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[BennyBlanco]

UFO 50

UFO 50 is a collection of 50 single and multiplayer games from the creators of Spelunky, Downwell, and Catacomb Kids. Explore a variety of genres, from platformers and shoot 'em ups to puzzle games, roguelites, and RPGs. Our goal is to combine a familiar 8-bit aesthetic with new ideas and modern...

www.metacritic.com

UFO 50 Reviews

UFO 50 is rated 'Mighty' after being reviewed by 7 critics, with an overall average score of 90. It's ranked in the top 1% of games and recommended by 100% of critics.

opencritic.com

The New York Times - 90

The astounding compilation UFO 50, which is based on a fictional game company from the 1980s, packs in so many completely different genres that choosing one is like opening a door to an ingenious Advent calendar.

God is a Geek - 95

UFO 50 is a celebration of retro gaming, full of wonderful modern ideas, sensational video games and a whole lot of content.

Siliconera - 90

We’ve called out a few examples, but we’re making a point not to explain absolutely everything, because a lot of the joy of UFO 50 is stumbling upon and exploring a new game. It’s best approached as a goodie bag, with discovery and learning through

I never doubted my boy Derek Yu for a second. This has been in development for 7 years. every Mossmouth game is an absolute banger. Day 1.

 

[CamHostage]

Have been anticipating playing this for seven years now, but it sounds like the wait will be rewarded....

A shame no console versions are paired with this release, (there's an "Other Platforms = TBA" marker on the website so hopefully not that this is done, more will follow, ) but this could be right on for Steam Deck.

 

[RoboEight]

Nice to see this coming out I've been following it for what seems ages, I'll pick this up when it releases Wednesday.

 

[Crayon]

I like it.

 

[ArtHands]

Seems it’s ending up as one of the best games of this year

 

[calistan]

This sounds awesome!

Each of the 50 titles here could reasonably pass as a classic cartridge on its own ... UFO 50's games are also packed with the kinds of hidden secrets and techniques that would have been the talk of the schoolyard decades ago (there's an entire "Terminal" section in the menu with a RAM hex-editor that I have yet to decipher).

UFO 50 is the best retro-gaming homage I’ve ever played

Collection of 50 new '80s-era game concepts brims with originality, care, and joy.

arstechnica.com

 

[Gandih42]

EDGE had an awesome feature on this game a few months ago. Sounded awesome and glad to see it reviewing really well! I really hope it comes to consoles at some point.

 

[BennyBlanco]

 

[SpiceRacz]

Sounds it like it’s been worth the wait. The price is right too ($25). Great week between this and Plucky Squire.

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

Day 1 if it ever hits PS5

 

[Revolutionary]

So it's like Action 52 but not shitty? Interesting.

 

[PSYGN]

I am on a hot streak when it comes to to being disappointed that a game perfect for the Switch isn't out on it.

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

I keep reading about this and finding the idea weirdly off-putting. I know the devs are great but the compilation angle turns me off big time and I don't even know why.

 

[sharp weiner]

Seems like the perfect thing to buy for steam deck and play for 27 minutes, then never boot up again.

 

[Dacvak]

Anyone know when this is coming out for Switch? I sold my Steam deck.

 

[calistan]

Still no pricing information on Steam prior to launch. I wonder if they're waiting for the super positive reviews to sink in before revealing that it's priced at '9 years in development' level.

 

[leonokarin]

Sounds great

 

[TintoConCasera]

Pretty excited for this. The fact that it's 50 games and not just 50 minigames is crazy, can't wait to dive into this although I wonder what the price will be.

 

[ArtHands]

This is practically best played on Steam Deck

 

[Evil Smurf King]

Still no pricing information on Steam prior to launch. I wonder if they're waiting for the super positive reviews to sink in before revealing that it's priced at '9 years in development' level.

Also thought they were going to reveal the price and the simultaneous release for consoles, but if there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that... it's going to be expensive,

calistan Another Frank Black fan! Love this crazy epic album "Teenager of the Year" of your profile pic (and the first one too). Cheers, brother!

"...And my best friend he's the king of Karaoke
He struck up a chord and he took it away
Out of the pan
And into Japan
'Round there, Calistan way"

 

[Chairman Yang]

Already confirmed to be $25. 50 cents per game!

