UFO 50: Fifty Games Reviewed In (Almost) Fifty Minutes | Postgame Show

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_01]: It is time for Fine Time!

[00:00:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Hello, Party People!

[00:00:18] [SPEAKER_00]: It's your boy Dre and I'm here all by myself today because I'm a crazy person and I didn't

[00:00:23] [SPEAKER_00]: want to subject anyone else to my insanity.

[00:00:26] [SPEAKER_00]: So, recently I became captivated with UFO 50 as a lot of people have been and I've

[00:00:33] [SPEAKER_00]: been enjoying it so much that I wanted to give every single game a review.

[00:00:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Because why not?

[00:00:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Every single game I'm going to give a little mini review, that's the premise of this episode,

[00:00:45] [SPEAKER_00]: but before we get started, let us explain to the uninitiated what the hell is UFO 50?

[00:00:57] [SPEAKER_00]: UFO 50 is a game compilation largely spearheaded by Derek U and his associates at Mossmouth

[00:01:04] [SPEAKER_00]: who previously worked together in Spomunky.

[00:01:07] [SPEAKER_00]: And when I say games compilation, I truly mean that these are actual games, not mini games,

[00:01:14] [SPEAKER_00]: not warriorware, micro games, they are real deal full on video games from all sorts of genres,

[00:01:22] [SPEAKER_00]: platformers, puzzle games, RPGs, schmups, beat them up, party games, everything.

[00:01:28] [SPEAKER_00]: And there's really 50 of them.

[00:01:31] [SPEAKER_00]: It's incredible, it's almost too good to be true but it is true.

[00:01:34] [SPEAKER_00]: The reason why it's called UFO 50 besides the fact that there's 50 games is because the story

[00:01:39] [SPEAKER_00]: of the game is that they were all created by a company called UFO soft and the games were

[00:01:44] [SPEAKER_00]: published for an obscure console in the 80s.

[00:01:47] [SPEAKER_00]: I forget the name of the Fictitious console, but that's where these games come from.

[00:01:52] [SPEAKER_00]: This fake company for this fake console that never existed.

[00:01:55] [SPEAKER_00]: This obviously frees them up to not try to be authentic to any type of hardware,

[00:02:00] [SPEAKER_00]: limitation or sound chip or anything else because they're just doing whatever they want

[00:02:04] [SPEAKER_00]: and their own little alternate universe and that's fantastic.

[00:02:09] [SPEAKER_00]: I guess there is one limitation is that all the games only use the D-pad and two buttons

[00:02:14] [SPEAKER_00]: because that's what the controller looks like in the picture of the imaginary console.

[00:02:19] [SPEAKER_00]: But honestly, that's fine because you need to be able to pick up and play these games

[00:02:23] [SPEAKER_00]: because there's 50 of them and there's no fake manuals or tutorials or anything like that.

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_00]: So you kind of just have to intuit what's happening and fast and simple controls are the best way

[00:02:33] [SPEAKER_00]: to accomplish that.

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_00]: So anyway, I thought it was such a great concept and so I bought it and I fell in love instantly

[00:02:41] [SPEAKER_00]: and yeah, I'm just going to touch on every single one of these games as quickly as I can.

[00:02:46] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm shooting for under an hour here.

[00:02:48] [SPEAKER_00]: So let's see how I do, right?

[00:02:50] [SPEAKER_00]: I have one more bit of preamble before I get started though.

[00:02:54] [SPEAKER_00]: While I'm going to give each game a letter grade, please understand that all of this is just for funsies.

[00:03:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay? Some of these games I played for five minutes, some of these games I played for five hours.

[00:03:06] [SPEAKER_00]: All right? Hardly any of this is going to be objective or thorough.

[00:03:09] [SPEAKER_00]: So all of this is just how I felt about whatever I played of each game because honestly it's more fun that way.

[00:03:15] [SPEAKER_00]: We're keeping it fast and loose here.

[00:03:18] [SPEAKER_00]: And after every 10 games, I'm going to take a break and give you some overarching UFO 50 thoughts that I have.

[00:03:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Hope that sounds good and I really appreciate you taking this trip with me the listener.

[00:03:30] [SPEAKER_00]: And with that, let's get started.

[00:03:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Game one, Barbuta.

[00:03:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Barbuta is your very classic very early 80s type of side scrolling adventure game.

[00:03:45] [SPEAKER_00]: I think you know the type. It's really slow, it's really clunky and it's really unforgiving.

[00:03:50] [SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, I guess it could be frustrating for people who aren't into that kind of thing.

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_00]: But I'm into that kind of thing.

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_00]: So for me, it's rewarding once you figure it out.

[00:03:59] [SPEAKER_00]: The good thing is that Barbuta is a nearly as cryptic as an actual adventure game from that era, which is very welcome.

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_00]: I've played a lot of these types of games at my time and the old school idea of the adventure game is a genre I still really love and really respect.

[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_00]: So Barbuta is a decent enough one and the sense of discovery is cool and fun, so I'll give it a B-.

[00:04:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Game two, bug hunter.

[00:04:25] [SPEAKER_00]: This is a pretty cool game.

[00:04:27] [SPEAKER_00]: It's almost like an arcade version of a tactical RPG in which you have different movement options and attack options.

[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And then you can gain new ones by buying them from an in-game shop to replace the actions that you don't want.

[00:04:39] [SPEAKER_00]: I really like the mix and match of trying to make it work with the tools afforded to you.

[00:04:45] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, trying to get shit done with just what you have, having the right attack grid at the right time.

[00:04:50] [SPEAKER_00]: It's really satisfying.

[00:04:51] [SPEAKER_00]: The arcadeiness comes in from the fact that the bugs just keep coming and coming to you die.

[00:04:57] [SPEAKER_00]: It's one of those kind of games.

[00:04:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Or at least I think they keep coming because I'm not good enough to get very far, but it's a great concept and it's very well executed and I'm going to give bug hunter a B-plus.

[00:05:11] [SPEAKER_01]: D-3, nimpack.

[00:05:15] [SPEAKER_00]: This is an auto scrolling platform game like Sun Sun or Goem on, you know, but you're a ninja, hence the name nimpack.

[00:05:23] [SPEAKER_00]: I guess it takes after Ninja Jai Maru Kune too, of course.

[00:05:27] [SPEAKER_00]: And I guess this game is okay.

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_00]: I appreciate what you're trying to do here, but I don't think it totally comes together.

[00:05:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Some of the enemies can take a lot of hits which feels unnecessary in auto scrolling game like this.

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_00]: In some projectiles can feel kind of cheap.

[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_00]: I guess maybe the enemy placement feels a little half hazard is what I'm trying to say, and it doesn't allow for like that careful ramping up of difficulty.

[00:05:50] [SPEAKER_00]: These games are known for.

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Also you don't get any points for killing enemies.

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Each enemy drops like a dude ad when you kill them and you have to go get that dude ad to get the points, which is a pretty fussy thing to do on top of everything else going on.

[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, nimpack's heart is in the right place, but I can't give it any higher than to see minus.

