198X

2019 action video game September 2024 198X 198X Nintendo.com Hero Image.jpg Hi-Bit Studios Sonka PlayStation 4WindowsNintendo SwitchXbox One PS4NA June 16, 2019 EU June 20, 2019WindowsJune 20, 2019SwitchJanuary 23, 2020Xbox OneTBA Action Single-player 198X is an action game developed by the SwedishThe Team https://198xthegame.com/ 198X May 28, 2020 May 25, 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200525083704/https://198xthegame.com/ dead team Hi-Bit Studios and published by Sonka. It was released for PlayStation 4 and Windows in June 2019, with a port for the Nintendo Switch published in January 2020. An Xbox One version was announced but never released. A homage to arcade gaming in the 1980s, 198Xs coming-of-age story follows an unnamed "Kid" as they discover a video arcade in an abandoned factory and fall in love with video gaming. Each of the five chapters is based around a video game genre such as beat 'em ups and horizontally scrolling shooters. The game received positive reviews, with praise for its gameplay and criticism of its short length. Juba Joe 198X: The Ups And Downs Of A Bygone Era https://www.gameinformer.com/review/198x/the-ups-and-downs-of-a-bygone-era https://web.archive.org/web/20190630100608/https://www.gameinformer.com/review/198x/the-ups-and-downs-of-a-bygone-era live June 30, 2019 Game Informer May 28, 2020 Plot In an introductory sequence entitled Beating Heart that plays like a side-scrolling beat 'em up, the teenage protagonist fights their way from the subway station and through the streets of the unnamed city in which they live until they reach a hospital where they are attacked by a hooded figure with glowing red eyes. Set in the 1980s, the game follows the Kid, the teenager from the introduction, who feels stuck in their childhood home in "sleepy suburbia" as they wait for their life to "move forward". One night, as the Kid wanders the streets of their unnamed city looking for anything to "make my heart skip a beat again", they stumble across an abandoned factory that was built "long before" the protagonist was born and now houses an arcade. Wondering if they found a place where they can fit in, they start playing a horizontally scrolling space shooter entitled Out of the Void. Feeling disconnected at school, the Kid's mind frequently returns to the arcade where they were "on an asteroid somewhere fighting Space Invaders." The only person they notice in school is "her", a "punk rocker from the south district" whose freedom the Kid admires. The story then cuts to the Kid playing an arcade racing game entitled The Runaway. During The Runaway'''s second stage, the Kid explains that they've started to spend every night at the arcade, where every game they master makes them "stronger" and "more confident". One evening, the Kid reminisces about their childhood and how "anything was possible" back then before "everyone got brainwashed" in high school. They then mention how, as a kid, "shadows seem darker and more terrifying" yet "more exciting" at the same time. The game then transitions to a ninja video game called Shadowplay. That night, while walking to the arcade, the Kid reveals that their parents split up due to an incident involving the Kid's father. They also mention that night was when "everything changed" at the arcade before 198X transitions into a role-playing video game entitled Kill Screen where the player has to defeat 3 dragons to solve a maze before fighting the unwinnable SHODAN-like final boss. Afterwards, the Kid is seen sitting outside the arcade in the rain, mentioning that everything "was still there" but that "nothing was the same". Characters from 198X's various games begin to materialize around the Kid, who states that the "game was not over". Development A KickStarter page for 198X was launched on May 3, 2018, With the developer Hi-Bit Studios seeking SEK 500,000 for the project. The goal was reached a little under a month later on June 2 with 1,920 backers pledging SEK 676,558.198X by Hi-Bit Studios — Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1103388577/198x/ KickStarter May 29, 2020Calvert Darren 198X Aims To Blur The Lines Between Game And Reality On Switch http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/05/198x_aims_to_blur_the_lines_between_game_and_reality_on_switch NintendoLife May 3, 2018 May 29, 2020 Reception (PS4) 74/100https://www.metacritic.com/game/198x/critic-reviews/?platform=playstation-4 198X PlayStation 4 Critic Reviews