Platform(s): PC (Steam and Epic), Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Atari VCS
Genre: Action Adventure, Exploration, Arcade, Space Sim

Brazillian developer Dreams Uncorporated’s last game was 2021’s Cris Tales, an ambitious but flawed attempt at making a non-Japanese JRPG. Three years later, they delve into a different genre, going back into the past with a modern take on the classic and retro Lunar Lander genre of games.

How is it? Read on to find out.

Retro Astro

Younger gamers probably won’t know much about the Lunar Lander genre of games, but it’s basically named so because it’s based on the 1969 landing of the Apollo Lunar Module on the Moon. In Lunar Lander genre games, players control a spacecraft as it falls toward the surface of a planet, using thrusters to slow the ship’s descent and control its horizontal motion to reach a safe landing area. Crashing into obstacles, hitting the surface at too high a velocity, or running out of fuel all result in failure. In some games in the genre, the ship’s orientation must be adjusted as well as its horizontal and vertical velocities. The original game was Atari’s Lunar Lander in 1979, which Lunar Lander Beyond is technically a successor of.

In Lunar Lander Beyond, players take on the role of captain of the Pegasus Corporation, a space-faring delivery company with a crew of colourful pilots and state-of-the-art landers. Most missions involved landing your ship to rescue people or potential pilots, or simply navigating spaces while avoiding obstacles, which is where most of the core gameplay comes from. Think of it like some kind of space platforming.

There are multiple pilots and ships to unlock, as well as a bunch of upgrades. The core gameplay is essentially this, players will have to control their ship, each of which requires different playstyles while taking gravity and fuel elements into account. Pilots are accumulated over the course of the game, each with randomly generated appearances and traits that can give you an upper hand in a mission. New traits are gained as they level up and they can even be re-rolled if you want to mix it up (for a price). Additionally, there are four ships, each with a unique feel and three module slots that can be set before each mission.

Having the skill to control ship handling is the core gameplay mechanic. Of the four ships, the Beetle sports classic Lunar Lander controls. The Spider will put you in speed-running mode. The Dragonfly makes navigation a breeze with directional controls allowing you to simply point in the direction you want to go. Unfortunately, almost every ship besides the Dragonfly comes with a frustrating and annoying physics system that makes it so that handling them feels like a hassle. After unlocking the Dragonfly, I pretty much exclusively used that ship until the end of the game, because it’s not restricted by the same physics system, allowing me to play the game without getting annoyed by the physics system.

The entire menu and UI interface look retro. Not only is the UI classic, but so too is the level-by-level structure of the game design that sets you on a trajectory of ever-increasingly difficult missions that get more complex. Just when you think you master one part of gameplay, a new twist is presented. Each level will task you to select one of your pilots and accomplish an objective before landing. That objective can be as simple as picking up a downed pilot to a death-defying escape from an erupting volcano. Each difficulty level ramps up the pressure, with “Insane” effectively making the game a roguelike with pilot permadeath.

One of the new mechanics being introduced is the pilot’s stress level. Running into obstacles or getting hit by projectiles can result in rising stress which increases the chance of various distracting effects. Your vision may be obscured. Objects may transform. You may be stalked by floating pink elephants in the sky. Finding pills will reduce stress during a mission or you can treat a pilot between them over time or immediately for a higher cost. Last but not least, the game can take only around five hours long to finish if you just rush through the story.

Houston, We Have A Problem

Lunar Lander Beyond offers a modern take on a retro genre, making it possible for a new generation of gamers to enjoy a classic genre with new accessibility options and visuals. However, the game’s physics make this title an ordeal to go through and revolves around trial and error at times. If you need a throwback to the Atari classic, it’s a solid effort.

PROS

• Simple arcade gameplay that’s easy to enjoy.
• Throwback music and sound effects give it a comfortable retro feeling.

CONS

• The physics system makes this unnecessarily hard in that it only makes one ship (out of four choices) a viable choice for most players.

FINAL SCORE: 70/100

Review copy provided by Atari. Played on PC.