Agent 64: Spies Never Die
Developer/publisher: Replicant D6
Platform: Steam (Windows)
Price: $21.64, with an 11% discount until August 25
Oddly, a bunch of new games heavily inspired by 90s/2000s classics arrived at the same time. Agent 64: Spies Never Die is a game that is very clearly inspired by Golden Eye 007. The blocky visuals look a lot like the Nintendo 64 game. Even the way the weapons swing looks familiar. I like that you can also defeat an enemy with a karate chop. There’s split-screen multiplayer and an online option, so you can jump in with friends and enable settings like slow bullets and a Big Head mode. Amusing!
Solo developer Replicant D6 worked on Agent 64: Spies Never Die for more than five years. This feels like a true tribute to Rare’s all-time artist, as well as artists like Perfect dark and other first-person shooters from that era.
Wild blue sky
Developer: Chuhai Laboratories
Publisher: Balor Games
Platforms: Steam (Windows; Steam Deck Verified; demo available), PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox on PC. Coming to Switch this fall.
Price: $15
Here’s another sort of blast from the past in the form of Wild blue skyan on-rails shooter that closely resembles a certain series that Nintendo recently revived. This ode to Star Fox has a radical anime-style look and virtual teammates with whom you can work, protect, and maybe entertain yourself with some banter. However, I can’t imagine anyone being as sarcastic as Falco.
There are branching paths that should make each playthrough different as well as secrets to discover. If you want a modern taste of Star Fox and I don’t have a Switch 2, Wild blue sky could fill this gap for you. And yes, it looks like you can do a barrel roll.
Fade to Twilight
Developer: Bizarre Beluga
Publisher: Fireshine Games
Platforms: Steam (Windows; Steam Deck verified), PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox on PC, Nintendo Switch 2
Price: $30. Steam version is 20% off until August 27
I haven’t had much time to play anything this week, at least outside of a few rounds with the new product. Monitoring character. Fade to Twilight is next on my list of things to play, though. This is another retro-inspired game reminiscent of 3D platformers from the late 90s and early 2000s.
As Zirian, you will embark on a quest to save your trapped sister and fix time after an eternal night takes over the land. You’ll fight enemies using a transforming mechanical sword that I’m sure is in no way inspired by Sora’s Keyblade.
I love the look of the colorful, punk world that Weird Beluga has built here. The studio also wears its influences on its sleeve. It’s clear from the trailer that the developers are taking inspiration from Kingdom Hearts, Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank. Seeing the mechanical cuckoo clock for the first time also made me smile. This definitely sounds like my kind of jam. I can’t wait to have time (ironically enough) to play it.
Agefield High: rock the school
Developer/publisher: Refugium Games
Platform: Steam (Windows; playable on Steam Deck). Will arrive on consoles later
Price: Usually $30, with 10% off until August 19
Here’s a final game that has its roots in a much-loved game from around twenty years ago. I was looking forward to Agefield High: rock the schoola spiritual successor to Bully. It’s about a young man who tries to make the most of his last days of high school after moving to a new town. The action takes place in the early 2000s, with a pop-punk soundtrack and period-appropriate references. For better or worse, it seemed like catnip to me.
But one IGN The preview released last month left me sour about playing this game, as it was described as “crude, uninspired, and flat.” Reviews on Steam and elsewhere this week have also been pretty dire. It’s disappointing. I can’t judge fairly Agefield High without playing it myself, but time is short and games are plentiful, so the negative sentiment around this one makes it easy to skip.
Looking for Polka
Developer: Lidlocks
Publisher: Parco Games
Platform: Steam (Windows)
Price: Usually $10, with 20% off until August 25
Looking for Polka It looks so cute. This is a hidden object game in which you search for a puppy that reminds the main character Friendy of his childhood dog. She goes on a trip with her current four-legged best friend, wiener dog Jazz, to find the lookalike after briefly spotting him.
Solo developer Shinnosuke Kumazawa – who created the game as a tribute to his late dog – created the vivid world of Looking for Polka with ballpoint pen illustrations. There are mini-games, secrets, and friends to make during your quest. I don’t know when I’ll get the chance to play Looking for Polkabut I just bought it in the middle of writing this paragraph.
I also like the juxtaposition between the visuals of this game and the name of the studio, Lidlocks. This is the nickname used in A clockwork orange for the device that keeps Alex’s eyes open while he is forced to watch propaganda. Lidlocks says they want to make games you can’t look away from, so the name fits!
