RETROREALMS

Written by Joseph Moorer on 10/30/2024 for PC  

It's spooky season. The time when game companies, television and streaming stations, and all other forms of entertainment try to woo you into doing all the scary things. Watch these movies, they'll scare your face off. Play this game, it'll make you pee all of your pants. Snuggle up next to someone, and hold on tight, as this thing sneaks up on these people, and offs them one by one. Or watch Hocus Pocus 1 and 2, back to back, because, yes. When Retrorealms was announced, I was for certain it would be one of the coolest tie-ins to ever exist in gaming. It's a 16-bit side scrolling hack and slash game based on the Evil Dead and Halloween. I watched the gameplay trailer, and immediately requested it.  

Boss Team Games, and my favorite developer WayForward, has put two games together based on popular horror franchises. As much as it seems like a no brainer to market this to fans of these series, the games aren't really here for that. For starters, they're a part of the Retrorealm Arcade, and as such, these might be the only two franchises we get. The games' protagonist is a character named Overlord, and Overlord is running this whole thing. You will go through 10 different worlds, as either Michael Meyers, or Ash form Evil Dead. While The Shape is making an unspoken bargain to be freed in exchange for brutalities, Ash simply gets the Necronomicon stolen from him. There are 10 levels, 2 per world, and a boss every second level. The similarities don't stop there.

Halloween is based on the I believe the original first one (not the new first one), while Ash and The Evil Dead is based on the STARZ original series, which I have yet to see. Both games have challenging platforming, repetitive enemies, special weapons, and collectibles. There's also this Nightmare Realm you can switch back and forth, but I'll touch on that a little later. The special weapons are a little different, as Michael can shoot a pitchfork at enemies, Ash's equivalent is a knife or dagger of some sort. Both have currency to spend, and the same move set, so if you switch from one game to another, it's all the same.

So let's go through the basics. Both characters have a melee attack, which is a slice of a knife, or a chainsaw arm swipe. Most enemies can be taken out in one hit, as you run and gun your way through. You also have a charge attack you will hardly use, because it takes way too long to charge up, and sometimes so much is going on that you'll simply forget that you have it. Both characters can wall jump, and have an invincible roll, but only when the game wants them to have it. The can climb up on ledges and even slice directionally. You even have a down slash, that allows you to bounce off your enemy. It doesn't always work, so don't rely on it too much. 

The first enemies you encounter are your Castlevania 1 zombies. One direction, straight toward you. Then you have the ones who will shoot or throw things at you. It gets worse from here. There are enemies that regenerate, or explode after you defeat them. Enemies who throw things at you then start generating. As you move further, hordes of enemies pop out of doors and rush after you. There are dudes that slide around on ground boards, and guys behind a fence hurling bombs at you. Slime that crawls slowly, just to impede your progress, and some of them explode. And all this, at once, hits you. Everything hits you, and once your health is depleted, which doesn't take long when all that stuff is on the screen at once, it's back to the beginning, or the checkpoint, which is the half way mark. Level 5-1 stinks, for your information.

Then there's the nightmare realm. You can switch to the nightmare realm with the push of a button. You will need to switch to the nightmare realm on two occasions. One is to reach a collectable, as it reveals platforms and pathways you couldn't see in the real world. The other reason is to progress further in certain parts of levels. The enemies in the nightmare realm are so much worse, and World 5 is the crossover of both worlds, since it's the Overlord's castle. The enemies are harder, and there's this one thing that no matter where you are on the screen, he can ground pound and take you out. Collectables, as they go, are either pumpkins, pages of the Necronomicon, or tickets to use in the gallery. The nightmare realm is so bad that at one point, I skipped the collectables. I just wanted to get through the game. The nightmare realm also runs on a meter, so you can only be there for so long. If you are in a red section of the nightmare realm when you come back to the real world, you will explode, and be pushed back a little. The good news, is that if you spawn back on top of an enemy, they will explode on contact. 

