198X

User Rating

7.2/10 (27 ratings)

Release Date

23rd Jan 2020

No. of Players

1 (Single Player)

Genre

Action, Adventure, Arcade

Publisher

Hi-Bit Studios

Developer

Hi-Bit Studios

Content Rating

ESRB/Teen, PEGI/12

More Information

Filters

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Welcome to Suburbia, just outside the City, sometime in 198X.

This is the journey of Kid, a teenager stuck between the limitations of innocent youth and the obligations of inevitable adulthood. The story unfolds when Kid discovers the local arcade – finding new worlds, and new meaning, in video games. For every visit to the arcade – every game uncovered, every move mastered, every demon defeated – Kid grows stronger. And the lines between reality and game start to blur...

5 full-blown arcade stages in 5 different genres
9 expert pixel artists delivering larger-than-life old-school sprites
20+ music tracks from the likes of Yuzo Koshiro and Swedish hit-duo Sinephony
90+ minutes of intense gameplay and pixel-art storytelling

Mon 20th Jan 2020

Nintendo Life said:

A passionate love letter to a bygone age, 198X celebrates 2D, arcade-based gaming brilliantly and wraps it up in some of the best hand-drawn art we've seen in years. The soundtrack is also exceptional, and, in terms of pure presentation, it's really hard to fault what's on offer here. 198X's biggest weakness is its brevity; you can finish it in around an hour, but the experience will remain with you for long after the credits have rolled. While we're sure many people will consider the game's shortness a cardinal sin, we'd still recommend you give it a try if you're a fan of '80s and '90s gaming, appreciate lush 2D artwork and desire an experience which firmly lodges itself in your consciousness – even if it doesn't last all that long.

Read Full Review

8/10

Wed 16th Apr 2025

JJtheTexan said:

198X is a multi-genre retro-style game that bundles a smattering of short but well-crafted mini-games with a short story. I love the concept, and I applaud Hi-Bit Studios for taking a chance on something new. The result isn't perfect, but it's still worth trying, especially when the already reasonably-priced package is on sale.
The games themselves are all pretty decent, though the side-scrolling shooter is the strongest of the bunch. The ninja hack-and-slash platformer is pretty tough, but doable once you memorize the stage patterns. The others are fine.
You can complete the entire game in one session, which is good because the narrative that binds the games together is not great. I would be about the same age as the protagonist (the game is set in the 1980s, as the title suggests), and I found the "angsty teen handles life problems at an arcade" story to be grating and unrelatable. Maybe it's just me.

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