Have you ever wondered what Okabe Rintaro and the fellow lab members lives would look like in 8-bit? Nor have we to be honest, but Mages and Spike Chunsoft have made Steins;Gate retro with their latest spin off title. 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate—which comes with pre-orders for Steins;Gate Elite—is a retro themed adventure/visual novel that takes players through a new side story unseen in the anime or visual novel. Though there is one question that we know people are wondering reading this review. Is 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate worth even playing? We answer that question below in our full review so make sure to read on!

As mentioned before, 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate is unlike any other adaptation of Steins;Gate seen before. Melding visual novel and retro adventure elements together, 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate is an experience that aims to deliver to fans of the franchise. With tie ins to another famous work, 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate offers a fresh story and prospective for those who have played and watched all that Steins;Gate can offer. Plus, 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate is free for those who preorder Steins;Gate Elite meaning there’s little to lose.

Mad scientist Hououin Kyouma—real name Rintaro Okabe—has faced some strange worlds before. Once he faced a possible WWIII and other worlds, he saw friends die in front of him. However, Okabe is about to enter the strangest world yet as he embarks on a new adventure in 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate! A brand-new mystery is waiting to be solved by Okabe and his friends when an all too familiar time traveler appears before him. Can the mad scientist figure out the newest mystery set before him!?

We here at Honey’s Anime consider ourselves Steins;Gate veterans in the gaming world. We’ve played Steins;Gate and Steins;Gate 0 plus are playing the new Steins;Gate Elite coming out this February 2019! We’ve thought we’ve seen every possible story and adaptation used for Okabe’s adventure through the time traveling challenges he’s endured. Then we saw 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate and realized how wrong we were. Does this retro side story do our mad scientist right? Let’s find out in our review of 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate for the Nintendo Switch.

First, let’s make sure you readers understand how to even get a hold of 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate. Gamers who preorder the Nintendo Switch physical/limited edition versions or digital versions of Steins;Gate Elite will nab a preorder bonus for 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate. That’s why in the info above, we mention the price only for Steins;Gate Elite as we—as of now—don’t know if 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate will be sold individually at any point in the future. With that information out of the wait we’ll now tell you what to expect when you do download 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate. To be honest though, don’t expect much.

8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate is at its heart a simple—and we mean simple—old school retro themed adventure game with visual novel elements. Players control Okabe as they go through various Steins;Gate locals as an 8-bit mad scientist. The brunt of 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate’s gameplay is go to a location, use one of several choices—one our favorites with the maniacal laughter option as it’s just ridiculous—and repeat the process to move the story along. It’s a simple hour to two-hour experience that really just acts as a retro homage to games from the past. Even the borders of the screen are in style with a TV from the 80s. This simple design works in some ways for 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate but also causes a few minor issues as well.

On the positive side, getting more story/content from the huge world of Steins;Gate is always a pleasant experience. While this story is far from canon, 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate gives players an intriguing new perspective to Steins;Gate unseen before from the series. We loved going from place to place interacting with well-known Steins;Gate characters and seeing them in their 8-bit splendor. Equally, the whole retro aesthetic works well in 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate with all the music from the series being transitioned into retro chip tunes and such. We didn’t think retro would fit Okabe and his crew but 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate shows no matter how Okabe, Mayuri, Daru and the rest of the crew look, they will still be impressive at the end of the day.

Where 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate doesn’t work, however, is that this simplicity comes at a cost. There isn’t much to do in 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate. Often, you’ll just walk around hoping to find the correct location or do the right action to allow the story progress. Just like retro games from the past—ironically—there’s no go here or do this way marker. You’ll be often just randomly finding a solution to an issue or path because you decided to keep waiting in one location or to talk with one character enough times for their actions to change. It’s a bit annoying, but for those seeking that true old-school feel, it will appeal in 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate. By the way, there’s no save option in 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate so you’d best make sure to keep your Nintendo Switch in suspend mode.

8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate is a short bonus game that isn’t meant to be taken too seriously as evident from its style and gameplay focus. Diehard fans—like us—of Steins;Gate will love 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate. Those who are just regular fans of the series—and/or just like the main story—might find 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate to be an unneeded game. In our minds, 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate is coming with orders of Steins;Gate Elite so it’s not like you’re wasting money or time playing it. 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate is a fun little side story and one we enjoyed for what it offered.

There’s very little bad or good to say about 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate. As a preorder bonus—meaning your wallet can let out a bit of relief if you planned on buying Steins;Gate Elite—we don’t feel overly critiquing 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate accomplishes anything. At the end of the day, 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate is meant to be a fun little extra story for fans of Steins;Gate—which we happen to fall into that category personally—and are sure many of you reading happen to be too. Are you excited to try 8-Bit Adv Steins;Gate and Steins;Gate Elite? Comment below to let us know! For more game reviews and anime related ones, be sure to keep stuck to our hive here at Honey’s Anime!