UFO 50

Genre: Compilation

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local), 2-3 Competitive (Local)

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Review:

UFO 50, released in 2024 on PC and ported to Nintendo Switch in 2025, is a Compilation of 50 games that the game frames as being created by a fictional game developer called UFO Soft. These games are in a pretty wide variety of genres, and designed to look like games from the 8-Bit and 16-bit eras.

Here is what I thought of each of the games in this collection:

Game	Genre	# of Players	Score
Barbuta	Metroidvania	1	D
tl;dr It’s bold to put a lives system in a Metroidvania, but I don’t think that risk pays off here, especially with slow movement, stiff controls, and poor signposting. For the first game in this collection, this is not a good start.
Bug Hunter	Puzzle / Turn-Based Strategy	1-2 Co-Op (Local)	B
tl;dr This clever Puzzle and Strategy game has players using a limited move pool to try to clear out alien bugs while collecting energy cubes. This is really unique and compelling despite the retro visuals and lack of music.
Ninpek	Action-Platformer / Arcade	1-2 Co-Op (Local)	C
tl;dr Mostly a decent but unspectacular auto-scrolling Action-Platformer about ninjas chasing down a sandwich thief. Unfortunately, the way your character moves forward as the stage scrolls makes it harder to postition yourself in the precise way the high challenge level demands. This results in a game that, while still okay, could have been better.
Paint Chase	Arcade	1-2 Competitive (Local)	C+
tl;dr A fairly simple game about painting over mazelike paths before a timer counts down, almost like a very retro take on Splatoon. It’s not bad, but seems a bit too simple and repetitive.
Magic Garden	Arcade	1	B-
tl;dr This game plays like a blend ofg the classic games Snake and Pac-Man. It takes a bit of time to figure out just what you’re supposed to do here, but once you do it’s a really enjoyable game, if a bit repetitive.
Mortol	Puzzle-Platformer	1-2 Co-Op (Alternating Local)	A
tl;dr Mortol is a brilliant Puzzle-Platformer where players have multiple ways to sacrifice their lives to make it easier for later lives to reach the end of the stage, making players think carefully about how and when to spend those lives, with lives carrying over from one stage to the next. Absolutely inspired, and the only complaint I have here is that the game is relatively short.
Velgress	Platformer / Arcade	1	C+
tl;dr Velgress is a mostly solid Arcade-style Platformer, but having to restart from the geginning every time you die gets frustrating very quickly.
Planet Zoldath	Top-Down Action-RPG	1	C-
tl;dr This game plays a bit like a much more simple take on the classic 2D Zelda formula with randomized level layouts, but this has the unfortunate side-effect of the game having terrible signposting and indistinct map design. Plus, being forced to drop any items you pick up once you get more than two is needlessly frustrating.
Attactics	Tower Defense	1-2 Competitive (Local)	B
tl;dr This is a really creative take on the lane-based Tower Defense genre that blends turn-based and real-time elements to make players think strategically on their feet. It’s a bit more simple than I’d like, but it’s still well worth playing.
Devilition	Puzzle	1	B
tl;dr Devilition is a clever Puzzle game about using chain-reaction explosions to take out monsters. I wish the game actually showed you what panels you’re already targeting with placed explosives, but otherwise this is an all-around solid entry in the genre.
Kick Club	Platformer / Arcade	1-2 Co-Op (Local)	C+
tl;dr Kick Club is a sports-themed take on classic Arcade-style Platformers like Bubble Bobble, but with a ball you need to move to and use to take out enemies. This one is decent, but a bit repetitive.
Avianos	Turn-Based Strategy	1-2 Competitive (Local)	C
tl;dr Avianos is a creative small-scale take on Turn-Based Strategy with a randomized card-based mechanic determining what moves you can make in a turn. Great idea, poor execution thanks to everything has to be so oversimplified to fit the retro aesthetic that it’s unclear what anything does.
Mooncat	Platformer	1-2 Co-Op (Local)	C+
tl;dr Mooncat seems to be built around deciphering its odd two-button control scheme. To its credit, this is cleverly done, and without hand-holding. However, it can be frustrating when you have to keep doing different button combinations just to pull off moves that would be simple in any other Platformer
Bushido Ball	Sports (Pong)	1-2 Competitive (Local)	C
tl;dr This odd take on Pong has interesting ideas with its character-based special moves, but feels held back by its two-button control scheme.
Block Koala	Puzzle	1	C
tl;dr This Sokoban-style Puzzle game has an interesting block-combining mechanic, but otherwise is not drastically unlike other games of this type.
Camouflage	Puzzle / Stealth	1	C+
tl;dr This character-based Puzzle game with strong Stealth elements has a strong core concept, but could do a better job visually conveying which areas are unsafe rather than making players press a button. Still, this is well worth a try.