[00:06:13] [SPEAKER_00]: D4, PNCHASE.

[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_00]: I really like the idea behind PNCHASE, but it doesn't really work out.

[00:06:19] [SPEAKER_00]: So this is a top down racing game like Rally X or Route 16 where you drive your car around and take out other cars.

[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_00]: But your car is also painting the road, and the enemy cars are also painting the road.

[00:06:31] [SPEAKER_00]: And the point of the game is to paint a certain percentage of the road before time is up almost like Splatoon Turf War where you win by paint coverage.

[00:06:40] [SPEAKER_00]: So like that's a great idea, right?

[00:06:42] [SPEAKER_00]: But the problem with Paint Chase is that it just doesn't give you a break.

[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_00]: There's so many cars painting the road and only one of you, and it's really difficult to manage.

[00:06:52] [SPEAKER_00]: You can say it's because I suck at the game and that might be true, but in just the second level they start introducing airplanes that shoot paintballs all the way across the map.

[00:07:01] [SPEAKER_00]: They paint everything. How are you supposed to deal with that?

[00:07:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Shouldn't it be a level 20, not level 2?

[00:07:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Like, yeah, so great idea with Paint Chase, but it's too daunting to be any fun to me.

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_00]: So unfortunately I'm gonna give it a D.

[00:07:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Game 5, Magic Earth.

[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Magic Earth is a simple little top down game where you pick up slimes and then they follow you in a line kind of like flicky.

[00:07:28] [SPEAKER_00]: And then you drop them off in a zone and you get points.

[00:07:31] [SPEAKER_00]: The more slimes you drop off at once, the more points you get, again just like flicky.

[00:07:36] [SPEAKER_00]: It's a pretty fun risk reward mechanic of trying to drop off as many slimes as you can at once without getting hit

[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_00]: And you don't want to get hit because you get hit once it's game over. You have one life to live.

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_00]: So that makes it a fun little scorer attack thing to see how many balls you can keep juggled up in the air at once.

[00:07:52] [SPEAKER_00]: It's very simple, but effective enough at what it does. So I'll give Magic Art in a B-.

[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_01]: G6, mortal.

[00:08:04] [SPEAKER_00]: This is really great. This is like an action puzzle where you have 20 lives and then you need to sacrifice yourself in various ways to get through the level.

[00:08:13] [SPEAKER_00]: For instance, a wall might be too high to jump so you can torpedo yourself into the wall which makes a platform so your next guy can jump on it to get over.

[00:08:22] [SPEAKER_00]: You can turn yourself the stone to break spikes or wait down a switch. You can suicide bomb yourself to explode walls in your way.

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_00]: It's so much fun figuring out how to proceed while using as few lives as you can and then going back and doing it again if you want to improve your efficiency.

[00:08:38] [SPEAKER_00]: So you can continue with more lives than you did before.

[00:08:42] [SPEAKER_00]: It is just so much fun.

[00:08:44] [SPEAKER_00]: The mortal is a killer concept and it really stands out as one of the greats here on UFO 50. I'm going to give it an A-.

[00:08:55] [SPEAKER_01]: Game 7, no grass.

[00:08:59] [SPEAKER_00]: This is basically the Metroid Escape sequence put an entire game. You're a lady bounty hunter who's deep underground and you've got to jump up and up to escape.

[00:09:08] [SPEAKER_00]: It's randomly generated and it's fun but there's a problem.

[00:09:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Just like Magic Garden, you're a one hit wonder.

[00:09:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Well that's not a problem in Magic Garden. It is a problem in Velgris because they clearly want you to progress here.

[00:09:22] [SPEAKER_00]: There's like a shop that appears after you reach a certain amount of floors and then the environment changes and there's like a new song and everything.

[00:09:29] [SPEAKER_00]: But if you die it's all over you have to go back to the beginning and that just doesn't feel right.

[00:09:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Like I feel like this should have been like Mr. Driller where you just have three lives complete this long gauntlet and maybe one extra life if you play your cards right.

[00:09:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Velgris is too stingy in this regard so I can't give it higher than a C.

[00:09:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Game 8, Planet Zool-Dath.

[00:09:55] [SPEAKER_00]: This is a randomly generated adventure game where you need to find items and use weapons and explore around and you find the three pieces of the treasure map you came for and then you go back to your ship and you leave.

[00:10:07] [SPEAKER_00]: That's it, that's the whole game.

[00:10:09] [SPEAKER_00]: But it's pretty tough to understand the way of the land at first.

[00:10:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Guys that were friendly in one run and now hostile species in your next run.

[00:10:17] [SPEAKER_00]: There's like stuff that can one shot you before you build your health up. It's a pretty daunting game.

[00:10:23] [SPEAKER_00]: And it but it's fun, it's it's okay enough.

[00:10:26] [SPEAKER_00]: I had to okay time completing a couple runs of it and I really love the alien planet and the creature design so I'll give Planet Zool-Dath a C+.

[00:10:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Game 9, Attatics.

[00:10:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Love that name. In Attatics you move your army units up down or back but they move forward on their own accord.

[00:10:50] [SPEAKER_00]: So you need to find lanes or like five or six lanes you need to get through one of them through the enemy forces and damage their castle enough times to win.

[00:11:00] [SPEAKER_00]: I know that's like a weird description but it's also a really weird game.

[00:11:03] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know how else the spray bit honestly. It's like maybe a fire emblem or an RTS chess game?

[00:11:11] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know man. I love the art style though. Kind of looks like the Jacks, King's and Queen's. You see in a deck of cards except come to life.

[00:11:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Again, weird description.

[00:11:20] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm really bad at Attatics but I love the premise of the art style and I love saying Attatics so I'll give it a B.

[00:11:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Game 10, Evolution.

[00:11:33] [SPEAKER_00]: This is another pretty bizarre one. It's a puzzle game where you set up a bunch of pieces on the board that detonate and then you want to set them up in the correct way for the old chain reaction each other and detonate enough enemies to win while also being sure to not detonate yourself or your partner who's also on the board.

[00:11:51] [SPEAKER_00]: So it's like setting up the most bizarre domino chain ever. It's so fucking weird.

[00:11:56] [SPEAKER_00]: I do like the enemies. They have this like devilish capcomi look. Like you'd see in like Gargo is quest or something?

[00:12:03] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm just gonna go off of vibes here and give devilish an a B.

[00:12:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Alright, let's take a break because I want to talk about music.

[00:12:17] [SPEAKER_00]: So I haven't really been mentioning much about the music so far in UFO 50 if anything.

[00:12:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Simple because I don't have time if I want to keep these reviews short.

[00:12:26] [SPEAKER_00]: But just know that even if I don't mention it, most of these games have bangers.

[00:12:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Alright, it appears to be mostly done by Eric Sirke. I'm sorry, I don't know how to say his last name.

[00:12:38] [SPEAKER_00]: The guy who did the music for Sponky, which is incredible soundtrack.

[00:12:42] [SPEAKER_00]: It brings that sauce to UFO 50.

[00:12:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Most of these games have like just like one or two songs, which is to be expected.

