UFO 50 is a retro gamer's dream - I highly recommend it

Submitted ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨retrogaming@lemmy.world⁩

I know this might be an unusual post, since this is a new game, but hear me out!

I just picked up UFO 50 this week, and I can’t recommend this enough to anyone who loves retro gaming. The premise is that this is a collection of 50 games from a fictional 8-bit console in the 1980s, with a little info card for each one providing its release date, developers, and some trivia. The game selection screen shows 50 cartridges to choose from:

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These are all full games like you might have seen during the era - not minigames or demos, and the ones I’ve booted up feel pretty authentically 8-bit (with some modern QoL things thrown in). There are all sorts of cool ideas and game types: platformers, a point and click adventure, bullet hells, at least one full JRPG, etc.

Some examples:

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It looks like as you browse through the chronological library, you even see a sequel or two of previous titles. This was made by the team that created Spelunky, and it wasn’t even on my radar until I fortunately saw a video a few days ago of one of the individual games (followed by some confusion when I couldn’t figure out where to buy that game by itself). If any of this appeals to you at all, I highly recommend checking it out.

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Comments

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popcar2@programming.dev ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
I have been obsessed with this game since it came out. I’ve already put in 60 hours and got 14 games cherried (which means 100%ing them, getting a true ending, or beating a difficult challenge).

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I’m writing an incredibly long blog post where I review every single game in the pack. Excited to finish & share it once I’m done playing through everything.

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- The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  Holy wow.
  
  Where are you posting this? I’d be very interested in reading! I’ve only just gotten started, but I can already feel that I’m going to sink a ton of time into this game.
  
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  - popcar2@programming.dev ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    I’ll post it on Lemmy once it’s done. I’m still not entirely sure which gaming communities would be most suitable but it’ll definitely be in !blogging@programming.dev :)
    
    That said, UFO 50 is truly massive, so it’ll be some time before I finish this thing. One of the games I haven’t started yet is apparently a 20+ hour JRPG, so that’ll be fun.
    
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Sludgehammer@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
I’m holding off on buying this until I clear some stuff in my backlog (and hopefully getting the game at a deeper discount).

However from the videos I’ve watched my only criticism is that some of the games look rather complex and would benefit from supplying more information than a small blurb and a controls page. I wish UFO 50 had taken a page from Retro Game Challenge and had some in-universe game manuals and magazines. Still, since I’m planning on buying it at some point obviously not a deal breaker.

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- verdigris@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  I think this is very deliberate. Having played at least a chunk of all 50 games, there are only two or three that I think would have benefitted greatly from more instructions or tutorialization. Figuring out how each game works and being surprised when you find a new way to use the very simple controls is part of the experience.
  
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- The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  Yeah, I have been confused by some at first. However, that was also my experience playing games like this back in the day, so in a weird way it has added to the authenticity for me. Lol
  
  If I can’t figure some of them out (looking at you, Barbuta), I’ll have to look up some stuff.
  
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  - nekusoul@lemmy.nekusoul.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    
    However, that was also my experience playing games like this back in the day
    
    Exactly my experience as well. It’s very reminiscent of that time when I was given a GBA emulator with a bunch of US and JP roms without any explanation. I didn’t know what an emulator is, or that there were game consoles other than the GBC. I didn’t knew my way around English either and Japanese looked like some sort of bug to me.
    
    There’s just something stumbling through a big library and slowly making inroads in your favorite titles.
    
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footox@lemmy.one ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Seconded. The (50!) games in this collection are lovingly authentically retro in style and difficulty. But smooth and modern in gameplay. Even games which copy a well known genre still have their own twist to them. A joy to play.

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- drspod@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  
  The (50!) games
  
  50! presumably referring to the number of different orderings in which you could play them?
  
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steal_your_face@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Donkey made a video on it. Looks fun.

youtu.be/NaNM3biswfA

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CrayonRosary@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Mortol is the game of the year. I got gold and cherry at the same time. I replayed each level 10-50 times to try to get the best runs I could. Ended the game with 150 lives. Played it for about 8 hours. I would have paid $10 for that game alone!

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- The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  This was the one that I saw a video about before I knew what UFO 50 was! I tried searching for Mortol on steam, to no results. Lol
  
  What a creative idea for a platformer.
  
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MXX53@programming.dev ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
I have been completely hooked on this game. Night manor so far has been my favorite and I cherried that on. But Bushido blade has been great too. Lately I have been bashing my head against star waspir, and it is so much fun.

Vainger is also really cool.

So far everything I have played on this game has been great.

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- The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  I’ve barely dipped my toes into the games so far because I keep coming back to Ninpek and (I forget the name) the one where you keep jumping upward and try not to fall.
  
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Usually_Lurker@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Available on steam for $25

store.steampowered.com/app/1147860/UFO_50/

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