198X
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| 198X | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer | Hi-Bit Studios |
| Publisher | Sonka |
| Platforms | PlayStation 4 Windows Nintendo Switch Xbox One |
| Release | PS4Windows June 20, 2019 Switch January 23, 2020 Xbox One TBA |
| Genre | Action |
| Mode | Single-player |
198X is an action game developed by the Swedish[1] team Hi-Bit Studios and published by Sonka. It was released for PlayStation 4 and Windows in June 2019, with a port for the Nintendo Switch published in January 2020. An Xbox One versions was announced but never released. A homage to arcade gaming in the 1980s, 198X's coming-of-age story follows an unnamed "Kid" as they discover a video arcade in an abandoned factory and fall in love with video gaming. Each of the five chapters is based around a video game genre such as beat 'em ups and horizontally scrolling shooters. The game received positive reviews, with praise for its gameplay and criticism of its short length. [2]
In an introductory sequence entitled Beating Heart that plays like a side-scrolling beat 'em up, the teenage protagonist fights their way from the subway station and through the streets of the unnamed city in which they live until they reach a hospital where they are attacked by a hooded figure with glowing red eyes.
Set in the 1980s, the game follows the Kid, the teenager from the introduction, who feels stuck in their childhood home in "sleepy suburbia" as they wait for their life to "move forward". One night, as the Kid wanders the streets of their unnamed city looking for anything to "make my heart skip a beat again", they stumble across an abandoned factory that was built "long before" the protagonist was born and now houses an arcade. Wondering if they found a place where they can fit in, they start playing a horizontally scrolling space shooter entitled Out of the Void. Feeling disconnected at school, the Kid's mind frequently returns to the arcade where they were "on an asteroid somewhere fighting Space Invaders." The only person they notice in school is "her", a "punk rocker from the south district" whose freedom the Kid admires. The story then cuts to the Kid playing an arcade racing game entitled The Runaway. During The Runaway's second stage, the Kid explains that they've started to spend every night at the arcade, where every game they master makes them "stronger" and "more confident". One evening, the Kid reminisces about their childhood and how "anything was possible" back then before "everyone got brainwashed" in high school. They then mention how, as a kid, "shadows seem darker and more terrifying" yet "more exciting" at the same time. The game then transitions to a ninja video game called Shadowplay. That night, while walking to the arcade, the Kid reveals that their parents split up due to an incident involving the Kid's father.
They also mention that night was when "everything changed" at the arcade before 198X transitions into a role-playing video game entitled Kill Screen where the player has to defeat 3 dragons to solve a maze before fighting the unwinnable SHODAN-like final boss. Afterwards, the Kid is seen sitting outside the arcade in the rain, mentioning that everything "was still there" but that "nothing was the same". Characters from 198X's various games begin to materialize around the Kid, who states that the "game was not over".
Development
A KickStarter page for 198X was launched on May 3, 2018, With the developer Hi-Bit Studios seeking SEK 500,000 for the project. The goal was reached a little under a month later on June 2 with 1,920 backers pledging SEK 676,558.[3][4]