Life on Mars Remake Reviews

Not feeling this one, unfortunately. It controls poorly (too floaty) in my opinion and seems to be lacking polish . Map is nothing like in other Metroidvanias (which might be fine for you, just not for me). The game seems to be liked by plenty of people, but if you got into Metroidvanias thanks to Axiom Verge (like me) or the original Metroid this one probably won't 'grab' you.

This remake was very well done, deepening some art and design features that could not be worked so well in the MSX2 Era. It now has a 32bits shapé. The blasts and blast colliders were done well. The soundtrack on the selection screen is also neat, with impactful sound effects. All of this takes us to an atmosphere of space horror, as if it were a more adult Metroid-like. Nowadays the we could consider that remake an indie ititiative.

Going to give this game a 8/10! Do you like MetroidVania? Try this one. Considering it is a indie game, there goes my analysis. Level Graphics 10/10 - Really, really cool and immersive. Sprite Graphics 6/10 - Could be better, both visuals and movement. Gameplay 9/10 - Controls are fluid and responsive, but you can't aim your gun down. Music 10/10 - Immersive, scaring and fits perfectly! Sound effetcs 4/10 - Really poor, gun shots sound like bublegum bursting General level and game concept 10/10 - You really feel on space! Game is mostly good, an old school feeling and some bits of good humor. The only really bad thing about this game is the map, it's almost useless, not functional as in Metroid or Castlevania. Gives you no hint about where you really are. PS: DAMN MUTANT CHICKENS!

If you like Metroidvania style games, then you'll love this one. It combines retro style with fast paced animations, explosions and big enemies. Also, the adventure keeps you going on, and you'll have to explore to advance, discovering hidden places and finding the exit to the next level. The controls are easy and the difficulty is well balanced. Graphics are good, and the music keeps you in the game. Also, some grins to the MSX are there, so if you happen to be an MSX fan you'll be delighted. Oh! And don't forget there is a real MSX version of the game! A really nice game and very recommended if you like this genere. Congratulations to Kai! Salut!

Life on Mars Remake is a fun game and well worth the asking price. I found it on sale for 1.99 and have played it almost all the way through. Its a tad tough at first and I went down to "too easy" difficulty just to make things easier. You can level up the weapons as much as you want and areas that you clear can be re-cleared so your never really stuck and death has no penalty beyond being transported back to your save point.

Played for about 80 minutes on here but I've put a few playthroughs on the Mobile version. Controls: On Point Graphics: On Point (If you're into the Old School style) Difficulty: Can be hard, which is good. However there is no limit to your upgrades, thus you can farm forever till you upgraded enough to 1 shot everything. This isn't on the Dev tho. I suggest only capping at 40 on MSX difficulty to get a good baseline. Secondary note: You don't get a tutorial. This is good. No hand holding. Overall: A Play and shelf later game due to how short it is and with no real replayability (Everything happens the same way regardless of playthrough. Grab the upgrades in order, blow up the reactor, run to ship. Now, don't get me wrong, it can take you a while if you're being overly cautious. But once you beat the game once, assuming your memory is good, you'll know where to go and what to do with minimal effort. My only gripes and suggestions are 1: Way too short. 2: Needs more upgrades. 3: Would love to see suit upgrades be expanded on (With visuals) 4: Would love to see weapon upgrades expanded on (IE: A Shotgun) (With visuals) 5: More enviormentle interaction. I love the explosive barrels and glass tubes, but maybe weldable doors and hidden logs on terminals. You can have a wide range of secondary interaction from hacking and welding to more mechanical things. 6: A skill system to coencide with number 5 above. This adds replayability and opens up ways to explore further. 7: Expand the story. 8: Expand on difficulty. A Permadeath mode incorporated with the teleporting would be nice to see. IE: On MSX Mode you get 1 teleport and your shields forced down to 50% max cap, on Easy you get 5 teleports and your shields only knocked down to 80%. If you die after your last teleport the game restarts from the beginning.

