As of this writing, UFO 50 has a pristine 9.0 rating on Switch Scores. By the time you read this, that score will have gone down. This is because I’m not giving the game a 9 score, its getting an 8 score with a Recommended verdict. Why? Read on. This is a collection of 50 games created by a fictional company called UFOsoft, who created a console called Lazer X. From 1982-1989, 50 games were released. The “UFO 50 Recovery Team” (Aka the actual developers), resurrected the games and put them in a collection for you to enjoy.
The games in UFO 50 run the gamut from sports, to adventure, to shooters to RPGs. It’s really impressive just how many different kinds of games there are. Some of quick little jaunts, while some are more epic. The game in the screenshot above is called Night Manor, and its a old-school adventure with elements that remind me of Clock Tower. There’s a western RPG. There’s a tower defense game. There are 2 golf-style games. The list goes on. And they all are functional. I doubt everyone will like every game, but that’s the beauty of UFO 50, you don’t have to, there’s something for everyone.
What drags the collection down, however, is the lack of fake manuals to go with the game, because boy will you be lost in some of the games in UFO 50. No tutorials, no hand-holding, no difficulty levels. You are on your own. I get what they are going for here, old-school 80s design, but games had manuals which explained stuff. Its an oddly modern design in a game aping the 80s, when manuals were key. And that’s why I didn’t like half the games I played, because many of them didn’t make sense, because of no hand-holding. Why am I dying after 5 seconds? The game won’t tell you.
So where does that leave UFO 50? With that 8 score and a Recommended verdict. There is a lot of lore in the game to uncover and the games will last you a long time. But I just wish they had taken the time to write little manuals so I could enjoy all 50 games. The game supposedly took eight years to develop, and they couldn’t take the time to write manuals? Really odd omission.
Overall: UFO 50 is an amazing collection of fifty 80s-style games. The only problem is, the games lack manuals, which were key to 80s games.
Verdict: Recommended
Score: 8
| Release Date | 8/7/25 |
| Cost | $24.99 |
| Publisher | Mossmouth |
| ESRB Rating | T |
For a collection of actual 80s games, try Epyx Sports Collection!
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