Steam Next Fest: Upcoming retro-lookin' games
A look at a handful of Retronauts-adjacent demos
Sk8r G8r 3D
This is a fun, playable 3D platformer, the kind of thing I enjoy achieving 100% completion on, and the stages present in this demo were initially very enjoyable despite the odd instance of what I deem sloppy level design; that is to say, there are a couple of segments where in order to get 100% you have to pointedly not do a fun thing when the opportunity presents itself; there's a boost pad sort of thing and a spring which zoom you across a body of water then "boing" you back onto the path, but you'll miss some items if you do this. So you're incentivised to not do the zoom-boing, when I really wanted to do the zoom-boing. I'm also not wild about the grind rail sections; I keep instinctively jumping over the flaming sections of rail because every fibre of my being screams "don't touch this", when in reality you usually need to stay on them for a second or so to make the bigger jumps. Alas, I peaced out of the demo when I reached its boss stage, a dreadful battle atop myriad grind rails that made me Alt+F4 quite firmly. Still, this is a fun, cute game and I'll keep an eye out for the full version.
Toxic Crusaders
This is absolutely awesome, a joyous throwback that constantly reminded me of Konami brawlers such as The Simpsons. It's quite simplistic, with only a handful of moves per character, but the vibes are off the charts - it's consistently gorgeous visually, the music is spectacular (those orchestra hits!) and the game's writing is genuinely Saturday-morning-cartoon funny. Some will find the comedic interruptions to be flow-breaking, but I thought they were breezily amusing enough to justify their existence, and maybe the full version will let you skip them on replays? Most importantly the fighting feel is nice and crunchy, with absurdly long air juggles possible if you keep the pace up. Speaking of pace, it's all very quick indeed, and executing the game's "Rad Mode" by smashing the shoulder buttons makes you even faster, a terrifying blur of death and toxicity. I didn't try the other characters besides Toxie himself, because I was sold on the game after one stage - there are only seven in total, but the stage in the demo is lo-o-o-o-ng, taking in multiple environments, so I'm not concerned about longevity.
Little Nemo and the Nightmare Fiends
A promising slice of game, it's clear that Nightmare Fiends has a way to go before completion, but even in this early state it's very playable. The controls are very responsive and gliding Nemo across the stages is a lot of fun. The maps are well designed, though a lot of routes are locked out in this demo, natch. Both Slumberland and a mushroom-filled forest are available here and both are enjoyable, though rather breezy and easy - again, it's just a demo, but it sometimes felt like the different elements of each stage weren't quite being used to their full possible effect; the large stilt-legged birds in the mushroom forest act as moving platforms, but that's it; they never get paired with, say, the club-smashing giants or any other kind of obstacle. I'm also not fond of the squishy animations on Nemo whenever he lands from a jump, though he is otherwise brought to life beautifully. I have a feeling this is going to be rather special when it's done, so hopefully my minor concerns from this demo will be addressed in a timely fashion.
El Paso, Elsewhere
Well, this is cool. A very, very blatant Max Payne-alike, El Paso, Elsewhere still manages to feel fresh thanks to its brand of third-person shooter being next to invisible since Max Payne 2, not even in Max Payne 3. But I digress. I don't know what this game's story is, because I skipped all the cutscenes. Sue me! The gameplay, though, is rather wonderful, with yer requisite shoot-dodges, slowdown and even pain pills to smash down your character's throat. Here, you're facing off against supernatural critters rather than hollering mobsters, and it's hard, right from the first major encounter. You'll need to have your wits about you as monsters crash into the battle from all sides, but it's a great feeling when you manage to blow them in half during a desperate shoot-dodge to the side, quickly spinning the camera around to clock another one coming right at you. Good fun, and it sold me on the game almost immediately. Only weird thing - you seem to power-walk everywhere rather than run. Maybe they thought borrowing Max Payne's movement model almost exactly would have been a bridge too far.
Girl Genius: Adventures in Castle Heterodyne
Based on the extremely long-running comic by Studio Foglio, this is a fun little 3D adventure in the vein of, say, Skyward Sword. You take control of Agatha as she explores the titular castle, running into familiar and unfamiliar characters, hitting things with a wrench, and generally solving a bunch of puzzles making use of your handy-dandy tiny robot who can run around hitting switches and getting into smaller spaces than the main character. It's nothing new whatsoever but it's a good example of its genre and I certainly enjoyed myself playing it. Shades of Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy, if I'm honest - and that's not a bad thing. Very GameCubey, very easy to pick up and with plenty to recommend it. It's sort of Zelda x Souls but without the hideous difficulty and with a bunch of webcomic lore that fans will love but which means little to me as a very casual Girl Genius reader. Still, good stuff.
Lords of Exile
It looks like Castlevania, but plays like Shadow Dancer. I'd call that a pretty solid combo, and unusual slash-'em-up Lords of Exile wastes no time throwing you into its pleasingly forgiving combat - your sword is huge and pairs well with the sub-weapons you'll collect, such a shuriken and scythes. Presentation is immaculate but unusual; while it has NES graphics, the music is resolutely Mega Drive-sounding and that's something of an odd, jarring decision. Still, it doesn't affect the game handling, which is very responsive, or the level design, which is lots of fun. This, again, is a familiar experience, but it's a well-constructed one. Lords of Exile has been a long time coming and I'm looking forward to the full release - it's probably not going to be as good as Cyber Shadow, but almost nothing is, and it's pleasant to have a game that feels like the Master System Shinobi. It does to me, anyway. Niche? Moi?
Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition
Well, it's Rise of the Triad, only now it actually runs and plays well. I've been waiting for this for a long time on account of Rise of the Triad being gloriously silly and instilling very real joy in me every single second I play it. Is it well-made? Not really, it's absolutely nonsensical in places and calling the level design "slapdash" doesn't quite go far enough into covering just how wildly insane things get. But this remaster seems spot-on, as expected from Night Dive, and it's a pleasure to have a version of the game that Just Works and Feels Right after all these years of DOSbox and slightly wonky source ports. An absolute surplus of content here, with all the episodes and expansions of the original game, cut content restored and even brand new levels by Apogee veterans. This one's on the top of my list and I'm dead excited, me.
