IWhen it comes to video games, there’s one thing that’s universal: releasing one is hard. But releasing 50? All at once? That’s a whole other level. That’s the challenge for the team behind UFO 50. This long-awaited 8-bit anthology of retro-style games is finally releasing this September, seven years after it was announced. With 50 games included, the wait is justified.
UFO 50 is a diverse package of full-length video games, each with its own title, genre and story. “They’re not minigames,” says developer Derek Yu, creator of the 2008 platformer Spelunky. Named one of the best games ever made“Each game could exist as a full version on some console or computer from the 80s.”
The idea that unites the collection is that these games all come from a mysterious (and fictional) 1980s video game company, UFO Soft, which developed the entire catalog for an equally fictional gaming console. They’re a mix of single-player and multiplayer games, and include everything from puzzle games and platformers to tactical wargames, RPGs, and a few that don’t quite fit into any typical category, like Pingolf, a side-scrolling pinball-golf hybrid, or Waldorf’s Journey, where you have to try to bounce your flying walrus off your friend’s flying walrus. Each of them looks like they could have been released for the NES, but with distinctly modern gameplay sensibilities. Think low-res, high-concept.
Some genres in this genre simply didn’t exist in the 80s (roguelike platformers and tower defense games), while classic genres bring new mechanics to their retro roots. “Take Mini & Max as an example. It looks like a regular platformer, but you can shrink or grow anywhere to explore the world. You might find an entire microscopic city on an otherwise modest land tile,” suggests Yu.
And while some are arcade-style games, where the goal is to get a high score, others are much larger in scope. “Grimstone is one of the bigger games in our collection. It’s an RPG, and I don’t think it’s crazy to say that it might take 20 hours to play through,” Yu reveals. “UFO Soft’s history spans from 1982 to 1990, and the games become more technically advanced as the years go by. As you explore the timeline, you’ll find that some games have sequels and recurring characters.”
One of those characters? The company’s mascot, Pilot, appears in many of the games, as well as the action game Pilot Quest, a top-down game in which you explore dungeons and grow your base.
The not-so-fictional team behind UFO 50 is a supergroup of six indie game developers, known for cult hits like Spelunky, Catacomb Kids, Cadence of Hyrule, Madhouse, and even card games like Air, Land & Sea. The 80s style of gameplay is more than just an aesthetic issue for this group. “Everyone on the team loves the mystery and charm of 80s games,” says Yu.
“You weren’t always sure what kind of experience awaited you, and that alone added an air of tension and excitement… They weren’t afraid to let you get a little lost as you played. Despite the limitations of the hardware, their design felt more adventurous.” The original Legend of Zelda was a particular reference point for Yu personally: “I remember playing the game while my dad drew maps, marking the locations of dungeons and secrets. It really felt like we were on an adventure together, working as a team to figure out where everything was and how it worked. The graphics weren’t realistic, but the world felt incredibly real to me.”
There’s certainly a lot to explore in UFO 50 – playing through all of these games, uncovering their secrets, and finding the connections between them could take months. But whether you’re intimately familiar with this era of gaming or not, making those discoveries will be a lot of fun.