The core grappling and swinging mechanic is satisfying, the weapons a joy to wield and the levels are imaginatively designed. At least as distractions they’re relatively brief.īCR is at once beautifully reminiscent of its era, and polished enough to be palatable to a modern audience. The aiming is imprecise, the level layouts are ugly and repetitive and act simply as a punishment for clumsy negotiation of the world map rather than a satisfying change of pace.
Only in one area do things go terribly awry: the top-down Enemy Encounter missions are always a chore. Once you’re done with the single player modes, if you can persuade some chums to huddle around the monitor, the competitive multiplayer is a blast as well, if a little cramped. Perfect for obsessive compulsive play, while inclusion of world ranking leaderboards for these virtual reality missions ensures you’ll never be truly satisfied either. Much of the replay value comes from a series of puzzle style ‘simulation’ missions, bite-sized challenges that test your abilities against the clock. If you’re up for the challenge, there’s plenty to do outside of the already reasonably sized campaign.
Not only do you have a meagre three punts at blasting through a level, but you have to deal with a boss encounter that requires you to figure out a specific technique and execute it perfectly on the same budget of lives. BCR is a tough nut to crack, and reintroduces the concept of a limited number of lives in an era that’s increasingly mollycoddling players with recharging energy bars and overzealous autosaving. The spirit of nightmarishly difficult ’80s arcade games still rears its head.
The result is a slick and, given that it’s download only, surprisingly complete platformer.
Features impossible on the 8-bit NES have been added for enjoyment’s sake, notably the single/split screen two-player campaign co-op and four-player adversarial multiplayer modes. Vibrant 3D visuals set it apart from the gritty monotony of many contemporary releases and the only-slightly-modernised chip music adds to the nostalgic flavour. It helps that BCR is styled exactly as a retro remake should be.
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