It's a solid metroidvania, worth grabbing. The difficulty of avoiding some hits may get you down at first. It gets better. Some of them can be pretty cheap. And the first time you blow yourself up with friendly fire you might do some yelling :) You can use the same effect to your advantage on enemies and get them to blow themselves/each other up as well. Early in some of the jumps are a bit annoying but that frustration disappears with your first upgrade item, and its better than most platformers about them after that despite the odd failure to detect a "1st jump" (as part of your double jump) if you jump to close to the edge of a ledge - fortunately, you can make said jumps without the extra distance from using the edge of the platform. It's not flawless (what game is?), but its good. Overall feels very Metroid NES+Aliens movie, and that's a good thing.

If you love old-school style games like me, you'll love this. The game really captures the feeling of an early 90's game (complete with grinding). It has a few rough edges, like the impossibility of changing the scanline effect or the controls once you start the game, but overall it is very fun.

"Life on Mars" is a Metroidvania for Sega Genesis and turned into PC game. I like the mechanics, storyline, and I enjoy the mix of genres (ex. Metroid, Castlevania, Resident Evil, Faxanadu). The grinding is... very SEGA/NES, so treasure rooms and lockers rooms with upgrades would make more sense than making the game grinding by killing monsters. It only makes sense to get battery/cells/enery-packs from robots. I do like the background visual parallax. I would like more the voices to narrate what is going on and to repeat if necessary, because I missed the conversations at the bottom of the screen while killing monsters. I do like revive/teleport feature, making it feel like our hero is using supertech. Again. Treasures and using the Upgrade Centers would help reduce the grinding and encourage exploration. I still think they need to make the room designs bigger, ergonomic (ex. SEGA Castlevania Bloodlines allows Belmont to jump unto stairs; thus, making the platforming feel more real than "fake jumpy designs"), and more unique sprites per enemy. The robots make sense to copy and repeat. However, the human zombies all look the same, instead of given them more human variety. Adding a Shadowrun/Matrix to hack into the machines and doors to avoid Boss Battles and "Speed Run" that game would give it an extra layer of "Awesome", since it would make it less linear and more "Open World". If you are going to add Shadowrun elements, then add picking up a crew of survivors to help you fight the monsters and/or directly from the initial ship. I still feel like the initial ship should be the "Save/Safe Point". The ship should also have most of the weapons and gear for the Mission, while only collecting/making upgrades, mods, ammo, and special items that you would not find in a ship with a small armory/cache. In Shadowrun and other games, been unprepared is part of the game, here....it makes more sense the the main character comes more prepared and that the ship should be the main sources of "Save Points" and "Weapon/Item" pick ups. Every Base has an Weapon Armory (which the game has), so yes, that could be the secondary ammo/weapon and save spot (which does). You can even add dropshipments from the Mothership as the Protagonist finds more problems and different situations. I recommend adding more to the story to include "jammers" to add to the plot twist. I do like the fact that they made in the Year 2048-ish. Nothing ages worst than a game/story whose time has passed and failed to reflect reality in any shape like the noverl 1984. The year 1984 and the book have little in common besides Autocratic Powers exist. Unlike Doom, the game on Mars is more scientific horror sci-fi than slowly descending to "Gates of Hell"/Event-Horizon show. As for respawning, do not respawn monsters/robots unless it makes logical sense like the factories make robots workers and drop them off unto the base; Or the lab is full of incubator tubes that we cannot reach (or simply, lab tubes are operating properly to produce the monsters). I do like the game in general and additional mods or a version 2.0 may be required to upgrade/polish the game to its full potentional. Will "Life on Mars" become 3D with a Resident Evil "Over the Shoulder" view and surpasses "Dead Space" in the future? As of now, it is a solid 8/10, which is good and fun, but not "11/10" awesome yet. Not until they implement my feedback and surpass it with scifi-realism.

A nice throwback for those of you who remember the frustrating yet fun action and exploration platformers of the 8 and 16-bit era. Controls are not 'clunky' but actions require a bit of forethought to avoid walking into idiocy. Nice atmospheric tones and ye olde robotic voice samples. Those with complaints of sprite-quality need to understand they dev is going for the 'early' 16-bit era look, which sums up much of the MSX2 catalogue. Worth a look at $8, currently on sale (until 5th of Jan) for less than what I found under my desk drawer. Play on MSX User difficulty to relive the time of "scream obscenities at yourself for nearly wiping out, manage to scroll through the section on a sliver of shield."