 

[Evil Calvin]

Still no pricing information on Steam prior to launch. I wonder if they're waiting for the super positive reviews to sink in before revealing that it's priced at '9 years in development' level.

$25

 

[TintoConCasera]

25$ sounds like a good price for 50 "retro" games, more so if they play as good as Spelunky or Downwell.

I know what I'll be jumping in first:

Also, the official page lists "other platforms" as "TBA", so I guess it's 100% coming to consoles too.

 

[calistan]

£18.89 introductory price for the UK. That’s a steal!

 

[BennyBlanco]

This is practically best played on Steam Deck

 

[TintoConCasera]

This is practically best played on Steam Deck

Indeed. Been playing for 2 or 3 hours and it's super nice, plus the battery consumption is at a minimum at like 7W or so, so 6 hours of playtime.

 

[calistan]

Played a few games now, it totally nails that feeling of firing up an old 8-bit game and not knowing what the hell is going on. It would be nice if there were instruction booklets that you could pull up and peruse while you're getting your arse kicked.

I've yet to find one that's as brilliant as Downwell, but I'm finding myself drawn back into ones I've already tried rather than just opening every game. I think the way they're all NES games with basic graphics and two buttons mitigates my expectation of finding something extraordinary in here. It's just a very wide variety of interesting.

You open a game, and it is what is it. Always knew I would, but goddamn I love this.

 

[Holammer]

Saw Julian "Jaz" Rignall tweet about UFO 50 and he mentioned how the first game of this type, The Cassette 50 was released back in 1983 for several 8-bit micros. Eight years before Action 52 on the NES. For roughly 33£ adjusted for inflation.

 

[bender]

How does the quality of the games compare to the Retro Game Challenge DS titles?

 

[BennyBlanco]

How does the quality of the games compare to the Retro Game Challenge DS titles?

Better IMO. Bushido Ball rules.

 

[Bigfroth]

Is there a console version?

 

[BennyBlanco]

Is there a console version?

No, and I have no idea why. The game is like 350MB and would run on anything.

 

[Anthony Soprano]

Waldorf's Journey was a load of fun, had us laughing.

 

[TintoConCasera]

UFO 50 review: the 8-bit era is back and better than ever | Digital Trends

UFO 50 is an unfathomably ambitious ode to the 8-bit era featuring 50 original retro games that are bursting with creativity.

www.digitaltrends.com

Cool review covering all the games in a retro-styled way.

51% to Barbuta seems way too low tho.

 

[calistan]

UFO 50 review: the 8-bit era is back and better than ever | Digital Trends

UFO 50 is an unfathomably ambitious ode to the 8-bit era featuring 50 original retro games that are bursting with creativity.

www.digitaltrends.com

Cool review covering all the games in a retro-styled way.

51% to Barbuta seems way too low tho.

I didn’t know what was going on in Barbuta, and it’s just too slow to get anywhere when you walk through a few screens and find another dead end.

I like Magic Garden quite a lot. Shame you only get one life - that’s not very friendly, as it’s way too easy to accidentally bump into the walls and die.

Pilot Quest is my most played one so far.

 

[TintoConCasera]

I didn’t know what was going on in Barbuta, and it’s just too slow to get anywhere when you walk through a few screens and find another dead end.

Yeah. I enjoy the exploration but whe walking speed is soooo slow that it puts me off from playing the game more.

I like Magic Garden quite a lot. Shame you only get one life - that’s not very friendly, as it’s way too easy to accidentally bump into the walls and die.

I managed to beat that one! Pretty cool what they managed to do with Snake's concept here. I still have to get the cherry on that one, which depends on you getting #1 on the high score ranking. I think you can improve your score multiplier by chaining potions but that still seems quite hard to me.

Pilot Quest is my most played one so far.

For me, it's Ninpek, although I've still have a ton of games to try since I'm playing them chronologically while also trying to beat them before moving to the next one. I'm currently on Mortol and it's pretty fun and challenging.

 

[Herbspiceguy]

I like the concept, but I'm a bit reluctant to buy, because quite a few reviews mention 'quantity over quality' with only a handful of actual decent games, which is my main concern. For the same price I'd rather buy 1 quality indie title that I can sink serious time into than a collection of 'game jam' type games.

 

[calistan]

I like the concept, but I'm a bit reluctant to buy, because quite a few reviews mention 'quantity over quality' with only a handful of actual decent games, which is my main concern. For the same price I'd rather buy 1 quality indie title that I can sink serious time into than a collection of 'game jam' type games.

