198X (PC) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
282A playthrough of Hi-Bit Studios' 2019 retro-styled action game, 198X.
This is the Steam version for Windows, but the game is also available on PS4, XB1, and Switch.
198X is a Kickstarter-backed loveletter to the arcade experience of the late 1980s, but unlike so many modern games that merely throw giant pixels over top of simplistic games to call them "retro," 198X feels like a true homage to the games that inspired it.
It's a "coming of age" story that centers on five distinct types of games - the beat 'em up (Final Fight/Streets of Rage), the shoot 'em up (Gradius/R-Type), the sprite-scaling racer (Outrun), the ninja-themed platformer (Shinobi), and the first-person RPG (Ultima/Wizardry/Phantasy Star). Each of these types are represented with a couple of stages that largely mimic the old games and are all varnished with a heavy coat of "16-bit plus"-level graphics and sound, meaning that this would've looked right at home on a Neo Geo.
I really liked the idea here, and the presentation thoroughly sells the experience. The super-smooth animation, bright purple/pink/blue color schemes, and the heavy use of parallax make the games all feel like something you could've seen in a real arcade circa 1989. The sound is very much the same, with most of the music sticking to a synthwave style that does an excellent job at evoking the time period, as do the distorted voice samples.
And Yuzo Koshiro even contributes to the soundtrack in "Shadowplay." 'Nuff said there.
It's clear that the developers spent a lot of time getting the feel of the games right, too. The controls are all simple two-button affairs, and are super snappy and responsive. The games themselves aren't terribly difficult and are all quite short, but I was fine with that. They all end long before you tire of them, so the game doesn't unnecessarily drag itself out, and they are all unlocked to play individually once you've finished the game, giving all sorts of opportunities for high-score chasing if that's your jam.
The cutscenes that bookend the action stages are somewhat more of a mixed bag. They are all beautiful examples of pixelated artwork, and they hit that dreary, neon-lit tone that is so often used to evoke nostalgic feelings of the 80s, but the story line, if you can call it that, is banal at best, and utterly cringe-worthy and devoid of substance the rest of the time. It goes something like this:
"I'm a teenager and my life sucks, wah wah wah, nobody understands me and you won't either because I won't offer anything but the vaguest of generalizations about my life, wah wah wah, video games are my escape and I am nothing but a tired cliche, wah wah wah."
But it is the voice actor that really makes the story scenes virtually intolerable. She speaks at about the same speed as Forrest Gump does, and the general lack of inflection or feeling makes it soooo dull to listen to. And why does she sound like she's from Texas, but only for the first few lines? It's torture to play through when it won't let you skip those cutscenes. I didn't want to skip them - they're far too pretty to look at to skip - but there's no way of watching them without that narration. I'd prefer it overall much more if the game let the pictures tell the stories and just got rid of the voice track.
Still, as much as that aspect tends to bring down the overall experience, I still absolutely recommend 198X. It's a fantastically well put-together throwback that will make anyone of a certain age crack a smile several times throughout.
_
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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