Torinto was originally developed by DVL Games and released for PC back in 2019. Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here, but as far as I can tell this was ported by Leaf Team Games and published by Eastasiasoft Limited and Ratalaika Games. It's all a bit confusing figuring out who does the porting and the publishing when both of these companies are involved.
Torinto caught my interest because it looked like an interesting take on the run & gun genre. The game sports a medieval fantasy theme and features some nice hand-drawn artwork. Hoping for some good mindless run & gun fun, I didn't hesitate to pick this one up and give it a shot. Let's get into it and see if you should do the same...
Concept Destruction comes to us from Thinice Games, a one-man development studio out of Barcelona, Spain. Published by Ratalaika Games, the game features cardboard cars squaring off in arenas, destruction derby-style. It's an interesting concept and retails for a reasonable $4.99, so without wasting any more of our precious, limited time, let's get right into the review...
Concept Destruction features some rather simple graphics, but the textures are sharp and everything is easy to distinguish. The concept of racing around in cardboard cars is unique and the
cars look the part, right down to the corrugated edges. There's an
impressive damage system where the cardboard will react to where they
are smashed.
For this review, the game was played on an Xbox One X and the frame-rate dipped frequently when you played with maximum amount of opponents. While the game is still totally playable, this was worth pointing out and you might want to hesitate if you're playing this on anything less than an Xbox One X, since performance may become an issue on the lower end systems. This game is optimized for the new Series consoles, so I'm quite certain the game runs silky smooth on those systems (if I had one I'd be happy to test, but like most of you I've still been unable to find one as of May 2021!). The sound design is what you'd expect, with the sound of motors and cars bashing into each other being the main things you'll hear while playing. The music consists of some generic heavy metal that does a good job of fitting the destruction theme. The menus in the game are easy to navigate, rounding out an overall solid presentation here.
Developed by 2-brother indie-team SEEP, Thunderflash is an obvious love-letter to classic overhead shooters from the 80's, such as Commando, Ikari Warriors or Bloody Wolf. The game even names the enemy criminal organization Bloody Wolf and features pixel graphics that look like they came right out of an early 90's arcade game. Much like the titles that inspired it, Thunderflash is designed to be a quick burst of fun and in this review we'll dive in to see if this one's worth a download or is it just another title trying to make a quick sale off nostalgia...
With Thunderflash being a retro-throwback title, the controls are extremely simple: d-pad or analog stick to move, A to fire your primary weapon and B to fire your rockets (which are limited in ammunition). The first time you play the game, you'll have 10 credits to try and beat it, but after you make some progress and use all of those up you'll unlock and option to start with 15 credits and eventually another for 20 credits, so even if you find the game difficult you'll eventually be able to plow your way through. There's also an option to put a CRT filter over the screen to give it that old-school monitor look.
Super Weekend Mode
Developed by Pixelteriyaki
Published by Ratalaika Games
Released for Xbox One (4/10/2019)
Also on Mac/PC/Switch/PS4/Vita
Super Weekend Mode is a title from developer Pixelteriyaki and brought to the Xbox One thanks to publisher Ratalaika Games. Just by the name of the game alone you can tell this is gonna be a strange one. Super Weekend Mode features pixelated graphics and an overall short but challenging game.
The actual gameplay in Super Weekend Mode is a bit strange, featuring two little paddle-looking things at the bottom of the screen. Each paddle is mapped to a bumper by default, but this can be customized in the options menu (personally I like mapping these to the triggers). The paddles have 2 positions, left or right, and pressing the bumper will alternate the bumper to its other position. Hearts will come dropping from the top of the screen and you'll need to line up your paddles to catch them before they touch the bottom of the screen. Missing a heart will cause the screen to shrink a bit and if you miss too many hearts then you'll lose a life. As you progress, you'll encounter hearts that fall different, making it harder to predict where you need to be.
In addition to hearts, there are other objects that will fall from the top of the screen. The bunnies (at least I think that's what they are) that come down can't be collected like the hearts, instead requiring you to bash it with the paddle by switching over right as it passes by. This requires some precise timing and is definitely one of the more difficult aspects of the game. If you accidentally collect a bunny, this will shrink the screen the same way it does when you miss hearts and if you let one pass this will cost you a life. There are also skulls that rain down and these will cause instant death if collected. The challenge ramps up quick and by the time you reach the 3rd stage you'll need some pretty fast reflexes to make it through. There's a combo chain meter that builds up as you collect hearts and bash bunnies. Filling the combo chain after taking a hit can restore the screen. It's an interesting mechanic and feels unique, though some will struggle more than others when it comes to controlling the 2 paddles.
Collecting the hearts, bashing the bunnies and avoiding the skulls isn't the only objective in Super Weekend Mode. At the upper part of the screen, you'll see that level's boss. When either paddle is in the center position, it will be lined up to hit the boss. Your paddle will auto-fire by default, but if you want more buttons to push during the game this can be disabled in the options menu. Ideally, you want to keep both paddles in the center position to take the boss down as fast as possible, but due to the falling objects you won't be able to continuously fire at them. The boss characters themselves are simple single-color sprites with only a few frames of animation, though while playing you'll hardly have time to notice due to everything going on at the same time. Once you get the boss close to defeat, they'll enter into a second state, complete with some new pixel-art to make them look a bit more threatening than their first form.
Super Weekend Mode contains 9 levels, which is a bit on the short side but the difficulty will ensure that you don't just blast right through the game. There are 3 difficulty levels and you can also select between a variety of princess characters, some of which will make the game more challenging and others that will make it a bit easier. The options menu allows you to customize the controls and toggle autofire.
