There are some games that you remember playing, and then there are games that take you straight back to a particular time in your life. Alien Breed is definitely one of those games for me.
I’m now 46, which means I’m officially at the age where I can tell younger people that games used to be harder, and start sentences with “When I was your age…” And Alien Breed takes me straight back to being younger, going around my mate’s house and playing with him on his Amiga.
Back then, the Amiga was my arch rival as I was club Atari ST. However I still found that the graphics were amazing, the sound was brilliant, and, most importantly, it was where I first experienced games like Alien Breed. A few years later, when I was around 15, I finally got my first PC and started playing the Alien Breed games for myself, but those early Amiga memories never really disappeared.
35 Years Later, Still Blasting Aliens, Just Slower
When I saw that Alien Breed was getting a 35th Anniversary Collection, my reaction was basically, “Oh God, I’m old.” Followed by “Let’s review it!” But is it actually worth going back?
Gameplay
The Alien Breed 35th Anniversary Collection brings together six games from the Alien Breed era, covering the series from the original Alien Breed in 1991 through to Alien Breed 3D II: The Killing Grounds in 1996. You get Alien Breed, Special Edition 92, Alien Breed II: The Horror Continues, Tower Assault, Alien Breed 3D and Alien Breed 3D II.
From the moment the intro screen loads, the nostalgia really starts kicking in.
The original Alien Breed is a top-down shooter that feels incredibly simple by modern standards. You wander around dark corridors, shoot increasingly unpleasant-looking creatures, find keycards, manage ammunition and try not to get yourself killed. And yet, somehow, it still works.
Nostalgia
There is something wonderfully satisfying about walking into a room, hearing the unmistakable sounds of something nasty approaching, turning around and unloading your weapon into a swarm of aliens. It doesn’t need a massive skill tree, crafting system, character progression or 47 different currencies. You have a gun. There are aliens. Shoot the aliens. Job done!
The later games naturally build on the formula, introducing larger levels, more enemies, improved visuals and more complicated layouts. Tower Assault is particularly interesting because it moves towards a more open and less linear approach, while the move into 3D with Alien Breed 3D is a fascinating piece of gaming history. And let’s be honest, Alien Breed 3D is one of those games that makes you realise just how much we took for granted back then.
Today we complain when a game drops from 120fps to 100fps. Back then, getting a first-person 3D game running on an Amiga using two floppy disks was basically witchcraft!
Modernism
Thankfully, this collection doesn’t simply dump the old games onto modern hardware and say, “There you go, enjoy your 1990s controls.” It adds modern twin-stick controls while keeping the original control schemes for purists. Save states are also included, which is possibly the biggest improvement for anyone who remembers having to start again because you either died at exactly the wrong moment or spent your keys wandering through the wrong gates.
There are also new Horde and Rush modes. Horde gives you a survival challenge, while Rush adds online co-op, bringing a modern multiplayer element to something that originally belonged firmly in the era of sitting next to your mate on the sofa.
Graphics & Audio
The original Alien Breed games have that wonderful chunky Amiga look that immediately transports you back to the early 90s. Pixels are pixels, sprites are sprites, and everything has that unmistakable retro aesthetic that modern games have spent years trying to recreate. I’m looking at you, Minecraft.
You can play using a more modern 16:9 presentation, but I’d strongly recommend trying the 4:3 display with the CRT effects switched on. It just feels right. The collection includes several CRT options, including scanlines and different CRT-style effects, allowing you to recreate that old television look. There are also screen bezels and plenty of visual customisation options.
Then there’s the sound. This is where the nostalgia really hits me. Those old sound effects are part of the experience. Weapons firing, doors opening, enemies appearing, and the general electronic soundtrack all have that unmistakable Amiga character.
It’s amazing how quickly your brain remembers things. You can hear a sound effect that you haven’t heard for decades, and suddenly you’re transported back to sitting in front of an old monitor, eating your penny sweets from the local paper shop and drinking your panda pop, while waiting for the next level to load.
The Backstories
The collection also includes the original soundtracks and a virtual museum containing artwork, promotional material and historical content. There are interviews and information about the development of the series, as well as material covering cancelled projects.
For someone who grew up with these games, that preservation side of the collection is almost as interesting as the games themselves.
Longevity
Six games give you a decent amount of content straight away, but the real longevity comes from how you approach the collection. If you’re simply going to play through each game once, you could probably blast through them relatively quickly. But these aren’t really games that are about rushing from beginning to end.
They’re games you dip into. Play a couple of levels of the original Alien Breed. Move on to Special Edition 92. Have a go at Tower Assault. Then decide you want to see how badly Alien Breed 3D has aged. Then spend half an hour messing around with the CRT filters. Then realise you’ve spent two hours looking through the museum at old artwork. That’s probably the biggest appeal of the collection.
The new Horde Mode also gives the games some extra replayability, while Rush Mode provides another reason to come back, particularly if you have friends who remember the originals. Online co-op is something we obviously couldn’t have dreamed about when these games originally appeared. We didn’t even have the internet back then.
The save states are also a godsend, and maybe a bit cheaty to the purists. I love retro games, but I don’t necessarily want to prove my gaming credentials by spending three hours getting through a game only to die and lose everything. I’ve got bills to pay now. I don’t have time for that sort of nonsense!
Final Thoughts
Alien Breed 35th Anniversary Collection is exactly the sort of release that reminds you why preserving old games matters. Yes, the graphics are ancient. Yes, some of the controls and gameplay mechanics feel dated. Yes, younger gamers who have grown up with modern shooters may wonder why anyone would willingly play a game with CRT effects on their monitor screen. But that’s not really what this collection is about. It’s about remembering!
35 years after Alien Breed first appeared, it’s quite something to be sitting here playing it again. The developers have done a good job of adding modern conveniences without completely messing with what made the originals special. Modern controls, save states, visual options, online multiplayer and new modes make the games much easier to enjoy today, while the original versions remain at the heart of the package.
You start the game, hear those familiar sounds, see those chunky pixels and suddenly you’re 15 again, except now your knees hurt. Instead of worrying about whether your mum is going to tell you to turn the computer off, you’re worrying about paying your mortgage.
Alien Breed might be 35 years old, but the little bugger still knows how to make you smile.
For old-school gamers who remember the Amiga era, the Alien Breed 35th Anniversary Collection is a genuinely enjoyable trip down memory lane and a great reminder of just how much fun games could be before everything needed a 100GB installation. You don’t find yourself needing to source a new M.2 drive to play this!
I give Alien Breed 35th Anniversary Collection the Thumb Culture Platinum Award!
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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