Six 2D video games to relive the sensations of the super Nintendo and Mega Drive

No need for special effects and luxurious 3D production to move and leave an imperishable memory to players. This is still evidenced Eastward, a small masterpiece in 2D pixeled published by Chuckle fish and made of master hand by the young Chinese studio Pupil. Available on Switch and PC, this title leads us to a post-apocalyptic world. We meet the Duo John and Sam. The first is a laconic minor to the impressive force that plays Sam's alternative father, a girl with gray hair endowed with surprising powers. Rejected by their city, they will mostly face the dangers that reign in a devastated world.

If the first steps in the Eastward world are pretty classic, the artistic direction is enough to hang the eye of the warned gamer that will remember the detailed and sublime pixels of Mother 3 on Game Boy Advance. It's noting that Eastward is one of the most beautiful 2D games at the moment. Above all, Studio Pupil hides its game to offer a much richer story that we could not have imagined, with a lot of twists that are constantly renewing the gameplay experience. On over twenty-five hours of adventure, Eastward offers a history that is both poignant and wonderful, carried by a particular care added by an inspired art direction and a pixel art of rare quality.

Eastward, Chuckle fish, on Switch and PC.

A dark and smart polar. It is through these words that can be summarized in the best Backbone, a point of Click to the tortuous narrative, mixing humor and depression in a city populated with anthropomorphic animals. In the manner of Juan Guard's BD Black sad, this Narrative Adventure of Studio Egg gut invites us to embody a private detective to the raccoon physique in beige process: Howard Motor. Party to accept a case of morals for a husband tried Police by his wife, this private will quickly discover a darker investigation in a city gangrened by the crime. Superbly written and realized, Backbone is a relatively short title but whose tasty history leaves admiring, just like its detail-conscious 2D graphics. A title already awaited a nice success that prompted his publisher Raw Fury to announce that a sequence is already in construction.

Backbone, Raw Fury, on PC, Xbox Series, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, also provided on SWITCH and MAC.

It's in the old pots we make the best soups. An adage that sis perfectly with Okinawa Rush, a cleverly mixing platforms, Boston and Beat Them all while 2D. Between Shinobi, Street of Rage and Street Fighter, Okinawa Rush arises there. And it is drunk of revenge after the death of his wife and the kidnapping of his children that his main character Hero will reserve the belt of his kimono to go up to more hundreds of fighters adepts martial arts. Perfectly mastering the arcane of karate, Hero will be accompanied in his bloody journey by Shin, a follower of Kung Fu, and by the Mortal Main, driven in Tai Chi. Each of these champions in their art is playable and brings a different gameplay to return Adversaries' Platters. Focusing on nervous and bloody fights, Okinawa Rush is a real adrenaline concentrate that can of time for contemplation and makes it clear that revenge is a dish that is finally eaten very hot. Small more, the meal also sails in two players mode.

Okinawa Rush, Pixel heart / Just for Games, on Switch, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series, Xbox One and PC.

WHEREAS since 2017, Marita Boy has made the effect of a small bomb at its official launch at the end of March 2021 on consoles and PCs. In this action game, tinged with platforms, a dazzling art pixel gives to venture into the bowels of a computer program threatened by a virus.

In the manner of the film Tron (1982), the developers dematerialize a young gamer to send it in a virtual world where a small numerical people expect to be delivered from him, name given to the big bad virus that threatens them. Then you play the elected representative in Marita Boy, who — in the way of Neo in Matrix- will have to save the universe. If this false philosophical fable may have fun, it is especially in its progress that this game will leave a good memory to the players who will try. A game that, without being revolutionary, takes advantage of an interesting and neat atmosphere.

Marita Boy, Team17, on Switch, Xbox One and Series X / S, PS4 and PS5, PC and Mac.

In the great line of the games dedicated to the Ninjas that are Shinobi, Ninja Garden or Ninja Spirit, French François Pérez, Alias ​​Wonder boy Bob, has just published a new pearl of the genre: Tank Justice. A game in the purest arcade tradition that offers a remarkable challenge on Switch and PS4, as already explained to our complete test.

Tank Justice is a sensitive game and animated by the passion of his developer who has no other claim than to entertain during short parties, who will remain so intense that you will come back regularly, if only to fart the high -Score or prove you that you have not lost their hands. We also welcome its mode two welcome players to share furious parts.

Tank Justice, Pixel heart, on PS4 and Switch.

Arcade enthusiasts, Super AMISOM, PC Engine, Mega Drive and Saturn surely remember the little witch named Cotton. A heroin queen shoot them up that has had to a series of flagship games on almost all the supports of the time. Surfing on the nostalgia that it evokes to the old players and lovers of the genre, the Tokyo Beep store specializing in the retrogaming decided to offer him a reboot in 2021.

A title that turns out to be a little happiness. If the frame of the original game levels is respected, the developers have offered him a more current 2D, like his gameplay revised and corrected to stick with the shoots of the moment. The focus here on scoring with several factors that can be triggered at the right time to harvest the paddle. We also welcome the musical partitions they also put back on the basis. Among the bonuses, the fans will discover the X68000 version of the game, drawn from the famous Sharp X68000 computer considered the Amiga 1200 of the Japanese players.

Cotton Reboot, Beep, on PS4 and Switch.