RunGunJumpGun
A game by ThirtyThree Games for PC and Mac, originally released in 2016.
Few game titles are as accurately descriptive as RunGunJumpGun, a game that is comprised solely of running and gunning and jumping (and gunning). You play the role of a scavenger who has come to the Extax solar system to hunt for precious resources known as Atomiks. The Extax System’s sun is expanding and swallowing up the planets, and the remaining citizens have gone into a full-on apoca-panic, with numerous conspiracy theories being floated that the sun’s expansion is not natural… maybe it has something to do with the planet’s warlords, or the scavenger himself, or maybe the scavenger is their only hope for survival.
RunGunJumpGun is an auto-scrolling game with only two buttons for control, but it is a far cry from the glut of uninspired auto-runners that hit the market following the success of Canabalt. RunGunJumpGun manages to do a lot with its basic configuration, continuously opening up new obstacles and new types of challenges across 120 short levels, most of which last around 10 or 20 seconds.
Mother Russia Bleeds
A game by Le Cartel Studio for PC, Mac, Linux, and PS4, originally released in 2016.
Mother Russia Bleeds is an extremely violent beat ‘em up set in an alternate 1986 USSR. The balance of power is shifting, and the lower levels of society are taking the first hit, with people being kidnapped by an unknown organization, and a highly addictive drug spreading through the streets. You take on the role of a street fighter – or a group of them in 4P local co-op – who is kidnapped and given forced injections of this new mind-altering drug, called nekro.
When you finally wake up, you find yourself on the floor of a grimy laboratory -slash- dungeon. Weeks have passed, and you are now hopelessly addicted to the sweet embrace of the glowing green narcotic. You fight your way out of the lab, murdering everyone in sight as you pass by glassed cells filled with failed experiments and horribly disfigured people.
Seasons After Fall
A game by Swing Swing Submarine for PC, Mac, and Linux, originally released in 2016.
Seasons After Fall is the tale of a fox - or at least a spirit which has possessed a fox - who must journey through an unknown land, using the power of the seasons to alter the environment. The spirit is brought forth knowing nothing about the world around it, and guided only by a disembodied voice who asks that the spirit seek out four guardians spread across the land, each of which controls one of the four seasons.
Prior to its emergence, the spirit is merely floating in a sea of darkness, passing between wrapped vines and being pushed along by air currents. Upon awakening and listening to the words of the disembodied voice, a fox wanders into the glade, and the voice asks the spirit to lure the fox over to a set of jutting stones. A ritual is performed and the spirit is merged with the fox, allowing the spirit to possess it and take control over its body.
Featherpunk Prime
A game by Super Hatch Games for PC, originally released in 2016.
In Featherpunk Prime, you take control of a robotic flamingo known as a Cybirdroid in a sidescrolling twin-stick shooter set across multiple floors of a neon-highlighted industrial facility. An evil corporation has descended on your home in Flamingo Valley and birdnapped your fellow Cybirdroids, but you manage to stow away on the ship as it departs for their corporate headquarters. When it sets down, you hop out, break into the facility, and start blasting your way thorough turrets, hovering bird-bots, and other mechanical beasties as you make your way up the tower one floor at a time.
The Cybirdroid is fairly mobile, with a 2x variable jump, a boost-assisted double jump, and the ability to slide under low overhangs or duck and crawl beneath them, while still being able to aim and fire in 360 degrees. The robo-flamingo is equally adept at maneuvering up and down walls, with the ability to wall jump up any vertical surface, wall slide, or even stick in place, which is useful for shooting enemies between platforms while avoiding return fire. The player can also boost in a straight line to the left or right, which is most useful beating a hasty retreat when the screen fills with enemies and projectiles.
Pharaoh Rebirth+
A game by Krobon Station for PC, originally released episodically in Japan in 2015, and released in the US in 2016.
Pharaoh Rebirth+ is a level-based action adventure with some metroidvania elements, starring Dr. Jonathan Banfield, a treasure hunter of some renown. But unlike the traditional Indiana Jones knockoffs featured in archaeological adventure games over the years, Jonathan is actually a humanoid bunny. As it turns out, he and his friend Andre were cursed when stealing artefacts from a tomb. Jonathan was turned into a bunny and Andre was turned into a turtle. Since then, Jonathan and Andre have parted ways, with Andre continuing his plundering ways, and Jonathan turning to the straight and narrow.
In the game’s playable prologue, Jonathan has just discovered an archeological site filled with artefacts, including an ancient and mysterious sarcophagus. But his explorations are interrupted by Andre who shows up in an attack helicopter to stop him. Fortunately, military-grade equipment is no match for Jonathan’s spinning bunny ears, and he attacks the chopper until it crashes down. However, just as he reaches the sarcophagus, Andre reappears and opens it, cursing the pair once again.
Metagal
A game by RetroRevolution for PC, originally released in 2016.
Metagal is an action platformer heavily inspired by the Mega Man series. You take on the role of a cyborg girl named Meta (a.k.a. GAL.00), who is on a quest to defeat General Creeper and rescue her maker, Dr. Ray, along with her cyborg sisters. Unfortunately, her sisters have been turned into battle androids and are now fighting on the side of General Creeper. However, by defeating each of her sisters, Meta can copy their abilities and use these powers to infiltrate Creeper’s fortress and take him down.
