Display table with retro NES cartridges.

PAX EAST 2023: 8-Bit Legit Delivers Good Times with Quality Indie-NES Titles

Retrotainment Games and their subsidiary 8-Bit Legit showed off three incredible Inde-NES games at their booth at PAX East 2023. Garbage Pail Kids: Mad Mike and the Quest for Stale Gum and Trophy are already available to enjoy, with Full Quiet coming to Xbox and Nintendo Switch in late April.

I had a chance to play the demo for Full Quiet, a survival-horror, Metroidvania-style, adventure game (Yes you read that correctly). As Tim Hartman (owner, developer, and publisher of Retrotainment Games) explained, “The game has elements of many genres. Most people call it a Metroidvania, but it’s so much more than that, featuring action, puzzle solving, and elements of horror.”

The game was thoroughly enjoyable, blending retro, 8-bit graphics with modern gameplay sensibilities. I played the game with a classic NES controller, with a physical cartridge on an NES emulation machine. The experience transported me back to the 80s, to those childhood summers when I explored new worlds on my television screen and believed anything was possible. I found myself wanting to play longer, despite having other appointments and places to be at the convention. The game’s puzzles, combat sequences, and exploration are deeply satisfying.

In addition to the typical Metroidvania features, the game has a day / night cycle that is central to the gameplay experience. Players must solve certain puzzles, explore new areas, and conquer enemies before night falls, otherwise monsters will attack and kill them. Players must advance and restore the radio grid to keep the monsters away.

Owner Tim Hartman is proud of the lineup of games at Retrotainment Games, particularly Garbage Pail Kids, which required some convincing of Topps. Hartman told the company that the 80s franchise never got its due and this game would honor the franchise’s legacy.

Hartman is also proud of the production model for the physical cartridges, which utilizes domestic resources here in the United States and is manufactured in the USA as well. Despite the commitment to creating local jobs and positively impacting the local economy, Hartman was able to produce the limited run physical editions in under a year of development.

To order from Retrotainment Games, click here.

Tell us what you think! Are you going to purchase Full Quiet and the rest of the Indie NES games from 8-Bit Legit? Share your reactions in the comments below or join the conversation on Boss Rush Network’s Discord and Facebook.

Source: 8-Bit Legit

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