198X is a coming-of-age story told through five arcade stages that each recreate a different 1980s classic. The arcade framing gives the anthology an emotional through-line, with the story between stages tracking a teenager growing more confident with every game mastered.
The homage quality is the strongest feature, with every stage capturing the look of its era and the references matching their inspirations closely. The beat ‘em up nails the Streets of Rage aesthetic, the driving stage looks like OutRun, and the shmup evokes R-Type.
The pixel art is consistently strong, especially in the night-time scenes, while the audio cues recreate the right arcade feel throughout. The Kill Screen dungeon crawler stands out as the favourite stage, the strongest of the five games on offer.
The concept resonates beyond the homage, evoking the wonder of a first arcade machine and the era it represents. The narrative beats, from first friends to a family falling apart, keep the emotional weight grounded between stages.
The weak points are technical and structural, with loading times oddly long for a pixel-art game and the ninja stage’s special move never explained. Instant-death pits frustrate, and the experience ends abruptly on a to-be-continued cliffhanger, since only part one is available.
The driving stage is thoroughly enjoyable, standing out among the five stages on offer. The soundtrack and audio details, from the shmup lasers to the beat ‘em up’s bat noise, sell the arcade fantasy throughout.
Overall, stage design and homage quality make 198X a neat, affectionate tribute to the arcade era. Long loads, unexplained mechanics and the abrupt cliffhanger ending keep it short of greatness, but the charm carries it.