Developer JoyMasher is no stranger to producing games that attempt to replicate the look and feel of yesteryear's 16-bit classics. Their previous two games, Dallus and Oniken, were both heavily inspired by quintessential platformers such as Castlevania and Ninja Gaiden. As such, it's entirely appropriate that their third offering would be reminiscent of yet another platforming staple from the era. This time around, JoyMasher chose side-scrolling shoot-em-ups such as Contra and Metal Slug to serve as the foundation for their latest game, Blazing Chrome.
Let's go ahead and get this out of the way: Blazing Chrome is not for everyone - not necessarily because it's bad, but rather because it is an unabashed throwback to a time when games were designed to punish players for even the slightest misstep. JoyMasher addresses this from the onset by pointing out that "Blazing Chrome is made by and for arcade and action fans.", which is to say that it's intended for players who enjoy hurling their digital bodies against waves and waves of foes with the sole purpose of achieving the highest score.
I spent the first 30 minutes or so getting through the first level. This included the process of learning Blazing Chrome's relatively straightforward controls and getting the feel for the game. However, once I reached the second level things started to become a little tedious.
I died and died and died again...
Then I had a thought - "I bet someone has already speedran of this game in the amount of time its taken me to beat just one level." I popped open ye olde internet browser and headed on over to youtube only to find that there was indeed one. Oof
I needed to "git gud", but sadly there was very little hope for me in that regard. As a result, I was not able to properly enjoy my experience the way that it was likely intended to be. "Fun" isn't exactly what I would call Blazing Chrome, but that is because I'm just not very good at it. "Challenging" is probably a more accurate descriptor, but that is exactly what Blazing Chrome was designed to be.
That said, Blazing Chrome is quite gratifying when you finally beat a boss that has been mopping the floor with you for over an hour. The need to prove to yourself that you can succeed is in direct opposition with the game's default level of difficulty, but it's for that reason that it becomes somewhat of an obsession to keep fighting the good fight until you are finally victorious. Ultimately, this is a game that forces you to learn from your mistakes and adapt.
As you would probably expect, Blazing Chrome's soundtrack is done in that ripe old 16-bit style and succeeds at setting the tone. After all, JoyMasher is determined to maintain the illusion that you are playing a 30 year old game. That idea is further reinforced by the deliberately limited selection of weaponry you'll have at your disposal. Much like its spiritual predecessors, you're started out with the most minimal of firepower, with incrementally better "firing modes" being unlocked through power-ups scattered throughout each level. To keep with the tradition of the genre, dying will forfeit any power-up you may have gained and reset your character back to its default state. In addition to weapon upgrades, other buffs in the form of defense and speed boosts can also be found in a similar fashion. Level design is somewhat straightforward as well and should be familiar to anyone who has spent time in an arcade. Some levels are your standard "run n' gun" while others put you on rails and force you to play at a pace perhaps more demanding than you would like.
However, Blazing Chrome is not completely unforgiving and does provide the occasional checkpoint that I found to be infinitely helpful during my time playing. This is perhaps how it deviates most from games it draws inspiration from, being that similar titles infamously employed a "all or nothing" model that did not reward any progress outside of a full level completion.
Speaking of level completion - the boss fights are massively fun and mechanically challenging, but you will likely need to devote a significant amount of time to learning the fights. This is likely where the game's co-op feature shines the most, and having a partner would have undoubtedly made my playthrough go a little smoother if not made more enjoyable.
While not necessarily a detractor from Blazing Chrome's overall quality, the one thing that might not appeal to some players is that it doesn't do anything revolutionary for the genre. Then again, that was likely not JoyMasher's intention when they were crafting a meticulous love-letter to a style of game long since retired.
