By their very nature, retro games are a thing of the past. As video games become more technologically advanced, some players just want to go back to a time when games were simpler, but not necessarily by playing those old games.
Luckily, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of retro-inspired games that are being made currently, so you can get your retro fix even with modern games. Below, we’ll take a look at some of the best games that have come out in recent years, but feel like they could have easily come out decades ago.
Animal Well is a puzzle platforming metroidvania that perfectly captures the feeling of exploration and discovery that popularized the genre in the first place. The game has you exploring a deep and interconnected labyrinth, solving puzzles, and unlocking new items in any order you choose to progress further.
There’s no combat in Animal Well, but there are hundreds of details to be found by exploring its world. You’re encouraged to play the game in the same way that you would in pre-Internet days, without looking up the solutions to puzzles online, and instead trying to solve the game on your own. This level of discovery is becoming scarce in modern games, but Animal Well delivers on this essential retro feeling.
9Goodboy Galaxy
Goodboy Galaxy is an action platformer where you play as a dog in space. As Maxwell the spacefaring dog, you’ll explore strange new worlds to try to save your collapsing home planet, using a variety of tools and upgrades along the way.
Goodboy Galaxy is actually a modern Game Boy Advance game. While you can buy and play it on Steam, you can also get a ROM of the game that runs on original GBA hardware, or on one of the many retro handheld emulators that have become more popular in recent years, like the Analog Pocket or any of Anbernic’s devices. It doesn’t get more modern retro than playing a game released in 2024 on a Game Boy Advance!
TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge is a side-scrolling beat ‘em up game that draws inspiration from classics like Turtles in Time. The character and environment design is also lifted straight from the original 1987 TV show, which just further feeds into the nostalgia machine.
Including the four main turtles, you can also play as April O’Neil, Splinter, and Casey Jones, and you can play with up to six players at a time. That said, the game is still a lot of fun solo, especially if you’re a fan of TMNT or classic beat ‘em ups.
While it may be pushing the definition of modern, having been released over ten years ago, Shovel Knight was one of the first games to attempt a retro-feeling game but with modern design choices. Using your trusty shovel, you play as a knight on a journey to save your adventuring partner.
The game takes the most inspiration from Mega Man; it’s a 2D side-scrolling platformer where you fight through levels, defeat bosses, and upgrade your equipment. The twist is that you may use your shovel to dig for treasure, which you can use to purchase new items to upgrade the knight.
Crow Country is a PS1-inspired survival horror game where you must explore an abandoned theme park to find out what happened to its owner. The game’s aesthetic manages to perfectly encapsulate the PS1-era of survival horror games like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Parasite Eve.
However, Crow Country isn’t meant to be a straight rip-off of these classic games. It sets itself apart with a movable camera, great writing, and tons of details and clues packed into almost every area.
Lunacid is a dark fantasy first-person RPG reminiscent of FromSoftware’s King’s Field games. Set in a land devoid of light known as the Great Well, you will explore its crooked hallways, claustrophobic caves, and moonlit dungeons.
With several optional graphical filters, you can increase the immersion factor even further, which is where Lunacid truly excels. The game just feels like it was pulled straight from the 90s alongside King’s Field and Shadow Tower, and fans of those types of games will have a lot to appreciate here.
Caves of Qud is a roguelike RPG that offers one of the most comprehensive role-playing experiences in a single game. Set in a procedurally generated sci-fi fantasy world, each new run of Caves of Qud is entirely unique. You start by creating your character from dozens of different options, called Mutations, to give yourself different features like wings, two heads, or teleportation powers.
The game is absolutely packed with things to do, and the lore and worldbuilding are so deep you won’t see the end of it for hundreds of hours. Caves of Qud is best played without following guides or walkthroughs, as the best part is wandering around this broken world and creating your own adventure.
Skald: Against the Black Priory is a retro-inspired party-based RPG set in a grim-dark world beset by cosmic horrors. Gameplay-wise, Skald plays most similarly to classic CRPGs like Ultima, with a hint of Dungeons & Dragons in its roleplaying elements. Add in a dash of Robert E. Howard’s Conan series and Joe Abercrombie’s First Law series for the story, and you’ve got Skald.
The game is true to its roots in a way that a lot of modern games aren’t; it’s difficult and obtuse at times, and rewards careful and slow progression rather than rushing in and figuring things out as you go. It’s story and text-heavy, but each interaction is rewarding and teaches you more about the world.
Even over 20 years later, Doom is inspiring a massive genre of games, affectionately referred to as boomer shooters. Ultrakill is one such boomer shooter, complete with fast-paced first-person action, a pixelated art style, tons of weapons, and lots of blood.
In fact, blood is the fuel that keeps your machine of a body moving, so you’ll need to keep killing to stay in the fight. Ultrakill also has a style meter similar to Devil May Cry, so you’re incentivized to use each of your abilities to rack up combos.
UFO 50 is perhaps the best example of a modern retro game. The game itself is actually 50 different games that are each inspired by NES-era classics in some way. These games aren’t simple or knock-offs either, they are full-fledged experiences that you would have no problem buying individually.
For example, Grimstone is an entire, full-length JRPG inspired by classics like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, while Vainger is a metroidvania complete with upgrades and boss fights. Then you have games like Bug Hunter, which plays just like Into the Breach, or Velgress, which is essentially a reverse Downwell.
The creativity on display in each and every one of UFO 50’s games is something that is missing from a lot of modern games. If you’re craving the joy and wonder that you experienced playing older games in the 90s, UFO 50 is the one that will bring that magic back.
