As a vintage gamer, I must say that this generation has generally been a joy to behold, with loads of titles celebrating just about every aspect of games from my youth. Abathor is a bit more committed to the vibe of that era than most, absolutely looking, sounding, and generally playing the part of challenging side-scrolling action games… but then throwing in some added surprises for good measure as well.

Loading it up, between the music, the fact that one of the heroes straight-up looks like the main character from Rastan, and just the classic essence radiating from your screen… it can probably trigger a certain sense of nostalgia for the right crowd. Then, once you’re actually playing you’ll notice that there’s a familiarity to the action, but it’s also absolutely distinct, especially if you’re able to find some people to play with, adding both potential help and certainly some friendly competition.

The surprise is that though each of the characters core moves are relatively similar, they each at least have a little flair and differentiation, especially when it comes to their special abilities. Starting out, everything will likely feel a bit on the easier side, but rest assured, the further you get you’ll need to pay closer attention, have a better sense of timing, and grit your teeth a bit. Especially when tackling some imposing bosses and even a stage that throws to a completely different, and quite unexpected (so I won’t spoil it) genre feel.

Putting these pieces together, this should absolutely have a great deal of appeal to people who either grew up in arcades, or at least have a taste for games from the old arcade and NES eras. Abathor pretty well captures every aspect of that time in terms of the presentation but then, thankfully, does just enough to spice the formula up that it still feels pretty modern and certainly worthwhile. For people who aren’t retro-minded it may offer little appeal, but old-school gamers should absolutely give it a look.