Black Future '88

Black Future '88 is a fast-paced, thrilling roguelike, but it offers little to shake up the genre’s inherent repetition. Its often underwhelming gear and lack of variety in levels makes for dull runs too often, even though its gunplay consistently satisfies. You’ll find lots of hidden depth in its upgrade system if you stick with Black Future '88 despite its uninspired structure, which is made easier by its great art style and stellar soundtrack.

With delightful visuals, pulsing music, and snappy gameplay, Black Future '88 is a solid roguelike that won't revolutionize the genre.

Black Future '88 is a stylish, stunningly fast roguelite that has a unique setting and world to mess around in. If you love to get your head smashed in by games, then you'll undoubtedly fall in love with this one, but if you need a bit more than that to commit, then you might not find anything here for you. It's a lot of fun, but it does feel a bit cookie-cutter in some places, and the world of roguelites is very competitive nowadays.

While there is a great amount of action going on at any given moment, I only encountered a frame rate drop during one of the warden fights. But it was so severe that it was difficult for me to tell what was going on. There was also a moment where I dashed towards a wall and ended up stuck in it. I had to back out entirely and start over. These moments are infrequent, but they are there.

There’s a rule of thumb that suggests that popular culture exists in 30 year cycles. Now that 80s kids are all grown up and making our TV, films and video games, nostalgia for the 1980s is clearly in right now. If it isn’t clear in the title, Black Future ’88 is a love letter to 1980s neon, Cold War paranoia and retro technology, wrapped up in a modern rogue-like platformer package. Even if you’re not a former 80s kid, however, SUPERSCARYSNAKES’ newest title is a pretty satisfying e...