Back in June we checked out a trailer for a new upcoming game called Arecibo Man from Madgarden, who has positioned himself firmly in the neo-retro movement with previous offerings like Chillaxian ($1.99), Flapthulu (Free), Sword of Fargoal ($2.99) and Punch Quest (Free). Arecibo Man is no different. It features more bleeps, bloops and blocky pixels than you can shake a stick at, and its inspired by classics like Robotron and Berzerk. I also get a distinctive Smash TV vibe from it, in the fact that it’s a top-down shooter that has you moving from room to room. This latest trailer shows off even more of Arecibo Man’s chaotic gameplay, including a battle with a brand new enemy: a formidable tank.
Of course, as retro-inspired as Arecibo Man may be, if you tried to do some of the fancy stuff seen in this video on an Atari 2600 you’d likely melt the console into a puddle of plastic mush. That’s what I love about these types of neo-retro games, as they pick up where hardware limitations of yesteryear left off and crank certain areas up to 11 to ensure a game has a modern feel. Arecibo Man was initially supposed to be a quick project, but according to the YouTube description, there’s “Still lots of waves and rooms to design, balancing to do." Hopefully it won’t be too long before we can get this chaotic little shooter in our hands.