Meta has a 1.5x variable jump and the ability to dash along the ground for a short distance by double-tapping forward. Each press of the SHOOT button sends out 3 rapid-fire buster shots, and her special move is a cluster of blue and pink energy – very similar to the charge shot seen in later Mega Man titles – which draws from a secondary meter. In the game’s original release, the basic buster shot drained energy from the secondary meter as well, but this was removed in order to make the game more accessible.
Adventure Lamp
A game by Ryan Davis for PC, Mac, and Wii U, originally released in 2016.
Adventure Lamp is a puzzle platforming tale of a plucky archaeologist named Simon who has been dispatched on a mission to study an ancient temple. Unfortunately, just as Simon is setting out on his expedition, a cave in cuts him off from his equipment, leaving him with nothing but his trusty headlamp to see him through the mysterious structure, and possibly dashing his hopes of ever receiving a promotion.
Simon’s adventure takes him across five themed areas, from the ancient temple, to fungi-filled caves, across blustery mountaintops, and eventually into darker and more dangerous territory. There are more than 100 levels in all, although they are each meant to be completed in under 30 seconds (and some far less). Still, there is a good deal of variety with new challenges introduced every few levels.
Song of the Deep
A game by Insomniac Games for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, originally released in 2016.
Song of the Deep tells the tale of a girl named Merryn whose father is a fisherman of limited means. Every day, he sets out on his fishing boat, and every night he returns home to Merryn – who comes to greet him on a cliff overlooking the sea – and he tells her grand tales about giant sea creatures and great underwater cities, which she believes to be fairy tales.
But one night, her father fails to return home. After waiting a full day for his return, and dreaming of him in peril beneath the waves, she decides to take matters into her own hands. Using scraps of wood and metal found by her father during his fishing expeditions, Merryn manages to cobble together a functional submarine. She climbs inside and sets out to sea, diving below the surface to seek out her lost father and uncover the mysteries of the deep.
Super Mutant Alien Assault
A game by Cybernate for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, originally released in 2016.
Super Mutant Alien Assault is a sidescrolling arena shooter inspired by Super Crate Box. At the start of the game, alien vessels suddenly appear in Earth’s orbit and lay waste to the entire planet. Only three fleets of ships manage to escape, carrying the last remnants of humanity in cryo-sleep capsules. For some reason, the humans decide that they need to flee to an extremely great distance in order to escape this alien threat, so the fleets are on their way to three different galaxies. Unfortunately, the aliens are in pursuit, leaving the fate of the humans up to their ships’ defense droids.
You take on the role of one such droid, or a pair of them in local 2P co-op. Players may select between two robot types at the start of the game, with two additional designs that must be unlocked, although each of the droids plays in the same fashion. Unfortunately, the defense droids don’t come equipped with any weapons from the start and instead must rely on random pickups from weapon-dispensing machines to collect their armaments.
Bot Vice
A game by DYA Games for PC, Mac, and Linux, originally released in 2016.
Bot Vice is a gallery shooter inspired by a number of classic games, most notably Wild Guns. You take on the role of Erin Saver, a police officer who lost her partner and her right arm when facing off against a criminal organization known as the Wildbots. Her arm has since been replaced with a bionic version that allows her to fire projectiles from her palm and swap between weapon types, and she is out for revenge.
The Wildbots have returned and have taken over Tominaka Plaza – an anagram for Nakatomi Plaza – and Erin has taken it upon herself to infiltrate their defenses… but her time is limited.
At the start of the game, Erin has less than 40 minutes to reach Tominaka Plaza before it is destroyed, and each level has a timer that clicks upward. If she is not able to complete the first 23 levels in time, the 24th and final level will remain locked. Fortunately, she can revisit any previously-visited level in order shave off a few seconds and earn a better cumulative time, allowing her to access the final showdown. The player is ranked on completion time, and level indicators are color-coded to make it easier to tell which have the most room for improvement.
Boxboy / Boxboxboy
Games by HAL Laboratory for 3DS, originally released in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
Boxboy and Boxboxboy – which are technically named BOXBOY! and BOXBOXBOY! – are a pair of puzzle platformers starring a little square fellow named Qbby. There’s not much to the little guy, as he is made up of a rounded box with two legs and two eyes and nothing else, although he does exude a bit of personality in his smooth movements and cute idle animations. The games are presented with similarly minimal visuals consisting of simple black and white designs with occasional grey highlights in the original game, with the addition of bits of green in the sequel.
There’s also not much to the story, which involves the player unlocking a series of doors across a largely featureless corridor, overcoming the challenges within, and then clearing paths that allow him to reach the next set of doors. At certain points, the player interacts with some mysterious machinery that triggers wordless cutscenes, revealing a square planet being restored and the occasional rescue of one of Qbby’s friends.
Hyper Light Drifter
A game by Heart Machine for PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, and Xbox One, originally released in 2016.
Hyper Light Drifter is an action-adventure where Drifters search the world for ancient technology and artifacts, slashing through roaming beasts and still-active machines. You take on the role of one such Drifter who is haunted by visions of what the world once was, finding himself under attack by some unknown creeping darkness, and following a black dog that seems to be guiding him. Something has happened to the world… A once great civilization has been destroyed, its people long dead, their bodies strewn across the landscape, and their towering sentinels now rusting into nothingness.
After a strange introductory cutscene – filled with chaotic imagery and rivers of blood – you gain control of the Drifter. His body is weak, however, and he struggles to rise. Oftentimes, he doubles over and coughs up blood, during which time the screen is covered in static, offering only questions about the nature of the world.
