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Get your hooks into Arthur Lee’s Streemerz

streemerz_two Streemerz: Super Strength Emergency Squad-Zeta is Enough Plumbers co-designer Arthur Lee’s own submission to his Action 52 Owns game jam, a project to remake each of the games in the infamous Action 52 multicart to modern creative standards.

Much as Miles Drummond took inspiration from an obscure Game Boy game as a starting place to flesh out his entry, Arthur Lee has processed the awkward original through a Capcom filter to create something both modern and familiar.

Beyond the overt Bionic Commando NES pastiche, Streemerz gives off the legit vibe of a wonky third-party NES game — one of those things like Shatterhand or Power Blade that’s perfectly solid, but somehow feels like it comes from an alternate reality. Maybe something by Jaleco. Of especial note are the character sprite and the Donkey Kong style squeaky shoes, both of which seal the aesthetic.

Though the game is infuriatingly hard, it mixes classic sadism with a contemporary sense of fairness. In particular, the way it handles lives is interesting, in that it counts up rather than down — meaning you have as many chances as you like to finish, but you’re constantly aware of your losses along the way. I’m not sure if it’s being kind or gloating. Presumably the intent is to allow players to keep track of their prowess and to gradually whittle down their failure rate. I imagine some people have the compulsion or patience for that. Me, I just laugh along as the count skyrockets.

Streemerz is neato and stylish, and sure to evoke profanity. You can download it here.

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