Alien Splatter Redux

THIS REVIEW IS IN ENGLISH FOR SPANISH HERE'S THE VIDEO: https://youtu.be/7XhSBpwUa6A (ESTA RESEÑA ES EN INGLÉS PARA ESPAÑOL AQUÍ ESTÁ EL VIDEO) Alien Splatter Redux is a love letter to classic run ‘n gun games, with clear vibes of Contra and Metal Slug. Fast action, aliens everywhere, and that arcade spirit that hooks you from the very first level. The gameplay is simple but effective. Shoot, dodge, and push forward through waves of enemies while facing bosses with easy-to-learn patterns. It’s short and relatively easy, but entertaining enough to keep you playing until the end. After finishing it, the game expands with interesting modes: A Game Boy-style level, pure retro nostalgia. A Boss Rush mode to test everything you’ve learned. Simple additions, but they give the experience an extra layer. Everything changes when you go for full completion. High scores require grinding. Beating it without dying is borderline insane. And the infamous “Glitch World” is pure chaos: broken platforms, unpredictable enemies, constant frustration. That’s where the game stops being fun and starts feeling like punishment. It's fun, cheap, and nostalgic. But going for 100%… that’s for maso…

Alien Splatter Redux, developed and published by Sinclair Strange, is a deliberately old-school side-scrolling action platformer that wears its retro inspirations openly and unapologetically. From its pixelated visuals to its straightforward controls and punishing difficulty, the game is clearly designed as a homage to the early days of console gaming, particularly the 8-bit era. Rather than modernizing its formula with contemporary conveniences, it leans into that older design philosophy, offering an experience built around repetition, memorization, and precise execution. The gameplay is rooted in simplicity, with players navigating a series of side-scrolling levels filled with alien enemies, traps, and platforming challenges. Movement, jumping, and shooting form the core of the control scheme, making the game immediately accessible. However, while the controls are easy to understand, mastering them requires careful timing and awareness. Combat revolves around a selection of basic weapons that provide some variation in how encounters are approached, but the emphasis remains on positioning and reaction rather than complexity. The game’s design ensures that even small mistakes can …

Technically it's competent (no major bugs, and sprite work is decent enough), but it's also extremely linear, repetitive, generic, and forgettable. The store page description even seems to echo this sentiment, describing the game as "BLAH BLAH BLAH 8-bit, BLAH BLAH BLAH, blow stuff up. BLAH BLAH BLAH, retro.". Play a real NES game instead, like Contra or Shatterhand.

I quite enjoy this little NES game. The controls are responsive, visuals are good though the sound feels repetitive when I die too many times at level 6 and it gets annoying. The overall experience is quite alright. Weapons feel pretty good: fireballs, lasers, rockets all hit well. Traps usually include spikes, there are no vanishing floors, enemies may hide in hives until you get closer. The health bar is generous but I hate those instant kill gaps. The first 5 levels are quite easy to pass, but the difficulty ramps up sharply from level 6 and I die at level 6 too many times because there's one particular area that leaves me little time to adjust: pillars with electric traps and a big gap with lava going up and down in front of me, and there's no checkpoint halfway and I nearly gave up. I eventually beat the game in a bit over an hour. Good experience. I hope the game can be a bit more forgiving on drop (gap) punishment. [u] [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/43342176-Why-Not-Games/#browse] My curator page[/url][/u]

It's worse than the original Contra. It's a no for me.

An NES action homage on the better side of decent. If this were a real NES game, it would be like, a Jaleco title, or one of the more middling Natsume games. The sound and visuals are quite good, although the larger sprite sizes relative to the screen means that you don't have a ton of room to maneuver. In fact, enemies rarely pose much of a threat at all if you have a quick trigger finger and passable reflexes. I actually don't think I died a single time to anything other than some of the more classic ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ instant death traps. I like Mega Man 2 as much as the next guy, but did we really need to do Quick Man's lasers again? The weapons all feel pretty good, although the laser and fireball seem above the rest by a good margin. There just isn't enough enemy variety to justify needing more than one or two strong, straight firing shots. Everything else feels like a bit of a novelty by comparison. Seems slightly glitchy too, as I beat stage 6 without dying (somehow) and the game showed stage 5 as the deathless one (I actually did die there). I seem to have unlocked the boss rush, but can't seem to select it which is also a bit disappointing.