Review: 8 Bit Boy

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8 Bit Boy (1)

8BitBoy is out of a job, and quite frankly he’s depressed about it. Then he suddenly remembers all the good times he had as a kid, playing his trusted 8-bit console. He finds it in the far and darkest corner of the basement along with a strange looking cartridge. He plugs in the cartridge right away, and get sucked into this vivid world of platforming. And this is where your adventure takes off. 

8 Bit Boy (4)

Pros:

  • Retro pixel art graphics, More 16 bit era than 8 bit  but the 8 bit part of the title is in relation to the story as opposed to the graphics.
  • Chiptune 8 bit era inspired soundtrack. Evokes memories of game from the past and all the joy( and anger) they bring.
  • Two game settings:
    • Kiddy mode- ala normal mode. Auto saves every level, more time is given to you so you can explore the level in more detail.
    • Retro mode-ala hardcore mode, tougher enemies, less level time and you can only save progress when/if you find a special coin.
  • 360 pad can be set up and used. It uses the d pad for movement, just to keep that retro feel going.
  • Its old school in so many ways like timing jumps and perfect placement is needed.
  • Die and you restart at the begininng of the level. No checkpoints here.
  • Collect power ups and shoot enemies with red balls or multi shots with green balls. Handy one is a shield which allows you to take extra hits.
  • Break blocks with your head to uncover coins,power ups and more.
  • Jump on enemies or shoot them to kill them.
  • Collect 100 coins to gain an extra life.
  • Find bonus coins that grant more coins, A coin with a 10 on it will give you 10 coins for example.
  • Three save slots available and can be used with any difficulty choice.
  • At the end of each level you get a score bonus judged on how much time is left.
  • Your top/best score is displayed on the title screen.
  • Find secret areas to uncover shortcuts, power ups or more coins. These can be situations like invisible walls,or hidden platforms.
  • Five worlds to unlock each more varied than the last. Underground, snow and over ground levels being a few of the more familiar ones.
  • Over 50 levels to uncover with a boss battle at the end of each world.
  • Has an in game manual to explain the basics of the game.
  • The game is extremely playable.

8 Bit Boy (2)

Cons:

  • Controller support is in game only. Using the menu is all still done with a mouse and keyboard.
  • No Steam integration like cloud, achievements or trading cards all though I have heard its in the works for the last two.
  • No online leader boards.
  • Settings like full screen and pad is not saved and must be done every time you boot the game.
  • No proper video options instead going with just full screen and show fps.
  • After pausing the pad is on a button switch so there is a slight delay.

8 Bit Boy (5)

In Summary, Many will say this is just another Mario clone and based off appearance and first impressions, That would be a fair analysis. Truth is the game represents games of yesteryear and if that happens to be Mario then so be it. What you get here is a retro hardcore platform game. It has little bits of magic woven into the devilishly hard game mechanics. Enemies are common while varied. Power ups bring a new element to the game and strategy is needed. How many cheap deaths have happened by a badly timed jump is not funny. With a slew of updates promised, You can still get many hours of fun from this game and it is defiantly one to check out to remind all these next generation gamers how easy they have it!

 

You can buy 8 Bit Boy form this Steam Link.

Jim Smale

Gaming since the Atari 2600, I enjoy the weirdness in games counting Densha De Go and RC De Go as my favourite titles of all time. I prefer gaming of old where buying games from a shop was a thing, Being social in person was a thing. Join me as I attempt to adapt to this new digital age!