Barback - An 80s-style Overhead Arcade Game

[fcgamer | 5,124]

I first became aware of Barback back in October, while at my childhood home. I was up in my old bedroom using the computer, as my parents were busy, and my brother had decided to take a nap. I kept hearing murmurings of a Barback game, and so I decided to purchase an electronic copy of the game. As I loaded it up, I was immediately sucked in, something that rarely happens to me when playing games on emulators. From the minute that I heard the music, I knew the game was going to be amazing, and as soon as I got started, I began to have flashbacks of the games of yesteryear, particularly Alien Syndrome.

Barback follows Dann through a typical work week. He needs to head into the Neo, a popular (now defunct) Chicago club that was a local hangout for many musicians such as U2 and The Clash. I guess the usual workday would include restocking the cooler and cleaning up the place, but Dann is in for a challenge, as the Rat King has decided to move into the place with all of his furry pals.

The objective of the game is to survive the work week and then have a final confrontation with the Rat King. This main objective is then broken into a series of seven days. On each day, Dann must wander into the club and search for a key, which unlocks the back door, the exit to freedom. As he explores the club, he'll find beer bottles, cigarette cartons, and dollar bills scattered around, all of which increase the player's score. The club is also filled with hordes of rats, as well as other enemies, such as fireballs.

In my opinion, the difficulty level found in Barback is excellent. It's easy to get sloppy while running around shooting things, ultimately causing Dann to whip into a rat and die; however, if a bit of caution is applied, the game can easily be completed within a few playthroughs. This makes the game great for some afterwork fun, as I can pop it in for an hour or so and forget about the world, before heading back to completing whatever daily tasks I need to do.

In lieu of an instruction manual, the game comes with an instruction card. The top layer peels off and is a sticker, an obvious nod to the Garbage Pail Kids.

Barback is one of those games that I feel everyone needs to try. It's an obvious throwback to an earlier genre of game, though in many ways Barback does things beter.

If you want it on physical, head on over to Mali's Cash to grab one.

https://www.maliscash.com/product-page/famicom-barback-homebrew-indie-cib