Campanella	Arcade	1	C+
tl;dr Campanella has you maneuvering a UFO through mazes. It’s decent, but the melee weapon you use is so short-range it can be overly-tricky to use, making for colissions that can feel unfair. Not bad, but it definitely seems like there’s room for improvement.
Golfaria	Sports (Golf) / Action-RPG	1	D
tl;dr Golfaria takes the idea of making a “Golf RPG” where you play as the golf ball, and then wrecks it by limiting your number of strokes and having poor signposrting, butting heads with the fundamental exploration elements that RPGs tend to rely on. This was a big disappointment.
The Big Bell Race	2D Racing	1-2 Competitive (Local)	B
tl;dr This side-scrolling Racing Game reuses the UFO-flying gameplay from Campanella, but I think it works much better here. It’s simple and straightforward, but still really compelling and fun.
Warptank	Platformer	1	B
tl;dr This gravity-swapping Platformer really requires players to be mindful of the environment and how it all fits together, to the point where it’s almost a Puzzle-Platformer. This game doesn’t do anything crazy, but it’s a solid take on the genre with good level design.
Waldorf’s Journey	Platformer	1-2 Competitive (Local)	B-
tl;dr This game’s trajectory-based jumping mechanic with limited course-correction results in a frustrating single-player campaign made up of too many leaps of faith, but the game is saved by it’s excellent arena-based competitive multiplayer take on that gameplay, though this sadly could have done with more content and variety..
Porgy	Metroidvania	1	B-
tl;dr This undersea Metroidvania has some good progression and interesting mechanics, but is held back by the need to constantly have to return to the surface, and by ineffective weapons.
Onion Delivery	Arcade	1	C
tl;dr Onion Delivery is an Arcade game that kinda’ has a Crazy Taxi-style gameplay, but unfortunately it doesn’t maintain the arrow pointing to your next destination, forcing your eyes to keep darting back and forth to the little radar in the corner, which can be frustrating and drag down the pacing.
Caramel Caramel	Smup	1-2 Co-Op (Local)	C
tl;dr Caramel Caramel is a colorful Shmup with a creative “photo” mechanic that lets you stun enemies. Unfortunately, it is far too difficult and unforgiving for its cheery presentation.
Party House	Card Game	1-2 Competitive (Local)	C+
tl;dr Party House is a Card Game where players deal out cards to gain popularity and cash to spend on additional cards for later rounds, while trying to avoid too many troublemaker guests. It’s a clever idea, but you have too little control over the gameplay, especially in earlier rounds before you’ve had a chance to buy many cards. Overall a good idea, but it needed refinement.
Hot Foot	Sports (Dodgeball)	1-2 Co-Op / Competitive (Local)	C+
tl;dr This would be a great take on Dodgeball if it wasn’t constrained by its two-button control scheme. Unfortunately, having multiple commands tied to the same button means it’s too easy to mess up and do something you didn’t intend to.
Divers	Turn-Based JRPG	1	D
tl;dr Divers is a Turn-Based JRPG that doesn’t give us any story, any characters, any interesting or compelling combat system… the only thing of note here is the interesting exploration mechanic that has you swimming around a side-scrolling environment, but that’s not enough to make up for this otherwise being a dud of an RPG.
Rail Heist	Platformer	1-2 Competitive (Local)	D
tl;dr This game gives players an odd blend of real-time and turn-based action, but your actions are so limited it’s hard not to get constantly frustrated. I don’t recommend this one.
Vainger	Metroidvania	1	C+
tl;dr Vainger is a Metroidvania built around a gravity-swap mechanic. This good idea is unfortunately brought down by an absurdly high difficulty and slow progression. Fans of the genre who are also challenge-seekers may enjoy this, but everyone else is likely to be frustrated by it.
Rock On! Island	Tower Defense	1	B
tl;dr Rock On! Island doesn’t really break any molds with its Tower Defense gameplay (apart from the caveman theme), but what’s here is a really solid representation of the genre.
Pingolf	Sports (Mini-Golf)	2	C+
tl;dr Pingolf is a side-scrolling Mini-Golf game with some wild level designs that are interesting, but the difficulty is absurdly high, making this a game that’s not for everyone.
Mortoll II	Action-Platformer	1-2 Co-Op (Local)	D+
tl;dr Mortoll II takes the original game’s formula, turns it into an Action-Platformer, makes players select a character before they even figure out what they need to do, and makes the levels confusingly non-linear. This all destroys the great game design that made the first Mortol one of the standouts in this collection. What a massive disappointment.
Fist Hell	Arcade Brawler	1-2 Co-Op (Local)	C+
tl;dr Fist Hell isn’t an especially deep or satisfying Brawler, but it is at least a decent one.
Overbold	Top-Down Action	1-2 Competitive (Alternating)	B
tl;dr Overbold is a solid Top-Down Action game with a fantastic risk/reward mechanic, and the 2-player mode finds a really clever way to implement this mechanic. Your walk speed is a bit too slow, and this feels like it really should have been a 2-Stick Shooter, but it’s still a blast to play.
