It is save to say that Brazil has been one of the most productive nations when it comes to retro releases and retro-inspired indie development. Recently we’ve reviewed, the formidable brawler Pocket Bravery for example. But how about Horizon Chase Turbo, Spark the Electric Jester and Blazing Chrome. The sheer enthusiasm of the Brazilian gaming community and general strong appreciation for retro games is clearly noticeable even in our site statistics.
One of the driving forces behind the Brazilian indie scene has been indie developer and publisher QUByte. While they do publish a large array of video games, a large portion of their releases fall into our retro-inspired category.
Every year, QUByte presents “QUByte Connect,” a video presentation showcasing the games planned for release in the upcoming year. This year’s presentation includes a satisfying dose of retro goodness. Vamos dar uma olhada!
MARS2120
The biggest and first announcement in the presentation is the project QUbyte itself has been working on for years. “MARS2120” is a metroidvania, that graphically and in terms of gameplay reminds us a lot of Metroid Bread, albeit in a sci fi setting. It also it shows a glimpse of Bloodstained inspiration. It has been available in closed beta for the selected few, and will be released in March, 2024. QUbyte themself see this as their most ambitious in-house developed release ever.
VISCO Collection
Available today on all mayor platforms is the VISCO collection. This retro collection contains prominent releases from the developer who is primarily known for it’s 2nd party status with SNK and TAITO in the 1990s, developing almost 30 games for both these publishers. The collection contains 7 games of its catalogue with NEO GEO classics Andro Dunos, Ganryu, Neo DriftOut and Goal! Goal! Goal! as stand outs. We are working on the review, which will be on retrolike.net soon.
Top Racer Collection
While the VISCO collection was released last week, QUByte is preparing to launch another classic collection this week: the Top Racer Collection. If you are familiar with the original release, you probably know it as “Top Gear.” Since the license associated with the British TV show has long expired, QUByte has made efforts to remove all references to the show from the game. The collection includes all the main series games, including Top Racer, Top Racer 2, and Top Racer 3000, along with new content.
Spell Crisis
This metroidvania by JoyCat Games seems to have taken some gameplay queues from classic from Megaman, fused with the looks of the Cotton series. That sounds like a perfect combination to us! Spell Crisis encourages the player to experiment with spells, you obtain in the game, which all happen to have very Harry Potter-tastic names.
MEGA 99VIDAS
“99Vidas” was an early prominent release by QUByte Interactive back in 2016. This in-house developed 2D brawler was ahead of the “2D beat ’em up boom” we are currently experiencing. To everyone’s surprise, QUByte announced that it will be released for the Mega Drive/Genesis. In an interview with Communidade Mega Drive the team behind the port is determined to recreate the game as faithfully as possible on the 35-year-old platform, striving to transition all the levels and assets while maintaining the core game and its essence.
Frogue
This pixelated action puzzler reminds us most of games from the Saturn/Playstation era, specifically 2D puzzle games. Then again, the gameplay concept itself is fairly unique. As a frog, you need to utilize your hopping abilities to attack and defeat enemies while simultaneously avoiding toad-smashing traps and spikes.
Road Defense : Outsiders
With its monochrome-style graphics, Road Defense: Outsiders stands out as an unique title. The game melds tower defense and twin-stick rogue-lite gameplay with the objective to safeguard the passage of cars along the crosstown road against relentless gangs. In return for your efforts, you receive cash, which can be used to improve your security setup. The gameplay appears intense, offering a bunch of power-up options.
