Beautiful 8 bit graphics and sounds in 7 varied games.
This will take you back to the days of buying a cartridge multipak and make you pine for the 80s.
Much like those carts, the presentation is spartan, booting straight into the select screen. A splash screen for the collection would be nice.

Using a pad is great for the games themselves but the game never tells you what button does what. Tip- If a game ever tells you to press tab, it means left shoulder button.

There isn't an easy way to switch games, you have to take the game out of fullscreen and quit to bring up the selection menu and I feel there should be an easier way, such as pressing B.

The games themselves are fun, some are deeper than others. Gaia-ttack, the side scrolling brawler has local co-op, but the button config looks like a nightmare to play. I don't understand the card game properly but it will probably see the least play even if I did. Each game is crafted with care, but you may not like them all.

At the full price of $14, it makes each game $2, but it still feels pricey. Without wanting to devalue the hard work of the devs, the experience feels like something in the $10 range. Maybe steam spoils me and I'm a bad judge, but for the full steam price, I think more care should go into game pad support, switching games and giving the selection menu a splash screen title that fades into the menu wouldreally help tighten the experience and push the game firmly into the $10+ price point.

It's still fun.

Though I'm saying I don't recommend it, I will say that this title has interesting ideas and it executes some of them well. However, it has glaring issues that prevent it from being truly enjoyable. As of this writing, I've beaten three of the offered games, with one of the others being a card game which has no end and one being a hack and slash gauntlet-type deal that's based more on high-score than completion. The other two I have no intention of finishing.

There are seven games featured here, but each will last you only about an hour to an hour and a half from start to finish. Which is pretty cool, I'd pay 50 dollars for seven hours worth of quality content. However, this leads to the issue of none of the games really 'sticking' with you, with one solid exception. I'll give a brief overview of each of the games without spoiling any content, as best I can:

-An open-world platformer where you grow into a stronger creature to get more powers to access new areas. This is a cute title, where progression is easy and a puzzle element is mixed in. However, in order to grow, you need to eat smaller enemies. These don't respawn until you have eaten every single enemy in the area, which is annoying. The open world is solid, but the game moves at a rather casual pace. Imagine a combination of Super Meat Boy and VVVVVV, only walking a bit slower and with flutter-jump mechanics as opposed to gravity or speed wall-hopping. Good intentions are here but they don't all come together, and the slower pace of the title really shoots it in the foot.

-An action-puzzle game ala Adventures of Lolo, wherein you have to eliminate all enemies and then kill yourself. This is a nicely built game, kind of a Mega Man vibe to the graphics and soundtrack. The issue I find is that, simply, you can easily put yourself in an unwinnable scenario later on. The joy of puzzles is figuring out the next step, not repeating previous steps, which would require a minute or so to recreate. It's a good concept and if you like the Eggerland series, this one won't do you wrong, just not my cup of tea compared to good ol' Lolo.

-An arcade action game where you beat things up. It feels good and responsive, hitboxes are fairly solid if strict. Not a lot of depth to it, I felt, but it's a fun distraction.

-An open-world platformer that's pretty much 'hey we wanted to make a Metroid thing. Here's some Metroid for you'. Honestly it has a very clever concept, wherein there are three overworld maps and you warp between them as different 'time periods', making for a very well thought-out map system. The issue is that, unfortunately, the game is dull. There is no sense of danger, very few enemy types, only two boss battles (which are both very easy), and no real environmental hazards outside of a few rooms. This leaves for a very barren-feeling map, as opposed to a Metroid title, where lava, various terrain obstacles, and a variety of enemies kept the player engaged. It's... rather dull work, honestly. Which is a shame, as the core controls are very good.

-An arcade platformer similar in vein to Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr, wherein you're a helpless creature who has to use the environment to get past obstacles. There's some clever concepts, but like the afformentioned DK games, the main character moves at a snail's pace and can't survive long jumps. This makes repeating segments unbearably slow. Unlike DK and Son, additionally, enemies follow set patterns, so there's no element of action or randomness to react to; it's just figuring out the puzzle and hoping you're fast enough to do it. It was fun through the start, and the graphics and style and undeniably charming, but it grates and I doubt many will finish this segment.

-A card game. Frankly, it's just a unique concept that doesn't pan out due to being a single-player card game that you likely won't be asking a friend to play with you.

-A vertical shooter set in feudal Japan. If there's a game that's worth your money, it's this one. Different enemies giving different types of shots, being able to reflect enemy fire with quick enough reflexes, an upgrade system, managing your special weapon types, and reasonable enemy placement. It's a bit on the easy side, but mechanics are well thought out and constantly engaging. Easily the best of the bunch.

The issue with Retro Game Crunch is that it's a game that doesn't quite live up to its potential. It's very solid, but for a fifteen dollar asking price and competition as stiff as VVVVVV, Meat Boy, and Eversion for 'simple concepts harkining to a retro time period', it really does not hold up. If this game goes to $5 on a sale, I'd say it's worth your time. Odds are one will appeal to you, and that one might even be really good. But I'd wait until then, and not jump on a 50% off - wait for the lower. I love retro games, the entire retro vibe, and I want to see more from this developer, they're smart people. This outing just leaves a poor taste in my mouth at the end, unfortunately.

