Some games invoke the Atari 2600 era, others make you want to un-box your Intellivision or Colecovision. Other offerings might make you nostaligic for the NES, the Genesis, or the Super Nintendo. “Superdimension Iliad” does something interesting, it tries to make you yearn for all of the above by having you play through the 8-bit and 16-bit eras, one system at a time.
The game is a platformer, and levels don’t invoke the graphics and audio of the system that inspired them, but they also incorporate elements that harken to specific games you might remember for those systems (and with “harken”, I think I’ve finally exhausted my available list of words that support the remake feel). Make no mistake, though, “Superdimension Iliad” is a difficult game. So much so that some people might give up on it. However, there’s a solution. Youtube has helpfully provided. For example:
This game has so much variety, and such a creative approach to nostalgia, that I strongly recommend checking it out, and to take full advantage of the series of walkthroughs on Youtube when (and only when) you get stuck.
Here’s what the developer (We Love Hamsters Software) has to say about the game:
“Experience the first decade and a half of gaming history in this challenging action-platformer. The Goddess Iliad longs to be remembered, and so sets forth her avatar to journey through 8 levels of action. Acquire special weapons as you defeat each gaming realm. Jump and climb through the environment and defeat your enemies until you reveal the final fate of the Goddess Iliad.”
Writings of Mass Deduction 