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RetroRealms: Double Feature Review (PS5) – Old School Horror-Platforming, For Good Or Bad

RetroRealms: Double Feature Review (PS5) – I love horror. I think its a great genre that more often than not is actively innovating in how deep and complex, human stories are told.

There’s a whole other side to horror though, one that doesn’t care to neatly or at times even try to tell a more personal story – it’s just about big scares and big monsters, with a whole bunch of spilled guts filling in the gaps.

RetroRealms: Double Feature is definitely not about some deeper, human story expressed through terrifying events, but it’s also not exactly about big scares and big monsters – instead, its more about the IP’s in which it is set.

The two platformers based on Ash vs.The Evil Dead and Halloween that come in this double-feature pack are fine enough, but their old-school fashion and lack of real quality make for an ultimately disappointing experience.

In fact, whether or not you like RetroRealms: Double Feature at all ends up depending more on how much you like the IP’s it features, instead of the gameplay experience.

RetroRealms: Double Feature Review (PS5) – Old School Horror-Platforming, For Good Or Bad


Let Me Tell You About My IP’s

Something being made more as a celebration of iconic horror characters isn’t anything new, which is partly why RetroRealms works.

It is absolutely oozing with love for both The Evil Dead franchise and for Halloween. From smaller nods to each franchise to giant, fan-service feeling bosses and jokes in each level, I felt the love for Ashley Williams and Michael Myers.

That love extends to an attention to detail when it comes to making either the Halloween game and the Ash vs. The Evil Dead game feel unique, even if they share plenty of the same DNA.

As a fan of both the franchises and 2D platformers, I admit there were more than a few moments where I felt I was having a blast just getting to play as Michael or Ash, even Laurie Strode and Kelly Maxwell.

Even if the story line for each character followed a similar path, seeing the individual nods and turns is still fun because of how familiar I already am with each of these franchises.

If you’re someone who’s not so familiar, then you might struggle to have as much of a connection with the game(s).

2/4 Ain’t Bad…

The real issue then with RetroRealms: Double Feature lies a bit in its structure. Technically there are two games included in the Double Feature.

Then after that, there are two more quote-unquote games to purchase as DLC, featuring Laurie Strode and Kelly Maxwell. Each of these however can be purchased separately.

You could purchase all of them – but there are clear, clear winners as to which ones are actually worth it. The novelty of playing with Michael Myers wheres off quickly when he becomes a slow-walking symbol of frustration with a knife in its hand.

Kelly Maxwell is oddly enough in a similar boat – both of them move slowly, with somehow slower attack animations. Ash and Laurie on the other hand are far more agile.

At RetroRealms best, playing as Ash made me think of great 2D games like Shovel Knight or The Messenger. At its worst, playing as Michael could feel like playing Ghosts ‘N Goblins with much less-interesting level design.

The knock-back penalty for damage doesn’t help the combat either. With Ash, it’s a little easier to forgive, but with Michael or Kelly my options always felt far more limited as to what I could pull off.

There are also issues that each of the four games share, like how platforming difficulty doesn’t ramp up nearly as interestingly as it should. Level quality is inconsistent, and of course the character you’re playing as makes a huge difference to your experience.

Combat difficulty also never gets more interesting than adding more enemies on screen, and you see all the same kinds of enemies in each game. It makes the whole experience feel more one note, and connects each game in a way that only provides more evidence as to why you’re better off picking and choosing which to grab.

Ash and Laurie’s adventures are far and away the best of the bunch. They’re also not very long, so a strong platforming player looking for a quick fix should be able to reach credits in an afternoon.

Completionists though will definitely see a difficulty spike by the time they’ve reached world 5 for both characters, so a full run in a ‘get all the collectibles’ sense will take a little longer.

Speaking of The Messenger, probably the smartest thing WayForward and Boss Team Games do is pull from Sabotage Studio with the dimension-swapping mechanic that’s in all four of the characters games.

It’s a great mechanic that I loved in The Messenger, so I’m glad to see it being used again here, even if it’s been done in a less interesting way. Swapping between the Nightmare realm and your own isn’t smooth, and takes a second to actually happen.

The delay, like playing as Michael or Kelly, cuts the pacing of the moment-to-moment gameplay awkwardly, and I found myself just wanting to use it less to get through the more difficult final levels.

A really good platformer that’s trying to challenge its players should make you look for the extra challenge, instead of shy away from it. Games like Celeste are a perfect example of doing that right.

RetroRealms doesn’t get their with any of its games, but it gets close with two of them.

Buy A Single Ticket Instead

In the end, the best thing about each of the RetroRealms games is that you can pick and choose between them. If you can only pick up one, grab Ash vs. The Evil dead. If you can buy two, then add on the Laurie Strode DLC.

If you can buy all four, then more power to you, but its unfortunate that only half of the games on offer here are really worth the price of admission.

Even at its best though, it’s not surpassing other modern-day platformers. If you’ve had your fill and want a short burst of horror-themed platforming fun, then picking up your chainsaw-arm attachment isn’t the worst idea.

RetroRealms: Double Feature is now available on PS5 and PS4.

Review code generously provided by the publisher.

Score

6

The Final Word

At its best, RetroRealms: Double Feature makes me reminiscent of 2D platforming greats like Shovel Knight - and at its worst, it's a frustrating and less-interesting platformer than what is available to 2D fans today. The difference lies in whether or not you pick the right games to buy, with only two out of four really standing out. And even then, it all works a lot better if you're a horror fan. If you're just looking for a good platforming time, your time might be better spent at a different haunt.