An incredible new game paying homage to yester-year has been created by Matt Kap, who is responsible for a great deal of the artwork in Binding of Isaac: Rebirth (among other titles). Castle In The Darkness is the definition of pristine in terms of polish for a Retro-Inspired Indie Platformer / Action RPG. The Kingdom of Alexandria’s fate rests on your tiny 8-ish-bit shoulders after your King has grown ill with a mysterious horde of monsters slaying every last guard in town… except you.
1001 Spikes is a 2D platforming adventure title in the style of older NES titles such as Mega Man, Super Mario and particularly draws a large influence from Spelunker. The Wii U version of the title features off-screen play and controls very well on the GamePad as well as the Pro Controller. This title is a sidescroller, that while difficult at times, has a very responsive and refreshing control scheme and style. You advance through stages while collecting loot and dodging enemies with a one hit death style. The game limits you to 1001 lives throughout the entire game, which at first seems like a lot but as you advance can dwindle fast if you aren’t careful. The game also features a multiplayer mode that is stylized like Mario Bros where you battle with up to three additional players to survive and defeat foes to collect points. I had a large amount of fun with both modes of the game and despite frustration at points, I did push on and enjoyed each and every bit of the game.