Now, as you're getting tossed around like a Jason Vorhees victim, you do get some reprieve. There are hit points. You can take multiple hits, and no one enemy takes more than one at a time, if that. There are also special weapons you can find, which actually differ between the two. Ash has access to a nail gun that stuns for three seconds, while The Shape gets a sickle that is like a boomerang. You can only use these with as much ammo as you have, which is easy to come by and refill. You can also refill your life, with drinks for Ash, and syringes for Mike. These drops are plentiful. It's getting to them that is sometimes the issue with everything going on in the screen. 

Fear not, for between every level, you can visit a shop. This shop lets you spend your in-game picked up currency. Candy corn for Mr. Meyers, and cash for Ash. You can buy more hit points, ammo, and even more moves and combos. So as the going gets tough, you can get slightly tougher. I say slightly, because some upgrades are locked behind a level completion. Know that you probably won't make enough money to get the upgrades you want out the gate. I upgraded my HP, and then waited to complete world 3 to get the Uppercut, or as the Evil Dead calls it, the Sure You Can. Clever girl. The pages, pumpkins, and any other three-piece collectables will net you $100 extra per piece. If you want to take the shot. If you get one of the three pieces, it's yours as long as you have a save file, so you only have to get them once.  

Each second level of the world has a boss. And the bosses are no fun. Some are cheaper than others, and some are just super easy. The hardest part of the game is the actual levels, because right before you get to a boss, they give you a hit point refresh, a checkpoint, and your choice between two special weapons, plus ammo. If you lose, you start right back over from that spot, so if a special weapon didn't work the first time just choose the other one. Mostly, use that uppercut with the final boss. Thank me later. I failed to mention the unlimited lives part. It's a thing, so try not to get too discouraged. I mean I definitely got frustrated at one point, specifically level 5-1. It stinks, for your information.  

Now, you don't have to buy both games, but if you do, you get to crossover characters. You get to play as Ash in the Halloween game, and vice versa. Ash is much faster than The Shape, so if you're a fancy any% speed runner, Ash is the way to go in either game. They also carry their special items with them. The do NOT carry their upgrades over, so if you've beat the Evil Dead, and you have the uppercut, then you just have it in that game. The levels and bosses stay the same, though the dialogue is different. And that's if you care. None of it has any voice acting, so there's that. Ash has his charm, and Mike just talks in ellipses. Easier on the writers, I suppose. There are two DLC characters, Laurie Stroud and Kelly Maxwell. Laurie is faster than Kelly, and they can crossover too. 

The pixel art here shines. You can see the cool details of every character. It's very easy on the eyes. The blood spatter with each kill is a very nice touch as well. The music, done by the incomparable Megan McDuffie, is also fantastic. A slash em up while listening to a remix of the Halloween theme is something I didn't know I needed. The other collectables in this game are tickets. You can use these tickets to unlock gallery items for each game, such as the coveralls from The Shape, and the chainsaw from Ash. You can give them a closer look as well. You also unlock dioramas from each world you complete, and even flip them around to look at the nightmare realm version. To the right of the games, is a room with a TV, and a VCR, where you can watch behind the scene interviews with Boss Games, and Megan herself. They're short and sweet, and add a nice touch. 

As I wrote this review, I realized that I may have liked the game a little more than I thought. I loved the challenge of slashing through enemies, and trying to find all the things, only to realize I didn't need all the things. I also found some unreliable farming techniques, like killing the enemy that resurrects over and over again for money, even though it's only a dollar a piece. There are some frustrating parts with the controls, as they are not as responsive as say a Splatterhouse, or Knights of the Round. The down slash doesn't always work.

And again, World 5.1 stinks, though I did find a way to skip half of world 5-2, for your information. I don't know if the unlocks are enough for replay value, and I definitely don't want to play the game 8 times, just for dialogue switches. (4 characters, times 2 games). I saw nothing different with bosses or enemies, and yeah, it's cool slicing up things with The Shape and Ash, but it may be all I need until the next title comes, as there are 4 covered cabinets in the "arcade". I won't speculate though. I guess in the sense that I've played Streets of Rage 4 fifty times, I could try it.