UFO 50

Release Date: September 18, 2024

Arcade, 2D, package, for 2 players, indie games, co-op, splitscreen, multiplayer, singleplayer

9.0

OpenCritic

96%

Steam

Rate It!

Compilation of independent games that is a tribute to the times of 8-bit consoles. UFO 50 is a pack of fifty items - from classic platformers, through shoot 'em ups to RPG titles. Each project is a full-fledged production, combining inspirations from the past with new ideas and a contemporary way of designing. Although the individual games are slightly smaller than the commercial hits released in the 1980s, they still offer over 100 hours of fun.

Videos and Screens

[1:38] UFO 50 UFO 50 - Announcement Trailer

9.0

OpenCritic Rating

Top Critic Average: 90 / 100, game is Recomended by 99% of Critics. There are 16 Critic Reviews.

OpenCritic

Kotaku: by Carolyn Petit

It’s not the biggest budgets or the most polish. It’s creativity and experimentation, a willingness to try new things and keep pushing a young medium forward. With any luck, we’re just getting started.

Full Review

God is a Geek: 9.5 / 10 by Lyle Pendle

UFO 50 is a celebration of retro gaming, full of wonderful modern ideas, sensational video games and a whole lot of content.

Full Review

Shacknews: 8 / 10 by Lucas White

UFO 50 is like stumbling across a time capsule and discovering a wealth of lost knowledge inside. And yet, it’s entirely a singular work of fiction. That by itself is deeply fascinating and makes this thing worth playing. Even if you pass over most of the games and only find a few that stick with you from a fun perspective, the depth on a conceptual level is absurd and gratifying to simply think about. We’re living at a time in which older games are vanishing from both physical reality and our sort of collective cultural well at an increasing rate, when remakes are seen as replacements for original work and curiosity to seek out history is dwindling unless there’s a purchasable remaster. UFO 50 is fun to play and take at face value, but it also highlights how age really isn’t a detriment to having a great time and engaging with games.

Full Review

96%

STEAM Score

All Reviews: Overwhelmingly Positive (3,026)

STEAM

User Reviews Summary generated by AI

The main pros of the game

Variety of Games: *UFO 50* offers a diverse collection of 50 unique games across multiple genres, including platformers, RPGs, puzzle games, and more. This variety appeals to different player preferences.
Value for Money: At approximately $0.50 per game, users consistently highlight the game's incredible value, noting that several titles could stand alone as full-priced games.
Nostalgic Aesthetic: The game captures the 8-bit aesthetic reminiscent of classic NES titles, appealing to fans of retro gaming.
Creative Design: Many reviews praise the innovative mechanics and unique twists on traditional gameplay, showcasing the developers' creativity and effort.
Replayability: The inclusion of completionist challenges, unlockable achievements, and a virtual pet garden encourages players to engage deeply with the games.
Local Multiplayer: Many games in the collection support local multiplayer, enhancing the fun factor when playing with friends.

The main cons of the game

Difficulty: A significant number of games are described as challenging, often requiring patience and repeated attempts to master, which may frustrate some players.
Inconsistent Quality: While many games are praised, some users noted that not all games are equally enjoyable, with a few being outright disliked (e.g., *Combatants*).
Lack of Tutorials: The absence of comprehensive tutorials can make it difficult for players to understand game mechanics, leading to potential frustration.
Limited Controls: Some players found the control scheme (using only two buttons) restrictive, which could hinder the complexity of certain games.

The features or elements that are missing from the game according to users

More Comprehensive Tutorials: Players expressed a desire for better onboarding or tutorials to help them understand game mechanics and objectives more clearly.
Additional Game Length: Some users wished for certain shorter games to be expanded, as they enjoyed the mechanics and wanted more content.
Language Support: The game currently lacks localization in languages other than English, which could limit accessibility for non-English speakers.
Diverse Control Schemes: A request for more varied control schemes to accommodate the complexity of some games, as the two-button setup can feel limiting.

Summary

Overall, UFO 50 is celebrated for its ambitious scope and nostalgic charm, but it also presents challenges that may not appeal to all players.

Summary generated on: November 25, 2024

UFO 50 is a set of independent games produced by five developers: Derek Yu, known from Spelunky, Eirik Suhrken (Skorpula), Jon Perry (Time Barons), Paul Hubans (Madhouse) and Ojiro Fumoto responsible for Downwell. The title was published on PC by Mossmouth, a company belonging to the first of the aforementioned devs.

Story

Although it is a set of very diverse productions, the developers have spun them around one concept. According to the story, there was fictional pulishing company operating in the 1980s, which had a number of previously unreleased games in its catalogue. It was decided to present them to the world as part of UFO 50. Interestingly, in order to make the story more credible, the developers imposed various restrictions on themselves and, for example, used only a unique palette of 32 colours. Thanks to this move, they managed to capture the atmosphere of those times, although at the same time they tried to maintain the modern approach to game design.

Mechanics

UFO 50 gives us access to fifty different titles. We can choose between platformers, shoot'em up titles, logic games or RPGs. All of them were created as if they were made in the 8-bit era, so they offer quite simple gameplay mechanics. Each of the games enables us to have fun in single player mode, and up to a third of the also in multiplayer (competitive or co-operative). What is important, the projects presented in UFO 50 are not just mini games, but full-fledged titles. Although they are a bit smaller than the commercial hits of the 1980s, it takes more than a hundred hours to complete them all.