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All-time low is the lowest price we've recorded for this game since we started tracking it.
Languages: English*, German*, French*, Italian*, Spanish - Spain**languages with full audio support
Engagement
Reviews
Themes across 40 recent reviews and how positive each mention is. A keyword signal, not full sentiment analysis.
Reviews
[h1] Rhythm based game set in space. You fly with your spaceship and everything goes back in time so you're playing in reverse. Catch your own bullets following the music and avoid danger. Game starts from the end so final boss is already beaten and you gonna see the credits, this is the beginning. 5 modes of difficulty and overall 10 levels, each more difficult than the previous one. Game can get pretty hard in that matter. You can reverse time (play forward) using energy to correct some of your mistakes. Music is ok but feels more like some finger tapping rhythm actually. Visually game have space so that's a plus and some glowing chimichangas. Slight recommendation, not that great but still playable and somewhat original. [/h1]
Hah. It's been ages since I've played this first on the playstation. Apparently the levels on highest difficulty are somewhat in my memory, ranked 88 on first try xD
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Modeled estimate over time, reconstructed from Steam's monthly review histogram.
Hours played at review time, across 40 reviews with recorded playtime.
positive critical· bar length = how often the theme comes up
A case of "Too many chef's spoil the broth". Retro/Grade is a rhythm game akin to the old Guitar Hero games in the gise of a side scrolling "shooter". My main issue with the game is that there is a lot going on, there's a lot of mechanics, most are unnecessary and a few are completely unintuitive. The game design is a somewhat unique take on the genre and the graphics are solid for an indie game of it's age, but, too many ideas, too much input has IMHO spoiled the game. To be fair, it's not a bad or broken game, it's just a bit of a niche game and not for me. The premise is that the game runs backwards. Your ship moves backwards, Rhythm hit points enter the screen from the right and enemies spawn into existence in front of you after being un-blownup and then fly off screen,like I said the game runs backwards. As you progress missiles come from enemies and you have to "collect" them, again the game runs backwards, you fired those missiles and you have to "collect" them, which is really counter intuitive as your brain will instinctively make you want to dodge them. I doubt many will get much playtime from this game but a select few with a penchant for bullet hell and rhythm games will likely get sucked in.
Retro/Grade is what happens when a side-scrolling shooter gets absolutely blackout drunk, wakes up next to Guitar Hero, and nine months later gives birth to a time-reversing space-baby that nobody is emotionally prepared for. At first glance you think, “Oh look, another pew-pew spaceship game, big whoop.” But then the game slaps you across the face and says: “Surprise, idiot, you’re playing this backwards.” You un-explode enemies. You un-fire bullets. You literally undo your bad decisions — something I wish I could do with my dating history and the time I ate gas station sushi. The gameplay? Imagine if Guitar Hero and a cocaine-powered metronome had a threesome. You’re basically matching your ship to its past self like some intergalactic rhythm game, hitting notes, dodging chaos, and gracefully re-entering your past mistakes — kind of like texting your ex at 3AM, except this time it works out. It’s stylish. It’s weird. It’s unique. It’s like playing Rock Band while your eyes are being seduced by neon space candy. And honestly? It’s fun as hell. I blasted through the beginner campaign and had a stupid grin the whole time — Retro/Grade is one of those games that makes you say, “Okay, that was weird as f**k… do it again.” If you want something original, flashy, and rhythm-shooter sexy, buy it. Play it. Reverse-time-baby it. It’s a damn good time.
One of the earliest novelties I picked up in my emotionally broken throes where I wasted so much money on Steam games, but only just now playing. The main appeal is the premise. A rhythm game in the form of a shoot-'em-up, played in reverse. I had, and still have, no experience whatsover with either shoot-'em-ups or rhythm games, and even *I* got excited by the promise. Of course then I forgot about it for a "decade", but that's beside the point. The gameplay is very simple. There are only two lanes, arguably counterparts to most rhythm games' directions/notes/keys/etc. You go back and forth between them, and you press- and sometimes hold- the spacebar when your shot in the presumable timeline comes up, while avoiding shots from the enemy ships. It takes some trial and error to understand- and I for one still don't understand the 'boosters' and how the multipliers work- but what you need to get through the level, at least, does eventually click. The imagery is simple and satisfying, with futuristic graphics that sell the spaceship wars archetype. It is empty, granted, but you're supposed to be flying a spaceship, not walking through a populated city full of civilians. Yes, it has that "crunch" of an early "2010's" 3D PC game, but that's more a feature than a bug, I think- and even if I'm just telling myself that, and/or one disagrees, the game's still clear enough in sight that once you can tell which shots are the enemies' and which are yours, you can dodge or touch them in time and it becomes a matter of skill. Also, the lower graphics mean this thing runs smoothly on my outstandingly non-gaming-oriented laptop, which is built almost exclusively for my betseferwork. ___ There is some flavor text for some missions that paints the protagonist, apparently named "Rick", as this narcissistic scumbag, but honestly, in these shoot-em-up games, who the heck has ever really cared about the character piloting the thing? There's no real story sequence, so you don't need to worry about the unlikability of Rick as you play. ___ Th really simple gameplay, timey look, and novelty of the premise have won me over. I do recommend it - though, given the shortage of individual levels (unless you count difficulty changes as entirely different levels), $10 is way too much. Wait for a steep sale; I'd say about $2, maybe $3 if you're an earnest rhythm game enthusiast.
