Double Jump Gaming News

UFO 50 Review: 50 Reviews in 100 Sentences

Article by: Nate Stadler

UFO 50 is a game compilation created and published by Mossmouth, the creators of Spelunky. As the name suggests, it is a compilation of 50 different games themed around the 8-bit era of gaming. What sets this game apart from other compilations is how it presents itself. The entire game is centered around the story of an old, forgotten video game console created in the 1980's, created by a company that would eventually be known as UFOSoft. Each of the 50 games has a small bit of story attached to it, usually a sentence or two explaining fun facts about the time it was made, adding to the authentic feeling of the story. As the games progress in chronological order, you feel them improve as the developers get used to the limitations of the hardware, which is a great touch.

Along with the presentation, the games themselves are all very well crafted experiences in their own right! All 50 games cover a wide variety of genres: from genres that were common in the 8-bit era, like platformers, RPGs, high score games and beat-'em-ups; to more modern genres like roguelikes, open world games and rage games. Even if you don't like every game in this package, I guarantee that there's at least one that you'll find enjoyment from! Adding to the games themselves, some games offer achievements, saving and loading, multiplayer, and even a terminal for cheats and other fun things! Overall, I would highly recommend this game, especially with the price tag essentially making each game 50 cents. It's a very fun throwback to retro titles, crafts a very unique narrative using the games themselves, and has so much variety that there's bound to be something for everyone!

"Magic Garden", the 5th Game in UFO 50

As for the rest of this review, I wanted to focus a little bit more on the games themselves, rather than talk about the package as a whole, since the games are most of the reason you'd want to buy this anyways. I gave each game a fair chance, and wanted to keep my thoughts as concise as possible in order to keep this article from being too long (It already will be too long). As such, I'm going to be reviewing every single game in this package using only two sentences!

1. Barbuta: The first ever game made for the system, it's a very simple metroidvania with elements of a rage game. It's incredibly buggy and not fun to play in the slightest, but plays into the lore of the system well. That doesn't mean I like it!
2. Bug Hunter: A top down tactics game about using your movement and attacks like a deck of cards to hunt bugs before they evolve. I really enjoyed the puzzle-like nature of this one, figuring out the optimal deck for each stage was incredibly engaging.
3. Ninpek: An auto-scrolling platformer focused on taking out enemies before they take you out. This one is very clunky and overly difficult, but I did get some enjoyment out of it.
4. Paint Chase: A top down grid-based racing game where you paint tiles by driving over them while destroying opponents before they do the same. Very addicting, easily spent the most time in this one out of the initial 10.
5. Magic Garden: Imagine Snake combined with Pac-Man, and you have a vague idea of what Magic Garden is about. This one took me a bit to understand, but as long as you read the controls and description, you should have fun with this one.
6. Mortol: A puzzle platformer centered around sacrificing yourself via multiple rituals to let your other lives traverse. Hard as nails, as your lives carry over through each stage, but incredibly enjoyable to figure out how to shave off deaths.
7. Velgress: This game feels very inspired by mobile games, being about climbing a procedurally generated tower and trying to beat your old high score. Very fun game to throw a couple of attempts into, but the controls feel very floaty at times.
8. Planet Zoldath: Another procedurally generated game inspired by the original Legend of Zelda, you must find items to escape the planet before you die. However, you'll be doing that a lot, as the game is not good at informing you what kills you and what is a collectible, making it a frustrating game to play.
9. Attactics: A real time strategy game where you send units against your opponents to try to destroy the opposing castle. For being such a simple game, the mechanics are surprisingly in-depth, and it gets incredibly difficult near the end.
10. Devilition: A puzzle game where you make chain reactions to kill demons before they overwhelm the humans. This one takes awhile to get used to, but is fun once you get a feel for how it works.
11. Kick Club: A 2D platformer that feels very inspired by the original Bubble Bobble, kick your soccer ball at enemies to destroy them. The movement in this game is unorthodox, but becomes satisfying once you begin to use it to your advantage and aim shots.
12. Avianos: I'll be real, this one really just confused me. It appears to be a strategy game similar to the Civilization games, but it's incredibly difficult to figure out what you need to do and what each symbol means.
13. Mooncat: Made in universe by the same person who made Barbuta, this is a platformer with purposely awful controls. It's incredibly funny trying to figure out what button moves you where and how you just did that ground pound you didn't know you could do, but can get annoying after awhile.
14. Bushido Ball: A fighting game crossed with a sports game, try to hit the ball past your opponent using your weapons and agility. This one might be my favorite in the entire pack, as your moveset is surprisingly in-depth for a 2 button game, which leads to a lot of fun mind games between players.
15. Block Koala: A block pushing puzzle game where different numbered blocks have different weight, and figuring out what you can and can't push becomes a puzzle in and of itself. This one has really good puzzle design and a surprising amount of content.
16. Camouflage: Another puzzle game, you must use your chameleon's camouflage to keep hidden from your predators while trying to make it back to your burrow. Probably my favorite puzzle game in the package, as planning your moves in advance and trying to carry colors you need to different parts of the map is incredibly engaging.
17. Campanella: The game that created UFOSoft’s mascot, you fly a spaceship through a maze while trying not to touch the walls or enemies. Very addicting, but very hard to get the hang of the incredibly floaty controls.

