System: PlayStation 3
Price $9.99 or $14.99 for the Game and Soundtrack
Developer: 24 Caret Games
“Fight through the epic space battle… in reverse!” What happens when a rhythm game collides with a shootem up? Retro/Grade answers this question.
At the end of Rick Rockets epic space battle the massive destruction causes a rift in time and space. You now must take control of Rick Rocket and un-battle your way thought space and time.
Rather than tell you all the details of the game and ruin the surprises in store for you, here is an overhead perspective of Retro/Grade.
Difficulty: There are six different difficulty levels from Beginner to X-Treme. Each difficulty level, like in some other rhythm games, adds another track to the play field. It adds more shots (notes) that you must hit as well.
Gameplay: The game is broken down into three different modes Campaign, Challenge, and Practice. The Campaign has 10 different levels counting down from 10 – 1. While the Challenge mode has over 100 different missions.
Another way they break up the game is by giving you controller options. Not layout options, controller options. You can take the conventional path and play it with your Dual Shock controller. You can take their advice and “Retro/Cycle” your plastic guitar, or take the path to insanity and play with a dance path. The choice is yours.
Soundtrack: The sound track is superb. Not just the music but how they use it. In the background you will see set pieces with graphic equalizers in them that pulse to the music. Along with this, our hero, Rick Rocket, seems to enjoy the music as well. If you can take your eyes of the action for a moment you will notice he bobs his head to the beat.
Replayability – If you are into score chasing you are in luck. As I mentioned there are 10 levels with 6 difficulties. There is also a leader board for each level and each difficulty. The leaderboard are split up into overall, controller, guitar, and friends. Plus in the challenge mode you can unlock artwork, music, and extra ships. There are 11 ships in total to unlock.
On all accounts I give this game very high marks. It’s a very accessible game from either end of the spectrum. It has a high replay factor, whether it is from the completionist stand point or if you’re a score chaser. Graphically, running at 1080p and 60 frames per second, it is ahead of many other games of this current generation. To top it all off it has a driving soundtrack that is retro and current all at the same time. It is truly superb.
At a price point of $9.99 this game is a steal. Don’t forget there is a demo dropping on day one. If you aren’t sold by now, try it out, you have nothing to lose. Also there will be a bundle that includes the soundtrack for $14.99.
Congrats to 24 Caret Games for making a game that’s Retro and truly deserves the Grade, A+.