Life on Mars Remake Demo

Space exploration  is still a faraway dream at the moment, given the fact that our current technology is barely advanced enough to get us into orbit or on nearby planets if we decide to use robots. Human endeavors are all but impossible right now, so colonies on the Moon or on Mars are out of the question until we can safely sustain people in hostile environments.

Life on Mars Remake is a retro 2D platformer with plenty of action and exploration included to make the experience as enjoyable and as challenging as possible. Your goal is to shoot and jump from one platform to the other in order to reach the end of every level, although sometimes you are free to pick your route through the stages. Naturally, it sports retro graphics and simple controls to go along with the atmosphere.

As the name clearly implies, the action takes place on Mars, where a colony was established a long time ago. Something happened to the people there, on the other hand, because they have stopped responding to communication. Thus, you are sent to investigate the matter, only to find out that the robotic sentinels are hostile, which means that you have to defeat them in order to keep moving.

Things are fairly simple at first, but they get more complex once you start to acquire upgrades that unlock new abilities. You also have to adapt your style depending on the type of enemies you are facing, since some of them are tougher to hit than others. The actual environment is difficult to navigate as well sometimes, because your coordination and reflexes are put to the test.

As far as the graphics are concerned, you shouldn’t expect an awful lot in this regard, especially if you are familiar with the retro genre. In essence, everything is designed like a classic game from back in the SNES days, which means 16-bit backgrounds and basic sprites instead of animations. Thankfully, the controls are very precise and responsive, and you can obviously use a gamepad to get the most out of them.

Even if most of the concepts used by Life on Mars Remake are archaic, there are some modern additions as well, so the experience is not as boring as you might think. However, this is clearly a product for the veterans of the genre who are looking for something to treat their nostalgia.