Night Slashers Remake [PC] | REVIEW

Night Slashers was one of those arcade games that I thought looked really, really cool when I was younger, but that I never got to play. And now, with Night Slashers Remake, I still think that it looks really, really cool, with the horror-themed beat ‘em up ticking a lot of the right boxes for me with this modern release.

Unfortunately, whilst I loved the horror vibes of the game and it certainly maintains that classic beat ‘em up feel, Night Slashers Remake feels a bit tame when compared to other releases in the genre.

Check out some screenshots down below:

Night Slashers Remake puts players in the role of one of four characters as they fight off monstrous forces that look to bring a supernatural apocalypse to the world. This means battling through a myriad of locales, all whilst unleashing combos and using special abilities to deal with the vicious creatures that are trying to stop you. Yeah, Night Slashers Remake doesn’t have the deepest narrative, but who needs a reason to kill some monsters, right? It does add some context to the journey with some static illustrations and in-game text that pushes the tale forward, but this is an action-focused experience where the narrative doesn’t take priority.

The core gameplay loop follows the classic beat ‘em up formula that’ll be familiar to just about anyone, with players navigating a variety of side-scrolling levels full of enemies to beat up, items to grab, and bosses to pummel. Mashing buttons allows you to unleash combos, with connecting attacks linking together to add variety to your moves. You’re also able to perform air and running attacks, grapple attacks, and hold down the attack button to unleash a charged attack. Each character also has a unique super attack, which inflicts damage to all foes with some fancy visual effects but comes at the expense of some of your health. There are items to restore health and weapons to use too, with plenty of objects scattered around levels to help give players the upper hand over foes.

“Night Slashers Remake has its cool moments, but it doesn’t match the quality of other prolific modern beat ‘em up releases.”

It offers all of the basics that you’d expect from the genre, with Night Slashers Remake utilising the same gameplay mechanics that it did when it originally released back in 1993. Why fix what isn’t broken, right? Well, whilst modern beat ‘em ups have seen an evolution with more intuitive controls and slicker combat mechanics, there’s just something clunky and dated about Night Slashers Remake. The hit-detection of enemies feels a bit off, whilst levels could get repetitive with most enemies easily dealt with by simply mashing out combos without much thought for anything else (at least on the normal difficulty anyway). It just lacked the sense of polish and variety of modern titles like Streets of Rage 4 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge that has seen the genre thrive in recent years, with Night Slashers Remake perhaps staying a bit too true to the original game by not building upon the core combat mechanics.

Being able to play in local multiplayer (for up to four players) does make Night Slashers Remake more enjoyable, but the lack of online play is a bit disappointing. I’d have had a lot of fun playing through the adventure with a few pals (especially on the higher difficulty settings), but being restricted to just local play does make it a lot less convenient.

Check out some screenshots down below:

Visually, I think Night Slashers Remake might leave some gamers torn, especially with the change from the pixel art visuals of the original. Personally? I liked the sharper, cartoon-like style, with the grotesque enemy designs and detailed environments giving the game a distinct feel. Some of the animations could be a little rigid, but it’s eye-catching and captures the brutality of combat nicely. I’d be lying if I said it was the prettiest beat ‘em up I’ve played, but I was still a fan of the aesthetic.

Whilst Night Slashers Remake has its flaws, I absolutely loved the campy horror vibe of the game. Some of the monster designs are absolutely fantastic, whilst the eerie level theming made for a world that I enjoyed being a part of. There are some other cool extras that come with this release too, such as a new playable character, visual filters to make for a more retro experience, and even custom game modes that allow you to tinker with settings to make for a more challenging or unpredictable experience. It’s clear that some love has gone into making Night Slashers Remake, but it’s just a shame that it lacks finesse with its core combat mechanics.

Developer: Storm Trident
Publisher: Forever Entertainment
Platform(s): PC (Reviewed), PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Website: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2795750/Night_Slashers_Remake/