[00:12:49] [SPEAKER_00]: But like those couple songs each game has is pretty fucking snappy.

[00:12:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Some of them sound very Famicomedist system if I had to place it as something.

[00:12:59] [SPEAKER_00]: But overall they're just great little chiptunes, excellent stuff.

[00:13:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Just wanted to shut out the music before we move on.

[00:13:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Which we will do right now. So back to the reviews, resuming with...

[00:13:10] [SPEAKER_01]: Game of Heaven, kick club.

[00:13:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Kick club is your classic single-screen action puzzler.

[00:13:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Think like bubble, bubble or snowbrothers, where you clear the screen of enemies and move to the next screen.

[00:13:24] [SPEAKER_00]: The gimmick here is that you're a soccer player.

[00:13:27] [SPEAKER_00]: And you have to get the ball and kick it at the enemies to kill them.

[00:13:31] [SPEAKER_00]: The enemies turn into food when they die, like french fries, hot dogs, burgers.

[00:13:35] [SPEAKER_00]: You know that's a classic move, love that.

[00:13:37] [SPEAKER_00]: The hurry up goes to Sponny. It's like the ghost of a soccer coach.

[00:13:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Like blowing his whistle and chasing their rounds. So that's cute.

[00:13:45] [SPEAKER_00]: So all the elements are here and kick club doesn't really bring anything new to the genre, but that's okay.

[00:13:50] [SPEAKER_00]: The vibes are good, so how about a B-minus for kick club?

[00:13:56] [SPEAKER_01]: Game 12, avionous.

[00:13:59] [SPEAKER_00]: I may have joked before how I was too dumb to be good at bug hunter,

[00:14:03] [SPEAKER_00]: but I legitimately cannot wrap my head around avionos.

[00:14:07] [SPEAKER_00]: This is some real PC nerd shit that I can't even scratch.

[00:14:11] [SPEAKER_00]: This is some co-high super Famicom business simulator type shit.

[00:14:15] [SPEAKER_00]: All these numbers on screen and unit types and whatever's going on may as well be a foreign language as far as I'm concerned.

[00:14:23] [SPEAKER_00]: This is well over my head, and I don't even know how to describe it, so I won't even try.

[00:14:29] [SPEAKER_00]: This also means I will decline to give avionos a letter grade because I'm basically unable to.

[00:14:34] [SPEAKER_00]: If you like strategy games out there, give it a go and then report back to me because I don't get it.

[00:14:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Game 13 Mooncat

[00:14:44] [SPEAKER_00]: So Mooncat is a platformer with goofy controls on purpose.

[00:14:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Pressing any button will move you one way, pressing any direction on the D-pad will move you another way

[00:14:54] [SPEAKER_00]: and both things together will make you jump.

[00:14:57] [SPEAKER_00]: It's so weird!

[00:14:59] [SPEAKER_00]: I think you might be meant to play it too, player, reach person controls one of the levers so to speak.

[00:15:04] [SPEAKER_00]: I could see that being fun. Still it's fun to play it by yourself too.

[00:15:07] [SPEAKER_00]: I like goofy controls games so long as they're responsive,

[00:15:10] [SPEAKER_00]: and Mooncat is responsive as hell.

[00:15:13] [SPEAKER_00]: But there isn't a whole lot to the level design, so I think I'll give Mooncat a solid C+.

[00:15:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Game 14, Bishito Ball

[00:15:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Bishito Ball is a pung style gamer, maybe a closer comp as win-jammers, where you pick a few

[00:15:30] [SPEAKER_00]: to Japanese warrior to hit this ball back and forth and try to score on your opponent.

[00:15:35] [SPEAKER_00]: So depending on the character you pick, you have different swords, throwing weapons, ninja stars, what they could buy, all that stuff.

[00:15:43] [SPEAKER_00]: So the characters feel really distinct from each other which is always appreciated.

[00:15:47] [SPEAKER_00]: You can also hit your opponent with those weapons and stun them so they can't defend your shot,

[00:15:52] [SPEAKER_00]: so that's a good strategy to use in this game.

[00:15:54] [SPEAKER_00]: It's as simple as it sounds, and I don't know if I have much more to say about it than that.

[00:16:00] [SPEAKER_00]: So I'll give it a C+. It's decent enough, C+. for Bishito Ball.

[00:16:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Game 15, Block Ball.

[00:16:13] [SPEAKER_00]: This is your typical push-the-box kind of puzzle game like Adventure of LoL or something like that.

[00:16:18] [SPEAKER_00]: So that's cool, I like those.

[00:16:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Problem is the first level is like really hard, and they don't ease you into the logic of the game at all,

[00:16:28] [SPEAKER_00]: which kind of sucks because there's a bunch of blocks with numbers, but some of the blocks don't have numbers.

[00:16:35] [SPEAKER_00]: And I guess they want you to trial an error it, but I'm too dumb for that.

[00:16:39] [SPEAKER_00]: I need a few easy levels, okay?

[00:16:42] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not saying I wanted a tutorial because I never advocate for a tutorial, but come on!

[00:16:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Like when you start that difficult from the jump, a person like me doesn't stand a chance.

[00:16:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Block-a-walla might be a good game, but I had a bad time.

[00:16:56] [SPEAKER_00]: And since I'm rating personal fun factor here, I'm going to have to give Block-a-walla a D+.

[00:17:04] [SPEAKER_01]: Game 16, camouflage.

[00:17:08] [SPEAKER_00]: So in this one you're a lizard, and you got to get to the exit by changing your color in the grass or sand or whatnot so your predators can't see you.

[00:17:17] [SPEAKER_00]: That's about it! It's pretty generous about restarting you if you die because after you get munched on by something,

[00:17:23] [SPEAKER_00]: it's kind of just right where you were instead of doing the entire level over, which I guess is good.

[00:17:30] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know. This one didn't really move me that much.

[00:17:33] [SPEAKER_00]: I know people who really dig this one, but for me, camouflage is a totally fine game that I usually give like a sea,

[00:17:41] [SPEAKER_00]: but I'll bump it up to a sea plus because the music is pretty jammed.

[00:17:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Game 17, Camper Nella.

[00:17:51] [SPEAKER_00]: This is like a navigation game where you pilot a UFO and you got to get yourself through these short single screen mazes to the exit.

[00:17:59] [SPEAKER_00]: The aesthetic is a wonderful here. There's lots of diagonal lines and circles and cool purples and greens that really give that early 90s vibe in what is a very 80s-minded game.

[00:18:11] [SPEAKER_00]: It's fantastic looking, and it plays like a dream too. The floating physics feel perfect, and not too twitchy.

[00:18:18] [SPEAKER_00]: It gives you the confidence that you can navigate those tight spaces while still feeling tense and challenging.

[00:18:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Also, it just has a great difficulty ramp, which is something I've bitched about a couple of times already in another game.

[00:18:30] [SPEAKER_00]: So, I'm glad to see a fun difficulty curve here because a game like Campanella deserves it.

[00:18:36] [SPEAKER_00]: It's really smart, kilograms, it gets an A-.

