Rise On! After 20 years, the legendary lost project “Dark Void” is back! To commemorate the game’s humble origins, Capcom has commissioned the recreation of the original 8-bit classic, now re-titled “Dark Void Zero”. In this critically acclaimed 8-bit de-make, you play as Rusty, warrior test-pilot and Nikola Tesla’s trusted friend. With the help of your state-of-the-art rocket pack, blast through three deliciously retro levels of baddies in your quest to close Portal X and save the human race!
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It feels so strange to call a game like this a "poorly-aged product of its time", and I don't directly mean in what lessons it learned from NES games. Dark Void Zero is an at-best serviceable 2D action 8-bit throwback at a time when they were underrepresented and all the rage, released for $5 on a platform that DESPERATELY needed any sort of noteworthy games (you know something's up when a Shantae game is your "killer app").
The game is aesthetically unremarkable (the soundtrack is...good...i guess?), has somecute ideas like 8-way shots, multiple weapons, and the rocket, and has a boring boss that is repeated for every level. Enemy bullets phase through walls, but of course yours don't (besides that rare and awful teleport laser); also for some reason aiming is rather finicky and i often had difficulty landing shots on enemies due to small hitboxes. The game has a lot of vibes of what made a game "good" in 2010, with a ton of meaningless collectables and levels that are big and long, but honestly pretty dull and unmemorable, especially when there are only three levels for the whole game. Also for some reason the game does not replenish your lives when you save or beat a stage? This is actually pretty annoying since this made me decide to grind Stage 2 until i could beat it deathless, only to realize that the devs FILLED Stage 3 with health items and 1-ups, perhaps to make up for this oopsie
Downloadable 8-bit styled games are a dime-a-dozen in this day and age, with games like Prison City having disturbingly low player counts despite being legitimately good. Dark Void Zero was very much a game in the right place at the right time that its job and has long since left our collective memories. No one remembers it anymore, and honestly, it's not worth looking back on lol
The game is aesthetically unremarkable (the soundtrack is...good...i guess?), has somecute ideas like 8-way shots, multiple weapons, and the rocket, and has a boring boss that is repeated for every level. Enemy bullets phase through walls, but of course yours don't (besides that rare and awful teleport laser); also for some reason aiming is rather finicky and i often had difficulty landing shots on enemies due to small hitboxes. The game has a lot of vibes of what made a game "good" in 2010, with a ton of meaningless collectables and levels that are big and long, but honestly pretty dull and unmemorable, especially when there are only three levels for the whole game. Also for some reason the game does not replenish your lives when you save or beat a stage? This is actually pretty annoying since this made me decide to grind Stage 2 until i could beat it deathless, only to realize that the devs FILLED Stage 3 with health items and 1-ups, perhaps to make up for this oopsie
Downloadable 8-bit styled games are a dime-a-dozen in this day and age, with games like Prison City having disturbingly low player counts despite being legitimately good. Dark Void Zero was very much a game in the right place at the right time that its job and has long since left our collective memories. No one remembers it anymore, and honestly, it's not worth looking back on lol
A colorful Metroidvania made as a marketing stunt, the action feels a little too crude to make me want to complete this
Marketed as an unreleased Nes game and I'm kinda glad it was. This game plays like a flash game and lacks coherent-level design and fun gameplay. This is absolutely playable but nothing remotely noteworthy is included.
Holy shit this game is so poorly designed, honestly fucking awful and I want my 5 bucks back
Its not hard like Castlevania its hard like bullshit, feels like a badly made flash game
Its not hard like Castlevania its hard like bullshit, feels like a badly made flash game
It's perfectly competent. The sprites and backgrounds look good, but occasionally stuff gets lost in all the visual noise on screen. The music is nice and groovy, if a bit forgettable. I remember way the game handles being a bit frustrating to deal with, but I guess that's appropriate for the throwback style.
The best thing I can say about it is that it feels the most like an old NES game out of any feux-retro games that I've played, for better or worse. And as someone who (with a few exceptions) mostly tolerates NES games instead of enjoying them, I'm probably not the target audience for it.
The best thing I can say about it is that it feels the most like an old NES game out of any feux-retro games that I've played, for better or worse. And as someone who (with a few exceptions) mostly tolerates NES games instead of enjoying them, I'm probably not the target audience for it.
It's the most solid average not-retro game you could ask for in a small convenient package.