Remember The Goonies? While this critic believes that the creation of Chris Columbus and Richard Donner (plus Spielberg) was never worthy of the high praise it received, it definitely managed to capture that unique magic of childhood adventure. Kids, free from their parents, trying to find a lost pirate treasure while evil folk were out to get them? It’s no wonder why many loved what the movie had to offer. Indie metroidvania The Good Old Days, which can safely be described as a homage to the 1985 classic, tries to recapture that feeling…and fails by simply not being that enjoyable.
The player follows Sean, a member of the Noogies, whose father has vanished after racking up a massive debt. A loan shark shows up to collect it, and in true ‘80s fashion asks a child to pay back 30 thousand greens before the end of the day. The rest of the Noogies have been kidnapped as well, dispersed throughout the underground labyrinth beneath his home in Arostia (which sounds suspiciously like Astoria, and coincidentally means “sickness” in Greek). While down there, Sean will also meet a group of rival treasure hunters, with no attempt being made to hide the fact that they are a tribute to The Fratellis, the bad guys of The Goonies.
Homage or not, The Good Old Days belongs in the realm of exploration-focused metroidvanias with some roguelite elements thrown in as well. Sean begins his journey alone, armed with an unlimited supply of bombs (gifted, for some reason, by the very loan shark threatening him). This is no Bomberman, however. Don’t expect much combat, as bombs will mostly be used to open doors, which will in turn reveal treasure (aka money) but most importantly keys that enable going deeper into the maze. Scattered around the place are Sean’s kidnapped friends, who function as ability unlocks. Each of the Noogies can be swapped in at will, providing unique traversal and combat options.
If stuck, chances are you missed something, like a destructible wall or a hidden passage, but the level design is such that it frequently makes it hard to understand where to go, with the choice of a colour palette that makes everything sort of blend together at times not helping either. Generally, for an exploration-heavy title, the map isn’t that well crafted. That said, the world is built in such a way that one can complete The Good Old Days without even finding all of Sean’s buddies, as there’s always an alternative route, reinforcing the game’s emphasis on exploration (and replayability) over combat mastery.
Keep in mind that there’s a time limit. The hero has 14 real hours to pay back the debt. Fortunately, while that sounds stressful, it’s surprisingly forgiving, leaving lots of hours to spare, as even dying only shaves off a few seconds. The real hook here is repetition, as you are meant to try out multiple playthroughs. Permanent upgrades (but not friends) carry over between runs, allowing for reaching new areas earlier and skipping large chunks of previously mandatory exploration, but being forced to replay the same map multiple times, even with all the tools kept, soon starts to feel exhausting. The real problem? The adventure lacks the needed fun factor to complete one single run…
The main issue with The Good Old Days is that it is severely lacking in how it controls. Movement doesn’t have the polish expected by what is basically a platformer, with jumping being particularly bad, causing lots of unfair falls into damage. Simply put, jumping from A to B shouldn’t be an issue in 2026. It’s also frequently hard to “read” a scene and understand whether it’s possible or not to jump to a high spot. Combat is not the focus here, but it is not without its issues either. Sean’s bombs are simply far from the best ways to dispose of the many critters that dwell underneath, Foodie’s headbutt isn’t that effective, and so on and so forth. As a result, boss fights (although thankfully a rare sight) feel more like tests of patience rather than real challenges that reward good skill.
The final nail in the coffin is simply that exploring around (in other words: 99% of the experience) frequently throws the player at the same locations. While in most games backtracking can lead to boredom, here it’s downright annoying because of the aforementioned controls; something that will lead to plenty of damage from enemies or environmental hazards. Long story short: The Good Old Days just isn’t fun – and since it’s not fun, there’s little reason to try multiple playthroughs to reach different conclusions and the like. There’s actually little reason to try it even once.