Fantastic music and filled to the brim with character and charm. Sadly, I fear this game will go unnoticed simply for being retro styled. Just like Retro Game Challenge for the Nintendo DS.

What's that? You've never heard of Retro Game Challenge for the Nintendo DS? Exactly.

Wish Valve had a thumbs in the middle for this game. The individual titles are all enjoyable and some can be a time eater if you start to get into it. That being said, a lot of the games in this feel as if they focused more on copying the look of 8-bit era games (specifically NES), but not the feel of the games from the era. This does detract some from the experience. With that said, there's some entertainment to be found here. I'd recommend a purchase if you can catch it during a sale.

here is a video with 3-5min of each game. check out my channel for full gameplay of some of the games.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyiqsdpL4u0

this is a collection of 7 retro like games.
its like a nes collection and each game is vary different so its not hard to find at lest one you like.

game and play styles are
* super! clew land = side scrolling evolution game. you avoid dangers and eat small animals to evolve, collect gems, and take on the boss.
* end of the line = puzzle game. you find ways to smash the other robots and suicide on spikes.
* gaia attack = side/top scrolled beat'm up. play as 4 furry animals who take revenge on eco villeins and pirates.
* paradox lost = side scroller metroid game type. basically metroid with a few differences. like saving people through time.
* wab-wab wescue = puzzle game donkey kong type. like many of the donkey kong clones, in here you play as a spunky pug trying to save his master.
* Brains & hearts = card game. kind of a match 3 and steal the opponents cards. its rather hard untill you get the rules down.
* shuten = classic shump. you play as a magic samurai that travels the land and kills various demons. you can steal opponents attacks and buy things in the shop.

overall the collection is good.
the games are short-ish but they do feel full filling.

Paradox Lost 100% freed.
https://youtu.be/GLlATjjross

A set of six fun games styled after many of the classic action, adventure, and puzzle games of the 2D era.

Each game is long enough to explore a few variations on the core mechanic, but short enough to remain fun throughout (usually about an hour or two). These games also strike a good balance between being challenging enough to be engaging, and easy enough to just pick up and play.

The best part about these games is the design:
- Real levels. Maps are clearly designed, not randomly generated segments tossed together
- Real goals. Each game has a definite goal (not just "see how many points you can get, then try again!")
- Real endings. You can actually get the satisfaction of finishing the game before moving on to the next (no infinite levels or endless grinding in a "challenge mode")
- Real direction. You learn how to play by being put in situations that let you discover each new mechanic (no big instructions to read upfront, and no annoying interruptions mid-game telling you to press a button to do something)

Given all that, I'd happily purchase a sequel that explored another half dozen game styles.

Also, there's a card game.


Completed or Quit: Completed

This game was bought via Humble Bundle: Kickstarter Edition.

This does not affect my review in any way, shape or form.

The UI
The UI is great, as you can select any game freely and see all the controls necessary.

The Controls
The controls are fine, but you can not change them. You can use a controller, in this case, a generic XBOX controller. The controller controls aren't given to you, so in order to know the controls you need to randomly randomly press the buttons to learn what they do.

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The Control Scheme
The game uses WASD to move, but the ARROW KEYS are for a unique mechanic, mutation. SPACE to jump. ENTER to pause.

The Difficulty
The game is difficult, and it will make you rage. A lot.

How long is it to learn?
The game doesn't take long to learn.

It is a good game to play when you first get it, as its the first on the list.

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The Control Scheme
The game uses WASD or ARROW KEYS to move. ENTER is to restart the level. SPACE to dash, which you need to use to destroy the robots.

The Difficulty
The game is difficult, as one mechanic is hard to understand.

How long is it to learn?
The game took a long to learn for me, as one mechanic is hard to understand.

What mechanic?
In order to win, you need to kill all the robots, which includes yourself.

No other comments.

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The Control Scheme
The game uses ARROW KEYS to move. ENTER is to pause.
Z to jump, X to attack, and C to use magic.

The Difficulty
The game isn't that difficult.

How long is it to learn?
The game, to me, wasn't hard and didn't take long to learn.

This game is a solo, or a 4 player on the same keyboard.

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The Control Scheme
The game uses ARROW KEYS to move. ENTER is to pause.
Z to jump, X to shoot,C to scan, S to switch eras, and TAB to see your map.

The Difficulty
The game is difficult, also within 5 minutes your are fighting a boss so you get your weapons.

How long is it to learn?
The game took a while to learn as its an adventure platformer.

No other comments.

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The Control Scheme
The game uses ARROW KEYS to move. ENTER is to pause.
Z to jump, and X to sing.

The Difficulty
The game is difficult, as its more of an arcade game.

How long is it to learn?
The game took a while to learn, as you need to run to jump to an area, as just jumping then moving won't work.

No other comments.

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The Control Scheme
The game is a card game. LSHIFT, RSHIFT to cancel, and SPACE to confirm, ENTER to pause, and ARROW KEYS to move the cursor.

