Remakes, remasters and things of this caliber have existed for many years in the gaming sphere. Many of these remakes are for properties that we the fans have requested for a long time, such as Resident Evil 2 and Final Fantasy VII. Yet, we sometimes get a remake and ask: is there a market for this? Night Slashers Remake fits into this category as it is a remake that exists, but I am currently unsure if anyone wants or needs it.
The gist of Night Slashers revolves around a rag-tag group of brawlers set to stop the apocalypse set in motion by zombies, mutants, and other creatures of the night. This game does a decent job of providing a story with an intro movie along with cutscenes between levels and dialogue before bosses and mini-bosses. The story isn’t deep, but it adds some reason why these colorful characters are fighting. Each fighter also has their own ending which is a nice touch!
The 8-bit Review
Visuals: 6/10
Comparing the art style of this remake to the original left me wondering why this happened. The original game had a gritty pixel style that was perfect for its time and the remake feels like lifeless plastic dolls. I understand what the developers were going for after noticing some of the intricacies of the designs. It was similar to the style of Code of Princess, but more washed out. The models themselves aren’t bad, but they feel bland compared to their original form.
Audio: 9/10
Night Slashers’ music hits hard. I am a big fan of games that just got all out with their music and make it feel like a spectacle. The original OST is present, and it feels like it was ripped straight from a Genesis game. It aptly feels like a mix of Splatterhouse 2 and Streets of Rage. One track sounds like a 16-bit Mercyful Fate song, albeit without King Diamond vocals. The remake music brings it closer to the gothic dance music that might have been the original composer’s dream. Either way, you can’t go wrong with this music.
Gameplay: 7/10
The bones of any beat-em-up game will always be the gameplay. At first glance, you would think it’s a solid game that has its moments. The basic attacks for each character feel firm, giving a good amount of feedback with each hit. Charge moves are also available, which add more strength as well as running moves and special emergency moves which also drain your health. These are mostly staples of the genre, with the charge moves being standouts.
The real issue is with throws. Normally when you do a throw, you have invincibility from other hits from different enemies. This is not the case as throwing an enemy can leave you open to getting pummeled by the enemy. This added bit of realism is quite an interesting design choice that I did not like. Also, the previously mentioned emergency moves, can cause slowdown which can further take you out of the experience.
Accessibility: 8/10
When it comes to beat-em-ups, I feel like accessibility is something that is either already baked in or it isn’t. When it comes to arcade ports, many times the company will keep it as arcade as possible, meaning that if you die you can just continue infinitely, until you beat the game or stop having fun. Night Slashers doesn’t do that, but they do have a level select feature to pick up after you have died. They also have mutators or custom game options that can make the game harder, but one that can be unlocked is the ability to control the number of lives you have. Doing this makes even the hardest difficulty surmountable as you can start each level with a maximum of 9 lives.
Challenge: 5/10
I expected a great deal of challenge when I played Night Slashers on Nightmare difficulty. There is a trophy for beating just one level on this difficulty. Sadly, the only stumbling block that I had in this run was the level 3 boss. The rest of the game, save for Death, was a cakewalk, even on the highest difficulty. You can alter and change this in the mutators that I mentioned previously, such as lowering the lives count and removing items and certain moves.
Replayability: 7/10
Night Slashers is a rather short game, with my first playthrough being around 45 minutes and my last one being about 30 minutes (give or take). Due to this, it can be a fun game to jump in with friends (4-player co-op) and just bash around. Each time you play the game, you unlock character colors, which isn’t much but it does add some extra flair. As I mentioned earlier, every character has their own specific ending which can add more incentive to play again. Lastly, the mutators allow for a highly customized version of the game, so there are a decent number of reasons to come back.
Uniqueness: 5/10
When it was originally released in 1993, I’m sure this game was beyond unique. Horror in games was still very young. Having a hyper-violent beat-em-up surely stood out amongst the other titles in the arcade. Sadly, in 2024 this isn’t the case. We are currently living in a brawler resurgence while blood and gore are present almost everywhere. While there are not many hyper-violent beat-em-ups, save for the Splatterhouse series and Streets.
Personal: 6/10
Night Slashers Remake is not a bad game, but it is also not a game that I personally see myself coming back to. Other brawlers have come out in recent years that perform much better and offer more bang for their buck. Night Slashers can feel a bit clunky at times which shows that it still very much has the bones of its 1993 counterpart. If you are a genre fanatic like me, it’s worth a shot. Everyone else, do a bit more research first.
Aggregated Score: 6.6
Derek aka Schwetty is a lifelong game enthusiast who loves to dabble in *almost* every genre! He can be found talking about random things on Twitter @schwetty.