Super Weekend Mode can be a fun game, particularly for those who enjoy those Guitar Hero-style rhythm games and folks who just like old-arcade style games. Those looking for easy achievements or gamerscore will like this one due to its incredibly short completion time. Publisher Ratalaika Games has developed a reputation for putting out games with super easy achievements and Super Weekend Mode is no exception. All of the game's achievements can be unlocked within 20 minutes, only requiring the player to get as far as stage 3.
In regards to the strange title of the game, the developer commented on a YouTube review (link below) stating the title of the game was a mis-translation of "caravan mode" from shmup games. Then the developer states something about the Star For Super Weekend Competition cartridge, so it's all a bit confusing but boils down to some type of mis-translation that the developer decided to just roll with.
Final Verdict:Super Weekend Mode will appeal to fans of rhythm games or those looking for easy achievements.
FullBlast
Developed by UFO Crash Games
Published by Ratalaika Games
Released for Xbox One (9/2018)
Also on Mac/PC/Ouya/PS4/Switch/Vita/Wii U
Intro FullBlast is a very basic vertical shmup, promising to deliver action inspired by old arcade games of the '80's and '90's. Initially published by developer UFO Crash Games, FullBlast made its debut on the Ouya back in 2014, received a port to the WiiU the following year and made it Mac/PC in 2016. In September 2018, publisher Ratalaika Games would pick up FullBlast for another round of releases and ported the game to the PlayStation 4, Switch, Vita and Xbox One. The game looked at least somewhat promising enough from the trailer and the $5.99 price tag seemed reasonable so I went ahead and pulled the trigger on FullBlast. Read on to kill the suspense of whether or not I regret that decision.
Gameplay/Controls
As stated before, FullBlast is a simple shooter, featuring one movement speed and just one fire type. Holding down the A button will rapid fire, saving you the trouble of having to constantly mash the fire button, which is always a nice feature. Of course you also have a bomb in reserve, which can be launched with a press of the B button and will clear the screen of enemies and bullets when used. A shmup with simple mechanics can still be fun, but it takes some solid enemy and level design to assist, and this is where FullBlast falls face first...
Zeroptian Invasion
Developed by Josyan
Published by Ratalaika Games
Released for Xbox One (4/2019)
Also on Linux/Switch/PC/PS4/Vita
Zeroptian Invasion pays homage to one of the all-time arcade classics, Space Invaders, and aims to deliver some retro shooter action. Featuring a low price point and an easy achievement list to complete, the game will without a doubt appeal to achievement hunters but let's take a look and see if it's worth anything outside of some easy gamerscore.
Graphically, Zeroptian Invasion is a simple affair. True to it's inspiration, the simplistic graphics look like something that came out in the late '70's or early '80's, featuring blocky enemies that typically consist of only a color or two. Sound effects are the bleeps and bloops that were common in the early arcade era. Though incredibly simple, the graphics and sound do a decent job invoking the retro feel that the designers were aiming for. There's also some nice-looking art featured on the sides of the screen that resembles the type of stuff you'd find on the bezels of old arcade games.
The gameplay is very similar to Space Invaders, with the player's ship being only able to move on a horizontal axis while blasting on creatures that slowly descend the longer they are left alive. Just like in Space Invaders there are three shields that will absorb enemy bullets but will disappear upon taking too much damage. Every so often a UFO will zip across the top of the screen, which will disperse a power-up when hit. These consist of helpful items like a faster shot or a shield. Zeroptian Invasion also features stages with enemies that attack in patterns similar to the arcade classic Galaga.
Every few stages the game throws in a boss battle which upon defeat will mark a checkpoint you'll resume from should you need to continue. There's a decent amount of variety between the bosses and they're much tougher than the average enemies. The designers were nice enough to include a life bar for the boss at the bottom of the screen. You get two ships in Zeroptian Invasion and once lost you'll see an old-school 10-second countdown to continue. There are unlimited continues available, so anybody with a little perseverance can see there way through the game. Using a continue will reset your score and restart you after the previous boss you've defeated, so there is still a penalty for using a continue.
At the title screen you can access the options menu which gives you the ability to rotate
the screen if you want to play from a vertical orientation, turn on a CRT filter and toggle sound/vibration. The game also keeps track of your local online scores, which will help give the game at least a little replay value for some people out there.
You know how most games give you a prompt whenever you ask to exit out to the main menu during gameplay? It's a handy feature in case you accidentally select this option and don't want to lose your progress, but in Zeroptian Invasion no such feature exists, so be careful when pausing the game and navigating the start menu as one button press on exit will promptly send you to the title screen (trust me, I did this on accident!). Outside of this minor issue, I found Zeroptian Invasion to be a stable game and didn't run into any type of glitching or crashing while playing.
It's worth noting just how easy it is to obtain 100% of the achievements in Zeroptian Invasion. Containing one of the higher achievement completion ratios I've seen yet on the Xbox One, more than 50% of the people that booted the game up unlocked all of the achievements. There's a reason for this, as the entire set can be unlocked in about roughly 10 minutes. You'll only have to reach stage 7 and by the time you've made it that far chances are you've unlocked everything else along the way. The game's cheap price point and quick completion time makes this an ideal title for achievement hunters, but luckily for anybody craving some old-school Space Invaders shooter action this is actually a decent title. It's certainly not a great game, but it's an above-average retro-styled shooter that plays well enough and you could certainly do worse when it comes to budget-priced titles on the Xbox One.
Final Verdict:Zeroptian Invasion is a simple and somewhat generic Space Invaders style retro shooter. The achievements can be unlocked super quick but there is also a decent old-school shooter here as well.