[00:18:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Game 18, go for it.

[00:18:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Go for it.

[00:18:49] [SPEAKER_00]: The game is an adventure game where you're a golf ball and you have to stroke yourself, ha ha across the landscape and just put around and discover stuff.

[00:18:57] [SPEAKER_00]: But the gimmick is you have a limited amount of strokes before they put you back at the checkpoint.

[00:19:02] [SPEAKER_00]: So you have to find birdies and eagles around the course to replenish your strokes.

[00:19:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Get it? They're really clever here on this one.

[00:19:09] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, I really appreciate the commitment to the concept, honestly.

[00:19:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Also, the music is insane, it feels manic and surreal.

[00:19:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Golfa Re is weird, but I think I'll just give it a C plus.

[00:19:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Game 19, the big bell race.

[00:19:29] [SPEAKER_00]: So this is basically exactly like Campanella, same graphics and everything, but now it's a racing game.

[00:19:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And what a fantastic little game it is.

[00:19:37] [SPEAKER_00]: It's like other single-screen racing games you probably played like off-road or super-spread,

[00:19:42] [SPEAKER_00]: but instead of top down like those games, it's a side view.

[00:19:46] [SPEAKER_00]: So you just float yourself up and down again like Campanella, and you navigate the course that way.

[00:19:51] [SPEAKER_00]: There's weapon pickups where you drop mines or have a firewheel or a big sword or something,

[00:19:56] [SPEAKER_00]: and of course this lends to a lot of chaos and a lot of fun.

[00:20:00] [SPEAKER_00]: I could see this being a ton of fun and two player as well.

[00:20:03] [SPEAKER_00]: The big bell race is truly excellent.

[00:20:06] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm gonna give it an A plus.

[00:20:10] [SPEAKER_01]: Game 20, work tank.

[00:20:15] [SPEAKER_00]: The name don't lie, warp tank is about to tank that warps.

[00:20:19] [SPEAKER_00]: You're on the ground and you go warp up to the ceiling and back again, which is the whole gimmick of this action puzzler.

[00:20:25] [SPEAKER_00]: I wouldn't exactly call it a cozy action puzzler though because it's a tad more frantic than that,

[00:20:30] [SPEAKER_00]: but it's definitely comfortable.

[00:20:32] [SPEAKER_00]: You know what I mean?

[00:20:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Which is to say, you've probably played a fair amount of games like this in your life that it were exactly like this,

[00:20:39] [SPEAKER_00]: but you know what?

[00:20:40] [SPEAKER_00]: It's just fun to be a tank in zip-around and shoot stuff in small puzzles.

[00:20:45] [SPEAKER_00]: It's whimsical and crafty.

[00:20:47] [SPEAKER_00]: And for that warp tank, it's a B.

[00:20:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, let's take another break.

[00:21:01] [SPEAKER_00]: So here's something I really appreciate about UFO 50.

[00:21:05] [SPEAKER_00]: So far, you've heard me say stuff like this game is reminiscent of this or this game seems to take this element from that.

[00:21:12] [SPEAKER_00]: But it's important to note that all of these games feel really original.

[00:21:17] [SPEAKER_00]: None of them are like, here is Gallagua with a slightly different ship or it's just Pac-Man with a different critter who got all starts because, you know, that would be really boring.

[00:21:28] [SPEAKER_00]: They're not doing that.

[00:21:29] [SPEAKER_00]: The concept of UFO 50 obviously demands a lot more than that.

[00:21:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Because if you're going to make a fake lineage of games from a company that doesn't actually exist, you can't sell that by making just space and Vader's clone.

[00:21:41] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, they're working within the well-worned confines of very well-established genres and just making more games in those genres that could have easily existed.

[00:21:52] [SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, that sense of awareness about what they're doing and how they're crafting the game to meet that is what makes UFO 50 really, really special.

[00:22:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, let's keep going. Starting with...

[00:22:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Game 21, Waldorf's Journey.

[00:22:11] [SPEAKER_00]: So, ever once played worms before, right? The way you aim the redical and then you hold down the button just long enough to arc your shot just the right way.

[00:22:20] [SPEAKER_00]: So imagine that but for jumping. That's Waldorf's Journey. You're a walrus who's making its way across many platforms floating above the articotion.

[00:22:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Trying not to fall in, said Ocean. It's a tough jumping mechanic that's really fun to master and there's just something about the visual of like a high-flying walrus just gliding through this guy. Sometimes flapping its arms. Sometimes using a balloon. You ever see a walrus on a balloon?

[00:22:47] [SPEAKER_00]: That's video game, baby. Very fun, very cool. Waldorf's Journey gets a B.

[00:22:55] [SPEAKER_01]: Game 22, Porty.

[00:22:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Yet another cool little adventure game, this time you're a sentient submarine with a face.

[00:23:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Or are you a yellow fish? Whatever you are, you're poory-y and poory-y must explore the depths of the ocean without running out of fuel.

[00:23:12] [SPEAKER_00]: You need to go carefully down, get fuel upgrades and weapon upgrades too and bring them back to base so you can install them.

[00:23:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Which of course, let's you explore more and more of the ocean as you get more fuel. Of course this is easier said than done because the ocean is quite dangerous.

[00:23:27] [SPEAKER_00]: And if you can see the roots of Spolunky in anything in UFO 50 it's right here in Porty because as soon as your base says,

[00:23:35] [SPEAKER_00]: A chill just went up my spine. You know what that means?

[00:23:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, I don't want to ruin it for Porty but suffice it to say, the fear of death is very strong in Porty.

[00:23:45] [SPEAKER_00]: And the fear is the fun, as I always say, which means Porty is a lot of fun and I'll give it a B+.

[00:23:54] [SPEAKER_01]: Game 23, I'm in delivery.

[00:23:58] [SPEAKER_00]: This is an overhead driving game where you go to the zone on the radar and you deliver the goods presumably onions because it's called onion delivery

[00:24:06] [SPEAKER_00]: and then you return back to the station. I love a good job game, you know? It's fun. You're also an alien for some reason which doesn't really factor into the gameplay at all

[00:24:16] [SPEAKER_00]: but I guess it just adds to the weird. The game definitely feels 90s weird. Anyway, the only real enemy in onion delivery is your own bad driving.

[00:24:25] [SPEAKER_00]: So it's all about learning to maneuver your car and drive on the right side of the road and you know all that stuff and while getting to where you need to go in the time limit.

[00:24:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Fun driving action here in onion delivery and I'll give it a B.

[00:24:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Game 24, here in Alkirama.

[00:24:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Hey, we finally have our first smug and the hook is that in addition to firing you also have a photo button to freeze your enemies in a polar-rade frame for some reason

[00:24:53] [SPEAKER_00]: and you also start the game with zero lives for also some reason. I don't even know if you can earn more lives, it just says you know ship X-Z-Row.

[00:25:05] [SPEAKER_00]: So it's like I guess I could earn more lives but I never did. So yeah, this is a bit of a head scratcher. Why zero lives in a smug?

