PLATFORM: PC, PS4/5, SWITCH, XBOX ONE/SERIES (REVIEWED) | RELEASE DATE: 18TH OCTOBER
Arriving just in time for spooky season, RetroRealms Arcade contains two individual games based on Halloween and Ash vs Evil Dead. Both games are retro-inspired action-platformers that take many cues from the 16-bit era. Each game’s 10 levels (which doesn’t sound much, but there’s a neat way of encouraging repeat playthroughs which we’ll get to very shortly) are mostly split into two separate areas that act like a checkpoint of sorts, challenging you to navigate each location’s precarious platforms and deviously-placed hazards while killing anything and everything that stands in your path. While the first few levels aren’t too taxing, things soon pick up and the old-school difficulty really becomes quite challenging. There’s nothing insurmountable, and unlimited lives mean you can keep on trying until you succeed (although each death sends you back to the start of the current area), but frustration and controller-throwing may well come into play at times!
Each game visits familiar settings from its source material, and features two playable characters – Halloween‘s Michael Myers and Laurie Strode, and AvED‘s Ash Williams and Kelly Maxwell – and all are equipped with a character-specific melee weapon (Ash with his chainsaw, Myers has a knife, Kelly uses a meat hammer and Laurie arms herself with a pair of knitting needles) as well as a projectile weapon (which again is specific to each character). Defeated enemies drop coins which can be spent on upgrading your health and ammo reserves between levels, as well as unlocking extra attacks. Each character also has three special collectibles to find in each level, often requiring you to dip in and out of the “nightmare realm” (easily done at the touch of a button) to reveal hidden platforms and passages, and cinema tickets can be collected to unlock memorabilia in the arcade’s museum section (where you’ll also find a handful of short video clips in which the developers talk about their favourite horror films and how these games came together).
Available separately or as a bundle, each game is perfectly enjoyable on its own, but it’s worth buying both to get the most out of what’s on offer. Owners of both games can use characters from Halloween in AvED and vice versa, putting a fun spin on each game’s storyline as events and dialogue change depending on which character you’re using. Seeing how Ash Williams copes in Haddonfield, or how Michael Myers takes his brand of carnage to the deadites, is very entertaining, and in all honesty both games are so well made that they’re both equally deserving of your time. With cartoonishly bloody eye-catching pixel art, challenging platforming, addictive combat and excellent music, really the only thing missing from the overall package is some voice acting. Appearances from the real-life cast would have elevated the games even further, but it’s a minor omission in the grand scheme of things. RetroRealms Arcade is great fun for fans of old school platformers, and pretty much essential if you’re into either (or both of) Halloween or Ash vs Evil Dead!
