INFINTE BEYOND THE MIND

The quick and the dead

Retro has become an increasingly big mood in games. Feeling very much like it stepped straight out of a longforgotten game cabinet and on to modern day consoles, this effort from solo developer Emilie Coyo is a worthy pre-tender.

Playing solo or co-op as one of two badass gals, it’s you against evil Queen Evangelyn and her army in this retro side-scroller. While you have a limited range of attacks, punching out waves of military personnel is tight and responsive. Dodging and dashing through stages makes for slick, satisfying action.

Mercifully, each stage is broken up into smaller areas, on the whole being relatively brief, mitigating frustration upon defeat and beckoning you back for more. That said, you can easily pelt through everything in an afternoon on easy difficulty thanks to instant respawns. 1 It’s far from a toothless run but if you’re less into memorising enemy placements or boss patterns, it’s a blast. 2

Boasting bitcrushed soundbites and bitpop beats by Defense Mechanism, it sounds the part. As for looks, the sprite work has the bobble-headed charm of chibi art styles.

The vehicle aesthetic is more realistic but they still look like they’re straight out of the doll’s house. The art direction feels far more confident rendering nuts and bolts rather than our protagonists, but the pixel art is nothing to sniff at. There is a clear understanding that bosses are sold not only through their challenge but also via visual spectacle. They’re still diminutive but not to be trifled with, bringing the pain with screen-sweeping attacks in standout arenas. The Beljantaur

Kingdom can take us on again any time. Jess Kinghorn

Life is short and we’re not here to judge – play more games on easy. Other difficulties offer a classic challenge, resetting chunks of your stage progress when you’re downed.