I don't think there's much that's low quality. The concept really works, and they all feel like they could be genuine retro games rather than modern indie titles with NES graphics. Different players will find different stuff that doesn't really click.

(Although I think if something like Mortol had actually come out in 1984, people would be talking about it as a groundbreaking title - you sacrifice soldiers and use their bodies to help the next soldier solve puzzles, sort of like Lemmings, which was released seven years later.)

If you can tolerate actual 1980s games, you'll find a lot of gems in this collection.

 

[TintoConCasera]

'game jam' type games.

I think that's far away from what's on offer here. Those games feel complete and not something that's been put together in 3 afternoons.

Sure there are some duds here and there but, overall, I'd say the quality is high (as long as you are into retro games)

 

[Chairman Yang]

I like the concept, but I'm a bit reluctant to buy, because quite a few reviews mention 'quantity over quality' with only a handful of actual decent games, which is my main concern. For the same price I'd rather buy 1 quality indie title that I can sink serious time into than a collection of 'game jam' type games.

I've only tried about half of the games so far but I haven't run into a single dud. There are a few games that aren't my thing (due to genre, for example) but are still very well-designed, and a bunch that I would consider exceptional and would have been cult classics or big hits had they been released on the NES.

The reviews saying the collection is "quantity over quality" are dead wrong. UFO 50 has both.

 

[Coolade]

I don't know how I just heard about this game today but I picked up immediately. Seems like the perfect deck game.

 

[TintoConCasera]

I don't know how I just heard about this game today but I picked up immediately. Seems like the perfect deck game.

It sure is man, a total joy to play on the Deck.

For a first game, my recommendation is Ninpek (3rd game on chronological order). It charming, simple and super fun.

 

[HogIsland]

I just got this, and can confirm it's an excellent Steam Deck time destroyer. Magic Garden is crack. I've only played 5 games and already feel good about buying it.

Btw a big portion of these games are optionally 2-player.

 

[Dev1lXYZ]

I have used this game to introduce the high score concept to my daughter thanks to Magic Garden. I have purposefully kept my score really close to hers so there is a bit of a back and forth going on. The second most played game is Barbuta. I can get about half of the items so far and it’s brutally fun. There is a lot of fantastic content here.

I have only dabbled in the other games, but Campanella is shaping up to be amazing fun. Campanella 2 is especially exciting as it is Spelunky 3 in a space ship. For fans of that series it alone is worth the price. Not to mention, there are lots of hidden codes secrets and potentially other games beyond the 50. Is there a Spelunky 8-bit version hiding in here somewhere? It’s possible.

This is my GOTY. If you grew up in the 70’s 80’s and 90’s, it’s a must own.

 

[ArtHands]

the reviews are really glowing

 

[Holammer]

I have used this game to introduce the high score concept to my daughter thanks to Magic Garden. I have purposefully kept my score really close to hers so there is a bit of a back and forth going on. The second most played game is Barbuta. I can get about half of the items so far and it’s brutally fun. There is a lot of fantastic content here.

I have only dabbled in the other games, but Campanella is shaping up to be amazing fun. Campanella 2 is especially exciting as it is Spelunky 3 in a space ship. For fans of that series it alone is worth the price. Not to mention, there are lots of hidden codes secrets and potentially other games beyond the 50. Is there a Spelunky 8-bit version hiding in here somewhere? It’s possible.

This is my GOTY. If you grew up in the 70’s 80’s and 90’s, it’s a must own.

A C64 version of Spelunky was released just recently. A NES style demake would be a good fit for Ufo 50.

 

[ArtHands]

Overwhelming positive reviews on Steam

 

[Herbspiceguy]

I bought the game due to positive reception here and after watching this video that covers all of the games:

 

[Optimus Lime]

This game is amazingly good. Perfect for the Steam Deck, and just insanely fun to play. Deep, too. It's not just a bunch of minigames, there's many of these that you could put serious time into.

 

[ChoosableOne]

It would have been great to play this on the Miyoo Mini Plus, but technically it's impossible, right? They could actually release a handheld with just this game on it. I don't really think I'll sit down to play it on PC. I will wait for Switch version. If they made paid emulators like Pico and sold retro games like this that can run on handheld consoles, there would be quite a lot of buyers.