B.I.O.T.A. review

Fatigued by all the metroidvanias games there days? B.I.O.T.A. is a Megatroid, blending elements of Mega Man and Metroid. It offers an absorbing trip back to the early Nineties, recalling an era when games taught by frequent failure and cheat codes were used by the novices.

B.I.O.T.A. leans heavily into a fondness for yesteryear. With action rendered in four colors and with deliberately low-resolution output, the title mimics the capabilities of quintessential Nineties hardware. Players can tweak the game’s shading, utilizing palettes that recall the look of garish CGA monitors, olive-drab Game Boys, and inky Neo Geo Pockets.

You’ll be able to seize control of four different heroes at the start of the game. Later, you’ll increase that count with characters who are either purchased with in-game resources. Each plays slightly different, outfitted with a distinguishing gun and secondary weapon or skill. From an American “Veteran” with a machine gun and grenade, the Brazilian “Raider” with a sniper rifle, Martian “Stalker” with a shotgun, or the Russian “Mutant” with a thermic gun and C4, B.I.O.T.A. offers as assortment of playful archetypes. Each has their own pixelated portrait card.

Small Sprites Who Pack an Offensive Punch

But save for one section of the inter-connected node of points that make up the game’s setting, you’re largely free to choose your own combatant. Honestly, there’s not a huge difference beyond their starting loadout, with each having the same health, speed, and a shared ability for scampering like a ninja up a vertical wall. You can shoot horizontally as well as upward. Sporadically, your character will enter vehicles such as a submarine, mecha, and spaceship, adding some retro-inspired variety.

For most modern players, identifying threats might be the biggest obstacle in B.I.O.T.A. Given the low-res style and condensed coloring, enemies might blend with the background at first. There’s the issue of ‘reading’ the environment. In one stage, you might try to leap on top of pipes, but these are just decorative background images.

Environments more Dangerous Than Enemies

Enemies range from stationary antagonists, moving and leaping ones, and even some foes who will attempt to bomb or shoot you. Like Mega Man, they’re react to your presence and have an exhibit a multitude of behaviors. But your character is quite agile, providing the upper hand as you enter each new multi-screen section of a stage. While contact with a bullet or creature shaves a bit of health, environmental hazards are far more dangerous. Falling into a set of fans or a phasing machine can spell instant death. There’s at least one section in B.I.O.T.A. where the timing of the timing of traps can be rather devious. Generally, the platforming is more perilous than anything else.

Gunning down the game adversaries is gratifying and pays out dividends. While foes won’t drop health, they will provide ammunition for your secondary or a bit of wealth. The latter carries over into B.I.O.T.A.’s cyclical hook- since the number of resources you can carry is limited, you’re forced to make frequent trips to the game’s main hub. Here, at the Black Market, you can buy assistive goods that allow for venturing journey deeper into the game’s recesses.

As such, there’s a satisfying sense of progress as you start mapping out node points on the game’s overworld map.  Not only do intermittent elevators offer to take you back to the hub where you can heal, but it’s possible to save anywhere. Yes, you can save-scum your way through most of B.I.O.T.A. That said, you will have to demonstrate at minimal mastery of controls across the game sequence of boss fights. But given that these elevated foes tend to resist multiple attack patterns and coerce you into a defensive approach, these showdowns shouldn’t be overwhelming. Even if they are, the game offers cheat codes for frustrated players.

Conclusion

Sure, B.I.O.T.A. seems a bit antiquated, taking visual and aural cues from games of the late Eighties. But Small Bros (solitary developer Ivan Porrini) understands what made yesteryear’s games so riveting. As such, if you’re interested in an experience that feels like a trip back to the 1990s, where developers continue to iterate on the success of Mega Man and Metroid, B.I.O.T.A. can serve as a time machine.