I hadn’t heard a thing about The Adventures of Elena Temple until it came across my desk. There’s no flash media publicity, no fanfare, it was like it didn’t exist. That’s a bit ironic considering that it’s a retro-styled platformer about the historical versions of a game that never existed. Grimtalin, a single person studio run by Catalin Marcu, has released Elena Temple as its first wide-release indie console title.
The Adventures of Elena Temple is a simple game. Select either of the two available games and just play. There’s not much to gameplay either, just jump and fire. Your gun only holds two bullets so you’ll be out of ammo a lot. It’s the precision that makes Elena Temple interesting though. This is a game designed from the ground up to feel like a Commodore 64 Era platformer and it manages it well. I grew up in the C64 era and had tons of game for mine (and a Fastload cartridge). Thankfully, Elena Temple loads much faster than games from that era, but in terms of pure gameplay, it’s a near-perfect execution of the style. Keep in mind that I’m saying ‘for a game from that era’.
The Adventures of Elena Temple is not designed for modern gamers. It’s designed for guys like me who grew up with this style of games and miss playing them. If you want to get lost in the minutia of mapping out each room and trying to survive the jumps and pitfalls with infinite lives and a razor thin margin for error, this is the game for you. There is nothing forgiving about Elena Temple except for the infinite lives. It’s a gruelling slog through a dungeon full of traps and pitfalls to find some gems just because. There’s no depth, because games of that era mostly didn’t have them. There’s a bit more complexity with the switches that open up new areas and such, but all in all, it’s essentially a brand new vintage game. And despite all that, it’s just fun.
The Adventures of Elena Temple is a small game that does something few games manage to do. It maximizes the genre and era that it’s from to simply make a fun game that you want to play. The first time I sat down with it, I must have put over an hour in before I realized I was constantly replaying levels to get to the next room and backtracking. I realized that I was actually having fun! That’s a nice surprise these days! Sure, it’s nothing to look at, but it also kind of is. Grimtalin has managed to create multiple versions of the same game graphically, woven a hokey but cute story about how this is a lost game that no one ever played and fans resurrected, and sheathed it all in various styles of vintage computer and console gaming. And it works on every level. I played through each graphical mode of Elena Temple, something I’m usually loathe to do. In fact, I generally hate multiple video modes and I still did it! Each one felt like it controlled slightly differently, though I’m not sure if that’s in my head or a legitimate programming choice. I even had favorites that I found I was better at playing the game in. It’s the first game I’ve ever played that I found video modes fresh and interesting.
One other thing that caught my attention took a few minutes to figure out. Elena Temple saves your progress so if you continue and start the game in a different video mode, you’re right back in the room where you left off in. I didn’t realize it at first because I didn’t continue right away, but once I did, I started trying new modes and continuing play. It’s not a big game, but it felt fairly expansive and you’re sure to get at least a few hours out of it if you like the style of gameplay.
I never would have expected it when I started playing it, but The Adventures of Elena Temple is a good game that manages to achieve exactly what it sets out to do: Be a retro computer game that hearkens back to the days of pre-PC computer gaming. It’s simple, it’s cheap (like $5), and it’s a good time. I highly recommend it, but be sure it’s your cup of tea because most modern gamers probably won’t enjoy it!
This review was based on a digital copy of The Adventures of Elena Temple provided by the publisher. It was played on a 55” 1080p Sony TV using an Xbox One X. All photos are of actual gameplay. The Adventures of Elena Temple is also available on PC and Switch. Also, exploring temples and ancient ruins is fun, even in retro vintage computer games. I want Elena’s hat now…