Play as horror legends Michael Myers and Ash Williams!
By Paul Hunter
It's nearly Halloween and the timing couldn't be more perfect for RetroRealms Arcade, a series of new retro action platforming games starring Michael Myers and Ash Williams. In recent years, we've seen horror legend crossovers in games like Mortal Kombat and Dead by Daylight, but RetroRealms takes a different approach with 16-bit style action games based on the Halloween and Ash Vs. Evil Dead properties.
RetroRealms offers a few ways to get in on the horror action. You can buy the Halloween and Ash Vs. Evil Dead games separately, or you can pick up the Double Feature edition that bundles both games in one. There's also DLC characters you can buy to expand your roster, including Kelly Maxwell from Evil Dead and Laurie Strode from Halloween.
To access to the Halloween or Ash Vs. Evil Dead games you need to visit a 3D arcade, which acts as the hub zone for the compilation. There are arcade machines dedicated to Halloween and Ash Vs. Evil Dead, but what's interesting is there are more arcade machines covered by white sheets, and hint that more retro action games (likely based on other iconic horror franchises) are in the works. You can freely explore the arcade building, which includes museums for each game with unlockable exhibits, plus dioramas and even videos from the developers describing elements of the games.
I usually don't expect much story in platforming games, but RetroRealms has a concept with tons of potential. Starting with Halloween, you become the Boogeyman of Haddonfield himself, Michael Myers. The story begins with Myers trapped in captivity when an otherworld entity called the Overlord appears and offers him a deal: kill and spread chaos across Haddonfield and he'll be freed from his cell. To get Myers to comply, the Overlord snatches the "trophy" of his first murder, the tombstone of his sister Judith. Only by agreeing to the Overlord's deal can Myers get the tombstone back.
The narrative for Ash vs. Evil Dead is different, but follows a similar setup. The Overlord wants to rule the Earth with monsters the will create fear and hatred, and to do so he need to get a hold of the Necronomicon. Professional evil killer Ash Williams must battle through a town full of Deadites to get the Necronomicon back and seal away the darkness yet again.
There's not a whole lot of story development beyond those interesting introductions, but I do think the idea of an Overlord stealing a horror icons prized possession and manipulating them into further his evil plans is quite brilliant. With more horror games on the way as part of the RetroRealms collection, it seems like Boss Team Games is creating a new multiverse that connects this horror heroes/antiheroes together.
The gameplay in RetroRealms is easy to pick up, reminding me a lot of classic 16-bit franchises like Castlevania, Slaughterhouse and Ghosts 'n Goblins. The side-scrolling levels task with slaughtering bad guys, whether that's rushing zombies, floating eyeballs or crazed pyschopathic killers. Levels are surprisingly lenghy can take up to 15 minutes to finish, and are loaded with secret areas and side paths holding collectible goodies like golden tickets used to unlock exhibits in the hub zone museum.
As you beat evildoers with Myers kitchen knife or Ash's chainsaw they pop out items like needles that restore health, currency you can use to upgrade the characters, or ammo to resupply your subweapon. Each character has basic attacks, and later combos once you unlock them, plus they have signature charge attacks includes Myers rushing knife slash and Ash's medium-range shotgun blast. You can also crouch slash, upward slash, and perform various jump attacks, so all in all your offensive arsenal is powerful and diverse. And back to the subweapon topic, there are a bunch you can grab like a throwable bola or pitchfork that are great for taking out enemies at range.
Beyond battling there's also lots of platforming to do, like jumping across moving conveyor belts, wall jumping to reach higher areas, and even pogo bouncing off enemies to nab hard-to-reach collectible Jack-O'-Lantern tokens. What's really cool though is at the press of a button you can hop into the Nightmare Realm, which is a higher risk, higher reward version of each level that often has secret paths leading to high-value collectibles.
Each game also features intense boss encounters every few levels, with the difficulty ramping up nicely as you progress through the story. By the time you get to the final few levels expect your skills to really be tested as bosses get punishing and more unpredictable. But don't worry if you die at any point during stages, you have unlimited lives and can try again as many times as it takes.
