Raiding Tombs, 8-bit style
Currently holding the work-in-progress title of Tomb Robber, this 8-bit style platformer has been in the works for a couple for years now, with no new news for over a year. However, even in its current unfinished state, it's one of the most enjoyable retro platform adventures since Rick Dangerous or Montezuma's Revenge. As an archaeologist with an urge to explore ancient tombs and recover valuable artifacts, you make your way to an Egyptian pyramid filled with long forgotten treasures. Bringing only your old revolver for protection, you must first navigate a short stretch of desert, avoiding snakes and bats, before entering the tomb. Once inside you must traverse the single screen stages, avoiding acid spitting mummies, skeletons, scorpions and more bats as you attempt to locate the red Ankh that will open the exit door and take you to the next room.
Treasures such as rubies, cat statues and jewel encrusted vases can be pilfered for points, and canteens and medical kits can be found, granting a bonus health point or extra life respectively. Your trusty six shooter must be manually reloaded, which adds a great deal to proceedings, as you must be wary not to find yourself facing an enemy with no bullets in the cylinder. Ammo is scarce too, meaning you must choose your targets wisely, deciding if fleeing up a ladder or jumping over them is a better option. Alongside the living (and undead) hazards, the environment also offers up some deadly surprises; crumbling floors, collapsing ceilings, pits of lava and floor based switches that unleash arrows in your direction are all on hand to stop you in your tracks.
Tomb Robber is fantastic fun and extremely engaging, with well designed levels that are exciting to explore - including a plethora of secret areas hidden behind destructible walls. The reloading mechanic is a stroke of genius, and offers a new level of immersion to proceedings. The available demo features 11 stages, which will keep you occupied for a while as there are no continues once you run out of lives. Here's hoping that the developer eventually finishes this extremely promising title.
You can keep an eye on the games progress, as well as download the demo, here:
Tomb Robber
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