We’re in a golden era for retro-style arcade games, and UK studio Bitmap Bureau is one of the many devs leading the way.
Its upcoming effort, the mouthy He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Dragon Pearl of Destruction, is being developed concurrently with the highly anticipated Terminator 2D: No Fate – two classic franchises from a bygone era.
This obviously isn’t the first He-Man game, but it may already have a claim on being the best one.
Those of a tender age may recall US Gold’s primitive 80s efforts on systems like the Commodore 64, but it’s the grainy Diablo-esque hack-‘n’-slasher He-Man: Power of Grayskull on the GBA that immediately springs to our mind. It was succeeded by the equally soulless He-Man: Defender of Grayskull on the PS2, which at least had great box art.
There’s few surprises in this all-new effort, which is being published by Limited Run Games, so expect a bumper physical edition to be announced at some point in the future.
Our demo – an early build hidden in one of the back halls of Gamescom – saw us assume the role of eponymous He-Man with the Captain of the Royal Guard Teela also available in two-player. It’ll be interesting to see how many selectable characters make it into the final build, with Man-At-Arms already announced and She-Ra strongly rumoured.
This is all based on the original 80s cartoon, licensed by Mattel, so you needn’t worry about the art aping those awful CG reboots. As has become Bitmap Bureau’s USP, this game looks like it could have stepped out of an arcade in the early 90s, although clearly it’s doing some things on a technical level that wouldn’t necessarily have been possible at the time.
There’s a lot of sprite scaling going on here, with enemies flying onto the stage from the foreground and being blasted into the screen, a la TMNT: Turtles in Time.
All of the character sprites are incredibly chunky too, with Battle Cat an obvious highlight in the opening cutscene. Sadly, we didn’t get a chance to control him during the demo, although judging by the screenshots that will be possible later in the game.
The combat mostly subscribes to the rules of Final Fight, but it uses more buttons than Capcom’s classic side-scrolling brawler. For example, you have light and heavy attacks across Square and Triangle respectively, as well as a block command on Circle.
As is the case in most belt games, combining button presses allows you to unleash a special attack, which uses up a segment of health. You can replenish this by eating various food items you find on the floor, such as apples et al.
However you also have a throw mechanic in this game which can triggered by pressing Cross/X and Circle at the same time, allowing you to effectively zone your enemies. Skeletor’s minions are sometimes armed with rifles and firearms, so this ability to attack enemies from afar does make sense – just keep in mind that, in the case of He-Man at least, he throws his sword, so you’re powerless until his blade returns to his hands.
The art direction is on point, with the first level taking place in and around the Royal Palace of Eternia. It absolutely looks like the location from the cartoon, with deep pink-ish-purple architecture. You’ll eventually battle against Trapjaw in the Throne Room, which will be a thrill for those familiar with the source material.
But even if you’re not really into He-Man, it’s clear there’s a high level of quality here; while it harbours few surprises, nice animations and use of hit-stun give your attacks impact and the screen gets suitably chaotic once it’s filled with foes.
Bitmap Bureau says the full game will feature 12 levels, and while we didn’t see much over the opening stage that surprised us, we played enough to know it’s going to deliver a quality beat-‘em-up.
With the team likely focused on Terminator 2D: No Fate until its launch on 31st October, we suspect there’ll be bigger announcements for He-Man to follow in 2026. But as huge fans of the genre and the source material, this is one that’s already muscled its way right to the top of our wishlist.
Will you be wielding the Power of Grayskull when this retro romp releases? Which character from the Masters of the Universe are you most hoping to play as? Raise your sword in the comments section below.
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