I really admire the retro return of Atari, regardless of whether it is something that is completely wonderful and charming chassis or the underestimated Lunar Lander. These games imagine the world around the originals of Atari, which inspired them, using them to build a base of a up-to-date game while celebrating what was before. This is a nice idea and I would like other publishers to learn. Needless to say, when I got an invitation to sit with their latest retro revision, I took it, even if I didn’t know what it was.
What I received is Samsar’s adventure, a up-to-date approach to Atari Classic Adventure at Atari 2600. The adventure was before my time, but it is unusual to go back to how straightforward it is. This does not mean, however, that this is not compelling. Seriously, look for an adventure game if you are unknown; It’s amazing what you can convey with very straightforward graphics and a bit of imagination from the player.
However, this is not Samsary’s adventure. This game is stunning, with a straightforward but suggestive art of pixels, which is one of the most striking visual I’ve ever seen; I underestimated how much he captured the visual atmosphere of the original game until I came back and saw, but when you see them both, it is uncomplicated to see how Samsar’s adventure understands her visual roots. My demo began with a beam of delicate hitting the planet, resurrection of the hero and covering him with golden armor. The first thing I had to do was to aid a guy named Ombro from the cage. “But Will”, maybe you are wondering: “How do you explain the game like the adventure for a modern era?” Well, dear reader, I’m glad you asked. The answer is of course that you make it metroidvania with elements of the soul (resting at Golden Anvils restores healing flasks and advise against enemies). I know, I know, but hear me. It actually works quite well.
You see, the original adventure consisted of navigating the world and finding a way forward, regardless of whether it meant the maze solution, finding the key to open the closed door, or introducing the right thing to the right place. There was a lot of return and learning how to move around the environment. Sounds like Metroidvania, right? Well, 45 years later, here we are.
In any case, I had to pull my guy Osbro out of his cage, but I didn’t have a sword. So I went to the shone room behind me (ombro was basically: “Hey, check this room there”), I caught the sword and the shield and came back. And between, for the first time I felt the struggle of Samsara’s adventure. I wouldn’t call it slowly, but it is intentional. Moving, jumping, tilting and wrapping the sword is challenging experiences, and when you commit to action, you get stuck, doing so until you finish. When you are in battle, you want to make sure you are acting properly.
Samsar’s adventure also has Parry, but again this animation is quite long, so if you try Parry in the wrong time, you will be hit. Do it well, and you will be treated with one of the most satisfying plots you’ve ever seen because the Sunny (you) Master uses the sword to knock the opponent back before he lowered his own sword in a giant arch, which deals huge damage to stronger enemies and kills your basic mooks in one shot.
When I used my up-to-date sword to throw away ombro, he told me that our people, orphans, were attacked by necromanes. No biggie, just ordinary Tuesday. Sounds like a solar master problem, so I went to a nearby village.
As you might expect, I spent most of my time with the adventures of Samarar’s demo. In addition to the fight that kept me on my fingers because of how targeted every choice was, I usually jumped from the shelf to the shelf (sticking is something you can do manually, which allows a more convoluted platform), finding up-to-date ways to reach places and discover hidden secrets, such as data cubes (pixel paintings). At some point I had to aid Potisto, the oso guardian of the crypt, who was also in the cage (noticing here the pattern?) Get a broken potion, which meant finding him in a nearby chest. When I did this, he gave me the key to the next area.
Soon after, I fought with my first boss. Without a doubtful giant was a good test because I couldn’t just rely on my Parry to beat him. I could pair two of his three attacks (the third was a magical spell that I had to avoid), but only the evaporation of one of them caused damage. Parry, secondly, let me avoid injuries, but I knocked me back. The art was to find intervals in which I could avoid this attack and put myself to evaporate the other. It was not a complicated fight, but finding the right distance was good. And even better, I didn’t have to play it this way. I could just avoid and hit him. I just wanted to try.
When a massive guy fell, I could go down to the whole thing “finding an orphan”, so I went to discover. I found a skill that will allow me to manipulate a fire ball, hi-tech (this is one of the witty things in the adventures of Samsary; you hold the sword, but there are automatic metal doors and elevators around) and you burn overgrown plants. I have spells that will allow me to push enemies and teleport back to the last golden anvil I used. And I came across more enemies. The spiders that came up with me instead of attacking, so I couldn’t evaporate them! Flying guys I had to jump to deal with! These really annoying ground worms that spit the poison! No matter what I have, I had to stay on my fingers.
Ultimately, I found an orphan and met more orphans. I only saw an early segment, but I appreciated the adventure of Samsara’s writing when I played it. Each character speaks in a unique voice and you would never confuse one of them with others. Regardless of whether I learned about the holy tree Orphic, that I can aid nourish the modernization of my flasks (I see you, video game mechanics), I learned about a lost friend’s friend, or just getting the key to the next area, discovering the city was compelling. Other orphans even joked about how a robust, tranquil type. It’s just nice when people really See youDo you know that?
But maybe the most compelling thing in my demonstration version happened at the end. After leaving the village, I came across something that looked like an astronaut with a jet backpack fighting with a dragon, which looked suspicious like one of Adventure, just … you know much more detailed. I got a few hits to aid, but we didn’t get it. He disappeared, and the astronaut Jetpack warned me that he (and the dragon) came from another world. They should not be here. I had to consider ambushes. My demo ended soon after, but I didn’t lack questions and that’s where you want to be when the preview sums up.
The introduction of a 45-year game into the current era is a challenge. I just scratched the surface of Samsar’s adventure to offer, but it seems that he is doing well with the adventure, leading it to the up-to-date era. I didn’t know anything about it, but I left fascinated by both the original game and this spiritual successor (and if it sounds chilly to you, there is now a demo on Steam). But this is a magical trick of such a game, right? You are always torn between the present and the future, balancing what you see with what will happen next, wondering what is at the next corner. The only thing that is left to do was see if the programmer Osch Games and Atari can support this feeling for the whole adventure.