Metacritic November 2, 2025(PC) 63/100https://www.metacritic.com/game/198x/critic-reviews/?platform=pc 198X PC Critic Reviews Metacritic November 2, 2025(NS) 65/100https://www.metacritic.com/game/198x/critic-reviews/?platform=nintendo-switch 198X Nintendo Switch Critic Reviews Metacritic May 28, 2020 53% recommendhttps://opencritic.com/game/7909/198x 198X OpenCritic November 2, 2025 7/10 5/10 8/10 9/10 The PlayStation 4, PC, and Nintendo Switch versions of 198X all received "mixed or average" reviews from critics, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic assessed that the game received fair approval, being recommended by 53% of critics. Writing for Nintendo Life, Damien McFerren gave the game 8/10 stars, stating that while 198X had an "exceptional" soundtrack and cited Out of the Void as "perhaps the highlight of the entire game", he found the game to be too short, with McFerren able to breeze through the entirety of 198X in "around an hour". He also bemoaned the lack of replayability in the mini-games, which he found little point in returning to "outside of boosting your high score".McFerren Damien 198X Review https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/switch-eshop/198x Nintendo Life January 20, 2020 May 28, 2020 In his review for GameSpot, James O'Connor gave 198X 5/10 stars, calling the game "mediocre" and stating that while the soundtrack "does a great job of evoking the arcade classics it is paying homage to" and calling Shadowplay "great" he ultimately concluded that 198X was a "great idea with middling execution" and that there's "not enough here for the game to feel like a proper ode to '80s arcades" and that "the Kid's plight, and his longing to escape his current life" don't "totally connect". He finished the review by saying, "198X feels more like a proof of concept than a final product."O'Connor James 198X Review https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/198x-review/1900-6417215/ GameSpot 28 May 2020 Eurogamers Martin Robinson stated that he was "cynical" going into 198X due to seeing many other games like it before but praised its style and the "pitch perfect pastiches" of classic arcade games, which he called "the most assured part of the whole package". Robinson, however, wasn't convinced by the story, chalking up his issues with it to either 198X being the first game in a planned series that just found its feet at the end of the first title or the narrator whom he found to "sound both bored and melodramatic at once". He concluded the review by stating the developer Hi-Bit Studios did "Fine work here" while stating that 198X is "nestled between near meticulous versions of key inspirations such as Ninja Warriors, OutRun, Gradius, and R-Type and stated that "there's no greater compliment than to say that the tributes on offer here sit happily alongside the originals".Robinson Martin 198X is one of the most stylish games you can get for the Switch https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-01-27-198x-is-one-of-the-most-stylish-games-you-can-get-for-the-switch Eurogamer January 27, 2020 May 28, 2020 Joe Juba of Game Informer concluded: "198X reminds players that even simple arcade experiences (or their recreations) can provide an interesting escape."Juba Joe June 28, 2019 https://gameinformer.com/review/198x/the-ups-and-downs-of-a-bygone-era 198X Review Game Informer November 2, 2025 Jordan Rudek of Nintendo World Report'' added: "Rather than a fun, traditional game experience, it's best viewed as a bold and thought-provoking work that reminds us of a time before wireless controllers and console wars."Rudek Jordan January 23, 2020 https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/52638/198x-switch-review 198X (Switch) Review Nintendo World Report November 2, 2025 References External links Official website https://web.archive.org/web/20200525083704/https://198xthegame.com/ May 25, 2020 Category:2019 video games Category:Action games Category:Beat 'em ups Category:Hack and slash games Category:Horizontally scrolling shooters Category:Indie games Category:Japanese role-playing video games Category:Kickstarter-funded video games Category:Nintendo Switch games Category:PlayStation 4 games Category:Racing video games Category:Single-player video games Category:Video games about ninja Category:Video games about video games Category:Video games developed in Sweden Category:Video games set in the 1980s Category:Windows games Category:Xbox One games