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Nuclear Throne
This week we're covering another classic in the genre, the 2015 twin-stick shooter Nuclear Throne and adding it to the tier list! We'd both bumped on this back when it first released, will we get sucked in this time?
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The answer to the above question is a resounding YES - what an absolute banger of a game. We talk through the development history and reveal just how much we both played this in our two weeks before recording (spoiler: too much) then talk mutations, characters, weapons, crowns, and looping. Why don't we see looping implemented like this in more games? It feels distinct from NG+ since you get a whole new enemy set and the run just flows together so smoothly, we were big fans and it kept us playing for long after this episode record.
Nuclear Throne embodies the "Always Be Playing" philosophy espoused by Derick Yu (Spelunky) that really connects with us in this genre. You get in and you're immediately in the action. You can get through the first levels in less than a minute, and the difficulty ramps up quickly but (almost) always feels fair. This game perfectly embodies the spirit of what I want my roguelites to be and it was an absolute joy to play. If you bounced off it because of the visual style like we originally did back in the day, give it another shot!
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