Retro/Grade

About

Retro/Grade is a single-player shooter game with a good plot, where you play in reverse, un-firing attacks while navigating through enemy waves. With 10 vibrant worlds, epic boss fights, and 6 difficulties, the game features 50+ minutes of original music and various unlockable rewards. Control time's flow using the Retro-Rocket, and restore space-time continuity before a temporal anomaly wreaks havoc.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

86%

Audience ScoreBased on 278 reviews

music88 positive mentions

grinding3 negative mentions

Unique concept of a rhythm game combined with a reversed shooter, providing a fresh gameplay experience.
Great soundtrack that enhances the gameplay, with catchy tunes that fit well with the rhythm mechanics.
Visually stunning graphics that create an engaging atmosphere, despite some clutter at higher difficulties.

Limited content with only 10 levels, which can lead to repetition and a lack of long-term engagement.
Visuals can be overwhelming and distracting, making it difficult to see important gameplay elements, especially on higher difficulties.
Some players may find the gameplay mechanics unintuitive, leading to frustration rather than enjoyment.

music
199 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
51%
5%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many praising its catchy and well-composed soundtrack that enhances the gameplay experience, particularly in rhythm-based challenges. However, some players noted that the limited number of tracks (only ten) leads to repetitiveness, diminishing long-term enjoyment. Overall, while the music is generally considered enjoyable and fitting for the game's theme, its lack of variety may affect replayability for some players.
- “It's a wonderful experience with great music, enjoyable gameplay with different ways to play, and gorgeous (if a bit distracting) visuals.”
- “The music is great, and the backwards time idea is super cool when you see that after you finish a level, it plays it forward in time for you.”
- “The music can be quite catchy and each level has its own unique feel while maintaining a coherent style across the entire game; none of it feels out of place at all.”
- “The music is way too repetitive and monotonous.”
- “The music is very repetitive and most of the tracks all sound very similar; this makes the game very boring if you are not into the slow techno music.”
- “There are only ten tracks to play, which while I wouldn't say any are bad, even the best songs become tiresome after you have heard it twenty times over a few hours.”
gameplay
80 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
59%
4%
The gameplay is a unique blend of rhythm and shoot-'em-up mechanics, where players navigate a visually striking environment while dodging enemy fire and shooting in sync with the music. While many praise its innovative time-reversal mechanic and overall fun experience, some find the gameplay simplistic or monotonous, with a few mechanics feeling unnecessary or unintuitive. Overall, the game offers a solid and engaging experience, particularly for fans of rhythm games, though it may not appeal to everyone due to its unconventional approach.
- “It's a wonderful experience with great music, enjoyable gameplay with different ways to play, and gorgeous (if a bit distracting) visuals.”
- “The gameplay is unique; it's a shmup/rhythm game hybrid.”
- “The story and aesthetics of a side-scrolling shooter crossed with the gameplay and soundtrack of the best rhythm games, Retro/Grade is an excellent trip.”
- “My main issue with the game is that there is a lot going on, there's a lot of mechanics, most are unnecessary and a few are completely unintuitive.”
- “The gameplay is pretty boring and monotonous.”
- “But for all its efforts, retro/grade suffers from some poor execution, some baffling design and odd choices of gameplay mechanics.”
graphics
78 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
41%
55%
4%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising their vibrant and colorful design, which enhances the overall experience. However, several players find the visuals overly flashy and cluttered, making it difficult to focus on important gameplay elements. While some appreciate the artistic style and detail, others feel that the graphics can be distracting and strain the eyes during prolonged play.
- “It's a wonderful experience with great music, enjoyable gameplay with different ways to play, and gorgeous (if a bit distracting) visuals.”
- “The graphics are gorgeous.”
- “The graphics are very slick and offer a light show that syncs with the beat, and overall the game feels very polished.”
- “After playing for ten minutes, my eyes and head hurt from the cluttered mess that the graphics are.”
- “Graphics are a bit overdone; half of the time I had trouble seeing the shots due to too much clutter on the screen and no clear division in foreground and background.”
- “The downside to this game is that the visuals will strain your eyes after prolonged play.”
story
31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
65%
10%
The game's story is minimal and primarily conveyed through mission descriptions and cutscenes, featuring a protagonist named Rick who is portrayed as unlikable yet humorous. While the main campaign is short, lasting about an hour, it serves as a backdrop for a more extensive challenge mode that offers varied gameplay experiences. Overall, the narrative is not deeply engaging, but it complements the game's vibrant visuals and enjoyable mechanics.
