Abduction Bit

[h1] Rather boring take on classic arcade games. Go play some Donkey Kong instead! PS: Don't forget bananas... PSS: Seriously, grab some bananas. PSSS: BANANA RAMPAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [/h1]

Go, green Alien Grey & grey Alien Grey.

Although I was never personally around for the arcade scene at their prime back in the 80s and early 90s alongside having never really experienced much of early gaming, with such iconic consoles as the NES and Sega Genesis being beyond my time, I have something of a deep appreciation for many of the retro titles of their era seeing as it goes back to a period where gaming was not just very much experimental and creative-driven (as opposed to business-driven by many of the triple-A titles we see today) but also took inspiration from the arcade scene and rigorously stuck to the philosophy of making their games a serious challenge to overcome. Seeing that Abduction Bit is a homage to those weird and quirky arcade titles, it should come as no surprise that such an indie project as this caught my eye and curiosity. Although how well it fares in today's modern gaming scene is one I'll take into consideration when reviewing this quirky game here, since many indies are largely inspired by the retro scene but few manage to stand out from the crowd or do so in a way that's less than favourable to the average gamer looking to try out said fun indies for themselves. But without further ado, Abduction Bit takes us back to both the 8-bit and 16-bit scene as we take control of either a single lone alien or pair as the goal is simply to capture all humans in each stage to proceed to the next, with a total of 120 stages via six separate packs. These packs are categorized either by difficulty (easy, medium & hard) or by which 'era' they are set in, with the standard 8-bit resembling the NES titles of old whilst the specified 16-bit packs closer to that of the upgrades SNES games as far as graphics goes. To accomplish the goal of capturing humans, one uses their sci-fi gun to paralyze them and approaching whilst they are stunned will result in said human being stripped down and sent to the UFO with a bad case of hair loss. As with almost all arcade games though, some humans are harder to approach than others as Abduction Bit features four different types of humans for players to face off against in increasingly more challenging platforming levels. The first (and most common) type of enemies are 'walkers', basically regular people who move back and forth at a slower pace than the player and can easily be zapped so long as you aren't close to them as the sci-fi gun has a short period where it needs to charge up before firing. Next are the 'gunners', essentially armed guards or gangsters that aren't afraid of shooting who do so periodically in either direction randomly, requiring a more careful approach as to not be hit and lose a life from a quick and sudden bullet of theirs. After that are 'grenadiers' who slowly fire explosives at the air in several arcs that explode on contact, making them more dangerous to approach than gunners in most cases. Finally there are the 'scientists' who lobby volatile flasks that erupt in an acidic flame wherever they land that prevents the sci-fi gun's shots from passing through them. The environment also changes in danger too, as the first area (Construction) has cars appearing in some stages that can not be harmed and will run you over if caught off-guard alongside flames that are dangerous to step on. The second area (Restaurant) introduces alarms that quickly switch sides to shine a light that is lethal to the player plus spikes that can be found on ceilings alongside floors acting in the same manner as flames. The third area (Military Base) brings bomber planes to the mix as they will periodically drop missiles below that explode in the same manner as the Grenadiers' bombs and can't be destroyed just like cars. Interestingly enough the final area (Laboratory) only changes regular flames into green 'toxic' versions which, as far as I can tell, behave exactly the same. Other than that, it should be noted that the walkers and gunners are both seen in the beginning Construction area and the following Restaurant area. Meanwhile you'll be introduced to grenadiers in the Military Base and won't see scientists at all until the Laboratory. Other than the intriguing quirk of various doors which each reveal a single enemy after capturing the initial wave of humans, it rarely gets more complicated than that as Abduction Bit's primary challenge comes from navigating the various environment dangers whilst capturing various humans without getting hit yourself as you only have five lives to work with that's displayed as a 'hit-bar' of sorts at the top. Thankfully every 10,000 points will net you an extra life alongside reaching a new area saving your progress, meaning you don't have to worry about starting from scratch if you take too many hits and loss all lives. So it goes without saying that, despite having a decent gameplay cycle for its 120 stages, I found that it does get a little too repetitive for my tastes as there's no changing dynamic between the difficulties other than the platforms becoming increasingly harder to safely across and enemies being placed in bigger numbers alongside having more gunners/grenadiers/scientists. Also an interesting complaint is how most will start with 8-bit packs and work their way up to the more fancy 16-bit versions, however Abduction Bit's 16-bit packs are strangely much more easier than the 8-bit ones. So much so to a point that the 8-bit medium pack is more difficult than the 16-bit hard pack! My only concerns outside of gameplay variety are how the game's CRT filters seems to change every now and then, with a few stages having bizarre overlays that make platforming and avoiding dangers more difficult than it should be and the controls themselves being quite stiff and difficult to make good jumps when it matters, although this could be in an attempt to remain faithful to the arcade games of old. Another interesting quirk that I found out (which will benefit anyone struggling with this game) is that co-op mode allows the use of two players to engage with the game but, due to the way the stages are designed, you are practically never in any danger from your starting points. This means that you can use player two to play the levels and rack up points as reaching 10k points gives lives to both players no matter who collects them until they run out and switch to the other player if you so desire, although it should be noted that player two can occasionally respawn in some unexpected places in certain stages that can quickly lead to further deaths so bear this in mind. In conclusion, whilst I didn't find Abduction Bit to be too exciting to play throughout its whole six packs, it was a decent enough distraction and, for the low price of just £0.89, I can generally recommend this fine indie to any arcade enthusiast or those who loved their old retro games from back in the day that want to revisit it via a new title that pays its respects to the older generations. TLDR Version: • A neat action platform indie inspired by the arcade scene and early days of 8-bit and 16-bit gaming with a fun alien premise (+) • Can be played either solo or in co-op with two customizable aliens to zap and capture humans with (+) • 120 levels via six separate packs for the player to enjoy in either 8-bit or 16-bit glory with graphics resembling those seen on the NES and SNES (+) • Four types of humans to contend with that each offer their own challenges to overcome in four different settings that each feature various environmental hazards (+) • Abduction Bit's retro graphics will be off-putting to those who aren't a fan of the plain textures, particularly with the CRT filter being strangely used in a few particular stages (-) • The gameplay can become quickly repetitive if played in longer bursts, with little variety to keep the challenges interesting (-) • Controls are quite rigid and can take some getting used to, even if it captures the feeling of some of the oldest platformers from back in its time (-)