In fact, I’ll leave it there, writing this review has left me wanting to play through Huntdown all over again, so that’s what I’m going to do.Huntdown is a 16bit 2.5D Side-Scrolling Run and Gun. There’s a similarly brilliant synth-filled soundtrack and a superb drip feed of new weapons, bad guys and locations that keep the game fresh until the end. Then there’s the quote worthy script, my personal highlight? The iron-jawed cyborg John Sawyer declaring “I’m gonna make you wish your daddy withdrew” made me chuckle so much I died.

The voiceovers are of a brilliant standard throughout, serving to give even more personality to those chunky pixels. This is the Robocop meets Judge Dredd meets Running Man madness you always wanted, but didn’t know how much until right now. Blasting with a pal makes proceedings even more enjoyable, with the 60fps gameplay remaining smooth and responsive throughout.Īnything else I can drool over? Perhaps the superb 80’s pastiche that Huntdown’s visuals, story and overall style offers. There’s also a very generous local co-op mode to be had, with a second player that can drop in at any point to lend a hand. These are proper boss fights that make you proud of yourself for overcoming them. There’s no blatantly highlighted red appendages to shoot here.

From battling mechs, to dodging snipers, to fighting a psychotic flamethrower wielding lunatic, Huntdown’s bosses are a delight. I found it frankly astonishing that every encounter felt distinctive and fresh, especially when considering that there are twenty of them in the game. Each boss required experimentation and the discovery of entirely different strategies to finally conquer them. Chapters are broken up into several manageable levels, each one culminating in the player coming up against a boss. There are five chapters in the game, each focusing on bringing down a different gang which inhabits the dystopian Judge Dredd inspired 1980’s cityscape. There is an easy mode, in which enemies are weaker and there’s more plentiful health pickups, but there’s no way to avoid the fact that Huntdown offers a significant challenge, none more so than with its bosses. Thankfully, save points are well placed and relatively frequent, preventing tedious and frustrating traipsing back through levels. Thanks to tight controls and visuals that manage to clearly highlight approaching threats, I always knew that when my little bounty hunter dude died it was entirely my fault. Huntdown, as you may have anticipated, is very difficult, but it’s never unfair. It’s very satisfying to find a good rhythm and mow through a legion of goons without taking a hit in return, or at least, that’s the idea. Certain enemy types are designed to flush you out of cover, so it’s up to you to manage the chaos and live through the encounter.

You need to have good timing to dash from cover to cover, popping up to return fire before sheltering again. There are crates and cars to duck behind, as well as doorways to step into, which turns Huntdown into something akin to a 2D Gears of War. Instead, you’ll be much more focused on managing the space around you and making use of cover to avoid the hail of lead heading your way. You only have to worry about shooting (and being shot at) on a horizontal plane, without anything coming from above, below or diagonally. Despite remarkable surface level similarities to shooters like Contra and Metal Slug, Huntdown very much has its own unique twist on the standard run and gun gameplay.

Huntdown characters