Angry Video Game Nerd 8-Bit is a foul-mouthed, rage-inducing, nostalgia-fuelled trip into gaming hell.
This is my first experience with Angry Video Game Nerd and James Rolfe, but after almost throwing my controller through my screen after the 50th attempt at a piece of platforming that was harder than Satan’s haemorrhoids, I had a moment of clarity.
I was very late to gaming; my first real gaming experience wasn’t until the Xbox 360 era. I had friends who had PlayStations, and I have played my fair share of Alex Kidd, but I never experienced the true gaming pain that was the 1980s platforming designed by blind monks.
Developed by Retroware, Programancer, and Mega Cat Studios, Angry Video Game Nerd 8-Bit is a side-scrolling homage to everything that 1980s video games had to offer.
Saving all of Gamekind!
You play as the AVGN himself, James Rolfe, as you side-scroll your way through 6 gorgeously, frustratingly designed levels, full of everything that made gaming in the 80s hard, to defeat 6 bosses possessing an NES console.
Angry Video Game Nerd 8-Bit wears its name more like a threat than a Badge of Honor. It looks and feels like it belongs on a Nintendo Entertainment System. The 8-bit graphics are flawless, with tight controls, simple shooting mechanics, and death. Lots of Death.
Every level is full of pop culture references and parodies of level design flaws from the 80s, like blind jumps, cheap deaths, and respawning enemies.
It feels intentionally unfair at times, but in a ha-ha, you’re crap at this kind of way. The checkpoints are forgiving though. You die, respawn, die again, rinse, repeat, drink, cry, die again. Then, when things get close to the wire, there is a shit pickle that will shower you with power-ups like some kind of briny Fairy Godmother.
Controls tighter than an NES Cartridge Slot
Alright, time to stop complaining about Angry Video Game Nerd 8-Bit being rougher than sandpaper underwear on a hot day. The controls are pretty solid. Your movement is very responsive. No slipping or weird jumping, you move exactly where you want to move.
You have a little blaster that shoots as fast as you can mash ‘X’, it can be upgraded with power-ups to increase its fire rate or shoot more pellets.
Angry Video Game Nerd 8-Bit has an incredible chiptune soundtrack that shreds just as hard as wrestling a porcupine in a sleeping bag.
Boss Battles from Hell
There is a total of 7 major bosses plus a few lesser assholes thrown in for good measure. Giant turds, floating tiki heads, and for copyright reasons is not the Terminator.
It feels like the developers thought how much more bullshit can we put these idiots through? Let’s dip it in acid and shove it straight up their D-pad!
Verdict
So what do I think of Angry Video Game Nerd 8-Bit?
It’s brutal, it’s unfair, and it’s one hell of a good time.
So grab your controller and the swear jar. Put the kids to bed, and prepare to die more times than Dark Souls on hard mode while blindfolded and being punched in the nuts by E.T
Retroware supplied a review copy for the purposes of this review.
Angry Video Game Nerd 8-Bit was reviewed on Xbox Series X
Angry Video Game Nerd is available on: Switch, PlayStation, Xbox Series, and PC (via Steam)
There is also an NES version being worked on.
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