I had once played this game 10 years ago on my brother's PS3. I thought I would never play it again until I looked up "spaceship rythm game PS3" some time ago and was astonished to see it still had a steam page. Super fun game with great music and awesome graphics and fun features.
Not gonna lie, on higher difficulties this game runs into MASSIVE issues with visibility, and at some points it becomes next to impossible to see what you're supposed to be doing.
⣿⣿⡻⠿⣳⠸⢿⡇⢇⣿⡧⢹⠿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣾⣿⡇⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⡐⣯⠁ ⠄⠄ ⠟⣛⣽⡳⠼⠄⠈⣷⡾⣥⣱⠃⠣⣿⣿⣿⣯⣭⠽⡇⣿⣿⣿⣿⣟⢢⠏⠄ ⠄ ⢠⡿⠶⣮⣝⣿⠄⠄⠈⡥⢭⣥⠅⢌⣽⣿⣻⢶⣭⡿⠿⠜⢿⣿⣿⡿⠁⠄⠄ ⠄⣼⣧⠤⢌⣭⡇⠄⠄⠄⠭⠭⠭⠯⠴⣚⣉⣛⡢⠭⠵⢶⣾⣦⡍⠁⠄⠄⠄⠄ ⠄⣿⣷⣯⣭⡷⠄⠄⢀⣀⠩⠍⢉⣛⣛⠫⢏⣈⣭⣥⣶⣶⣦⣭⣛⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄ ⢀⣿⣿⣿⡿⠃⢀⣴⣿⣿⣿⣎⢩⠌⣡⣶⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣆⠄⠄⠄ ⢸⡿⢟⣽⠎⣰⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⢀⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣦⠄⠄ ⣰⠯⣾⢅⣼⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡄⠄ ⢰⣄⡉⣼⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣧⠄ ⢯⣌⢹⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠄ ⢸⣇⣽⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠄ ⢸⣟⣧⡻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣧⡻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠄ ⠈⢹⡧⣿⣸⠿⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠗⣈⠻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇⠄ ⠄⠘⢷⡳⣾⣷⣶⣶⣶⣶⣶⣾⣿⣿⢀⣶⣶⣶⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠇⠄ ⠄⠄⠈⣵⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠄⠄ ⠄⠄⠄⠸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠘⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠇⠄⠄
Amazing game. Is the reason I bought the Steam Deck recently. Needs an older version of Proton (7.0-6) to launch, and then it runs great. Concept, execution, art design, and gameplay are just superb. Any rhythm game lives or dies by its soundtrack as far as I'm concerned, and the soundtrack by Skyler McGlothlin is also incredible. I used to rock this game's soundtrack on my old sony walkman MP3 player in the studio haha. Still holds up today. The music, the game itself. So good. During the PS3 era I was enamored with this game enough to look up the developer 24 Caret Games which is (I believe) ostensibly one person (Matt Gilgenbach) and wanted to keep up with future projects. I never did get around to his follow up game Never Ending Nightmares (released under "Infinitap Games"). Some comments of the dev's around this game and its themes (fear, anxiety, depression) perhaps gives insight into why there are no follow projects since. Which is entirely speculation on my part. But the dev himself has made such compelling work I can't help but speculate! Now that I'm being reminded of all of this, I'll be purchasing that game as soon as I publish this review. All that aside, if you stumbled onto this game page and like rhythm games, shmups, or just good games period (oozing with "passion project" energy) then go for it. Even at "full" price ($10) it's a deal. An overlooked game from a very interesting era of gaming that hasn't lost a step, or a beat.
You know what would be dope, a level editor!
Momentum
Pace estimated from the game's recent review growth (our daily snapshots) at its own sales-per-review ratio — a momentum signal, not booked sales.
Audience
Estimated from the language of this game's reviews — a proxy for where players are, not official Steam demographics.
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