Ultracore (REVIEW)

It's not very often that gamers have the chance to play or own a never before released retro game. Thanks to Softdistribution, and Strictly Limited Games they get to do just that though. With the release of a reprogrammed 1995 Metroidvania platformer known as, "Ultracore" we get a sneak peek at what could have been. This DICE created game is a unique take on the Metroidvania genre, and attempts to do something different by adding in scoring as well as twin stick shooting. While there are no intros, and story elements can only be found during spaced out character interactions via progress once you learn the mechanics it's an interesting little adventure worth at least a try.

The Story ...

As a humanoid super soldier of no particular name you are on a mission to stop the game's main antagonist Vance, and his evil cybernetic army. You happen upon what seems to be a destroyed base of operations, and must gun your way through mechanized minions as you fight your way to the big boss himself. Along the way you'll find new guns, gun upgrades, bombs, and vehicles to use. Standing between you and victory is an energy meter that represents your health, 5 lives in total, and your ability to properly navigate the maze-like interior of the space station as you collect power-ups, loot the place for coins, and shoot dead anything that crosses your path.

The Gameplay ...

The gameplay is your standard Metroidvania thoroughfare. It is a puzzle platforming action adventure set in a maze-like interior with lesser enemies, and boss encounters. At your disposal you have a gun. A gun which can be swapped via gun lock boxes that you'll find. You'll also find gun upgrades which make the current gun even more powerful. Along with the base weapon that is the gun you'll get bombs that will clear paths, and help you uncover hidden secret areas. In the way of power-ups you'll find the previously mentioned gun upgrades as well as timer increases, heart health containers, and bombs. For progress sake you'll also be using keycards that you find to open locked doors, and new areas via access terminals.

The levels, or stages you playthrough are lengthy, and usually require a mixture of combat, puzzle solving, and boss fights. The bosses in particular have a unique health system with a numeric indicator in front of them housing the number of shots it will take to defeat them. At the end of the stage the total amount of coins you found as well as the time, live stock, and health will be tallied together. Ultimately added to your already growing score. Score in the game comes from killing the enemies only whereas the coins are more of a collect-a-thon item meant to help you get an even higher score. There is a local leaderboard within the game where you can input your initials within 3 letter slots. You are prompted to put in your initials after each choice to continue. Continues themselves are limited to 3, and will have you starting back at the beginning of the most recent level/stage you were on. It should be noted that once a stage is completed, and your score tallied you will find a code at the bottom of the tally page that is a series of letter/numbers that can be typed in at the main menu "Enter A Code" prompt. With this you will be able to continue where you last left off.

The Presentation ...

Visually Ultracore is a 32bit game that is fit on a screen size somewhere between fullscreen, and widescreen. It has black borders on the left, and right of the playing field, but no art borders as this game was not entirely complete as it was originally. The sound is a high pitched CD quality chiptune based soundtrack with special effects sounds that can be toggled on or off at the main menu by selecting the preferred sound option. Either a mixture of SFX and CD or just CD.

The Verdict ...

Ultracore is definitely interesting. It's kind of alright after you fumble about with the controls, and figure things out. That being said the lack of a controls diagram/listing or tutorial really does this game some harm. I had to figure out on my own what I've told you about the game as the game itself does not explain anything to you. The added lack of a story intro also does this game no favors. Playing through it you can tell it isn't a polished experience, but more so something a developer picked up, and made functional enough to be a game experience. As far as gameplay goes it's fairly solid. The gun play, and platforming is tight enough, and the mechanics are complimentary as well. I liked the high score aspect of it a lot, and how they did the gun system. Visually it was also pretty cool, but it definitely looked like a 90's era game. I suppose for the cost you will be getting your money's worth. That, and the bragging rights that you got to play something that wasn't going to be released.

P.S.,

The soundtrack is loud af, and you cannot turn it down in-game. This is also a downside.