Price: £8.99 PSN (£9.89 Nintendo eShop)
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Dev: Lillymo
Lillymo's latest venture into retro gaming sees the developer ditch the sci-fi realms of Habroxia and Twin Breaker, brewing up a Metroidvania challenge with a NES-era design style. Given my next "new" game is Saros, it is deeply satisfying to enjoy something generationally simpler-looking, but still packed with tricks and traps. He writes while cursing the devs to high heaven for yet another stupid death.
Saint Slayer's early running sees the dodgy-looking Rudiger, an ex-soldier rock up in a strife-torn Roman Empire-era village. With the plebs under threat from demonic dogs, cackling crows and skeletal hordes, he makes it to an ominous church where a vicious vicar has fallen under the spell of some far-out force.
Rudiger soon picks up a useful looking, multifunctional, spear and sets out to smite down some ne'er-do-well crypt-dwelling Catholics led by the over-powered Father Pacer. But half the fun is peeking in and around houses, looking for goodies. When he finds the Spear of Sacrilege (sounds like an Andy McDermott novel), his skills increase, a theme through the 20-plus levels across the game.
To the Pain
It isn't just the bad guys that stand in your way, Saint Slayer goes out of its way to lob obstacles at our hero. While the first few jars and switches might be friendly, they soon disgorge poison food, or trigger spiky scenery to collapse on the protagonist, leeching away his health.
Fortunately, there's plenty more to pick up, but in the tight and challenging levels, you will need every bit of roast chicken and other comestible that comes to hand as a growing roster of Ancient Evils line up to halt your progress.
With multiple endings, so many secrets to find and plenty of replay-ability in Saint Slayer, and lots of treasure to find. Plus vehicle levels and nods to other retro games, all of which makes this a major challenge that belies the simple style of imagery.
The Pointy End of the Spear
Any retro game is a divisive creation these days, and while I'm more cheered exploring the gorgeous 16-bit realms of Chasm or the upcoming Wolfhound, Saint Slayer looks okayish, but it is hard to recall stand out moments.
Among the annoyances are that you can't go into the scenery through big open gates. And I hate that you can pick up plenty of bags of money, but the only things you can spend in the shop are glowing currency.
I'm also a little worried about the game's obsession with entrails, slapping about on cart wheels, littering the floor and so on. Are the devs mocking early Nintendo family-friendly rules? And if you get stuck or fed up, play with the password system to boost your fundamentals and get an edge.
Whatever pleasure you find in Saint Slayer, rattling through the short and grisly levels, this is a well-crafted retro experience with some of the pain and frustration of the 8-bit era for oldies to warm up to and younger plays to sneer at.
Score 4/5
