The side-scrolling action adventure genre seems to be a very popular one for freeware game developers to dive into, perhaps because the mechanics are so well understood by so many gamers. You don't need to spend a lot of time explaining how it works, you just drop your players in and let them explore the world and shoot things. This may in part explain why several of the best-made (and hence best-known) freeware games are in this category, some of which we've featured - Star Guard and Knytt, for example - and some of which we're still saving for a special day, like Cave Story and Iji.
Today is not that special day. But today is certainly A special day, because today's game looks and feels like a lost classic more than any game I've featured recently - even Action Fist. If your childhood ever included holding a Gameboy in your hands (the original monochrome one) and straining your eyes until they couldn't stay open anymore, I think you're really going to have a soft spot for...
Developed by Daniel Remar (who also made the aforementioned and wonderful Iji), Hero Core is, in his words, "a combination of NES, Atari 2600 and C64 games but in pure black and white." It's actually the 2nd game in a series, the first simply being called Hero, but no knowledge of the first game is required to play or enjoy the second. To me, largely thanks to the blank and white aesthetics, Hero Core felt like a Gameboy game all the way - albeit quite a bit better than most Gameboy action adventures actually were, if we're being honest about it.
Adhering closely to the classic Metroid style, Hero Core places you in a large, unexplored map and constantly teases you with areas you can't yet reach, gently nudging you in the directions you can go to find the upgrades that will let you further explore the map and conquer the final boss. The gameplay video below might lead you to think at first that this is a slow-paced game, but keep watching; Hero Core is no walk in the park.
If this doesn't hit your nostalgia bone, you played the wrong games as a kid.
As shown in the video, the eponymous "Flip Hero" of Hero Core is not bound by gravity, and the game is in no way a platformer, though some of the rooms certainly do have navigation puzzles that bear resemblance to platformers. The combat design, though, draws much more inspiration from the side-scrolling space shooter, with an emphasis on dodging fire and positioning your shots to hit the weak spots of your opponents. As the game progresses you'll be taxed by increasingly powerful and difficult opponents, some of which can only take damage in certain locations, and being struck yourself not only lowers your health, but also renders you incapable of shooting for a period of time. Especially in the game's many memorable boss battles, this can get extremely challenging - not to the point of feeling unfair, but you probably won't be making it through this one without dying a few times.
Luckily, the game includes a very forgiving checkpoint system. Also seen in the video above is the overworld map, which is littered (as in most Metroid-style games) with save points. Death will simply respawn you at the nearest one, and in a lovely update to the classic formula, Flip Hero is allowed to warp at any time to any save point he's discovered. As was the case with another recent favorite of mine, VVVVVV, Hero Core wants you to work hard, but not to be driven away. Retrying a failed challenge never takes a minute more of your time than it needs to.
One of Hero Core's many excellent bosses.
It's little touches like the combined save/warp system that make Hero Core such an unqualified pleasure to play. This feature is getting posted later than I intended, and it's because I stopped halfway through writing it to play through the entire game again. That's not a quick task, either - my first playthrough took me well over an hour, and when you're done there are bonus modes and advanced difficulty levels waiting for you if you're ready for more.
This is the spot where I'd nitpick about the game's most notable flaws if I could think of some, but honestly, I'm coming up empty. Obviously it's not a perfect game, and having played through it twice tonight I'm a little too close to it for much objectivity. The graphics are spartan, yes, but they pull a lot more weight than I thought they would, with some great effects and distinctive enemy and level design. The controls are tight as hell, and native gamepad support is included - I used my XBox 360 pad and it controlled as well as I could possibly ask it to. (If you end up doing the same, left bumper is auto-fire. Very useful.) The boss battles are plentiful and genuinely inventive. And I haven't found nearly all the secrets the game has to offer; from what I've read, you can "sequence break" the game, and there are even multiple endings.
Bottom line: You should play this game.
Hero Core is...
- a great throwback to the 2D "Metroidvania" formula with a few welcome enhancements.
- very challenging in spots, but never unfair.
- a remarkable amount of game for a freeware title.
- deserving of a spot on every machine I own.
The game is Windows only, and comes in a less-than-5MB zipfile you can get right here.
"Free And Worth Every Penny" is a column I collaborate on with Mike Bellmore at Colony of Gamers. This piece also appears there.