UFO 50 is a remarkable release: a compilation of 50 “fake retro” games for an imaginary games console, developed by Derek “Spelunky” Yu, Ojiro “Downwell” Fumoto and several others.
The concept behind it is that a hitherto-unknown ’80s gaming system, known as the UFO Soft LX, has been discovered, and you are now rummaging through a pile of 50 disks for it, each containing a game. The LX is similar in capabilities to the Famicom Disk System, with a distinctive 32-colour palette available to it — though Yu and company have made some concessions to modern players by eliminating elements such as slowdown or sprite flicker, as well as allowing each game to be presented in widescreen.
The interesting thing about UFO 50 is that each of its component games has been fully developed and fleshed out rather than just being a minigame. So I thought it might be a worthwhile experience to explore each of them in turn. Let’s begin with the very first game in the collection, Barbuta, which supposedly dates back to 1982. Hit the jump to find out more.
In Barbuta, you take control of a brave knight tasked with liberating a castle. When you start the game, you don’t know anything beyond that. Part of UFO 50’s shtick is that it doesn’t provide you with anything in the way of instructions beyond basic controls, the game’s supposed history in terms of this fictional console’s lore, and what the game might tell you as you play. Everything else you have to figure out for yourself. This is entirely in keeping with games from the early ’80s, particularly those found on microcomputers.
From hereon, we’ll be talking about the lore of these games as if they are “real”, just to simplify matters.
Barbuta was developed by Thorson Petter of UFO Soft, creators of the LX console. He put the game together on company time while he was supposed to be doing other things, and the project nearly got him fired — UFO Soft was not a gaming company at the time. However, it seems like someone at the company thought there might be something to Petter’s project, and it was the first title to be released for the LX console.
Barbuta is a platformer with a somewhat open, non-linear structure. You’re given little to no guidance on what you need to do, and indeed the very first screen contains a rather mean trap which might lead some to believe that the game is a “masocore” title. However, spend a little time with Barbuta and you’ll discover that it’s always fair; all the information you need to know is right in front of you from the outset, so long as you know what to look for.
From a modern perspective, Barbuta is most akin to the “arcade adventures” found on 8-bit microcomputers of the 1980s such as the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum. The pacing is fairly sedate, but the difficulty is unforgiving, and there’s a strong emphasis on finding items whose use might not be immediately apparent. Indeed, at no point does Barbuta explicitly tell you what any of the items you collect actually do; it’s up to you to experiment and figure things out for yourself.
It’s possible to make it through Barbuta in several different ways without finding all of its secrets, but the critical path to success teaches you almost everything you need to look for in order to track down all those secrets. Perhaps most notably, it teaches you to seek out scenery elements that look somehow “out of the ordinary”, as these inevitably conceal secrets.
This idea of finding things that are “out of the ordinary” takes several forms. You might find crumbling blocks that can be destroyed. You might find out of place-looking items that can be changed into something useful by taking a particular action. You might find walls that can be passed through. Or you might find scenery elements that look dangerous at first glance, but which have something not quite right about them to indicate they are actually safe.
A key element of the game to familiarise yourself with is how the various rooms connect to one another. For the most part, Barbuta is one continuous world of connected screens that wraps around horizontally — so when you leave the right edge of the map, you’ll reappear on the left. A simple grid-based map on the game interface shows you which room you’re in — though not how the rooms connect to one another. You’ll have to figure that out for yourself — and in at least one case you’ll need to look at the entrances to one room in order to figure out exactly how to access the exit necessary to reach it! I’ll say no more than that for now to minimise spoilers for those who want to figure things out for themselves.
As you proceed on your quest, you’ll encounter a few enemies, each of which have very clear patterns of movement and attacking that you’ll need to contend with. There’s a strong element of timing and positioning to Barbuta’s combat; with care, it’s possible to get through the entire game unscathed. You start the game with a sword that attacks a short distance in front of you, but this can be upgraded in a few ways at various points in the game.
There’s also an invincible “skull” monster that appears occasionally. Should this catch you, you’ll immediately lose all of your lives and have to start the game over! Thankfully, the way in which it appears always gives you plenty of time to escape; avoiding its deadly attention is easy enough when you know how, and the fact it appears on the grid map allows you to prepare for it potentially appearing, too.
Being a game from 1982 and the first release for the LX console, Barbuta is relatively simple in terms of presentation. There’s no music, sound effects are relatively minimal — though they do provide helpful feedback — and there isn’t even a title screen or menu; you just go straight into the action once the game has loaded. Likewise, the end of a game, be it a successful quest or a failure, is somewhat unceremonious; a simple “Game Over” message is dismissed with a press of a button, and you’re right back on the starting screen again.
For modern players, Barbuta is likely to be something of an acquired taste, but anyone who is familiar with games from the early 1980s — particularly those on platforms such as the Commodore 64 and Spectrum — will be right at home. In many respects, Barbuta is quite ahead of its time compared to its real-world peers, but if you’re not already familiar with this type of game, be prepared for a stiff challenge and a number of elements that might seem needlessly obtuse until you get used to them.
Persevere, though, and you’ll find a rewarding, satisfying adventure. And once you beat it once, there’s still replay value in attempting to speedrun it, or attempting to end the game with a full stock of lives. It’s a great opening to UFO 50, and the best thing is that the games only get better from hereon.
Want more Pete? Check my personal blog I’m Not Doctor Who, and my YouTube channel ThisIsPete. If you enjoy what you read here, please consider buying me a coffee.
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