Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bit - Xbox Review

 

Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bit by developer Mega Cat Studios and publisher Retroware—Microsoft Xbox Series X review written by Nick with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bit is targeted at a very specific audience. That makes it a difficult game to recommend broadly, but as the target audience? I enjoyed my time with it more often than not. It’s a tough game; sometimes almost unfairly so. You know… just like the classic games that the AVGN lampoons in his video spanning the last two decades. Still, there’s a certain style and humor that I can’t deny having enjoyed as well, despite those frustrations.

There’s a few reasons why I consider myself the target audience for Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bit. For one, I’ve been watching AVGN videos on YouTube almost since the beginning. I grew up on these games that he frequently critiques. I spent so much time beating action platforming games like this when I was younger, that there’s a bit of nostalgia with a game like this, even though this is my first time actually playing it. I was a big fan of the Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures when I covered that title on the Wii U about a decade ago. This sort of tie-in with an IP I already enjoy is something I’ve covered in other reviews like Nice Day for Fishing.

So I’m approaching this review through a couple of different lenses. I recognize that I am likely viewing this title as someone sporting a bit of ‘fan forgiveness’. If you’re not someone who enjoys the AVGN’s antics or doesn’t enjoy punishing platformers? There’s probably nothing about Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bit that will change your mind on either front. It’s meant to be hard. You lose power-ups when you die, spikes are located in unforgiving spots and some levels (especially the last one if you die to the boss and have to start over) just seem to relish kicking your ass. 

On the other hand, the potty-mouthed antics of the AVGN are amusing to me and while the game’s challenging, it feels rewarding to beat a level – just like in the old days. You play, you die, you adapt and you do it again. From that perspective, the Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bit game is a love letter to fans of the AVGN and this bygone era of gaming. The visuals are crisp and colorful, the music’s catchy and enjoyable and the gameplay is pretty sharp with some creative boss fights and fun power-ups to be had along the way. Every stage, every boss has a learning curve. You’ll die, you’ll adapt – or you’ll give up. However, I was enjoying the AVGN-themed scenes and story enough to want to see things through, so quitting never really felt like an option for me. 

Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bit is not a terribly long game; but then back in those days they usually weren’t. It was about beating you over and over again until you learned and adapted and then pressed on until finding your next wall to learn how to hurdle. I remember games like Mega Man 2 taking me days to beat at first, but once I got good at the game? A few hours usually did the trick. AVGN is cut from the same cloth, for better or for worse. Now, I will say that overall, I enjoyed the aforementioned Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures more when I covered it about a decade ago. Maybe just because it felt a bit fresher to me at the time, but I think I generally enjoyed the stage design a bit better as well. 

If you, like me, are a fan of the AVGN’s antics or just like a good throwback action game (a genre I seem to be playing a lot lately as it turns out), you’ll probably enjoy Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bit. As the target audience, I would give this title an eight out of ten. However, if you’re not someone who has a long history with the IP or doesn’t really care for this style of game much? It’s really going to be hard for me to recommend this game to you, and I’d land it at more of a six out of ten. It’s just hard for me to imagine you enjoying this. 

So, let’s split the difference and go with:

Score: 7 / 10