some choice words from our lord and savior, yung venuz

"I don't need no bread
I don't need no home
Just everybody dead
And my Nuclear Throne"

A masterpiece of action roguelikes, for the simple reason that the moment to moment gameplay loop is so fast paced, satisfying, and engaging that I can endlessly replay it and have fun far past when I would be bored by any other I've played. It's a blood pumping continuous fight of using just two weapons, an active ability, and a build of passive bonuses of your choosing to blast your way through crowds of enemies that have their own threats and unique ways you need to approach them. You can die in half a second ending your run from a single mistake, a momentary lapse in concentration, but that threat only makes it more rewarding when you weave, aim, and use your abilities to their fullest to squeeze through deadly encounter after deadly encounter by the skin of your teeth. The random elements are relatively minimal for a roguelike, keeping some run variety, but everything is secondary to your reflexes and quick wits. I'm far from a very skilled player at these kinds of games, but the difficulty curve naturally built me up to being able to regularly feel exhilarated and in awe of my own abilities.

This is the only game I didn't play as a kid that I have over 500 hours in. It's not even a constant, sometimes I just boot up the game and can't stop playing it for multiple weeks. This game is just a dopamine rush of constant action and insanity, on top of being an infinitely replayable arcadey roguelike. Can't recommend it enough, just make sure you play it on PC. Mainly for better controls (and that it's really easy to run), but also because I highly recommend trying out Nuclear Throne Together, a mod that allows for easy online co-op and genuinely some of the best mod support I've ever seen for a game.

Nuclear Throne no es solo un juego, es una marca vital mia que ha ido poco a poco. Anaitgames, los streams de Pep Sanchez, jugar poco a poco la 1º vez que rebajo en Steam y jugar poco a poco gustándome ese feeling que tiene. Esa dificultad enrabiada que mueres a la mínima, que todo es peligroso.
Porque alcanzar el Trono Nuclear no es un paseo fácil, es de sufrimiento, mucho sufrimiento. Aún recuerdo estar atascado en el boss del mundo 5, morir y morir. Pero, cuando acabe con ese boss, ir a las zonas sorprendido y llegar al trono muriendo sin saber como y flipar, sabia que no sería fácil llegar ahí.
Y no lo ha sido, pero llegue y cayo derrotado. La cosa es que estaba feliz, muy feliz por fin alcancé el trono, mi meta conseguida super feliz estaba (y sigo estando mientras escribo esto). Hasta que suena la canción de los créditos y sentí una felicidad rara, era feliz por fin había cumplido mi meta pero se unía y une una tristeza y un vacío, algo se va y es ese reto.
Nunca pensé que Nuclear Throne me haría llorar y hacerme sentir que lo importante no era el trono, sino el camino recorrido. Escuchar el podcast, ver los directos, charlar con mi amigo Soliz de los podcast y el juego, de jugar y caer en el pique comentando en foro droga del nexo, los audios mañaneros al Klay diciendo lo que llevaba y los vicios al juego, esos momentos de felicidad y alegría
Porque al final jugamos para que nos saquemos una sonrisa un día malo, para reflexionar, porque nos gusta y comentamos con nuestros amigos y gente muy cercana.
Como siempre me he ido por las ramas, pero no esperaba que Nuclear Throne y su canción final me tocasen tanto. Es y será, de mis juegos favoritos de siempre y algo que llevare en el corazón este viaje tan bonito.
Gracias Nuclear Throne.

One of the foundational games of my middle childhood. I played since early access, probably since mid-2014. I grinded the crap out of it, won plenty of dailies, and loved experiencing the weekly updates that Vlambeer put out. It made me love the video game development process, and was one of the most fun experiences I've had in Early Access. I've put around 1,000 hours total into the game, and I can happily say it is by FAR my favorite roguelike ever released. The artstyle, the weapons, the characters, the upgrade system-- it's all perfection to me. Is it nostalgia? Absolutely. But I can never play another shooting-based roguelike without thinking I'd rather play Nuclear Throne. It made me super sad to see Vlambeer shut down, but I am super thankful to them that I was able to play this game for so long.

It took me 18 hours before I got my butt on the throne, but every run was fun and worth it.