Campanella 2	Action / Action-Platformer	1	C-
tl;dr This game adds Action-Platformer stages to the gameplay that was present in the original, and while I do like these better, I think the overall level design here is much worse than the original Campanella due to its randomized nonlinear nature.
Hyper Contender	Fighting Game / Action-Platformer	1-2 Competitive (Local)	B+
tl;dr Hyper Contender is a Fighting Game / Action-Platformer hybrid, and surprisingly this one doesn’t just take the easy route and copy Super-Smash Bros., and instead gives us something really unique where players are beating ring collectables out of each other and aiming to be the first to grab 5. I would have preferred support for more buttons, but even as-is, this is an excellent game.
Valbrace	First-Person Dungeon-DCrawler / Action-RPG	1	C+
tl;dr Valbrace adds some interesting real-time combat to the Dungeon Crawler genre, but unfortunately this game gives players far too few opportunities to heal, making for an overly-difficult game.
Rakshasa	Action-Platformer	1	C
tl;dr Rakshasa has an interesting “ghost revival” mechanic that has the potential to make this a bit different than the norm for this genre, but your character’s movments are so stiff and reviving your character becomes progressively difficult so quickly that this game ends up being too frustrating to stick with for long.
Star Waspir	Shmup	1	C+
tl;dr Shmup is a challenging Shmup already, but this is even more difficult thanks to the game only giving players two lives. As a result, this is a game that only fans of the genre looking for a nails-hard challenge will enjoy.
Grimstone	Turn-Based JRPG	1	C
tl;dr This JRPG gives the genre a Wild West theme, but has a molasses-slow walking speed and is absurdly hard right at the start. If you can bear with it long enough to grind you may find the unique world interesting, but overall I don’t think many will find this worth their time.
Lords of Diskonia	Arcade / Strategy	1-2 Competitive (Local)	C+
tl;dr This game has players competing in battles by flinging discs at each other. It’s a decent idea, but the back-and-forth pacing is pretty slow, and it often seems like a battle of attrition more than anything, making this mechanically a bit too simple to be especially interesting for very long.
Night Manor	Graphic Adventure / Horror	1	C+
tl;dr Night Manor does a good job building atmosphere, and has a nice old-school “Point and Click”-style gameplay, but it tries a bit too hard to be clever by having you chased by an enemy with limited time to make choices as your cursor shakes. There are some interesting ideas here, but I don’t think this game is going to be especially well-liked even by most fans of these genres.
Elfazar’s Hat	Top-Down Action	1-2 Co-Op (Local)	B+
tl;dr This Top-Down Action game seems pretty similar to the classic game Pocky & Rocky, and I may actually like this even better. It also adds a clever card power-up system. I do think the walking speed is a bit slow, but overall this is a great time.
Pilot Quest	Top-Down Action-RPG	1	D
tl;dr While the presentation of this game reminds me of the original ToeJam and Earl, the gameplay… ugh. Before you can even do anything in this game, you need to grind… and grind… and grind. I think most players will give up before they even figure out what the main point of this is, especially since the game doesn’t really indicate what you should do. Not worth your time.
Mini & Max	Platformer	1	C
tl;dr Mini & Max is a Platformer with a grow/shrink mechanic, but the level design has things spaced too far apart, and it’s confusing to try to determine where you need to go and what you need to do.
Combatants	Real-Time Strategy	1-2 Competitive (Local)	C-
tl;dr This Real-Time Strategy unfortunately has you moving slowly and with only minimal control over your units. As a result, this game has its moments, but it’s too frustrating and limited to really make for a good entry in the genre.
Quibble Race	Simulation / Misc.	1-3 Competitive (Local)	D
tl;dr This betting Simulation seems too random to be enjoyable for more than a cursory glance.
Seaside Drive	Action	1-2 Co-Op (Local)	B+
tl;dr This game has players using ground-to-air and ground-to-ground weapons with mechanics that are almost like a Shmup. The gameplay here is creative and feels great. My biggest complaint is regarding the co-op, which just splits up the single-player controls between two players. Still, this is an excellent Action game well worth playing.
Campanella 3	Action	1	B-
tl;dr This plays nothing like the previous two Campanella games, and I actually like it better. Rather, this has you shooting objects in both the foreground and background. I wish the mechanic for shooting in the foreground wasn’t so odd, but otherwise this is a satisfying, if somewhat repetitive, Action game.
Cyber Owls	Misc.	1	C-
tl;dr This game blends various gameplay styles and doesn’t explain any of them very well. As a result, there is some fun gameplay here, but a lot of what you’ll be doing is frustrating due to a lack of information.

