Games by Bitmap Bureau
Reef Entertainment / Bitmap Bureau
- 5th Sep 2025 (UK/EU)
- 5th Sep 2025 (NA)
88 Heroes: 98 Heroes Edition Switch
Rising Star Games / Bitmap Bureau
- 12th Oct 2017 (UK/EU)
- 12th Oct 2017 (NA)
Battle Axe & Final Vendetta Bundle Switch eShop
Numskull Games / Bitmap Bureau
- 26th Jul 2024 (UK/EU)
Reviews of Bitmap Bureau Games
Review Final Vendetta (Switch) - A Violent Love Letter To '90s Arcade Brawlers
Those fists were fast as lightning
Do you wake up each morning with a desire to beat the living hell out of street-roaming criminals? Don’t do it, we implore you. Prison isn’t worth it. While Final Fight and Streets of Rage may have been the violent video games that made you the addict to barbarism that you are today, take heart in the knowledge...
Review Battle Axe (Switch) - A Battling Throwback That Doesn't Land All Its Hits
Lord have Mercia
Veteran pixel artist Henk Nieborg's old-school throwback, Battle Axe, seeks to replicate the classic top-down hack and slash action of arcade classics such as Gauntlet, Knights of the Round and Golden Axe. With Nieborg himself on graphical duties and legendary composer Manami Matsumae (Mega Man, Final Fight, Shovel Knight) providing...
Review Xeno Crisis (Switch) - An Old-School Twin-Stick Shooter Which Supplies A Stern Test
Standup fight or just another bug hunt?
The twin-stick shooter – originating in games such Robotron: 2084 – has proved to be a perennially popular genre. The fundamentals remain the same, generally, even when the themes differ and gameplay elements are layered on; players must clear a single screen of enemy waves before moving on to the next,...
Review 88 Heroes: 98 Heroes Edition (Switch)
I've got 98 problems but a Switch ain't one
Apparently these new-fangled superhero movies are all the rage nowadays! People seem to really connect with demi-gods fighting insectoid aliens while destroying cities, and with such memorable characters how could you not? There's Wonder Woman, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Batman, Glass Girl, Jim Nastics,...
Review Ninja Shodown (Switch eShop)
Bad for your stealth
Ninjas by their very nature are an elegant and elusive group - patiently lurking in shadows in order to dispatch foes without anyone ever realising they were there. Their grace and efficiency have become legendary over hundreds of years. In the medium of video games, however, ninjas have a somewhat 'varied' depiction, none more...
Latest Bitmap Bureau News
Thursday8th May 2025
"How do we make this better?"
Looking back at anything you loved as a kid can bring on a sense of trepidation. Books, films, games - viewed through a modern lens, decades-old efforts may not stand up to scrutiny. Tired tropes and dated dialogue that can come as a smack in our 21st-century chops. Progress is natural — we like to think we're a...
Thursday6th Mar 2025
Opinion It's Taken 30 Years, But 'Terminator 2D' Could Right A Childhood Wrong
Judg(e)ment day
One night in 1993, I saw Terminator 2: Judgment Day for the first time. I was nine and I remember negotiating with my folks to stay up and watch the VHS with a Chinese takeaway. I remember the sweet-and-sour chicken, chow mein, and prawn crackers. I remember the lighting and the layout of the living room. I remember the clanking iron...
Thursday27th Feb 2025
News We're Losing Our Minds Over This New Retro 'Terminator 2' Game
I'll be back... I need to change my pants
Following a rating toward the end of 2024, Publisher Reef Entertainment and developer Bitmap Bureau have revealed the debut trailer for Terminator 2D: NO FATE, a new retro-inspired title based on the 1991 movie Terminator 2: Judgement Day (a.k.a. the best one, and we won't hear any different, thank you very...
