Indie developers sure love that retro style. Yet, so many of them fail to execute the idea properly. Whether it’s a horribly inconsistent visual style or slow, floaty gameplay, truly capturing what made old games great often seems just out of reach.

It’s for this reason that I found Oniken so surprising. This is a game that nails the look and feel of an NES game so well that it’s not only convincing to look at, but satisfying to play in that old-school way that eludes so many developers.

It’s 20XX and the world has been ravaged by war. As the legendary warrior, Zaku, you must take down a dominant military organization of cybernetic warriors known as the Oniken. With your trusty sword, you’ll tear your way through legions of soldiers and distinctly themed generals as you make your war to eventually fight an enormous, screen-filling final boss.

Is Oniken campy? Sure. But it tells its story in such an earnest way that it feels like a loving tribute instead of an ill-conceived parody. Large, pixel art cutscenes progress a tale with the look and feel of macho 80′s anime like Fist of the North Star. This vibe extends into the sprite graphics as well with enemies (especially bosses) getting cut to pieces with splashes of red after the finishing blow.

But most importantly, the game has the satisfying sense of speed and challenge you would expect from Strider or the original 2D Ninja Gaiden. Thankfully, it doesn’t share Ninja Gaiden‘s horrible enemy respawn frequency. But it also doesn’t share its climbing mechanics. In fact, Oniken is quite simple at its core.

For the most part, you’ll be running, jumping, ducking, and slashing your way through each stage. A small handful of randomized powerups spice things up a bit. You can grab grenades as an incredibly useful (but limited) subweapon as well as a temporary sword powerup. The sword powerup is interesting in that you can choose to play conservatively by using it until a slash limit is reached or go all out with an overdrive mode that, while very brief, is incredibly powerful.

Each of Oniken‘s six missions are divided into sublevels, many of which feature their own uniquely designed bosses. For the most part, the level design is great, featuring a nice mix of enemy variety and platforming challenges. Occasionally, it feels like an NES game to a fault. This is most apparent in Mission 4 where the entire first third consists of arena battles. There are also speeder bike stages, something I’ve never been a fan of, but they’re thankfully over quickly and used in reasonable moderation.

For better or worse, losing all your lives will start you back at the beginning of the mission (which is usually made of about three sections). It can be frustrating much in the same way many old NES action games were, but it can also create a great sense of tension. My entire winning trip through Mission 5 was made without exhaling as I desperately tried to retain the sliver of life I had left. After moments like that, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Inversely, the boss of Mission 4 is fought on a moving platform over a pit of instant death that drove me to rage quite once or twice.

Of course, since pattern recognition is key, you’ll find that the challenge drastically lowers as you learn how to handle every kind of attack and obstacle the game throws at you. In fact, after hitting a wall and quitting for the day, I would find that everything would just “click” the next day and I would be able to get through the stages without a problem. It’s been awhile since I’ve experienced subconscious pattern solving in a game quite like that and I found it rather nostalgic. It’s just another example of how much the creators truly understand what went into action platformers of the late 80′s and not just what they looked like.

For fans of fast paced, 2D action games like Ninja Gaiden and Strider, Oniken is a very easy recommendation at its $5 price point. This isn’t an easy type of game to find anymore, at least not in a form that’s executed this well. And a few modern concessions like online leaderboards help extend its longevity. If you’re up to the challenge, you won’t you be disappointed.

This review is based on PC review code provided by the publisher. You can purchase Oniken on Desura or download the demo at Oniken.net.

Tags: 2D action game, Desura, JoyMasher, Oniken, PC, platformer

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 15th, 2012 at 5:24 pm and is filed under Indie Games, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.