- “Excellent, tight gameplay; great music; fun story; explosive visuals; and an interesting concept on top of it all.”
- “Last of all, the game's plot is actually quite amusing for one that is mostly conveyed through stage select descriptions and the credits cutscenes.”
- “The feedback for messing up (distorting the timeline, where Rick had performed perfectly; the scant story to this game is a humorous read, both in scenario and composition) is clear, and you have the limited capability of forwarding yourself back in time to re-attempt undoing your non-mistake.”
- “Not a captivating story that will stay with you.”
- “The plot is fairly simplistic.”
- “Going through story mode will likely take you under an hour to complete, but what is irritating is that you can't raise your difficulty without starting over from the first stage.”
replayability
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
45%
27%
The game offers a mix of replayability through its multiple difficulty levels, challenge modes, and scoreboards, which can extend gameplay beyond the initial campaign. While some players feel the base game lacks replay value after the first playthrough, the inclusion of various challenges and the potential for high scores provide enough incentive for repeated play. Overall, the combination of engaging mechanics and music contributes to a satisfying replay experience, especially for those seeking a challenge.
- “Probably one of the most interesting rhythm games of the last decade. It has top-notch design and mechanics that flow perfectly with the whole theme, which also leads me to what I think is a key factor for any rhythm game: replayability.”
- “Although the campaign has only 10 levels (1-1.5 hours), there's a lot of challenge and replay value in the higher difficulties.”
- “A combination of these increasing difficulties and the challenge mode (which varies from messing with a track's speed to having the entire level mirrored) really adds replayability to the game.”
- “Interesting concept and good music, though I don't think there's much replay value there for me.”
- “Wish there was a way to make this game match your own music or something else that could add to the replayability of this game.”
- “The game appears to have little replay value when it's played for the first time, but in reality, it contains 10 levels, 6 difficulties, and scoreboards which should be enough to keep you entertained for at least 6 hours (especially because the last difficulty is brutal).”
humor
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is highlighted as a standout feature, with players enjoying its fresh concept and amusing mechanics, particularly the comedic twist of reversing actions. The colorful graphics and retro music complement the lighthearted narrative, making it a fun and engaging experience, despite occasional frustrations. Overall, the game successfully combines humor with gameplay, providing a delightful way to spend time.
- “Fresh concept on this type of game, really well done, fun, addictive, sometimes frustrating (trust me xd) but above all this, a really cool game to pass some quality and funny time.”
- “If you like retro music, flashy graphics, and funny game mechanics, do not miss this game!”
- “I liked the humor about doing everything in reverse.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
67%
The game's optimization is mixed; while it runs smoothly on lower graphics settings even on non-gaming laptops, users with more powerful hardware, like a 1080 Ti, report unplayable performance. There are preset performance options available, allowing customization for less powerful machines.
- “The lower graphics settings allow the game to run smoothly on my non-gaming laptop, which is primarily designed for work.”
- “For less powerful machines, there are several preset performance options available, and you can customize features to suit your needs.”
- “Unplayable performance on my 1080 Ti (Corsair One PC).”
- “For the less powerful machines out there, there are a few preset performance options, though you can select or deselect features as you wish.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users report that the game evokes strong emotional responses, initially feeling confusing but ultimately becoming a hypnotic experience that elicits positive feelings through its engaging music and visuals.
- “It was a bit confusing at first, but after a while, when I had gotten used to the controls and the music, it became quite hypnotizing. With all the lights and the music, it made me feel all good inside.”
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Players find the grinding aspect of the challenge mode to be tedious and repetitive, as it often involves replaying the same songs with minimal variation, leading to a lack of excitement and motivation to continue.
- “The challenge mode ended up being too tedious for me to want to trudge through entirely. Playing through the same few songs over and over with slightly different rules is not very exciting.”
- “Grinding feels like a never-ending chore, where progress is painfully slow and the rewards just aren't worth the effort.”
- “I found myself stuck in a loop of repetitive tasks that drained the fun out of the game. It became more of a grind than an enjoyable experience.”