Muscled out of the limelight by Christmas blockbusters, Rock Boshers DX: Director’s Cut is a left-field release well worth rescuing from obscurity. A nostalgia-soaked 2D shooter that celebrates the peculiarities of the ZX Spectrum era, it was originally released as a PlayStation mobile title and has now been given a director’s cut treatment, with a widescreen and HD polish for the new formats. The game sees a youthful Queen Victoria fighting on the surface of Mars and does an authentic impression of a ZX title, right down to the crunchy audio and faux-tape loading screen.
Twin stick shooting in claustrophobic maze arenas is the gameplay focus and it is terrific fun. Those who don’t remember the Spectrum might be oblivious to much of the detail that makes Rock Boshers so adorable, but it has the pace, grace and, most importantly, the loading times of a contemporary creation.
