Rainbow Arts was one of the most prolific publishers on the Amiga, Commodore 64 and Atari ST yet they’re only regularly spoken about whenever Turrican is involved. When the company was sold off in the late ‘90s, they had an astonishing 70+ games credited to their name. It’s only now that we’re starting to see more re-releases, with Ziggurat recently acquiring a bunch of their IP. 1990’s X-Out may not be well known, but it’s a worthy candidate, taking some of Turrican’s winning formula and injecting it into a 2D side-scrolling shooter with an appealing underwater setting.
When people talk about games in the ‘90s being brutally challenging, forcing you to learn from mistakes, they’re referring to games like X-Out. Here, each extra life is a precious commodity as something as minor as scraping along a barely visible stalactite can prompt a Game Over. No continues, no extra credits – you’re back to the title screen. If you’re looking for a frame of reference, R-Type is a fair comparison, although it isn’t dissimilar from Gradius either.
Part of this steep difficulty can be attributed to X-Out’s in-game store, your first port of call when starting anew. Evidently the assumption is made here that players are familiar with the Amiga original, as in lieu of a tutorial, the only help starting out is the controller layout page along with button prompts.
The shop screen offers three pre-set ship loadouts by default. Selecting one of these will see you head into intrepid waters with a single life; one likely lost in under thirty seconds. Fear not, as those pre-set loadouts are just suggestions. Surplus cash can be spent on additional submarines – or in other words, more extra lives. If you ignore the pre-set loadouts, the starting cash amount is just enough to purchase three basic subs, giving a reasonable shot at beating the first stage – with every level punctuated with a visit to the store, usually with enough cash to buy an extra sub or equip a few new weapons.
Suddenly, the penny drops and a world of possibilities opens. It’s entirely possible to blow your starting cash on one of the better subs (with a choice of four available) and equip more powerful missiles and guns. You’ll only have enough for a single vessel, but suddenly your starting submarine is now gloriously overpowered, giving chance to blitz through the first stage relatively unscathed. Satellites, homing missiles, flamethrowers, electric arcs and more can be equipped, allowing for a great deal of experimentation. No extra power-ups are gained throughout play; everything must be purchased. It’s simply up to you to balance every purchasing decision. You shouldn’t enter a stage underpowered, but neither should you start a new level with a single sub to your name.
It should be clear by now that this isn’t something instantly accessible, with the era X-Out was born in simply to blame. Games were tougher back then, intended to take players weeks to master rather than hours. The eight stages present here are pretty relentless, with even the first stage commencing with an onslaught of bullets, and every stage also has a mid-boss.
That’s not to say X-Out doesn’t have a few quirks though, including the ability to change the ship’s speed – mapped here to LB/RB. This improves mobility and is mostly useful during boss battles where a boost of speed is vital to escape sudden death. Charging a shot will unleash a larger projectile, essential for clearing strings of enemies, and satellites can be placed around the ship freely. Said bosses have a few sneaky tricks to catch players off guard, and most stages feature new hazards, such as enemies that generate rock formations in their wake, and solid walls that need to be cleared to make a path. This makes for a very demanding experience.
Mercifully, seeing X-Out’s ending isn’t out of reach for shoot’em up newcomers. Upon boot, a faux ‘trainer’ screen appears (something often present in copied Amiga/ST games, implemented by bootleggers) to suggest that a helping hand may be provided. True enough, after dying several times a handful of cheats gradually unlock, removing backdrop collision detection, adding more cash, and improving firepower. Achievements can’t be unlocked when cheats are active though; you’ll need to beat the game the old-fashioned way, memorising boss’ attack patterns and discovering the best loadouts.
The quality of the remaster is hard to fault, beginning not just with the faux trainer screen but also the original’s pixel art intro. The action is now full screen and the HUD has been given a modern day makeover, now visible at the top rather than the bottom. The UI is more in line with modern sensibilities too, with the shop more streamlined. Visually, it retains the polished chrome aesthetic from the original (think Turrican) but now there’s subtle lighting too. It remains a treat for the eyes, boasting impressively detailed pixel art and monstrously ugly bosses. The eight stages reuse two backdrops each, varying from murky depths to an underwater lava realm, and most are accompanied by alluring effects such as shimmering surface water. This remaster also adds a two-player option and a mirror mode that unlocks upon completion.
So, there’s a little bit to unpack here. X-Out: Resurfaced is an impressive remaster of an incredibly challenging shooter not many will be familiar with. Trying to beat it without cheats is a tall order and not something that will be achieved in an hour or two despite the game’s runtime of around 15 minutes. Activate cheats, and you’re looking at something rather fleeting, and you’ll also miss out on the satisfaction that beating a tough boss will inevitably bring. If you’re a shooter fan looking to master the ways of old, getting a little further each time, then this is recommended. If you’re looking to simply cheat your way to an easy victory, then this isn’t going to be worthwhile – you’ll be done in an evening without breaking a sweat. It’s definitely the most hardcore shooter we’ve seen in a while, and that certainly counts for something.
ININ Games’ X-Out: Resurfaced is remastered by Ziggurat and out 20th Feb on PS5, Xbox Series, Switch and PC. Physical editions are also available. Original game by Rainbow Arts and Arc Developments.