For its pixel art, it's pretty and it's capable of expressing the wonder and grossness of this world. The music rocks and moves with the energy of the game; guitars are blasting while you're blasting and mellows when the carnage is over.

It's pretty darn difficult and even the slightest misstep is punished immediately in the game. There's a learning curve to understanding the environments, enemies and weapons as they're introduced to the player, without much explanation. Sometimes, I'd fire a gun at a wall just to see what it actually does, or carefully approach an inanimate object in a new land just in case it causes damage. There's not much explained to the player, so they have to try to learn from their failures - or get a definitive answer through a wiki.

However, every run is incredibly smooth to get in to. After a death, I curse my mistake, think "that wasn't fair!", correct myself (it was fair), then immediately hit re-try and I'm back in the action. The repetition is diffused by the randomly generated levels, vast array of weapons, and secrets to find throughout each run. Sometimes I find myself craving another try for the throne, which is convenient because of how quick this game streamlines getting into the fun of it all.

Select Plant. Be in loop 1 or later (which is when for us pro gamers the real game starts). Select his special ability Killer, which is that every enemy that dies on a vine will make mini plants appear and attack our enemies.

Have also beforehand the mutation Impact Wrists, which makes the enemy corpses slide on the ground a few meters, bouncing and colliding with other enemies, and can make them die and also slide and collide etc...

Have a powerful weapon. My favorite is the Gatling Laser.

Well, with all these elements we will obtain what for me is the most pleasant sensation that I have had and still have in the world of video games.

Simply start shooting all around you, which will be infested with enemies. You can throw the vine at one or more enemies, if they are together, and when they die, the mini plants appear, which will attack other enemies. And if they have little life and are on the vine, they will die and make even more mini plants appear. All this with the corpses coming and going and bouncing and killing more enemies, who will do the same.

The camera will shake slightly, with the amount of explosions, fluttering corpses, and armies of mini plants looking for new enemies to attack. Even if your character is in an area where there are not many enemies, as the camera shakes you know that in another part of the map is happening everything exposed and the amount, at first huge, of enemies is decreasing to large quantities.

That's it. That's just it. The magic. The thing that can't be described but is there, gigantic everywhere. What gives you life in this video game thing.

Thousands of hours the game has given me and thousands will be left to play. Until I die and my corpse starts to bounce.

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Seleccionar a Plant. Estar en el loop 1 o posterior (que es cuando para nosotros los pro del siglo empieza el juego de verdad, jeh). Seleccionar su habilidad especial Asesino, que es que cada enemigo que muera en una enredadera hará aparecer unas mini plantas que atacaran a nuestros enemigos.

Tener también con anterioridad la mutación Muñecas de Impacto, que hace que los cadáveres enemigos se deslicen por el suelo unos metros, rebotando y chocando con otros enemigos, pudiendo hacer que estos mueran y también se deslicen y choquen etc...

Tener un arma poderos. Mi preferida el Gatling Laser.

Bien, con todos estos elementos obtendremos lo que para mi es la sensación mas placentera que he tenido y sigo teniendo en el mundo de los videojuegos.

Simplemente ponerte a disparar a todo alrededor, que estará infestado de enemigos. Ir lanzando la enredadera a uno o varios enemigos, si están juntos, y que al morir aparezcan los mini plantas, que atacaran a otros enemigos. Y si estos tienen poca vida y están sobre la enredadera, morirán y harán aparecer aun más mini plantas. Todo esto con los cadáveres yendo y viniendo y rebotando y matando a mas enemigos, que harán lo mismo.

La cámara se pondrá a temblar levemente, con la cantidad de explosiones, cadáveres revoloteando, y ejercito de mini plantas buscando nuevos enemigos a los que atacar. Aunque tu personaje esté en una zona donde no hay muchos enemigos, como la cámara tiembla sabes que en otra parte del mapa está sucediendo todo lo expuesto y la cantidad, al principio enorme, de enemigos está disminuyendo a grandes cantidades.

Eso es. Simplemente eso es. La magia. Lo que no se puede describir con solidez pero ahí está, gigantesca en todos lados. Lo que te da la vida en esto de los videojuegos.

Miles de horas me ha dado el juego y miles me quedaran por jugar. Hasta que me muera y mi cadáver empiece a rebotar.