Black Future '88

I loved my time with Black Future ’88. It’s hard, it’s fun, it’s memorable. In a genre that I have felt has been stagnating a bit over the past year or so, SUPERSCARYSNAKES is here to slap us back into reality. While it doesn’t wholly redefine roguelikes, it does enough to make it stand in a class of its own. I’m going to be craving “one more run” for a long time, and I’m going to have that soundtrack stuck in my head for even longer. This is a great game. Don’t miss it.

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.

Even though there are loads of similar games out there, Black Future '88 manages to be wholly worthwhile and exceptionally fun.

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 almost a quintessential throwback to ’80s arcade games, with rock-solid gameplay taken straight from the era and mixed in with several interesting and unique gameplay twists. You may only get eighteen minutes at a time to take everything in, but what you’ll be hit with is a heavy dose of fast-paced action, a killer soundtrack, and and a ton of weapons and gameplay features to work with that reward you for experimenting and exploring every bit of Skymelt. You may be trapped in the ’80s here, but at least you’re trapped alongside some of the best parts of it. Well, at least when it comes to video games. We can’t help if you get permanently trapped alongside Kajagoogoo or something similar, after all.

Black Future ‘88 is an intriguing, challenging but also supremely fun and rewarding game. It may be an audio-visual feast, but the tight gameplay, high degree of replayability and the sterling effort that has gone into overcoming many of the criticisms levelled at the genre mean it’s not just a pretty face. If you’re looking for a dose of intense cyberpunk action on your Switch, you can’t go wrong with this one.

Black Future '88 is a good roguelike game that lacks in a compelling story, but shines thanks to a great cyberpunk atmosphere and an awesome chiptune soundtrack.

Play Black Future ‘88 especially if you like to wander through procedurally made 2D dungeons with cool weapons. Despite its unclear and repetitive moments, this is a cool roguelike.

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.

Despite the absurdity of the narrative and the disappointing anticlimax of its ending (not spoiled here!) Black Future ’88 is an impressive title with interesting weapons, spot-on controls, creative unlocks, and entertaining action. I wish the visual accessibility was as robust as the rest, but fans of 2D action will enjoy it as a single-player experience, or with a buddy in local co-op mode.

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.

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.

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…

With the eShop seemingly overrun with roguelike titles, Black Future ‘88 doesn’t overuse the idea. It does a good job of giving options for exploration to the player.

Overall, Black Future ‘88 is stylish and fun, but the experience feels fleeting. Once you’ve played a few runs or tried the assist mode, it’s possible that you’ve seen most of what’s on offer. Unlocking new characters, weapons, and perks adds replay value, as do the daily challenges, but it’s more the cool visuals and action gameplay that make this one worth picking up. Two-player co-op is another nice feature. If your first impression of Black Future ‘88 is positive, I would say give it shot, but a lack of depth and variety keep it from reaching greater heights.

Black Future 88 is an exciting roguelite shooter with a synthwave soundtrack that is just begging for more content to help round out the experience.

Black Future '88 is a fast paced, dynamic and accurate Run & Gun but truly lacks of content and gets sometimes too challenging and repetitive due to the timed runs.