Arcade teen dramaventure 198X is out today, or at least its first chapter is. Developers Hi-Bit Studios call it “a coming-of-age story told through multiple games and genres”. What that means is five loosely connected arcade games channelling Outrun, R-Type, Final Fight and Ninja Spirit, plus a dungeon-crawling RPG, all in the service of a larger story. While I still say the sprites are more ’90s than ’80s (but won’t get bogged down in that argument again), I can’t deny that they are gorgeous looking, both within the games and during the story vignettes.

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