Wild Dogs

It's quite funny really, that in an age of motion capture, ray tracing and almost photorealistic graphics, we can still sit and sigh nostalgically when games consisting of pixels arrive. I've philosophized about it before, used words like retro-scented and written about how indie games in particular often take us back to a time when games in 2D pixel graphics gave us simple, but fantastic, entertainment. Because when you play, especially indie games, this is something that often recurs. You strip away a lot of the visuals and let the game mechanics shine instead. I'm not complaining, and I don't get bored of it. Instead, I often find it quite nice to leave the huge open worlds I otherwise enjoy so much behind, and let the pixels become a pleasant contrast to the polished shine of AAA games.

Like my colleague Måns, I often fill my palate with expensive caviar, mussels and snails in garlic, but then almost cry with happiness when I am served something as simple as meatloaf and potatoes. The comparison with food can also be described as the simple, the familiar and the comfortable feeling summarized in those pixels. The graphics you grew up with and the games you had so much fun with.

Well, hopefully you understand where I'm going with this. Wild Dogs is as simple, as stripped down as it gets. It's games like Mega Man, Gradius and especially Contra in a messy combination. A "Run and Gun" with monochromatic graphics where the character Frank and his faithful pooch shoot their way through hordes of enemies, mini-bosses and bosses.

At first I sighed a bit, thinking "Well, but I've already played this.... lots of times..." but it only took a short while, a few mini-bosses and some surprising gameplay moments for me to come to appreciate the fact that Wild Dogs feels, looks and plays like it does. Holding the X button and running forward, dodging shots and double jumping is as simple as game design gets. But when the game itself is well-made and frenetic in its action, the result is still very entertaining. Power Ups appear at regular intervals and they enhance whatever weapon you have and you can switch between two at a time.

Your laser, flamethrower or homing missiles cut through enemies, and the game's plethora of mini-bosses and main bosses make it a little trickier to avoid the shots that come your way. For a veteran of the genre, this will hardly offer any real challenge, but I personally appreciated that it felt reasonably difficult. If you die and use up all your continues on a course, you have to start from the beginning, thankfully from the start of the level you were on, and even though there are only four levels, they are very long. It also feels a bit contradictory with how simple the game is, but there is also some variation and surprises in the game that appear at just the right time and in the right amount to make something that otherwise becomes rather monotonous a bit more varied.

As mentioned, Frank has his dog with him, who in some sequences gets to save the day. Here the game turns a bit more into just avoiding obstacles and dangers, and these are some of the game's slightly weaker parts. However, they are thankfully short and there are also some sequences where the dog also gets involved in the action, but I don't want to say more than that because it was one of those moments that surprised in an entertaining way.

So much for pixels. Wild Dogs is designed as a classic nineties action game and it doesn't take long for the charm to wash over you. An advantage of today's technological advances is that it all flows nicely, despite lots of enemies and explosions on the screen and the game's fluidity regarding both the visual and the game's action are two things I really appreciate. The only thing I really have to say about the visuals is that the game's monochrome graphics make things blend together a bit too much. Enemies, explosions, shots and backgrounds are kind of melted together when only shades of the same color scale are used. In the menus you can also choose a few different graphical modes like mimicking a CRT-TV, playing in 4:3 format and some other things. Fun for those who want to make the game feel even more retro.

The combination of the visual style and all the action makes it easy to play and very entertaining, much like the fact that brainless action can have an incredible charm and feel simple and entertaining. With a reasonable level of difficulty, you don't have to feel that it's particularly frustrating, although of course you should try to avoid what the enemies throw at you in order to have some life left for the passages where it gets a little extra hot. The music is also very nice, with a soundtrack that accompanies the levels well. However, the music can get a bit monotonous and repetitive at times, but overall the audiovisual package is something that really frames the whole thing nicely.

For those who want an easy-to-play, entertaining and Contra-like action game, Wild Dogs feels like a natural choice. The game is as classic as it gets, both in appearance and game mechanics. It gets a bit monotonous over time, and after a few hours of playing the game, it is an action experience that may not be particularly memorable. The disadvantages that come with this type of game are quickly put aside when you hold the X button and realize how simple and fun it is to shoot your way through the courses. For fans of this type of action game, Wild Dogs is an easy pick.