[00:25:12] [SPEAKER_00]: And I like the picture taking idea but I also don't understand the benefits. Maybe I just need more time with it, but for now, Caramel Caramel gets a generous C+.

[00:25:25] [SPEAKER_01]: In 25, party house.

[00:25:29] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't even know how to begin to describe this game. I've never played anything like it. Let's just say it's like a deck building game,

[00:25:37] [SPEAKER_00]: but your cool and cool cards are your party guests. And the goal is to throw as killer of a party as you can without the cops or fire department showing up.

[00:25:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Again, I know that's a bad description, but that just means this game is so unique it defies description.

[00:25:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Party house is super-addicting and it gets an A-minus.

[00:25:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Game 26, hot for it.

[00:26:02] [SPEAKER_00]: This is a two-on-two game of beanbag. Yes, you're hucking beanbags at each other and the first to 15 points wins.

[00:26:10] [SPEAKER_00]: The clear inspiration here is the CUNY O'Cune dodgeball games but hotfoot isn't nearly as wild as that.

[00:26:17] [SPEAKER_00]: It's nicely designed I guess, but it just doesn't hit for me. Not much to say here, D plus for hotfoot.

[00:26:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Game 27, diverse. Oh my god this game is so cool. So you're like a seal lizard and you and your two companions explore the ocean and battle enemies and turn base combat.

[00:26:46] [SPEAKER_00]: That's right. This is RPG, baby. The vibe of this game is pretty unreal.

[00:26:52] [SPEAKER_00]: The dark and space around you as you swim through the ocean looks so cool. And the lizard designs themselves are just so fucking rad, man.

[00:27:00] [SPEAKER_00]: It's like peeking in on some sort of weird ancient civilization that we weren't privy to. So cool. As for the role playing part, it's almost like a Final Fantasy Legend game for Game Boy aka The Sock As series,

[00:27:12] [SPEAKER_00]: especially with the limited use equipment and everything. So if you love those, you'll love divers. This one gets an A.

[00:27:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Game 28, real hast.

[00:27:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Man, I don't know about this one. So as the name implies, you're a cowboy pulling off a heist on a train and there's a stealth element to it where you don't want to be seen or also fire on sight.

[00:27:41] [SPEAKER_00]: But at the same time, there's a turn-based timer element to it after you shoot somebody that I don't understand at all because you stop moving and then they start moving.

[00:27:50] [SPEAKER_00]: And if they see you, you're dead. That's it. I almost feel like this could have been like a 2D side scrolling version of like a Velka rea Chronicles or X-Com or something but it doesn't play like that at all.

[00:28:04] [SPEAKER_00]: I feel like this isn't a bad game but I didn't get it which is probably my fault so I'll just give it a C-minus because it may be filled dumb. I'm sorry, real hast.

[00:28:17] [SPEAKER_01]: Game 29, Vanger

[00:28:21] [SPEAKER_00]: This is an action adventure game in space, so yes, it's Metroid inspired and you have all sorts of spaces and corridors to explore and it's really easy to get lost.

[00:28:32] [SPEAKER_00]: And unlike most people, I think getting lost in these games is pretty fun. I don't always want to know where I'm going, you know? I'll get there when I get there.

[00:28:40] [SPEAKER_00]: The cool thing about Vanger is that the enemies are also fairly active. Unlike Metroid where they're mostly just floor and flana, just kind of bippin' and bopin' around.

[00:28:48] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's its own cool vibe of course but that just means Vanger is much more about patience and patterns. It feels a lot more like Mega Man than it does Metroid in that respect.

[00:28:59] [SPEAKER_00]: So just imagine a Metroid game with like a Mega Man running gun platforming feel and that's Vanger. I haven't beaten this one yet, but I absolutely plan to and what I've played so far is it deserves a B+.

[00:29:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Game 30, Rock on Iron

[00:29:18] [SPEAKER_00]: This is just tower defense. It's tower defense with a caveman theme, so you're giving your dude Spears and Rocks and Crossbows and stuff

[00:29:26] [SPEAKER_00]: And you yourself as a character can move around and help attack each turn, so it's not totally passive, but yeah, it's tower defense as you've always known it, so not much to say here, but I like the genre personally.

[00:29:39] [SPEAKER_00]: So Rock on Island gets a B. Alright, break time. So I really wanted to say that even though these games share assets and fonts and sound effects, because let's be real, who has the time to make 50 completely bespoke games, no matter how small they are?

[00:30:03] [SPEAKER_00]: None of these games feel like copies of each other. They don't feel too similar in theme or same-y and concept or anything like that.

[00:30:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, there is Campanella and the Big Bill Race which are the exact same graphics and whatever, but those are also two completely different games in genres.

[00:30:20] [SPEAKER_00]: And even then, reusing fonts and presentation aspects gives it that feel like, like we all know what the title font looks like or the name co- font. That gives us that certain feel, you know, and the games in UFO 50 have that feel.

[00:30:35] [SPEAKER_00]: So point is, you're gonna truly feel like you're playing 50 different games from the same fake ass company. That total commitment to the bit is so commendable and UFO 50 would not work any other way.

[00:30:49] [SPEAKER_00]: And with that, let's get back to the action, starting with...

[00:30:55] [SPEAKER_01]: G-31.

[00:30:56] [SPEAKER_00]: G-12.

[00:30:58] [SPEAKER_00]: I love this game. It is indeed a golf game, but it's side scrolling.

[00:31:03] [SPEAKER_00]: It's also a futuristic game, so you get to pick a cool-ass robot to golf with and the game hits all the vibes.

[00:31:11] [SPEAKER_00]: The music has on some real 1987 Konami shit. It slaps so much in the visuals are fantastic.

[00:31:19] [SPEAKER_00]: It's punctuated by this orange dot matrix thing at the bottom of the screen, just like you'd see on a pinball machine.

[00:31:25] [SPEAKER_00]: And the fun word display in animations on there, you expect from pinball. You will get here in pin golf.

[00:31:33] [SPEAKER_00]: So if your ball goes in the drink, you'll get a splash animation on the dot matrix, or if you get close to the hole, a big block font will show up.

[00:31:41] [SPEAKER_00]: This says close with an exclamation mark. It's so expertly done and a really brilliant touch to add to a golf game.

[00:31:49] [SPEAKER_00]: By the way, the actual in-game visuals are great too. I love the ghosty cyber people that show up to golf clap when you make a hole, for example.

[00:31:58] [SPEAKER_00]: God, pin golf is excellent to look at an excellent to play and it gets an easy A.

[00:32:06] [SPEAKER_01]: G-32.

[00:32:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Mortal 2.

[00:32:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Alright, we got our first sequel. It's a similar concept of the first mortal, but now it's as wide open exploratory thing where you start with 100 lives,

[00:32:18] [SPEAKER_00]: but now you have several selectable characters, a ninja, a gunner, a mechanic, etc. They all have their own unique sacrifice.

[00:32:27] [SPEAKER_00]: So you can sacrifice a mechanic to make a pipe to go underground, or sacrifice a bomber to bomb a big enemy, or a wall or something. You get the idea.

