Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

Time Soldiers delivers a fast-paced run-and-gun experience that keeps you on your toes from the Primitive Age to Future World. You start as a lone Time Soldier with a basic sidearm, but every defeated enemy carries the potential to upgrade your firepower. Aliens in Future World drop laser rifles, while Roman centurions might yield spears or shields you can hurl at foes. This constant stream of pickups encourages aggressive play and experimentation, as you stitch together the optimal arsenal for each era.

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What truly elevates the gameplay is the teleportation network scattered throughout each stage. These glowing portals let you leap between time periods on the fly, so you can dash from battling woolly mammoths in the Primitive Age to taking out mechanized tanks during The World Wars. Teleport routes aren’t linear—sometimes you’ll discover shortcuts that loop you back to an earlier period, giving you a chance to farm weapons or revisit unlocked areas to find hidden power-ups.

Boss encounters against Gylend’s henchmen inject an extra layer of strategy. Each fortress houses a different guardian—Laplace’s gladiator champion relies on brute strength in the Age of Rome, whereas Alpha’s high-tech commander in the Age of War relies on swift jetpack assaults. Learning their patterns and exploiting the era-specific weapons you’ve collected adds depth to the challenge. While the difficulty ramps up sharply, the checkpointing system is generous, encouraging you to refine your approach without punishing you too harshly for failure.

Graphics

Time Soldiers sports vibrant pixel art that pays homage to ’80s arcade classics while incorporating modern touches like animated weather effects and dynamic lighting. The Primitive Age’s lush jungles are rendered in earthy tones, complete with rain showers that momentarily obscure visibility. In contrast, Future World glows with neon hues and holographic displays, creating a stark visual distinction between past and future.

Character and enemy sprites are detailed and expressive. You can clearly distinguish a spear-wielding caveman from a svelte Roman archer or a jet-equipped soldier in the Age of War. Background layers scroll independently, lending each level a sense of depth as you sprint across crumbling Roman aqueducts or weave through trenches in The World Wars. Subtle animations—like dust kicking up around tank treads or flames flickering in futuristic cityscapes—keep the environments feeling alive.

Performance is rock solid across all platforms, with frame rates holding steady even during the most chaotic firefights. Special effects, such as explosion blasts or teleport activation ripples, are crisp without being overly flashy. The art direction strikes a fine balance between nostalgia and clarity, ensuring that both longtime retro enthusiasts and newcomers can appreciate the visual polish without losing sight of on-screen action.

Story

At its core, Time Soldiers weaves a simple yet compelling narrative: the villainous Gylend has scattered five legendary warriors across time, and it’s up to you to rescue them before his nefarious plan unfolds. Each warrior embodies the strengths of their era—Sirius from the Primitive Age, Laplace from the Age of Rome, Dymos in The World Wars, Alpha in the Age of War, and Altair in Future World. Rescuing them not only advances the plot but also augments your combat options, as each liberated ally brings unique skills to your side.

The transitions between eras are punctuated by brief but effective cutscenes that illustrate Gylend’s scheming and the stakes of your mission. You witness Sirius struggling against tribal beasts, Laplace locked in gladiatorial combat, and Altair outmatched by robotic sentries. These narrative beats, though delivered in concise bursts, are enough to foster an emotional connection to each hero and their struggle against time itself.

As you inch closer to Gylend’s lair, the story unfolds through environmental clues—ruined monuments, time-displaced artifacts, and audio logs from the rescued warriors. This breadcrumb approach to storytelling rewards exploration and encourages backtracking through teleports to uncover hidden chapters of Gylend’s origin. While the plot doesn’t revolutionize the time-travel genre, it provides a strong, coherent drive that complements the high-octane gameplay.

Overall Experience

Combining tight run-and-gun mechanics with era-hopping exploration, Time Soldiers stands out as a memorable shooter that pays tribute to arcade classics while forging its own identity. The thrill of layering Roman spears with futuristic blasters, then swapping them out mid-battle via teleport, creates a uniquely dynamic combat loop. Each rescued warrior not only boosts your firepower but reinforces the narrative stakes, making every boss victory feel earned.

The game’s replay value is high. Multiple routes through the teleport network, hidden power-up caches, and optional challenge rooms unlockable by rescuing certain heroes keep you coming back. Whether you’re striving for a perfect run in the Primitive Age or hunting every secret in the neon-lit Future World, there’s always a reason to dive in again. Co-op mode further enhances longevity, allowing a friend to join in and coordinate teleport jumps for double the chaos.

Ultimately, Time Soldiers is an engaging and well-crafted tribute to classic side-scrolling shooters, elevated by its inventive time-travel mechanics and strong visual presentation. While some players may find the difficulty spikes demanding, the blend of varied enemy encounters, strategic weapon pickups, and compelling era-spanning level design offers a satisfying challenge. For fans of action-packed, retro-inspired games with a modern twist, Time Soldiers is well worth your enlistment.

Retro Replay Score

6.6/10