Epic Loon is a seriously retro 2D platformer from French developer Macrales Studios. It features several playable characters, local co-op and battle modes, as well as over 350 levels, but its standout quality is its setting.
You control a group of aliens who used to live in a long-forgotten artifact: a VHS cleaner tape. Disturbed by a cinephile named Joe, you invade Joe’s sizable VHS collection, which includes such classics as Jurassik Land, Nosferacula, Alien: The Hitchhiker, and other tongue-in-cheek parodies.
The sights and sounds of Epic Loon help sell its VHS campiness. The playable aliens are squishy little abominations who stand out against the stark, CRT-set levels, and the main characters in each movie satire sound well-voiced. You can get a sample of the casting below:
Epic Loon is as much as a romp through ’80s and ’90s cinema as it is a game. But while it revels in its FMV quirkiness and black-and-white grunge, it also looks to be a proper platformer, complete with time trials and varied challenges. A recurring threat is Joe himself, who attacks you using his remote control—by fast-forwarding levels, for example.
Epic Loon is slated to release by the end of 2017.