In the grand scheme of video games, I am old. I love the vast worlds and amazing graphics in today’s gaming world, but I have a great nostalgia for the arcade games of the past, where you, or you and your friends, could play a simple game full of action and, frankly, chaos, making for a very fun night.
So what if we could go back to those arcade days and add a flavour of modern pop culture and a lot of blood? This is where the developer, Relevo, comes in as they present Terrifier: The ARTcade Game. It is a smash-em-up arcade title in the mould of favourites from the 1980s and 1990s while offering a unique experience that only something like Terrifier can provide.
Terrifier: The ARTcade Game includes several game modes. Arcade, a story mode (which feels like Arcade mode with a loose narrative between levels), a versus mode, a boss rush and many more. Most of the modes require achievements to unlock them, giving you an incentive to keep playing in order to open new options and increase replayability. It is a smart system for a game like this.
“Terrifier: The ARTcade Game is a smash-em-up arcade title in the mould of favourites from the 1980s and 1990s.”
In Terrifier: The ARTcade Game, you can select among four characters: Art the Clown, the Little Pale Girl, Victoria Heyes and Burke the orderly (played by professional wrestler Chris Jericho in the movie series). Each character has a distinct move set within the simple controls, including a couple of, for lack of a better term, fatalities they can perform on the waves of enemies that come your way. These moves, along with each character’s power abilities, offer a different experience depending on who you choose.
In terms of actual game play, have you played Double Dragon? It is very similar. The side-scrolling action locks the screen until you clear the enemies, the weapons can be picked up and used as melee attacks or thrown, there are power ups, interactions with parts of the environment, and several mid-level enemies who look very much like Abobo from Double Dragon. The similarities were not lost on me. It also gives me the vibes of The Simpsons Arcade Game, with its four-player game play and unique attacks.
The good news is that these were a couple of my childhood favourites, and my nostalgia levels were high when playing Terrifier: The ARTcade Game because I recognized those connections. The game play is immediately familiar and took me back to the old arcades where I played titles like this with my friends. Its frenetic action makes the game fun, and the multiplayer mode makes it even more fast-paced and a little competitive, even when you are playing in co-op, if you have friendly fire turned on.
A nice twist in the game is that, every so often in a level, the road forks in two directions, giving you a slightly different experience each time. The game itself is fairly simple, but it is easy to become overwhelmed by the sheer number of opponents, some swarming you and others throwing objects from afar. There are several power ups throughout the levels to help you recover if you become a victim of the swarm.
“My nostalgia levels were high when playing Terrifier: The ARTcade Game because I recognized those connections.”
The tiers of enemies match what you would expect from this style of game. Most groups are made up of low-level grunts, followed by a tier of tanks who defend well and require more strategy to defeat. Then you reach the bosses, who do the most damage, take the least damage and have the most health, but usually follow simple patterns that you can learn to beat them soundly if you are patient.
The music is good, although repetitive. The main theme was created by Cody Carpenter, son of legendary director John Carpenter, and has a strong retro vibe. I do miss a more 8-bit soundtrack for my own nostalgia, but the sound effects serve the game well in that regard.
The added visual effects in Terrifier: The ARTcade Game make it a more unique offering. You can choose to add overlay effects for CRT televisions or for VHS to give the game a retro layer, which I think is a fun addition, even if unnecessary. The added gore effects throughout the game, including repeated blood splatter and the occasional eyeball bouncing across the screen, will likely concern some players, but they give the experience a Terrifier-specific authenticity that is difficult to ignore.
“The added visual effects in Terrifier: The ARTcade Game make it a more unique offering.”
The standard edition of Terrifier: The ARTcade Game, available on Steam, PS5, Nintendo Switch and coming soon to Xbox, is priced at $39.99 USD. A limited edition, which includes many extra items such as pins, posters, music and additional digital content, is priced at $89.99. The game is far more fun with friends, so if you plan to use it as a party game, the standard edition is a strong choice. Dedicated Terrifier fans will likely consider the limited edition.
Terrifier: The ARTcade Game is not a revelation. Players who recognize the older titles it draws from may prefer to return to those classics, and anyone looking for a deeper dive into Terrifier lore will not find it here. Even the story mode centres on the making of the next Terrifier movie, with Art causing chaos throughout. If you want a fresh take on an old beat-em-up arcade game, you will get a kick out of this one.
