Slayin

Slayin may not have done much to quell my hopeless addiction to retro visuals, but it may have done me one better: it's raised the bar for all games like it.

Slayin is an endless action-RPG that is exceptionally retro, and just plain exceptionally good.

This is anything but another endless runner. Mixing RPG and action features, Slayin is a great surprise for those tired of the same concept again and again.

Slayin' knows exactly what it is, an action game with some RPG seasoning to keep the player invested, but after a few plays, you'll see everything this title has to offer you.

We could make the argument that extreme grinding to unlock the best goodies somewhat lessens the appeal, or that the developers priced things too high, but neither of these debatable issues ruin Slayin. If anything, it's an ideal game for those of us who grew up mashing buttons on those NES controllers, with a bowl of Teddy Grahams and Ecto-Cooler within reach for much-needed breaks.

Slayin is a solid casual game that chooses its influences wisely but doesn't entirely do them justice.

Slayin ($0.99, Universal) is a neat little distraction that provides action packed gameplay, and a great retro style. The biggest problem is that you have to grind through so much to get to some features that you would think should be standard.