Retro Revengers | Xbox Review
I’m a sucker for retro stylized platformers and tongue-in-cheek humor. That’s why I was immediately drawn to Retro Revengers from Happy Meal, Inc. and Shinyuden. After playing the brutal Volgarr the Viking II, I was ready for something a little easier for my low level video game skills to handle. It definitely doesn’t take a pro gamer to make it through this title, and it does have a certain charm to it. But if I’m being totally honest, the entire thing felt a bit like a video game version of a student film project. It has some great ideas, but the execution of level design and mechanics feels a tad “off.” It’s far from terrible, and I did enjoy it. I just hate throwing “for what it is” at the end of any sentence in a review.
Choose Your Hero
Retro Revengers is a somewhat simple 2D platformer with a cast of five playable characters. The reason I say “somewhat” is because each character plays vastly different from the next. There are different attacks and special abilities granted every single one, and they all move through the environment with different speeds and weights to their jumps. This is what I found most fascinating about the title and is easily its highest selling point.
There are five stages, each with an end boss. You start every level with one of the five characters assigned to it. This is because certain obstacles are only passable with that certain character. The design of platforms are tailored specifically for whichever character you are playing as, and it’s a genuinely clever novelty. The level design is far from complex, however, and seasoned players won’t have trouble completing this game in a couple hours.
The twist comes when you finish all five stages. Just when you’ve thought the game was over, you’re whisked back to the start to tackle them all over again. This time, however, the challenges are slightly greater. To counter that, you now have the ability to switch characters on the fly. I love this concept, and would love to see this idea brought to a game with more precision platforming and difficulty. The finale does tease a sequel, so here’s to hoping that the devs can capitalize on success of this title.
A Few Chuckles
Another bright spot in Retro Revengers is in the writing. I’m not talking about the story, as it follows a bit of a cookie cutter “we got sucked into our video game” plot. But the dialogue between these characters is smarter than I was originally expecting. There are multiple pop culture references, several of which those who pay attention to the video game industry will appreciate. I genuinely laughed out loud on multiple occasions.
The sprite work is also solid, particularly with the bosses. It gives 90s cartoon vibes in a great way, and the use of color makes every stage and enemy very pleasing to the eye. Even the cutscenes in between each stage reminded me of Nicktoons shows I watched in my younger years, although they contained very little animation. Kudos to the team for reminding me of those happy memories.
As good as the writing and artwork is, it lacks enough substance to make it truly memorable. I have nothing against short games, but I have very little desire to revisit this one again. There’s a speed run mode available, but even if I enjoyed the game more, I doubt I’d dive into that. But if setting records is your thing, then you might find more enjoyment in it than I.
Retro Revengers Final Verdict
I might be overly critical about Retro Revengers, but I don’t mean to. There are lots of interesting and pleasing small pieces to this game. But at the end of the day, it comes across as a game based on a licensed property in quality. It’s just not based on a well-known property, so players won’t be drawn to it for very many reasons. I enjoy a solid one-and-done game every now and then, but this one stands at tad below what I would call “solid”. It’s a decent time and won’t break your budget. But with a market overly saturated with high-quality retro-styled games, it’s difficult to recommend this one over others.
To hear me talk more about Retro Revengers, be sure to listen to the July 24th, 2024 episode of The Gaming Outsider Podcast around the 1:19:48 time stamp.
This review is based on an Xbox copy of Retro Revengers provided by PR Hound for coverage purposes. It is also available on PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam.
Retro Revengers
$9.99