[00:32:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Having this now be an adventure game instead of a level based one really just freshens up the concept.

[00:32:40] [SPEAKER_00]: And the exploration is so much fun. It's exactly what a sequel should be.

[00:32:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Mortal 2 gets an A-minus.

[00:32:49] [SPEAKER_01]: G-33.

[00:32:51] [SPEAKER_01]: This time.

[00:32:53] [SPEAKER_00]: It's a beat-em-up. Finally, wasn't sure we're gonna have one. It takes heavily after the NES version of Double Dragon, but this is a zombie invasion game.

[00:33:03] [SPEAKER_00]: So you get to do all the gross zombie stuff where you punch the zombies and their heads pop off and you can throw the heads at the other guys.

[00:33:09] [SPEAKER_00]: So there's like fun gore like that?

[00:33:11] [SPEAKER_00]: The attacks are your pretty standard punching and jump kicking, so not much to report there.

[00:33:16] [SPEAKER_00]: It's not amazing, but it's amusing enough. So I'll give this hell a B-minus.

[00:33:22] [SPEAKER_01]: G-34. Overbowl.

[00:33:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Overbowl doesn't arena shooter. It's round based and in between each round you can buy weapons and health upgrades.

[00:33:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Plus you can gamble by making the next round harder so you could earn more money to buy more shit.

[00:33:39] [SPEAKER_00]: I really like that risk reward element, but it feels a bit messy.

[00:33:42] [SPEAKER_00]: You have a health bar, but most enemies and bullets can end you in a single hit at your default health, which feels kind of cheap.

[00:33:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe I just need a prioritized health power-ups in the shop, then I don't know.

[00:33:55] [SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't necessarily make it bad, that's the case.

[00:33:58] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not totally sure her I feel about overbowl because of that, but right now I'll give it a generous B.

[00:34:07] [SPEAKER_01]: G-35.

[00:34:11] [SPEAKER_00]: So Campanella was excellent and the spin-off the Big Bell Race was even better, so what does Campanella 2 have in store for us?

[00:34:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, instead of being a snappy arcade game like the first one, this time we have a proper adventure game where you can get in and out of your UFO and explore around and find rooms to go into, sort of like last semester.

[00:34:30] [SPEAKER_00]: That's the best comp for it. But there's a huge problem.

[00:34:34] [SPEAKER_00]: You have one life, one fucking life and it's all over. Guys, what the hell are you doing?

[00:34:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Imagine playing Blaster Master on one life.

[00:34:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Could I mean, what? Why would you ruin such a cool concept this way?

[00:34:52] [SPEAKER_00]: And you can also still run out of fuel, which sucks because you're supposed to explore around, but all the shops, everything costs so much, so it's like, how am I supposed to survive?

[00:35:01] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm sorry, I don't think this is me this time. I think this is really bad balancing and I don't know if you don't want me to actually play the game than I will.

[00:35:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Campanella 2 gets a D-36.

[00:35:17] [SPEAKER_00]: This is a fun little one-on-one competitive game where two players go at it in an arena with platforms, and the first together five rings wins.

[00:35:26] [SPEAKER_00]: So you can get rings by shooting the other person, which knocks around you out of them, or you can just get the rings that occasionally spawn in the arena.

[00:35:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And the eight characters feel really distinct with really different weapons, rockets, laser guns, punching, you know rocket belts.

[00:35:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Some guy can walk on the ceiling. There's all sorts of movement options too.

[00:35:47] [SPEAKER_00]: It's a lot of fun. I love futuristic blood sport motifs as well, so hypercontender gets a B+.

[00:35:55] [SPEAKER_01]: G-37 Valbrace

[00:36:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Alright folks, you want to talk about a game tailor made for me? Valbrace is a first person dungeon crawler, so I love that.

[00:36:08] [SPEAKER_00]: And it also has real-time combat from a behind the back perspective. If you've ever played the Neo Geo game cross swords, it's exactly like that.

[00:36:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Combining two of my favorite things like that? Holy shit, man. You got me by the balls. Great monster design too. Just classic RPG shit.

[00:36:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Thing is, these games live and die by their dungeon design, and Valbrace has been more than serviceable for the few floors that I played so far.

[00:36:35] [SPEAKER_00]: And you know what? That's good enough for me. I'll give Valbrace a tentative B with room to grow because what a cool fucking game man.

[00:36:45] [SPEAKER_01]: G-38. Rock chasin.

[00:36:47] [SPEAKER_00]: I feel a lot of stuff in this one. The movement and game feel feels like raston or carnivore that slow but tight kind of like the late 80s movement and jumping, but it also has random enemy spawns sort of like ghouls and ghosts.

[00:37:04] [SPEAKER_00]: And then the shooting in power up stuff is like contra. So it's the bizarre mish bash of ideas and I think it really works. It's pretty tough too.

[00:37:13] [SPEAKER_00]: You only have one wife, but there's a mini game you can do to revive yourself and that mini game gets harder and harder every time you die. So it's a very fun difficulty thing where it's like, oh man, the next time I die, I don't know if I'm going to do this mini game and that might be game over it. So it's a nice tension. It's very cool.

[00:37:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Also the theming is really on point super cool visuals, fun platforming, fun shooting. I'll give rock chasin a B.

[00:37:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Game 39. Starwarsphere.

[00:37:47] [SPEAKER_00]: So Starwarsphere is a vertical smop in a 16 by 9 screen format and I think everyone knows that does not work. The amount of ground you have to cover always sucks.

[00:37:59] [SPEAKER_00]: And besides that though, Starwarsphere is just completely no fun to play. You know how in most mops you get those shitty little beginning enemies that you can just kill in one shot, you know like popcorn enemies gives you that quick satisfaction.

[00:38:11] [SPEAKER_00]: And eases you into the game field. Well, Starwarsphere doesn't give a fuck about you because the first thing they do is send an entire line of fruit flies to take several hits to kill.

[00:38:21] [SPEAKER_00]: This should increase bullets at you like yo man chill can I get used to the game first please?

[00:38:27] [SPEAKER_00]: And then this pattern goes on forever waves and waves of flies by the time anything else cool happens you're already well over it.

[00:38:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Your bullets don't even go all the way up the screen. What the hell were they thinking? I'm sorry, but Starwarsphere is completely miserable. This game gets an F.

[00:38:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Game 40. Grimstone.

[00:38:50] [SPEAKER_00]: We've had some cool and inventive RPG so far, but Grimstone is really a traditional one. It's Wild West themed and it's like dragon quest 2 but good.

[00:39:01] [SPEAKER_00]: It's it has that in-extile interface with the menus, but the battle system is definitely Final Fantasy with the lineups on each side and the way the sprite's looking everything.

[00:39:11] [SPEAKER_00]: And the enemies are really cool. There's like mole rats and tumble weeds and even other cowboys because again Wild West.

[00:39:17] [SPEAKER_00]: It does the thing where you have to fire your gun with that time to button press which is fun.

[00:39:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Also, I really like how small the sprites are in the main view because you get to see a lot of space around you and it gives you that desolate western feel which is perfect.

