Oniken: Unstoppable Edition

Oniken is yet another game by JoyMasher that perfectly captures the NES aesthetic and what made the NES titles great back in the day. I believe it’s actually their first game, but I played this one right after Odallus: The Dark Call, and I think Oniken felt somewhat superior compared to it. Especially the soundtrack. It’s not a very long game; it takes about 90 minutes to finish, even with a leisurely playthrough, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing since that’s the average length of something from that era. A fair warning, though. It’s quite tough if you’re not a seasoned player in the field. There isn’t much to cover about the gameplay. It plays pretty much like Ninja Gaiden, and the last few stages reminded me of Kabuki: Quantum Fighter, thanks to those tough platforming sections. You occasionally get a sword upgrade that lasts about 2 hits, and it extends your sword’s range. Furthermore, it grants you berserk status with invincibility and increased damage output for a few seconds upon hitting its dedicated button. Apart from your trustworthy sword, you have grenades that deal quite a lot of damage, and they are very useful against the bosses since they can kill them quickly…

Oniken is a fun side-scroller inspired by old pixelated games like Ninja Gaiden and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, following the same level of difficulty and challenge while being accompanied by a nice soundtrack. Unfortunately, the game has far too many inexcusable technical limitations and bugs to be truly recommendable.

I recommend this game only to hardcore fans of hack and slash, and action platformers where high precision is necessary. TBH, I found this one a tad too difficult. Pixel art is nostalgia-driven, with 16-bit era graphics using 8-bit era colors and sprites, with modern details both in the gameplay and the art department.

I really dislike this game and bought it twice. It reminds me of every NES platformer that would frustrate me as a child. The devs really nailed the aesthetic, music, and difficulty. This game is not for everyone, and although I did not like it personally, it achieves what it set out to do and imitates its inspirations very well. if you are looking for a truly classic gaming experience, Oniken should give you many frustrating hours of entertainment!

Classic retro games are timeless

This game is badass. It genuinely feels like it could've released in the 1980s. If you like challenging linear platformers of that era (e.g. The NES Ninja Gaidens, Castlevania, Contra), you will love this.