Black Future '88

Black Future ’88 may borrow ideas from all over, but it puts those ideas to good use and gives them a unique spin. As you’d expect it’s pretty challenging, but it’s worth mentioning that there’s an Assist Mode that makes it less deadly and more accessible. While you may want to hang fire on the Switch version until it’s less prone to crashing, this is otherwise an easy recommendation for roguelike-likers.

Black Future ’88 is a neon-drenched 2D roguelike that effortlessly encourages you to undergo repeated runs thanks to its great music, style and short bursts of fast-paced action.

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.

There's nothing wrong with how Black Future '88 plays. It's actually quite exceptional. But there are a lot of exceptional roguelikes and hardcore 2D platformers, and Black Future '88 lacks the narrative or context that it really needed to stand out against its many competitors.

Despite its technical issues, Black Future ’88 is everything you would want from a good roguelike shooter. Dedicating myself towards certain layouts and advantages while learning the deceitful risks that accompany them never seems to get old. I’ve managed to beat the game once-over several times but not yet looped a playthrough twice – giving me the realisation that I’ve only just scratched the surface. After looping the game, there then becomes the conundrum of looking how to keep that precious time topped up for it doesn’t reset even after beating the final boss. It looks like I’ll just have to have another go then, and maybe one more after that…