[00:39:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Grimstone is really cool and it deserves a B+.

[00:39:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Alright, so as we come down the home stretch here, I want to say something. So allow me a soap box for just a second here if you don't mind.

[00:39:51] [SPEAKER_00]: So up front, I said UFO 50 is an authentic to any real hardware limitation because again the story of the game is that it's this catalog of a fictitious company who made games for this fictitious console.

[00:40:05] [SPEAKER_00]: However, what UFO 50 is authentic to is the game design philosophies of that era and the executional mindset of that era.

[00:40:14] [SPEAKER_00]: And there's a thing I hear a lot of people say when it comes to retro indie games and it's that what those indie games are doing is making those old games as a grand as you remember them as a kid.

[00:40:26] [SPEAKER_00]: The way they live in your mind, you know the game you thought you were playing back then from your memories.

[00:40:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm sorry, but I don't get that at all. You have to have some major rose tinted glasses on to remember duck tails being anything like shovel night.

[00:40:44] [SPEAKER_00]: You know no matter how young you were, I just don't buy that and see a stars is nothing like chrono trigger no matter how many people say it is.

[00:40:52] [SPEAKER_00]: In fact, I don't think there's a single indie game that actually looks and feels and sounds like any super Nintendo game.

[00:40:59] [SPEAKER_00]: That system has a very distinct graphical capability in a very distinct sound font that you're really not going to replicate unless you made it for an actual SNES.

[00:41:08] [SPEAKER_00]: And some people do that stuff, right? But even then it's a little different making an SNES game in 2024 with all these years of know how of that hardware under our belts versus making an SNES game in 1992.

[00:41:23] [SPEAKER_00]: So you can't capture that feel no matter how hard you try.

[00:41:29] [SPEAKER_00]: I guess all I'm trying to say is that UFO 50 is so smart because the way they execute ideas is the most authentic thing about it.

[00:41:38] [SPEAKER_00]: That mindset is what made those games those games.

[00:41:43] [SPEAKER_00]: That's what you can capture today.

[00:41:46] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's something a lot more indie could stand to come to grips with instead of just putting chiptune music over chunky sprites and calling it a day.

[00:41:54] [SPEAKER_00]: I hope UFO 50 shows everyone that it doesn't have to be that way.

[00:42:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Alright, I've said my obnoxious piece. I'll shut the fuck up now. Let's do the last 10 games.

[00:42:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Game 41.

[00:42:12] [SPEAKER_00]: I love this one. It's like a super deluxe board game where you choose some medieval units like Knights and Orcs and shit like that.

[00:42:19] [SPEAKER_00]: And then they manifest as disks on a playing field.

[00:42:23] [SPEAKER_00]: And you get to ricochet those disks at your opponent to deal damage. It's so cool.

[00:42:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Of course there's a lot of fun strategy here because the Orcs are huge and easy targets, but they have a lot of HP.

[00:42:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And then there's disks that are small and agile have very little HP. So it's really fun to mess around with various team compositions to suit your play style.

[00:42:43] [SPEAKER_00]: It's just so satisfying to get a good angle on an enemy piece and fire yourself right in there and destroy their ass or bounce them around to hit them into their other pieces while keeping yourself safe.

[00:42:54] [SPEAKER_00]: This is another game that I would love to play with an actual person, but just like the others, it's still right by yourself.

[00:43:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Bords of dysconia gets a B plus.

[00:43:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Game 42. Nightmare.

[00:43:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Wow. So Nightmanner is a point and click horror adventure. The cool thing about it is that there's only a few actions you can do, which basically boil down to look, take or use.

[00:43:21] [SPEAKER_00]: That's it. You don't have the usual host of commands at your disposal that you might see in other games like this.

[00:43:26] [SPEAKER_00]: And I was worried that the simplified approach might make the game too easy or too boring, but it definitely doesn't.

[00:43:33] [SPEAKER_00]: It's very atmospheric and creepy. There's lots of roomsoaks or problems solving and is very well written too, which is a must for this kind of game.

[00:43:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Anyone who remembers the NES era of this stuff like Shadowgate or deja vu will be right at home here.

[00:43:48] [SPEAKER_00]: I can't say enough good things about Nightmanner. It gets in A.

[00:43:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Game 43.

[00:43:55] [SPEAKER_01]: Elfys are as hats.

[00:43:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Hey folks, we have a top down 8-way directional shooter. That's right. It's Paki and Rocky, baby.

[00:44:05] [SPEAKER_00]: This is easily the most directly inspired game in the entire collection.

[00:44:09] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's a good one to do because people have always tried to rip off Paki and Rocky and they're never really that good.

[00:44:14] [SPEAKER_00]: But Elfys are as hat does not suck. It is very cool.

[00:44:18] [SPEAKER_00]: You already know exactly what this is. It's Paki and Rocky. There's not much for me to say here.

[00:44:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Great power up system controls like a dream, dodging stuff with the Dodge button feels great.

[00:44:29] [SPEAKER_00]: No complaints at all here. Elfys are as hat gets a B+.

[00:44:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Game 44.

[00:44:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Pilot Quest

[00:44:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Pilot Quest kind of feels like the signature game of the package because it stars the characters you see on the UFO 50 title screen

[00:44:46] [SPEAKER_00]: And the graphics are clearly very labored over and the music is slapin' holy shit.

[00:44:53] [SPEAKER_00]: This was somebody's baby and you can tell. What Pilot Quest is is it's like a town building and resource gathering game,

[00:45:01] [SPEAKER_00]: so you go out on forging missions and get stuff and then come back to town and use those resources to build other stuff.

[00:45:07] [SPEAKER_00]: It's kind of basic but it's one of those games that's extremely elevated by its audio visual elements.

[00:45:13] [SPEAKER_00]: You'll just want to play it because it feels good. The vibes are immaculate.

[00:45:17] [SPEAKER_00]: And you're armed with a yo-yo. That's always fun. Everyone loves a yo-yo.

[00:45:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Pilot Quest hits all the right notes literally and I'll give it a B.

[00:45:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Game 45, mini Mmax.

[00:45:32] [SPEAKER_00]: So mini Mmax is like a non-linear exploratory platformer where it's about exploring this big space because you shrunk like honey,

[00:45:41] [SPEAKER_00]: honey, I shrunk the kids. So it's cool because you see everyday things like pencils or books or apples that are now several screens tall

[00:45:48] [SPEAKER_00]: because now you're so tiny. So that's cool, but almost every task is like, you talk to an NPC and they're like,

[00:45:56] [SPEAKER_00]: hey I'll help you if you give me this thing. But I encountered like five or six NPCs who said this

[00:46:01] [SPEAKER_00]: and they all want something different. I guess it's supposed to be like a chain reaction thing where you're essentially like

[00:46:06] [SPEAKER_00]: treating items with people all around the map until you win.

[00:46:10] [SPEAKER_00]: But like, that's not really that fun in a platformer like this.

[00:46:14] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know man, you know what? I'll blame this one on me. Okay, this is on me. This seems like a good game that I just don't get.

