Spelunky legend’s 50-game collection of roguelikes, JRPGs, and more launches to 91% reviews and the sudden revelation that it’s hiding far more than 50 games

After eight years in development, Spelunky creator Derek Yu and an all-star team of indie devs have finally launched UFO 50, a massive collection of 50 full-size retro games chronicling the library of a fictional 8-bit system. It’s landed to rave reviews from players, and they’re starting to discover this collection is even bigger than it initially seemed.

UFO 50 already has 91% positive reviews on Steam, with players lavishing praise on the sheer scale and ambition of the whole thing. Their experience seems to be pretty close to my own time with UFO 50, and with what Yu seemed to expect – nobody loves every game, but everybody’s likely to find more than a few titles that speak to them in a major way. With a compilation of everything from obtuse proto-Metroidvanias in the style of British computer titles to more familiar JRPGs and wild takes on the roguelike format there’s something for just about every taste.

The handful of negative reviews so far seem to boil down to the fact that the games are often challenging and obtuse, which are fair things to dislike but also essential parts of the 8-bit gaming experience.

While UFO 50 is primarily billed as a straightforward collection of 50 games, players are already starting to discover that there’s a lot more hiding beneath the surface. There’s an unexplained command console that lets you input various codes, and players have already used it to discover at least two additional games hidden in the package. I’d recommend keeping an eye on the UFO 50 subreddit for more. I won’t go into too many details for fear of spoiling the joy of discovery here, but it’s quickly becoming clear there’s more than meets the eye to this one. 

The best NES games never go out of style, and UFO 50 manages to rival them in a big way.