Back to the whole multiverse idea, perhaps the coolest part about RetroRealms is you characters can crossover to other games, meaning you can play the Halloween game as Ash or play the Evil Dead game as Michael Myers. If you've ever wanted to see Myers slaughter a horde of Deadites, this is the game for you. The stories are even slightly tailored to each character, so if you play the Evil Dead game as Myers expect some story differences versus playing as Ash. The DLC characters Kelly Maxwel and Laurie Strode get their own story variations as well, offering plenty of replay value across both games.
Graphically, both the Halloween and Ash Vs. Evil Dead games look incredible with their detailed pixel art and busy backgrounds that beg you to pause and soak the sights in. The characters look great too, with the game's cartoon version of Ash having a strong resemblance to Bruce Campbell and Michael Myers looking as sinister as ever with his creepy white Shape mask.
The whole presentation comes together with a catchy retro-inspired soundtrack by Megan McDuffee that get your adrenaline pumping while staying true to each series. The character character animations are also buttery smooth, and from a technical perspective, I didn't come across a single issues over full playthroughs of each game across multiple characters.
Moreover, Boss Team Games and WayForward new horror multiverse has tons of potential—I can't wait to see which iconic horror franchise the compilation tackles next. And even cooler, there's a good chance Michael Myers and Ash Williams may be playable in future titles, too. If the idea of pixel perfect retro platformers with horror's most famous heroes/antiheroes sounds appealing, RetroRealms is a no brainer for your gaming collection.
Final Score: 8.5/10 - Great
Developer: WayForward
Publisher: Boss Team Games
Genre: Action, Platformer, Retro
Modes: Single-player
ESRB Rating: M (Mature)
A key was provided by the publisher.
By Paul Hunter
It's nearly Halloween and the timing couldn't be more perfect for RetroRealms Arcade, a series of new retro action platforming games starring Michael Myers and Ash Williams. In recent years, we've seen horror legend crossovers in games like Mortal Kombat and Dead by Daylight, but RetroRealms takes a different approach with 16-bit style action games based on the Halloween and Ash Vs. Evil Dead properties.
RetroRealms offers a few ways to get in on the horror action. You can buy the Halloween and Ash Vs. Evil Dead games separately, or you can pick up the Double Feature edition that bundles both games in one. There's also DLC characters you can buy to expand your roster, including Kelly Maxwell from Evil Dead and Laurie Strode from Halloween.
To access to the Halloween or Ash Vs. Evil Dead games you need to visit a 3D arcade, which acts as the hub zone for the compilation. There are arcade machines dedicated to Halloween and Ash Vs. Evil Dead, but what's interesting is there are more arcade machines covered by white sheets, and hint that more retro action games (likely based on other iconic horror franchises) are in the works. You can freely explore the arcade building, which includes museums for each game with unlockable exhibits, plus dioramas and even videos from the developers describing elements of the games.
I usually don't expect much story in platforming games, but RetroRealms has a concept with tons of potential. Starting with Halloween, you become the Boogeyman of Haddonfield himself, Michael Myers. The story begins with Myers trapped in captivity when an otherworld entity called the Overlord appears and offers him a deal: kill and spread chaos across Haddonfield and he'll be freed from his cell. To get Myers to comply, the Overlord snatches the "trophy" of his first murder, the tombstone of his sister Judith. Only by agreeing to the Overlord's deal can Myers get the tombstone back.
The narrative for Ash vs. Evil Dead is different, but follows a similar setup. The Overlord wants to rule the Earth with monsters the will create fear and hatred, and to do so he need to get a hold of the Necronomicon. Professional evil killer Ash Williams must battle through a town full of Deadites to get the Necronomicon back and seal away the darkness yet again.