[00:46:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Minion Max, I'm gonna give you a C plus but just know it's not your fault.

[00:46:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Game 46, combatants.

[00:46:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Combatants is a real-time strategy game. My least favorite genre in the world which means I don't stand a chance in hell at reviewing this properly.

[00:46:43] [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm not even gonna try. Okay, I guess I like the motif because your ants get it combatants combatants.

[00:46:52] [SPEAKER_00]: This sounds like the kind of game where the name came first and then they built a game around it.

[00:46:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I'm sorry. I got nothing on this. No grade for combatants. You're gonna have to ask someone smarter than me.

[00:47:05] [SPEAKER_01]: Game 47, quick race.

[00:47:08] [SPEAKER_00]: So imagine one of those co-i horse racing games except much cedar and slimy as hell. That's quibble race.

[00:47:17] [SPEAKER_00]: So what you do is bet on one of three quibbles to win this race, you can go to the shop to buy such things as a lissette stair-raids to help your quibble win.

[00:47:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Or you can buy pills to drug up the other quibbles to slow them down and help them lose.

[00:47:32] [SPEAKER_00]: What a world, huh? You can also sponsor your own quibble to make even more money off the races. Oh, yeah, there's also a loan shark for good measure because what's an illegal gambling ring without a loan shark, right?

[00:47:44] [SPEAKER_00]: It's a pretty simple game though not much to it and it's not really for a long-term play because you kind of just do a season of bets and then the game is over.

[00:47:51] [SPEAKER_00]: So it's not a continuous long-play type of deal but still it's a great motif and I love how comically sleazy this world is so quibble race gets a B.

[00:48:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Game 48, C-side drive. Oh my good god, where do I begin? So with a name like C-side drive you'd expect some sort of outrun clone.

[00:48:14] [SPEAKER_00]: And well, you are driving a red sports car really fast down the open road but that's where the similarities end because what C-side drive really is is a schmop.

[00:48:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Now your card isn't fly because that would be silly because what is this a video game? So what you do is move your car back and forth on the road to the bottom of the screen and the enemies are flying above you and you're shooting them out at the air with your rapid fire gun.

[00:48:36] [SPEAKER_00]: But the enemies will also appear on the road in which case you want to use your straightforward, more cannon like gun.

[00:48:42] [SPEAKER_00]: The final piece of the puzzle is because you are a red sports car after all, you drift every time you move backwards.

[00:48:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Your power meter slowly drains the whole time you're playing and you need to constantly drift to keep your shot power up.

[00:48:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Legit, this almost feels like a treasure game with how mechanically densities with the different shot types combined with how crazy good the enemy placement is in the attack patterns are forcing you to naturally use that drift

[00:49:09] [SPEAKER_00]: but then also find the time to force the issue to drift on your own accord when it's safe to do so.

[00:49:15] [SPEAKER_00]: My favorite games are when a bunch of different systems collide with each other to make this incredible original cocktail that can only come from dreaming that big.

[00:49:24] [SPEAKER_00]: That C-side drive. What a concept, what an execution, what a game, A plus for C-side drive.

[00:49:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Game 49, Campanella 3

[00:49:38] [SPEAKER_00]: The first Campanella was great, the second one sucked. So how does Campanella 3 fare? Well, now it's a rail shooter.

[00:49:46] [SPEAKER_00]: But it's not just wildly past a space-hary or afterburner, it's much more evenly past than that.

[00:49:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Like these blocks will come at you and you want to shoot them down before they reach your plane of existence because they will stick to your plane field.

[00:49:59] [SPEAKER_00]: And if they do that, you'll have to clear them off of your close range gun while still worrying about what's coming towards you.

[00:50:04] [SPEAKER_00]: So there's a unique gimmick there.

[00:50:08] [SPEAKER_00]: You know what Campanella 3 actually reminds me of with all the scaling and everything?

[00:50:12] [SPEAKER_00]: It actually reminds me of a virtual boy game.

[00:50:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Believe it or not, it in my world that's a compliment. Campanella 3 gets a B.

[00:50:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Game 50, Cybers.

[00:50:28] [SPEAKER_00]: So remember those games where it's like it's a side-scroller one level then the next level you have to drive somewhere

[00:50:34] [SPEAKER_00]: and then level after that they make you bust out the zapper, to shoot stuff.

[00:50:39] [SPEAKER_00]: And remember how those games were never really that good because they tried to do all those things and none of them particularly well?

[00:50:46] [SPEAKER_00]: That Cybers Owls.

[00:50:48] [SPEAKER_00]: There's a racing level that just flat outsucks. There's a Kabbal shooter level which is decent enough.

[00:50:53] [SPEAKER_00]: There's probably the best one here. There's a Shinobi type of level that's pretty imprecise kind of cheap.

[00:50:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And then there's a metal gear level which is just not my thing.

[00:51:02] [SPEAKER_00]: It's too bad because the Cybers Owls themselves are hell of cool.

[00:51:06] [SPEAKER_00]: It seems like the exact kind of property that LG in would license out at the time.

[00:51:11] [SPEAKER_00]: And unlike my virtual boy comparison, that was not a compliment.

[00:51:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Cybers Owls gets to see minus.

[00:51:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay we did it! That's UFO 50! We got through them all.

[00:51:27] [SPEAKER_00]: And you know what's so crazy impressive about all this? The grand majority of these games are worth playing.

[00:51:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah there's a few duds that's to be expected, but so many of these are good to great.

[00:51:39] [SPEAKER_00]: And I just... I love this game man! I love UFO 50!

[00:51:44] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's what I want to leave you with before I get out of here.

[00:51:47] [SPEAKER_00]: This is something I never do on this show, but I'm gonna do it this one time.

[00:51:52] [SPEAKER_00]: I implore everyone listening to this to go out and buy UFO 50.

[00:51:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Please support this game.

[00:52:00] [SPEAKER_00]: As of this recording, it's only on Steam and console ports are coming later.

[00:52:05] [SPEAKER_00]: So if you play games on Steam or have a Steam deck like me, absolutely go for it.

[00:52:10] [SPEAKER_00]: If your console only please get this whenever it comes out in your console, it's always.

[00:52:15] [SPEAKER_00]: I know what's gotten some buzz and I'm sure it's doing fine, but games like UFO 50 deserve to be the indie darling to end all indie darling.

[00:52:23] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to live in a world where fucking tunic is considered tops and UFO 50 isn't.

[00:52:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Sorry to any tunic fans out there, but not really.

[00:52:33] [SPEAKER_00]: And you know what? I haven't even said that best part yet.

[00:52:35] [SPEAKER_00]: UFO 50 is $25.

[00:52:39] [SPEAKER_00]: $25 are you joking? This is one of the most generous packages of all time.

[00:52:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Hands down! So even if three or four of the games I mentioned today sound cool, please support UFO 50.

[00:52:52] [SPEAKER_00]: I absolutely guarantee you won't be disappointed.

[00:52:56] [SPEAKER_00]: That's all I gotta say. I'm outta here. Thanks for listening, we'll see you next time.