UFO 50 is the best homage to retro games I've ever played

If you’ve spent any amount of time with retro gaming emulators, you’re probably familiar with the joy of browsing through a long list of (legally obtained) ROMs and being overwhelmed by a vast array of titles you’ve never heard of. Picking at random from such a list of games is like wandering around a foreign country, searching for hidden gems amongst all the rubbish of early video games’ bewildering and wildly imaginative history.

UFO 50 It captures that feeling perfectly, combining the unbridled inventiveness of old-school game design with modern refinements and a more consistent base quality that has been built up over the intervening decades. The result is an extremely playable love letter to video game history that will delight even the most jaded retro gaming fan.

A loving tribute

UFO 50 It comes as a collection of 50 dusty game cartridges made by UFO Soft, a fictional developer that operated from 1982 to 1989. If you scroll through the company’s catalogue, you’ll see an evolution in graphics, music, and gameplay design that reflect the ever-changing gaming market of the real-world 1980s. You’ll also see the same characters, motifs, and credited “developers” appear again and again, creating a compelling world behind the games themselves.

Individual games in UFO 50 The games in the series certainly wear their influences on their sleeve, with countless, almost obvious homages to specific arcade and console games from the 80s. But there isn't a single title here that I would consider a simple clone or imitation of an old game concept; each subgame brings its own twist or novel idea that makes it feel fresh.

Bubble Bobble tribute Kick ClubFor example, it replaces the bubble-blowing dinosaurs they're inspired by with a soccer player who has to constantly chase his only weapon: a soccer ball. Vainger combines Metroid-Shooting style and closed and labyrinthine exploration with the inversion of gravity Metal storm. Magical garden It combines the gameplay of avoiding your own queue with Snake with objects that allow you to devour obstacles, Pac-Man-style.

Anyone who remembers playing video games in the 80s will immediately notice many other clear references. Below are some of the ones I noticed: Bad guys, Master of explosives, Degree, River City Rescue, Gate of Shadows, Super Dodgeball, Smash the TV, Space Harrierand Super sprintAnd, just like any list of 80s ROMs, you'll also find plenty of grid-based puzzle and shooter games, each with their own take on popular genres.

But others UFO 50 The offerings are retro-stylized versions of genres and games that didn't really exist in the '80s. If you ever wondered what a caveman-themed tower defense game would look like on the NES, Enjoy the island! has the answer. Or if you want to see a positional arena fighter in the style of Super Smash Bros. (complete with original characters that have their own moves and weapons) then Hypercontender has you covered. Then there is Velgresthat combines the retro run-and-gun platforming style of the NES with the procedural roguelike generation of a modern classic like Well down.

Still, others UFO 50 The games incorporate completely original concepts (as far as I can tell) to the limited technology of the time. Lords of Diskonia is a tactical battle game where you have to launch units represented by Crokinole-style discs to the other side. Party house He asks you to manage a Rolodex of party guests to maximize his money and popularity without attracting unwanted attention from the police. The Waldorf Journey involves launching the titular walrus into long blind leaps while carefully timing his landing with playful, energetic movements of his flippers.

The sheer variety of game ideas on offer here is mind-blowing. There are real-time strategy games and two-player co-op fighting games. There's a full-fledged golf RPG and also a 2D golf game with pinball-style obstacles. There's a Dave the Diver-esque underwater exploration adventure and a couple of Final Fantasy–RPGs of style. There is a game that combines Crazy taxi and the original, above Grand Theft AutoThere is a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles A tribute that combines five different genres with five unique and fully realized anthropomorphic human-animal hybrids.