Sometimes, the point of a game doesn't immediately click with you. It doesn't mean that it's a bad game, or that the design of the game is flawed. Depending on where you are in life, there's just a chance that the stars don't align properly, and a game doesn't fit your fancy when you try it. This could be said of UFO 50, a game that is stunningly interesting in its execution and impression of 80s gaming.

When I first tried UFO 50? I didn't get the hype. I heard many people hyping this one up to what I thought were unrealistic expectations. A game that emulates the style and flair of 80s shareware, yet is incredibly dense and interesting in its execution. It's also a game that doesn't exactly give you the greatest first impression. But after diving in and digging in a little deeper, I finally get it.

Classic Games With a Splash of Modern Touches and Design Language

I was gifted a copy of UFO 50 for my birthday last year by none other than Dwayne, the other contributing writer here at Glizzy. I had heard him speak of the glory of UFO 50 for the longest time, and I was eager to see what it was all about. But after diving in and blowing off some of the dusty data disks that lingered within the walls of this "collection" of "classic titles", I wasn't feeling it. There may have been another game that was distracting me, and my attention couldn't be spent on UFO 50. Now, I see what a mistake that was.

The idea behind UFO 50 is interesting. It's a collection of games, developed by a supergroup of folks that took roughly 9 years to pull together. Each of the games in this collection, even the "numbered sequels" to classics, is unique and individual. There's also a story that is told throughout each of these games.

Not always through gameplay, but at other times, through credits sequences, terminal passwords, and everything in between. It's a metatextual collaboration and collection of the world of games that we no longer have access to, and it's beautifully done along the way.

After Playing for a Bit, UFO 50 Is Nothing Like I Would Have Ever Expected

UFO 50 can be a bit obtuse at times. None of the 50 games included in this collection has a manual, so things need to be done via trial and error, by consulting other players who have played through the game in real life, or just faking it until you make it. Imagine you went to a garage sale and found a 50-in-1 cartridge for your NES, and you've never played the console before. You may recognize the names and the faces, but you won't know how to play it until you actually do.

I think that's where my initial attempts at going into UFO 50 failed me. I went into the game with the modern-day expectations of a guide pointing me in every direction that I needed to go. A helpful fairy pushing my adventure along the way, annoyingly telling me everything that I needed to do.

The "first" game in the collection, Barbuta, exemplifies this perfectly. It's a side-scrolling adventure game, with a character that walks at the speed of what feels like one pixel per hour. He's slow, clunky, at times hard to control, and eager for adventure. There is no music, just the sound of your pittering feet as you walk toward your unknown destination. My brain says, "Okay, character needs to go right". I do. Then, I'm quickly crushed by a rock. Subvert your expectations, and go in with the brain of a classical player, and UFO 50 will finally make sense.

There Is Literally Something for Everyone in UFO 50

Now that I've been taking the time to go through each of these games individually, the beauty and genius of the package slowly began to unravel itself before my eyes. Each of the games fills out the fictional catalogue of UFOSOFT. You see what they've created, living through every memory that they've put into the digital world. You see where their creative process goes, and each of these games slowly begins to make more sense. But the variety of each of the games here is what makes it shine brighter than I ever expected.

As a fictional developer, UFOSOFT has quite an interesting library. After dusting off Barbuta and subsequently rage-quitting after getting squished by a rock, I decided that I wanted to check out the rest of this collection. There are some incredible standouts, with a personal favorite being Bushido Ball. Imagine if you took the sexy studs of Windjammers and replaced them with Samurai. It's a strange concept that works incredibly well, and it's one game that I cannot put down for the life of me.

Sports games. Driving titles. Immersive, first-person dungeon crawlers. A game where you play as swimming frog/lizard creatures that encourages exploration, yet also has an in-depth RPG element to it. You never know what you'll expect, but once a game here clicks? You won't want to put it down.

I Assume That UFO 50 Is Going To Take Me Hundreds of Hours to Fully Figure Out

I've only sunk a few hours into UFO 50, and I'm already enamored with what it has to offer. Instead of feeding the player what they should be doing, it's a game that encourages exploration and communication. It reminds me of when I was younger, chatting with friends on the playground and talking about how Mew was under the truck, and you needed a specific Pokémon to move it to catch it. But instead of playing a monster collector, I'm trying to navigate my way through a platformer where I use my physical body to explode things.

It may have taken a lot longer than I would have wanted it to for UFO 50 to finally sink its hooks into me, but I finally get it. Rather than approaching it like a brand new game that I'm playing on my fancy, shmancy computer, I need to look at it through the eyes of the child in me. Approaching everything like it's a brand-new adventure, and appreciating the amount of love and care that the development team put into every inch of the game.

From the presentation to the overall look and feel, UFO 50 is something incredibly unique and unlike anything else on the market. Well, except for maybe the Action 52 Multicart, which had Cheetamen on it. Just wait until you try Cyber Owls. Your life will never be the same.