Just in time for the October spooky season releases is the 16-bit 2D platformer RetroRealms: Halloween from developer Wayforward Technologies and publisher Boss Team Games alongside another very similar game in the Evil Dead franchise. And let me say right away, if you only plan on getting one of these two, get the Evil Dead one.
I don’t hate RetroRealms: Halloween. It’s just that in the direct comparison, which is close to unavoidable given that they’re both releasing at the same time from the same studio in a bundle, the Evil Dead game is definitely the stronger of the two. But first, let’s talk about the things RetroRealms: Halloween does just as well.
RetroRealms: Halloween starts with Michael sitting in his cell when the Overlord of the Nightmare Realm pays him a visit to break him out and equip him with his trusty knife. Why? So he can do his favorite thing: kill some people. That’s all the motivation Michael Myers needs, and the Overlord is happy having an unstoppable killing machine on his side.
So that’s already one of the problems I have with RetroRealms: Halloween. Michael Myers should feel like a beast that kills anyone in his sight, and while I suppose he does do that as long as you play well, he doesn’t feel like the overpowering force that he should be. He’s certainly slower than other characters, but that isn’t balanced out by making him stronger. In comparison to the other playable characters that are available—Laurie Strode if you own the DLC and Ash Williams as well as Kelly Maxwell if you own the Evil Dead game as well—he just feels like a more clunky and worse version.
All the fundamentals of a solid 2D platformer are still here, though. The platforming itself still feels good, and so does the combat. And the additional mechanic of the Nightmare Realm, which you can swap back and forth from at any point with the press of a button, is a neat idea as well. But it’s not really used to its full potential, and the level design in general is a little frustrating here at times. One level in particular had me wondering forever where I was even supposed to go.
RetroRealms: Halloween looks really damn good; the 16-bit pixel art is fantastic, and the locations are rendered beautifully with it. Though here I have to wonder why they went with some of the locations they did. A prison/asylum? Sure. A graveyard? That makes sense. But why is the second location in the game a car factory? Is that an iconic Halloween location I’m just not aware of? And then the boss is a guy in a special excavator that has been tuned up. It just all seems a bit random and detached from the franchise.
Maybe saddest of all is that as far as I can tell it doesn’t use any music from the original movie, not even as inspiration. It’s a shame given how the main theme of the franchise is not just great but also so iconic. And it’s not that the music here isn’t good, it evokes that classic oldschool platformer game soundtrack really well. But it’s just another one of many small things where RetroRealms: Halloween doesn’t feel too interested in actually making a great Halloween game, but just a pretty decent horror platformer.
And at the end of the day, that is my biggest complaint with RetroRealms: Halloween. I don’t think it’s bad exactly, but it fails to capture the spirit of the Halloween franchise, which is especially frustrating given that the Evil Dead counterpart does this exact thing so well. Nevertheless, if you want a 16-bit 2D platformer where you play as Michael Myers, then this really isn’t too bad at all. But it’s very clear the potential for more was there, and that’s always unfortunate.
Nairon reviewed the RetroRealms: Halloween on PC with a review copy.
