"Blazing Chrome" Review

Playing "Blazing Chrome" is like stepping into a warp zone that takes you back to 1992. A Super Nintendo game through and through, it pits you alone against a nest of alien creatures, robots and ninjas with a constant auto-fire gun and the ability to sprint and cling to wires at will.

This is "Contra" but through the dream lens that those who first encountered it with the wide-eyed expectations of a youthful love for run-and-gun shoot-em-ups.

Developer JoyMasher pays loving homage to the likes of "Contra" and "Metal Slug" with reverent glee, as well as a determined will to push the genre forward while keeping it true to its roots.

Everything from the graphics to level design and character animations sticks strictly to 16-bit limitations -- at least on the surface. Underneath the nostalgic facade lies a robust tapestry of circuitry that makes the game more stable, inventive and intense than Konami developers at their peak could ever approach.

A pure joy to play, "Blazing Chrome" is also unfettered hellfire. Even at its lowest difficulty level, there are stiff, unforgiving challenges in the game that will frustrate you so much you'll slam your controller down on the couch in frustration. Only, of course, to end up picking it back up a few minutes later once you've concocted a new strategy.

You play as either a robotic insurgent or a human resistance fighter, but no matter who you choose your survival will depend on your sense of timing, ability to just on the fly to demands of stress and overwhelming odds, as well as your ability to time out your gun upgrades and adapt them to the needs of whatever obstacles confront you.

The successes in "Blazing Chrome" may not come easy, but they come in such a thoroughly satisfying manner that you become filled with the resolve it will take to march on to the next seemingly impossible deathtrap.

They sure don't make 'em like "Blazing Chrome" anymore. Hell, they never really did make 'em this good anyway.

Publisher provided review code.