There's not a whole lot of story development beyond those interesting introductions, but I do think the idea of an Overlord stealing a horror icons prized possession and manipulating them into further his evil plans is quite brilliant. With more horror games on the way as part of the RetroRealms collection, it seems like Boss Team Games is creating a new multiverse that connects this horror heroes/antiheroes together.
The gameplay in RetroRealms is easy to pick up, reminding me a lot of classic 16-bit franchises like Castlevania, Slaughterhouse and Ghosts 'n Goblins. The side-scrolling levels task with slaughtering bad guys, whether that's rushing zombies, floating eyeballs or crazed pyschopathic killers. Levels are surprisingly lenghy can take up to 15 minutes to finish, and are loaded with secret areas and side paths holding collectible goodies like golden tickets used to unlock exhibits in the hub zone museum.
As you beat evildoers with Myers kitchen knife or Ash's chainsaw they pop out items like needles that restore health, currency you can use to upgrade the characters, or ammo to resupply your subweapon. Each character has basic attacks, and later combos once you unlock them, plus they have signature charge attacks includes Myers rushing knife slash and Ash's medium-range shotgun blast. You can also crouch slash, upward slash, and perform various jump attacks, so all in all your offensive arsenal is powerful and diverse. And back to the subweapon topic, there are a bunch you can grab like a throwable bola or pitchfork that are great for taking out enemies at range.
Beyond battling there's also lots of platforming to do, like jumping across moving conveyor belts, wall jumping to reach higher areas, and even pogo bouncing off enemies to nab hard-to-reach collectible Jack-O'-Lantern tokens. What's really cool though is at the press of a button you can hop into the Nightmare Realm, which is a higher risk, higher reward version of each level that often has secret paths leading to high-value collectibles.
Each game also features intense boss encounters every few levels, with the difficulty ramping up nicely as you progress through the story. By the time you get to the final few levels expect your skills to really be tested as bosses get punishing and more unpredictable. But don't worry if you die at any point during stages, you have unlimited lives and can try again as many times as it takes.
Back to the whole multiverse idea, perhaps the coolest part about RetroRealms is you characters can crossover to other games, meaning you can play the Halloween game as Ash or play the Evil Dead game as Michael Myers. If you've ever wanted to see Myers slaughter a horde of Deadites, this is the game for you. The stories are even slightly tailored to each character, so if you play the Evil Dead game as Myers expect some story differences versus playing as Ash. The DLC characters Kelly Maxwel and Laurie Strode get their own story variations as well, offering plenty of replay value across both games.
Graphically, both the Halloween and Ash Vs. Evil Dead games look incredible with their detailed pixel art and busy backgrounds that beg you to pause and soak the sights in. The characters look great too, with the game's cartoon version of Ash having a strong resemblance to Bruce Campbell and Michael Myers looking as sinister as ever with his creepy white Shape mask.
The whole presentation comes together with a catchy retro-inspired soundtrack by Megan McDuffee that get your adrenaline pumping while staying true to each series. The character character animations are also buttery smooth, and from a technical perspective, I didn't come across a single issues over full playthroughs of each game across multiple characters.
The Verdict
RetroRealms Arcade is a total blast and the Double Feature package featuring Halloween and Ash Vs. Evil Dead is absolutely worth the money. Both games brought back the nostalgia with crisp 16-bit inspired pixel art graphics and challenging gameplay straight out of the '90s arcades.Moreover, Boss Team Games and WayForward new horror multiverse has tons of potential—I can't wait to see which iconic horror franchise the compilation tackles next. And even cooler, there's a good chance Michael Myers and Ash Williams may be playable in future titles, too. If the idea of pixel perfect retro platformers with horror's most famous heroes/antiheroes sounds appealing, RetroRealms is a no brainer for your gaming collection.
Final Score: 8.5/10 - Great
RetroRealms Arcade details
Platform: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PCDeveloper: WayForward
Publisher: Boss Team Games
Genre: Action, Platformer, Retro
Modes: Single-player
ESRB Rating: M (Mature)
A key was provided by the publisher.