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Micro Mages

Micro Mages Game Cover
96%Game Brain Score
gameplay, graphics
story, stability
96% User Score Based on 347 reviews

Platforms

PCPlaystation 5Playstation 4WindowsPlayStation
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Micro Mages Game Cover

About

Micro Mages is a single player and multiplayer arcade platformer game with fantasy, medieval and historical themes. It was developed by Morphcat Games and was released on May 1, 2019. It received overwhelmingly positive reviews from players.

Micro Mages is a platformer developed for the original 8-bit NES console. Play solo or with up to 4 players simultaneously. Compete over score or cooperate to overcome challenging levels.

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Micro Mages screenshot
Micro Mages screenshot
Micro Mages screenshot
Micro Mages screenshot
Micro Mages screenshot
Micro Mages screenshot
Micro Mages screenshot
Micro Mages screenshot
Micro Mages screenshot
Micro Mages screenshot
Micro Mages screenshot
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96%
Audience ScoreBased on 347 reviews
gameplay22 positive mentions
stability4 negative mentions
  • Incredible technical achievement fitting a polished, smooth, and fun platformer into a 40KB NES cartridge.
  • Excellent multiplayer experience supporting up to 4 players locally, enhancing fun and replayability.
  • Controls are tight, responsive, and smooth; levels are well designed with balanced difficulty increasing gradually.
  • Graphics and animations are colorful and charming, pushing NES hardware capabilities impressively.
  • Includes NES ROM files enabling play on real NES hardware or emulators, showing great consumer consideration.
  • Hard mode offers unique, redesigned challenging levels adding significant replay value.
  • Game length is short, completing it typically takes around 1-2 hours, which may feel limited for some players.
  • Lacks certain modern conveniences such as online multiplayer and more diverse power-ups.
  • Controller support, especially on PC, can be problematic with input lag and configuration issues noted by some players.
  • gameplay
    41 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay is widely praised for its tight, responsive controls, polished mechanics, and smooth movement, offering refreshing and addictive experiences despite its simplicity. Its well-designed levels, secrets, and four-player co-op add to its replayability and fun, with a modern feel that appeals beyond NES fans. While some find it short or straightforward, the overall gameplay is balanced, accessible, and impressively rich given the platform constraints.

    • “It's got several worlds, each with a bunch of levels and a boss, great gameplay and movement, some secrets, passwords for saving progress, a hard mode with level changes and different enemy attacks (wild for what this is!).”
    • “This game deserves way more love for its tightly designed gameplay loop and controls, not to mention 4-player simultaneous co-op, simple controls, it's surprisingly a great party game!”
    • “With incredibly responsive controls and excellent game mechanics, this has become (easily) one of my all-time favorite indie games, hands down.”
    • “This game is really good -- but if you don't like older NES games or aren't a fan of simple gameplay, this isn't for you.”
    • “It was such a gamebreaker for me, but luckily, the NES ROM is included in the game files, so I managed to load the game and play it through an emulator (this is why I have 0.2 hours of gameplay on Steam at the moment of this review).”
    • “The wall jumping mechanics show its young age and the variable speed scrolling screen makes it an actual fun mechanic.”
  • graphics
    33 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics are widely praised for their charming, colorful, and detailed 8-bit pixel art that perfectly captures the retro NES aesthetic. Reviewers highlight the smooth animation, clear visuals without flicker or slowdown, and impressive quality given technical limitations like fitting into a 40KB cartridge. Overall, the visuals are considered a standout achievement that enhances the gameplay and nostalgic experience.

    • “The graphics are incredible for the NES, especially considering it fits into a 40KB cartridge.”
    • “The art style is incredibly well executed given the limitations of the system it was designed for.”
    • “Graphics: 10/10 - gorgeous, cute, almost no flicker, a stunning achievement.”
    • “Stupid graphics hacks :)”
    • “Shovel Knight only aesthetically has the appearance of a retro game.”
    • “I was hoping for something like TowerFall but other than the art style, it's not too much like it.”
  • music
    22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music is widely praised for being catchy, well-composed, and impressive especially given the NES hardware limitations, with many highlighting its memorable and fitting soundtrack that enhances the game's atmosphere. While some note a desire for more variety, overall the music is considered a standout and integral part of the game's appeal.

    • “The levels are super well made and the soundtrack is amazing, especially considering it is an NES game.”
    • “The art style is incredibly well executed given the system limitations, and the music is catchy, capturing the dark fairy-tale themes of the game.”
    • “From a music perspective, the 16-bit tunes are enjoyable, with tracks lasting just over a minute before looping, but catchy enough that they don't overstay their welcome.”
    • “The music and the sound are pretty solid as well, though I could do with a little more variety in that regard, given that I am very bad and spent a lot of time in world 3 and world 4.”
    • “The controls are tight for a NES game, the music and SFX are passable, there's support for up to 4 player co-op and the optional manual that's provided is even formatted like an old school NES manual.”
    • “The soundtrack lacks some identity, but it's very decent.”
  • story
    12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game features minimal story, primarily conveyed through brief plot lines and a charming twist ending, with enough narrative to motivate gameplay. The second quest adds new levels and some additional story elements, enhancing replay value for platforming fans. Players appreciate the developer's backstory for its charm and insight into game data, though it is more technical than narrative.