The Difficulty
The game is difficult for me, as for me the card games are hard to understand.

How long is it to learn?
The game took a while to learn.

This is a solo game, but there is a two-player mode.

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The Control Scheme
The game uses WASD to move. ENTER is to pause.
V to use sword, and B to use your ability.

The Difficulty
The game isn't difficult for me, as the tutorial was engaging to a certain point.

How long is it to learn?
The game didn't take a while to learn, because the tutorial.

This is a solo game, but there is a two-player mode.

Hello friends. I remember i was gifted this game awhile back by one of my friends. This is basically a bunch of games together that you can play. It features some shooters, some metroid type games, and other random games. I remember i really enjoyed the metroid like games i found on it. The graphics are old school, so if you purchase this, be aware of this fact.

I recommend for taking you back to the beginning ages of gaming.

Each of the games is on the upper-end of the scale for what you'd expect out of a free flash game found by the dozen on sites like Kongregate and Nitrome, if not slightly longer. Also a minus: Some games have very poorly mapped keyboard controls you can't remap.

The longest games are maybe good for a little over an hour, the shortest maybe 15 mintues. The concepts behind some of them are interesting, but most are fundamentally flawed in some way. And they're also all pretty easy. So I was fine playing this when I got this free in a bundle, but I don't recommend dropping $10 on it. (Don't let my play time fool you, the game reopens itself when you close the minigame and I didn't notice so I probably only played for half that time)

Super Clew Land: Decently fun platformer wrapped around a not-well-thought-out minigame. Ok but nothing you'd miss.

End of Line: The only one I'd say is good without any qualifiers. A puzzle game with a unique premise executed well. If they were all this fun I would probably be giving the pack a thumbs up.

GAIAttack: Mindless but beat-em-up, kinda fun but shortlived. Health items and things that I assume are a score multiplier are given completely at random, which is weird. Some parts feel unfair but you have infinite lives unless you're playing for score (which seems insane in a game with this much randomness).

Paradox Lost: To contrast Super Clew Land, a fairly good concept wrapped inside a terrible Metroidvania. Worth exploring until the piss-easy "final boss" just for the concept, but I've never seen a game before where backtracking is this painful.

Wub-Wub Wescue: An ok puzzle platformer idea, but it's designed to kill you for advancing faster than a snail's pace. So it gets boring real fast.

Brains & Hearts: Feels really out of place next to the other offerings, it's a 1v1 card game. Rules are complicated and the AI is really good at it, so it feels unfair at first but is probably better if you stick at it. Not really my thing.

Shuten: A shoot-em-up with mind-numbingly simple bullet patterns. No ammount of giving the player unusual abilities is gonna make up for tanky bosses with a single easily-dodged pattern they repeat until death. Bad.

Pixel Art: 4.5/5......(Collectively some really awesome stuff)
Immersion: 4.5/5....(Excellent platforming & puzzling)
Gameplay: 4.5/5.....(Some very unique mechanics to explore)
Controls: 4/5.....(No complaints here)
Value: 4.5/5........(7 games for $10 is a nice deal...10+ hrs)
Difficulty: 3.5/5...(It has its moments, not all cansual)
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Overall 4.4 (Difficulty always excluded)


This is a 7 in One-der ;) It is a great collection of pixel art platform/puzzlers! I would recommend this collection for Super Clew Land :)

1.) Super Clew Land (A++): Is the cutest darn Metroid style game you will ever enjoy...It has a unique evolution mechanics, rather than weapons collecting, each evolutionary stage lets you explore further. It is a fairly expansive area and has a few really challenging platforming sections.

2.) End of Line (A): Is a creative puzzle game where you must EOL everything on the map...It seems counter-intuitive at first, even seems buggy :p All in all, not a bad little puzzler.

3.) Gaia-ttack (B): Cutesy little arcade style platformer, where you have to make your way to the top of a scrolling environment, while being attacked by little hamsters(?)

4.) Paradox Lost (A-): Metroidvanian (literally aspects of both), that introduced time traveling mechanics. You traverse the world and travel between present-past-future via crystals, while you try to save the native people. Pretty interesting and enjoyable to play :)

5.) Wub-Wub Wuscue (C+): Donkey Kong style arcade platformer, where you are a pug trying to save your master(?) It is slow paces, like Kong in a way and introduces more puzzle aspects to your platforming approach. Capable game, though not my favorite of the bunch ;)

6.) Brains & Hearts (?): A unique battle card game, where you have to make runs...Honestly, I have not played much, so I cannot comment, but it is cute ;)

7.) Shuten (B-): Samurai themed arcade bullet-hell slasher...You slash your way through baddies who fly down and across the screen. It has a gold, store and leveling system that allows you to improve your abilities. Enjoyable :)

This is a very creative collection, that goes to show, it does not only take triple-A titles to entertain and bring joy :)

ACHIEVMENTS: None :), but the gameplay is so satisfying, that you don't need such things to truly enjoy the accomplishment of success. I have 100% 3/7 games and feel well worth $10.