"Bushido Ball", the 14th game in UFO 50

18. Golfaria: An adventure RPG with Golf controls? This one is incredibly weird and doesn't explain itself well, but thankfully this is the worst golf game in the pack. The fact that there's more than one surprises me, honestly.
19. The Big Bell Race: A multiplayer version of Campanella where you race your friends around a small track, trying to stop them with items before they can stop you. The same floaty controls, but this time being a racing game makes it add to the overall chaos, highly enjoyable.
20. Warptank: A puzzle platformer(?) where jumping is replaced by teleporting to the opposite wall. I wasn't expecting to like this one that much, but it surprised me with how interesting the level design is and how tough it can be to figure out how to navigate it.
21. Waldorf's Journey: Imagine Jump King where the entire game is an ice level. Infuriating, but in that way that makes you want to keep playing it to get just a bit further.
22. Porgy: An underwater exploration game similar to Ecco the Dolphin where you investigate the ocean to find upgrades for your submarine and find out what's going on with the wildlife. This one is very difficult at the start, but is very forgiving when it comes to your saves and checkpoints, and the fuel mechanic is incredibly interesting.
23. Onion Delivery: Attempt to deliver onions to aliens in this fast paced driving game. The tank controls are very hard to get used to, and you move way too fast to be able to control yourself well, but it feels like that's the point of the game.
24. Caramel Caramel: A side-scrolling shooter game where you have a camera attached to your spaceship that can freeze enemies in place. The gimmick is incredibly creative, and the verticality to the levels adds a lot of depth to this otherwise simple game.
25. Party House: A strategy game where you build a "deck" of house guests to try to make the coolest party ever. As a huge fan of deck building games myself, this one is incredibly simple, but the strategy and planning behind the game makes it very engaging nonetheless.
26. Hot Foot: A 2v2 sports game similar to dodgeball, where you have to slide bean bags at your opponent to try to hit them. Has a surprising amount of depth for what is essentially dodgeball, I enjoyed this one.
27. Divers: An RPG about diving underwater and exploring the depths. I really don't get this one, to be honest.
28. Rail Heist: A stealth game about robbing a train before it reaches its destination. This one is really difficult, but is extremely fun…even if you're constantly failing because you forgot about the one lawman that was holding a gun in that direction.
29. Vainger: A metroidvania where you can flip gravity. Fun time, but not much else to mention other than the gravity gimmick.
30. Rock On! Island: A tower defense game where you are also a character on the field, deploying units and maintaining fires to make food for more towers. Definitely read the controls and directions for this one, it's a bit confusing at the start, but very fun once you figure it out.
31. Pingolf: A 2 dimensional physics based golf game where you battle other CPUs to see who can get through each course in the lowest number of cumulative shots. This is the best golf game in the pack, which I'm honestly surprised there's more than one.
32. Mortol II: The sequel to Mortol, this game takes the same premise as the first while making it more of an open world game. More complicated than the first, but I'd say it's about on par with it quality and fun wise.
33. Fist Hell: A beat 'em up game where you fight your way through a zombie apocalypse with nothing but your fists. If you like any of the Double Dragon games, this game will scratch that same itch.

"Rail Heist", the 28th game in UFO 50

34. Overbold: A top down shooter roguelike where you fight aliens in an arena to earn money. The mechanic where you can raise the difficulty to increase the money you earn is incredibly fun to use, and despite not having two sticks to work with, the game makes the limited control scheme work.
35. Campanella 2: The second game in the Campanella series, this takes the gameplay of the original and makes it more about exploration, with you also being able to exit your ship in segments similar to the original Metroid. I thought this one was alright, but the mechanics were a bit too complicated compared to the first one's simplicity.
36. Hyper Contender: A 1v1 platform fighter where you try to collect coins before your opponent does and fight to steal theirs. I can see this one being extremely fun with 2 people, but it takes a bit to really learn the ins and outs of.
37. Valbrace: A tough as nails dungeon crawler game where your knowledge is the biggest upgrade of all. The combat and magic system in this one is incredibly unique, and if I had more time I would absolutely try to beat this one.
38. Rakshasa: A combat-oriented platformer where you "die" in one hit, but can revive yourself if your ghost can collect rings and return to your body. This one is very tough and I didn't get very far, but was still fun.
39. Star Waspir: A fairly standard vertical scrolling shooter. Generic, but still fun.
40. Grimstone: A full JRPG set in the wild west. This one is apparently 2 hours long, which is impressive for a 50 game compilation.
41. Lords of Diskonia: A strategy game that combines army building and throwing disks at each other? I'm making this one sound confusing and boring, but this is another one of my favorites in the pack, it's just hard to explain it in two sentences.
42. Night Manor: A point and click horror game with puzzle elements, where you are stuck in a mansion and have to escape. I'm not really into point and click games, but it's fairly well made and definitely still feels like a game that could be made in the 80's.
43. Elfazar's Hat: A top down shooter where you try to escape the magician holding you captive. This one feels very inspired by Pocky and Rocky, which is a great game, so I love this one and hope to play it in multiplayer in the future.
44. Pilot Quest: An idle game where you try to fix your crashed spaceship by helping the locals of the planet you're stranded on. While it is cool that this game keeps track of your progress while you are not playing it and that it fits with the game's lore, it's still pretty boring.
45. Mini & Max: A platformer about changing your size and exploring the room that you're locked in to find a way to escape. This one has a lot going on in it, and I very much enjoyed it.
46. Combatants: A strategy game where you command your ants to gather resources and kill the enemy queen before yours gets killed. This game is a bit clunky sometimes, but it has a surprising amount of depth in its mechanics.
47. Quibble Race: A game where you bet on aliens that are competing in a race, using multiple sources to try to predict who will win and how much money you should put on them. Not for me, but it's still decently fun.
48. Seaside Drive: A Side scrolling shooter of all things, where you drive your car along a highway, blasting everything that tries to get in your way. It's pretty good, but definitely a bit forgettable outside of the premise.
49. Campanella 3: The final game in the Campanella series, this time it's a shooter with some 3D aspects. This one didn't really stick with me.
50. Cyber Owls: A full platformer with multiple characters and missions where you are a military organization trying to take down a group of criminals. Feels very in depth, but also didn't stick with me.