smoothly left and right than should even be possible on a 2600, and without a flicker in sight, not to mention all the mixed-up colours and animation and formation dive-bombing going on as well! And while not quite as ominous, the sound effects are there too, and the gameplay is as sublime and wildly addictive as ever. Remarkable game! By the way, by, er, total coincidence, I’m messing around with a favourite fixed shooter top ten at the moment, so loòk out for that here in a couple of months!

Sticking with all things Atari, after I got the The 400 Mini for my birthday last month, I finally got around to having a proper go at all the stuff included on there, including strategic space combat sim Star Raiders II, which I instantly liked enough to find the manual, plug in a keyboard, and then I really started enjoying it, to the point I decided I should stop and experience the original first. And wow, what an experience that’s been! I’d heard of Star Raiders but apart from a cursory go on the 5200 version on the Atari 50 compilation, I had no idea quite what it was and what I’d been missing out on for all these years. Which is also true of Atari 8-bit computers in general! Anyway, I’ve now been playing it relentlessly in the weeks since, and I’m at a pretty decent level, and I absolutely adore it! Amazingly, this thing is from 1979, and has you protecting a bunch of star bases across the galaxy from fleets of alien invaders. You need to decide who needs your help the most before they’re surrounded and overwhelmed, and go after the most immediate threat, while also managing navigation, shields, targetting computers, weapons, various radars, damage control and so on. Combat plays out in 3D across the entire hostile sector, really testing your piloting skills as well as how far you’re willing to stay aggressive before limping off to a star base and docking with it for repairs. Plug in a proper keyboard for this one too and the whole thing plays like a dream – so immersive, mixing depth and strategy with accessibility and simple arcade fun. And to think I was still enthralled by the Pong knock-off we had at home when this thing first came out! In parallel, I’ve also been back to that Atari 5200 version, which has been expertly mapped to all available buttons on the Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons, and while it doesn’t feel quite as visceral, I’ll happily play here as well… And as you can see from the pictures, those dynamic borders around the enhanced mode play area on there take it to another level!

What a great week of games! I’m going to leave it there for today though because I’m off to watch New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies playing baseball in London, which I’ve been looking forward to for a whole year! In case you missed it last Wednesday though, it was the first one of the month, meaning we’re heading back exactly forty years for the very latest in video gaming, including a type-in Jet Set Willy expansion, no less, as we get into Retro Rewind: June 1984 in Computer & Video Games, straight from the original magazine! Then next Wednesday, be sure to check back again for another regular feature because it is June, so it’s also time for the Retro Arcadia Gaming Pickups Spring 2024 Recap, part of a seasonal series covering all the retro games and related stuff I shouldn’t have been spending money on over the last three months! See you then!

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