Wednesday24th Jul 2024
News Xeno Crisis Scores A "Physical And Digital" GBA Release, Pre-Orders Live
Includes a "free ROM download"
Well, here's something you don't see every day! The arena shooter Xeno Crisis, which launched on the Switch eShop in 2019 (and has already been released on multiple retro platforms), is getting a "physical and digital" release for the Game Boy Advance in Q4 2024. Pr
Sunday2nd Apr 2023
Random Bitmap Bureau Is Bringing Xeno Crisis To N64 And GameCube
"This is no joke"
April Fools' Day has been one heck of a minefield this year, with some video game companies going an extra step by actually releasing a real product. With this in mind, Xeno Crisis developers Bitmap Bureau have announced they'll be bringing the retro-inspired shooter to the Nintendo 64 and GameCube. And yes, it's not a joke! We've...
Thursday7th Jul 2022
News Final Vendetta Dev Considering "Free DLC" And Even A Sequel
"We certainly have a load of ideas"
If you enjoyed the recent Switch eShop beat 'em up release Final Vendetta, and were left wanting more - you might be in luck. During a recent interview with the gaming website Co-Optimis, the game's developer Mike Tucker mentioned how he was open to perhaps offering some "free DLC" and even had loads of ideas...
Tuesday24th May 2022
News The Final Fight Vibes Are Out In Full In 'Final Vendetta' Gameplay Preview
Rage through the streets of London
Numskull Games has given us a sneak peek ahead of time at all of the gameplay systems coming to retro throwback Final Vendetta. From these five minutes of footage alone, it's plain to see that this is a love letter to Streets of Rage, Double Dragon, and Final Fight. You'll be punching and kicking your way through...
Saturday21st May 2022
Hands On Final Vendetta - The Ultimate Love Letter To Final Fight And Streets Of Rage?
Everybody was Kung-Fu fighting
Beat-em-up fans are like addicts cluttering up the mean streets of an '80s New York, willing to shoot themselves up with almost anything resembling the belt-scrolling boom that swept arcades in the early '90s. Whether pink-mohawked punk or run-of-the-mill gamer, if you’re still experiencing withdrawals despite the...
Wednesday16th Feb 2022
Featuring music from '90s dance icons Utah Saints
UK studio Bitmap Bureau (Xeno Crisis, Battle Axe) has just lifted the lid on its next game, Final Vendetta. Described as "paying homage to the iconic arcade titles of the '80s and '90s", Final Vendetta offers solo and co-op modes, four different game modes and "a thumping dance/techno soundtrack by...
Thursday24th Oct 2019
News OK Bitmap Bureau, With This Xeno Crisis Review Copy, You Are Really Spoiling Us
A nice taster before the Switch version arrives
Long-time readers of the site will be aware of Xeno Crisis, the top-down 2D shooter that was crowdfunded a while back. Taking inspiration from likes of Aliens and Smash TV, it’s the work of a small UK team by the name of
Tuesday18th Jun 2019
Feature Xeno Crisis Is Smash TV Meets Aliens, And It's Looking Incredible
It's coming to Mega Drive, NEO GEO and... Switch?!
It's hard to make games. When you have absolutely no idea how to actually make a game, that might seem like a naive understatement, but we imagine it's true. Games today are massive, epic ventures; collaborations between hundreds, if not thousands of talented individuals all striving toward a common...
Sunday7th Jan 2018
News Kickstarter Retro Sensation Xeno Crisis Targeting Switch
Switch blast processing
Back in December we covered an up and coming Sega Mega Drive/Genesis game from Bitmap Bureau (yes, an actual old school cartridge that really works with Sega's old 16-bit beast). Xeno Crisis immediately caught our attention as well as piquing the interest of retro gamers everywhere. So much so that's it's smashed its...
Thursday7th Sep 2017
News Don't Fear, 88 Heroes: 98 Heroes Edition Is Coming To Save Your Switch Next Month
Rusty from SteamWorld is coming along for the ride, too
Rising Star Games is bringing Bitmap Bureau's 88 Heroes: 98 Heroes Edition to the Nintendo Switch eShop in October. The title will be the most complete version of 88 Heroes yet released, packing in the DLC expansions RSG Champions and H8 Made Activate. The former...
