You’ve saved the princess, collected the 7 magical macguffins and defeated the evil lord Gammon. But what now? When every game has been completed, where do you go from there? How do you get that retro buzz?
Thankfully new games in that same retro style we know and love are being released every week. With talented developers able to self publish games on platforms like Steam, there has never been a better time to get into retro-style games. So what are some of the top 5 retro style games and where can you play them right now?
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (2019)
After a metroidvania game but sick of the same NES style graphics? Then Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is for you. With gameplay that has fallen directly out of a Castlevania game with a fantastic array of equipable items and challenging enemy encounters as well as boss fights, this is definitely one for you.
Bloodstained also has a tonne of unlockables. And we mean a TONNE. From new characters, special outfits and new abilities, the replay value of this 505 games instant classic is immense.
You can get Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night on Amazon for Steam, PS5, PS4, Xbox and Nintendo Switch.
Sonic Mania Plus (2018)
When Sonic the Hedgehog 4 was released, we found ourselves pining for a true return to form. It had the look but the feel was just all wrong. Some years later and after the wonderful Sonic Generations came and went, “Classic Sonic” was ready for his time in the spotlight again.
Sonic Mania Plus goes back to basics and is a true sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (& Knuckles). Returning to Angel Island to find the evil Dr Eggman plotting to use the Phantom Ruby in his plans, our heroes must fight his robotic minions to save the day. And now there are even more freedom fighters up for the adventure – Sonic Mania Plus brings in classic characters, Might the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel.
Sonia Mania Plus is available now from Amazon for Steam, PS5, PS4, Xbox and Nintendo Switch.Â
Cuphead (2017)
Cuphead is a straight up visual feast. A beautifully hand animated homage to the golden age of cartoons disguises a deviously difficult bullet hell shoot em up.
Playing as Cuphead, you run, fly and shoot through loads of surreal Disneyesque levels. Enemies are equally as zany as the levels and did we mention just how hard this game is? Expect to lose many lives as you learn to master the gameplay. Bring in a friend in CO-OP mode to share the pain.
Cuphead is available now on PSN, Xbox Live and Switch, there is also loads of great Cuphead merch available on Amazon.
Hotline Miami (2012)
Perhaps the weirdest game on this list. Hotline Miami is a surreal retro styled top down shoot em up. Challenging you to complete your assignments in the most gruesome way possible. The game gives you an almost limitless number of ways to complete each mission.
Guns, fists, bats and even doors are all employed to lethal effect as the player works his way through the criminal underworld as he slowly uncovers a conspiracy set to rock his world.
HotlineMiami is available now from Amazon for Steam, PS5, PS4 and Nintendo Switch.
Enter the Gungeon (2016)
One of our favourite games on this list. Enter the Gungeon is an absurd bullet hell shoot em up played as a dungeon crawling rogue like. Every dungeon in each playthrough is randomly generated and can be played as one of numerous characters with unique abilities.
It has a punishing difficulty and is best known as being easy to play but very difficut to master. Yet this slickly designed game is truly a work of retro styled art.
Enter the Gungeon is available now on Steam, PSN, Xbox Live and Switch.
If you’ve given all these a go, why not try these games you can play on the PS5 right now.
