Way back in 1993 brawlers were a popular choice for arcade owners to fill their limited space. Sure, Street Fighter II was making a splash, it was still picking up steam in the gaming world at this time. Data East released Night Slashers later in 1993, I remember seeing it in a couple of arcades near me here in Arkansas. I was a huge fan of Final Fight and horror movies at the time, and this was literally combining my three favorite things at the time. Well, we can now count on a remake of Night Slashers, at some point in the future as the release date has not been announced yet.
Heavy on gore, light on frights
Much like other horror games of the time, Night Slashers is light on actual frights and heavy on gore. Think Splatterhouse here – cues and call backs to horror movies in the game but not many legitimate scares to speak of. Your fear level is going to come from how scared you are of the characters, scenes, etc that are on screen.
For me, that is a pretty low level of fear.
Now, gore onscreen is another story. It is everywhere in the original game and so far, this remake is going all out with even more. Just like this type of game needs.
The original game was chock full of enemies that were half rotten, missing limbs, and more. They were eliminated in grand fashion as well, often turning into a pile of goo or body parts. It was awesome.
The remake is more of that. Turned up to 11.There are concerns
The art style chosen for this remake. I am not sure I am a fan of it. I prefer pixel art, especially highly detailed pixel art (Neo Geo spoiled me early on). I am not sure I am a fan of this “cell shading” style the developers are going with for Night Slashers Remake.
I am sure it will grow on me as I am still grabbing this if it comes to Steam (I stopped playing consoles at the PlayStation 3).
I know it is a long shot, but I hope there is a retro art style included that could be chosen on the fly. Many other remakes, continuations, etc have this option and it is amazingly cool. Not to mention, extremely nostalgic.
Considering the development team is rather small here, I am not holding my breath for a pixel art mode to be included. Maybe we could get it in an update (or, gasp, Downloadable Content – extra work does deserve extra pay, right?).
I have read comments on various YouTube videos stating that a pixel graphics mode is planned but I cannot find a concrete source on this. Till I find that, it is on my wish list. I do hope they are able to include one as that is almost the norm for these remakes at this point.
Right now, there is no word on what platforms Night Slashers Remake will release on. I must assume the major players – Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and PC either via Steam or Epic Games Store.
The real question is, who out there also loves horror themed games? What is your favorite? Splatterhouse, though hard as nails, is high on my list.