Gods was a game from 1991 by the Bitmap Brothers for the Amiga and Atari ST computers and later ported to consoles. In it, you played as a hero who must defeat four guardians to claim a seat among the gods of Olympus. It was well received at the time, and now has received a remastered version, but how does that version play.
Let me start off by saying that what was a success once, may not necessarily be a success again. Audiences will see their tastes change over time, and what was once loved and cutting edge will later be viewed as outdated. Gods Remastered sadly falls into this trend, as it keeps many of the flaws of the original game. The flaws may not have been an issue back in the day, but unless you have a nostalgia filter, the game just feels clunky and a chore to get through.
The game can be described as an action platformer similar to the classicvanias, but with some additional puzzle elements. This attracted my attention. but I was disappointed to find that the loading times from the original are still here. I am not talking just of long loading by modern standards, but of loading that can take minutes at a time.
Another flaw is that the platforming is sluggish, and that is a major issue considering the game requires precise jumping. I cannot count the amount of times I became frustrated with the controls. The game had an opportunity to revamp itself for a modern audience, but kept things too close to the original to be good. Nostalgia is a nice thing at times, but it becomes problematic when it hampers a modern experience.
It isn’t all bad, as I did love the soundtrack, and the visuals were very nice. I liked that the game included both the original and remastered visuals and let you switch between them. This is similar to the Wonder Boy remake by DotEmu, but that game took steps to tighten the controls and fix other issues to make the experience better. Gods Remastered just feels dated even more now when comparing it to Wonder Boy. If you want to experience a classic Amiga game, then give it a shot. But if you want a modernized experience, keep looking.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided