Ultracore Review (Nintendo Switch)

Review code provided with many thanks to PR Hound

Back in the Nineties

For all the games that are released there are just as many concepts and ideas that never make it to a final release. Many of these projects we don’t know about since they’re developed behind closed doors. With the internet and gaming become more mainstream then ever, we’re starting to hear about a few of these lost projects today. Ultracore is a game that was developed for the Mega Drive and was far along in development. But at the last minute the publisher Psygnosis cancelled the project.

The reason appears to be the publishers feared the game would underperform since the 32 CD based systems were on the horizon. Over twenty- five years later and the game has been brought back to life using a Mega Drive development kit and finally got its release as part of the Mega SG console. A Mega SG console allows you to play your old Mega Drive games as well as several other retro Sega consoles. Now Ultracore is being ported to modern systems. But does a game from the past still stand up today? It’s time to but the retro goggles on and find out.

Head back to the glory days of the Mega Drive

Missing the Manual

Ultracore just jumps into the radical run and gun action. You play a cyborg-like fella and your mission appears to be to just destroy absolutely everything in the level whist finding the exit. Very occasionally you’ll bump into a NPC or item that will tell you where to go. But I generally had no idea what was going on. It reminded me of when I was younger, when I would buy a game without the instruction manual. These used to fill you in on the story as well as the controls. Instead your just left to sorta figure out Ultracores story and controls for yourself.

The game doesn’t give you any tuition just jump into the action

Run and Gun

The gameplay is run and gun action with some utterly horribly platforming thrown in. Despite being a Mega Drive title, the gameplay has been modified to work on modern systems. The right stick controls your bullet fire and you can move with the left stick. Although this game was designed for a Mega Drive I much preferred the modern controls as opposed to using just the D pad and buttons. The gun play is fun and over the top as you take out masses of machine like enemies. There are 5 massive levels with plenty of secret areas to discover. You can find additional weapons which cost the use of ammo but are a ton of fun to play around with. All weapons in the game can also be upgraded twice if you find the correct collectible. I often saved these for one of the many and varied boss fights. These large mechs take a significant amount of bullets to defeat but they do have a handy health bar to give you a indication of how much punishment they can take.

Horrible Jump Segments

Whilst I enjoyed the run gun action. I despised the platforming in this game. I consider myself pretty good at dodging enemy bullets and weaving my way through masses of enemies. But this halts the fast pace in order to force you to jump from various platforms. Falling will amount to an instant death. If it was simply jumping it would be ok but most of the time you have to spring off these bouncy platforms at just the right moment in order to reach a higher platform. These sections were often the reason my lives and continues were drained. I guess the blessing is on death you restart moments before you died. However, if you loose a continue its back to the start of the section of the level you have reached.

The platform segments are harsh. One mistake and you loose a life

The game overall racks up in difficulty as you get towards the end. With only 5 starting lives and 3 continues its unlikely you’ll see the end the first run through. But after you finish each level you are given your stats and a password. Since the game operates no save system this is the first game in years I have used its password system to continue from a level later. Very old school.

16 Bit Memories

Graphics are lovingly 16 bit cyberpunk. This looks like a late stage Mega Drive game with the mechanical aesthetic. But also marks an era of gaming I’m not too fond of, where developers chose to dull down colouring in a possible attempt to move away from colourful graphics. The environments look very similar, sometimes you’ll fight above ground and get to see the odd plant or two, but mostly you’ll be underground in a familiar mechanized level with a mild colour change. Fans of the 16 bit era will like the graphics but it’s hard to ignore the lack of variety.

Environments don’t change much but sometimes you might see the odd tree

Stuck in the Past

Ultracore feels like a Mega Drive rom just released onto Switch. To some this will be fine. Its a complete Mega Drive game that never got it’s time in the spotlight back in the day. Besides adjusted controls and soundtrack the game offers no quality of life improvements. No options to adjust the graphics, no save states, no gameplay modifiers. Whilst it’s absolutely nice to play it on Switch, this game package is really stuck in the past.

Nostalgia Trip

Whilst I have my grievances I’m a retro guy and as an old Mega Drive game I did like this title. It’s just a shame more attention wasn’t given to this port. Retro lovers should absolutely look into adding this to their library, but I don’t think there is enough here to convince newcomers. For me, this took me back to the nineties playing my Mega Drive instead of the Switch. Nostalgic time travel at its best.

Final Verdict: I liked It