Nintendo Switch Critic Reviews

Even with no shortage of challenging side-scrollers to get into these days, Black Future '88 is more than worthy of your time and does more than enough to stand out in an increasingly populated crowd.

I loved my time with Black Future ’88. It’s hard, it’s fun, it’s memorable. In a genre that I have felt has been stagnating a bit over the past year or so, SUPERSCARYSNAKES is here to slap us back into reality. While it doesn’t wholly redefine roguelikes, it does enough to make it stand in a class of its own. I’m going to be craving “one more run” for a long time, and I’m going to have that soundtrack stuck in my head for even longer. This is a great game. Don’t miss it.

Black Future ‘88 is an intriguing, challenging but also supremely fun and rewarding game. It may be an audio-visual feast, but the tight gameplay, high degree of replayability and the sterling effort that has gone into overcoming many of the criticisms levelled at the genre mean it’s not just a pretty face. If you’re looking for a dose of intense cyberpunk action on your Switch, you can’t go wrong with this one.

Black Future ’88 is almost a quintessential throwback to ’80s arcade games, with rock-solid gameplay taken straight from the era and mixed in with several interesting and unique gameplay twists. You may only get eighteen minutes at a time to take everything in, but what you’ll be hit with is a heavy dose of fast-paced action, a killer soundtrack, and and a ton of weapons and gameplay features to work with that reward you for experimenting and exploring every bit of Skymelt. You may be trapped in the ’80s here, but at least you’re trapped alongside some of the best parts of it. Well, at least when it comes to video games. We can’t help if you get permanently trapped alongside Kajagoogoo or something similar, after all.

Black Future ’88 may borrow ideas from all over, but it puts those ideas to good use and gives them a unique spin. As you’d expect it’s pretty challenging, but it’s worth mentioning that there’s an Assist Mode that makes it less deadly and more accessible. While you may want to hang fire on the Switch version until it’s less prone to crashing, this is otherwise an easy recommendation for roguelike-likers.

Even though there are loads of similar games out there, Black Future '88 manages to be wholly worthwhile and exceptionally fun.

Black Future ’88 is a neon-drenched 2D roguelike that effortlessly encourages you to undergo repeated runs thanks to its great music, style and short bursts of fast-paced action.

Black Future '88 is a good roguelike game that lacks in a compelling story, but shines thanks to a great cyberpunk atmosphere and an awesome chiptune soundtrack.

Black Future '88 is a fast-paced, thrilling roguelike, but it offers little to shake up the genre’s inherent repetition. Its often underwhelming gear and lack of variety in levels makes for dull runs too often, even though its gunplay consistently satisfies. You’ll find lots of hidden depth in its upgrade system if you stick with Black Future '88 despite its uninspired structure, which is made easier by its great art style and stellar soundtrack.

Play Black Future ‘88 especially if you like to wander through procedurally made 2D dungeons with cool weapons. Despite its unclear and repetitive moments, this is a cool roguelike.