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by Jeffrey
This week we're back with 6 more modern games that capture the essence of classic gaming nostalgia. This time all the games are coming out at some point this year. You're definitely going to want to keep your eyes peeled for these. Let's get into it!
6. Neon Inferno - Available 2025 Q3 on PS5, Xbox Series, Ps4, XB1, Switch & PC (Demo available on Steam)
This one looks rad, dude. It's got the side scrolling action of Metal Slug and Contra mixed with a kiss of... Time Crisis? Yeah, that's right. While battling across the 2d plane through action blasted landscapes in the foreground, you'll also have to fight enemies in the background with some rail shooter elements, including a simple cover system. The music and sound effects rule, the vehicular chase scenes look like a lot of fun, the cut scenes are true to their inspirations, and best of all it's got couch co-op. Currently looks like the demo is only available on Steam, but absolutely worth a try if you have a PC.
5. The Eternal Life of Goldman - Available Q4 2025 on Ps5, Xbox Series, Switch & PC
The Eternal Life of Goldman is nostalgic in a completely different way from the other games on this list. They took a design approach similar to Cuphead, but instead of a 1930s animated nightmare, 'Goldman' is like the cross between a Ghibli movie, Pagemaster, Brave Little Toaster and The Iron Giant. The hand drawn animation is super expressive and charming, the set pieces are full of life and filled with variety and wonder. Outside of that, the gameplay looks like a very well tuned platforming adventure with a variety of abilities. The details are currently pretty limited, but I'm excited regardless.
4. Warside - Available LITERALLY today on PS5, Xbox Series, Switch & PC
I mean... It's Advance Wars. There's more about this game that IS Advance Wars than there isn't. Man, back in the early 00's on family road trips, my mom and I would pass the GBA SP back and forth playing skirmish after skirmish against each other on the original Advance Wars. I LOVE that game. If you're unfamiliar with the concept, these are turn based strategic combat games with a generally light heart, and tons of replayability. You build units, capture cities and leverage terrain to your advantage in combat with a number of different character types.
But now the reason this exists is because it's been over 20 years since a new Advance Wars game has been released. So the developers of Warside thought it was time to remake that wonderful game with some more modern day quality of life features and unit variety. I'm more than likely going to be trying this one out for the nostalgia factor alone, but I'm also gonna need to at least play a few rounds with my mom too.
*At time of posting, it would appear that the game is off to a rocky launch, unfortunately. Maybe the devs can address these issues and turn it around 🤔
3. Jitter - Available TBD 2025 on PC
Jitter is a unique-in-its-genre space exploration survival game with a Gameboy-esque mostly monochromatic palette. But the twist is, you play as the ships AI. You maintain ship functions, manage the crew and battle through space. As the AI, your objective is completing the mission by any means necessary. Whether that means you jettison a ship module, with the crew still inside, that's weighing you down, or you reorganize your ships components to brute force your way through an asteroid. It seems like it could end up being really complex and really fun. Excited to see a bit more soon.
2. Metropolis 1998 - Available Q4 2025 on PC (Demo Available on Steam)
This makes me feel something special. As a kid, I was never actually 'good' at Sim City, or Roller Coaster Tycoon, but that just never mattered. There's something so enthralling about a chunky pixel art city so full of life. It's developed solo, ambitious, and definitely captures the aesthetic perfectly, and also takes advantage of more modern technology in terms of scale. The videos are far and few in between from the developer, mainly showcasing features, and in the case of the video above, it looks like a home editor similar to a mash up of The Sims and Theme Hospital (Anyone remember that??). There are however tons of videos of content creators playing the demo, which, yeah! There's a demo available now. If you were into the city/business simulators of the 90's, keep your eyes out for this one.
1. Terminator 2d - Available 9/4/25 on PS5, Xbox Series, Switch and PC
Alright, I saved the best for last. The trailer speaks for itself. This one actually FEELS like it could've come out on the Sega Genesis, filled with all of the tropes you'd expect. It's actually reminding me a lot of Alien 3 on the Genesis, one of the scariest and most challenging games little me ever played.
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Clearly this year is filled with tons of retro inspired games to be excited for, and this is nowhere near all of them either.
Stay tuned for future blog posts where I'll be compiling more lists like these, discussing weird video game history, covering new movies we're excited for, old movies we already love and more!