Back in 1995 (Nintendo Switch) Review

Back in 1995 is abhorrent. It is an utterly repugnant and vulgar mockery of early PlayStation horror games, as it completely misrepresents how they played, and how they looked. It is almost as if the designer never actually played the titles that are the apparent inspirations for this pitiful display. Upon first glance it may fool someone who was born in the 2000s, but anyone who has played things like Silent Hill, Dino Crisis or Alone in the Dark, would know that PS1 games looked way better than this.

Having low-poly models with texture warping is not enough, and completely undermines all the artists who painstakingly textured and carefully modelled characters/environment to the best of their ability despite the limits of the hardware at the time. Kent the protagonist, more closely resembles a crash test dummy of Harry Mason, with less mobility than a crippled S.T.A.R.S. Member. The only effect that is convincing is the texture warping which is more present than actual early PS1 games.

For those few who'll manage to stomach this gross caricature will find themselves suffering through gameplay that is actually worse than the lowest of the low that the original PlayStation had to offer. Absolutely subpar titles like Vampire Hunter D and Overblood, shockingly have better controls, and have more fluid movement than what Back in 1995 has to offer. Kent moves in the standard "tank-control" scheme that is the bane of most casual gamers, which would not be so bad except that he moves intensely slow and sluggishly.

He only has one walking speed, and the act of turning takes days. There is no 180-quick turn, and Kent attacks so lethargically that it's a miracle that his attacks do any damage at all. Enemies also are laughably slow, and animate with the most drawn out and relaxed motion possible. It becomes sad to see Kent and a low-level grunt exchange very slow blows as both characters get stuck in their attacking animations with no means to cancel. There is never a moment when Back in 1995 ever feels good to play, or ever resemble an actual '90s survival-horror.

Comparisons to Silent Hill don't stop at just the poorly imitated aesthetics - the basic premise has been lifted too. Kent is on a quest to find his daughter, and is caught up in familiar settings that are festooned with weird creepy crawlies. The monsters are very hard to discern and could be anything. They ultimately end up looking like meat or comically big raisins. Back in 1995 is mercifully short and barren with a grand totally of three main areas where Kent has to scour for key-items and solve some basic puzzles. This is as basic as it gets when it comes to following the old-school survival horror playbook of design. Almost feels like this is a blank template for other designers to plug in their assets to make their own horror game. Barebones and devoid of life, Vaccine manages to be a more worthy homage to '90s era horror than Back in 1995.