Retro Game Pack

Genre: Compilation

Players: 1-2 Competitive (Local)

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Review:

(Note: This Compilation is included in 3 in 1 – Multiplayer Bundle, along with Multi Quiz and Overlanders.)

Retro Game Pack is a Compilation that includes versions of three “classic” games, although none of the games is referred to by name here. However, it’s pretty clear that these games are versions of Pong, Snake, and Tic-Tac-Toe.

A part of me wants to do that thing where I break down each of the games in this collection and give it a grade, but honestly, what’s the point? You’ve probably played some version of each of these games by this point. Really, it comes down to a question of how well these games are represented, how good the presentation is, and how good the options are.

For the presentation, this game is adorably retro, presenting the main menu screen a typical wood-paneled, poorly-lit bedroom straight out of the 70s or 80s. Pong is presented as if it’s being played on an old monochrome CRT television using a classic Atari console, Snake is presented as if it’s being played on one of those Nokia phones that have become memetic for how supposedly indestructible they were, and Tic-Tac-Toe is presented as if it’s being played using pencils drawing on lined paper.

All three games use appropriately primitive sound effects (or pencil scratches in the case of Tic-Tac-Toe), and feature no music of their own, though the game can play energetic music over the gameplay using a “tape deck” players can turn on and off in the main menu… which you’ll soon want to shut off as it gets annoyingly repetitive pretty quickly.

All in all, the presentation here is adorable and fitting, though it would have been nice to have more display options – even classic monochrome Atari games came with transparent colored screen overlays, after all. Also, a few classic rock tunes would have been a much better way to fit the game’s retro style – the music here isn’t only repetitive, it doesn’t quite fit the rest of the game’s aesthetic.

For the games themselves, unfortunately the only game that comes with any real options is Snake, which lets players endlessly play a level without walls, a level with walls, or a progressive series of different levels, and players can also adjust the game’s speed. This is also the only game that plays a bit differently in multiplayer, as players don’t go up against a computer opponent in single-player mode.

Pong is just… Pong, with no difficulty selector in single-player, no game variants, not even an option to set the match points – the game goes to eleven points, and that’s it.

Similarly, Tic-Tac-Toe also has no options, though here it’s a bit strange, as players automatically progress through a 3×3 grid, a 4×4 grid, and a 5×5 grid before the came concludes. You can’t opt to simply play on only one of these, you have to progress through all of them, with each victory scoring a point.

In the end, I can’t deny the retro appeal of Retro Game Pack, though this definitely feels like a far less satisfying collection than it could have been. With only three games, a lack of game options, a lack of display options, and a retro presentation that not everyone will appreciate, this is a Compilation that not everyone will find worth even the low $5 price tag. However, for the tiny niche this game aims to fit, it more or less succeeds at what it’s trying to do, albeit not in an especially satisfying way.

tl;dr – Retro Game Pack is a Compilation that includes versions of Pong, Snake, and Tic-Tac-Toe. The presentation here is adorably suited to the game’s “retro” theme, though not everyone will appreciate it. Even fewer players will appreciate the terrible lack of options throughout this package. Those nostalgic for bygone days may still find something worthwhile here, but I think most will find this package lacking.

Grade: C

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