Hard to believe that this year marks the 40th anniversary of arcade classics like the original Lunar Lander and Asteroids. Whether the release of RASHLANDER, a neo-retro title inspired by both of those, is intentionally timed in accordance with this or not… well, I don’t know. Either way, it does look like a ton of fun and a very lovely little throwback to a time long gone. A time some are bound to remember fondly, and now have a chance to revisit, even if in a slightly different form.
That said, while RASHLANDER won’t munch on your precious quarters, I’d wager it will still kick your you-know-what like a typical arcade machine from its glory days. Oh, and seeing how levels are procedurally generated, the only thing that’ll really help you here is practice. Lots of practice. Luck does also come into play, but a skilled player will (hopefully) survive longer than someone who relies entirely on the randomness of luck. Of course, the game’s upgrade systems and fuel stations do provide some form of assistance, but in the end, only the best will be able to achieve the highest score, carefully manoeuvring that tiny ever-so-fragile ship between, well, asteroids. Big and small.
After not quite seeing eye-to-eye with an all-powerful global entity known as GovCorp, a small team of terraforming researchers are forced to flee Earth in a hastily-prepared escape rocket.
As for why you’re doing all that, if not for the aforementioned score-chasing, well, GovCorp has it in for ya and these guys mean business. Serious business. The kind involving deadly drones and other nasties, shooting first and asking questions never. Hope you’ve mastered the art of slingshot navigation because you’re going to be doing plenty of that in this game during your many attempts at landing feet-first on precious goal-marked warp pads. Only there will you have a chance at finding what you’re so desperately looking for. I think. I mean, space is a vast… space. Might take a while and a lot of searching.
Rashlander is available on Steam, carrying a $3.99 price tag.