Okay, so out of 50 games, the clear standout for me here is definitely Mortol, but other excellent games are Hyper Contender, Elfazar’s Hat, Seaside Drive, Bug Hunters, Attactics, Devilition, The Big Bell Race, Warptank, Rock On! Island, Overbold, Magic Garden, Waldorf’s Journey, Porgy, and Campanella 3, and on the other end of things, I think 7 games are complete duds. Having said that, I think it’s worth pointing out that almost all of the games in this collection are fairly creative and at least try to do something unique or interesting, even if they don’t succeed. Curiously, when these games do fail, it’s often due to the same reasons, namely poor signposting and overly-challenging difficulty.

It can be tempting to look at collections like these and judge them based on a “wheat to chaff” ratio, seeing what percent of the included games are worthwhile, and if judged by that standard, UFO 50 is… so-so. By my count, only about 30% of the included games are well worth playing here. However, I do think looking at it that way is a mistake, because if this collection only included the 15 games I named in the above paragraph, that wouldn’t make this collection better.

With this in mind, looking at the value, would I say this $25 collection is worth it for the extremely creative Puzzle-Platformer Mortol, the great Fighting Game/Platformer hybrid Hyper Contender, the great Top-Down Action game Elfazar’s Hat, the delightful Action game Seaside Drive, plus eleven other excellent games? Yeah, that’s a pretty great deal. And besides, there’s so much variety and creativity here that it’s entirely possible that the games that will appeal to you are different than the ones I highlighted.

Talking about this collection as a whole, I like that you can sort the games in different ways, and even designate some as favorites. On the other hand, it’s frustrating that you’re only given the most basic instructions about controls and not told how to play these games, especially since most of these games lack tutorials that they really could benefit from. Also, there are options here that the game doesn’t explain, such as a “terminal” to enter commands that seems like a way to unlock some sort of secrets, but that UFO 50 has no interest in explaining.

Overall, UFO 50 is a solid Compilation of games with lots of great variety and creativity, and while not all of them end up working well, enough of them succeed to make this package well worth getting, especially for fans of retro games.

tl;dr – UFO 50 is a Compilation containing 50 retro-style games purportedly created by fictional game developer UFOSoft. This collection has a ton of variety and creativity, and while not every game ends up working out, enough succeed to make this collection worthwhile, especially for players who enjoy retro-style games.

Grade: A-

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