Grab yo’ pipe
Indie developer Mecha Studios has dropped a major patch for its pixelated vigilante adventure Neon City Riders. The “Super-Powered Edition” update, which is live now on PC and is headed to console platforms soon, makes several adjustments to some of NCR‘s more troublesome elements.
First and foremost, Neon City Riders’ overall difficulty setting has been re-evaluated, re-balancing combat and puzzle sections, as well as adding further checkpoints throughout the map. Fans of the game’s original settings can toggle the new “Old-School Mode” option, to leave the difficulty level as it was pre-patch.
Secondly, a new character – Cypher Kid – has been added to the game, and will sell you map sections for a price. Meanwhile, mentor/narrator Evergrey will offer a heads-up on your quest. Both of these new additions hope to remove some of the confusion presented in NCR‘s story, which can leave players stumped as to their next course of action.
Perhaps the most important new feature gives players the option to toggle the freaky UI, making the visuals much softer for those with sensitivity to bright, flashing images. In addition, several minor bugs and issues have been squashed across the board.
Neon City Riders is an intriguing and atmospheric adventure, with great visuals and a nicely realised neo-noir world. But, as noted in our review, it is held back by some pretty unforgiving set-pieces, and a complex world that lacks navigation. It sounds like this new update will make NCR a little more accessible on multiple levels, allowing more players to enjoy its 16-bit mayhem.
Neon City Riders is available now on PS4, PC, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.