    • “It is very charming, fun and even has a cool development story behind it.”
    • “The game has very little story, but it does feature a cute twist ending through its very few lines of plot.”
    • “There's even some story explained in the game on startup, enough information to motivate you on your quest if you neglect to read the wonderful instruction booklet.”
    • “You can't play this version through Steam, but the game comes with a readme that explains how to play the 2nd quest through an emulator.”
  • stability
    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game runs smoothly with minimal bugs or glitches, exhibiting no sprite flickering or framerate issues. Its stability is notably strong, comparable to top titles from Capcom and Nintendo on the same platform. Overall, users find it stable and well-optimized.

    • “There is no sprite flickering, no framerate slowdowns, no buggy visuals, the likes of which you will find in the best Capcom and Nintendo games for the same system, with the same technological restrictions.”
    • “Runs great on my NES Classic!”
    • “The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs and glitches.”
    • “There are minor bugs and glitches that affect gameplay.”
    • “The game has a few bugs and glitches that can be annoying.”
  • replayability
    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game offers solid replayability through secret item hunting, a second quest, and a challenging hard mode, making it engaging for short play sessions. While some users note there are better or free alternatives, fans of platforming appreciate the added depth and technical achievement given the hardware limitations.

    • “Finding the little secret items also adds replay value and that extra challenge to 100% the game.”
    • “This is definitely something I come back to play for short bursts at a time, and the second quest adds some more replay value if you're a platforming fan.”
    • “A real technical achievement making a game with the limitations of the original hardware, not only that but a game that's a lot of fun to play and has a hard mode to extend its replay value.”
    • “There's many games that are better and also free for that kind of replay value.”
    • “This is definitely something I come back to play for short bursts at a time and second quest adds some more replay value if you're a platforming fan.”
    • “A real technical achievement making a game with the limitations of the original hardware, not only that but a game that's a lot of fun to play and has a hard-mode to extend its replay value.”
  • optimization
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game demonstrates exceptional optimization skill, impressively fitting the entire experience into just 40 kilobytes. This level of technical craftsmanship has garnered high respect and admiration, effectively convincing even professionals to support the developers.

    • “As a software developer, owning this game is a testament to my respect for the amount of thought and optimization concepts placed into it.”
    • “"How we fit a game into 40 kilobytes" sold me, 10/10 advertisement within a video about optimization and how much effort was put into the game.”
    • “This video alone convinced me to support the devs. The amount of optimization skill displayed here is nothing short of amazing.”
  • monetization
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The monetization approach is praised for its clever and engaging advertisement, effectively showcasing the game's impressive optimization and effort. Users appreciate this unique promotional method, which positively influenced their perception of the game.

  • atmosphere
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The atmosphere is praised as outstanding, with catchy and atmospheric music in Worlds 2 and 3 that perfectly complements the visual themes, enhancing the overall immersive experience.

    • “Atmosphere is outstanding, gameplay is clear and addictive.”
    • “Worlds 2 and 3 are my favorite, very catchy and atmospheric tunes that are well matched to the visual theme of the current world.”
  • humor
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is subtle and light, offering a satisfying and amusing transition from normal to hard mode. While not overtly comedic, it adds a playful touch that enhances the overall experience.

    • “Reaching the end of normal mode is satisfying with a funny way back to the remixed hard mode stages.”
  • grinding
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Users find the game to be somewhat grindy at times, indicating occasional repetitive tasks that may impact the pacing.

  • emotional
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Users appreciated the emotional impact of the game’s nostalgic 8-bit fantasy art and NES-inspired music, which successfully evoked a sense of classic video game magic and heartfelt nostalgia.

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2h Median play time
2h Average play time
1h Main story
2h Completionist
2-2h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Micro Mages is a arcade platformer game with fantasy, medieval and historical themes.

Micro Mages is available on PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Windows and others.

The main story can be completed in around 1 hours, while the entire game is estimated to take about 2 hours to finish. On average players spend around 2 hours playing Micro Mages.

Micro Mages was released on May 1, 2019.

Micro Mages was developed by Morphcat Games.

Micro Mages has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from players. Most players liked Micro Mages for its gameplay but disliked it for its story.

Micro Mages is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include Rayman Origins, Shovel Knight, 8BitBoy, Metal Slug, Sword of Xolan and others.