Press releases and previews about Byte The Bullet had been able to catch my attention, mostly because of a handful of screenshots showcasing the game’s protagonist, an antivirus, venturing through complete carbon copies of famous 8-bit game levels. It did look like cheap nostalgic pandering, but I couldn’t resist. If anything, I was curious as to how the developer was able to get away with so many blatant references without drowning in a pile of lawsuits. Little did I know that this was just a small part of what Byte The Bullet has to offer… even if the rest of what it offers isn’t exactly that exciting.

PC Jesus giving out some tips with typos.

So, as expected, yes, you play as an antivirus inside a computer. Each world, which can be tackled in any order, is tied to a specific PC component being ravaged by these viruses. The fan area is full of fire traps; the GPU world is full of color puzzles, and so on. At first, Byte The Bullet is a hideous and unfair game, and that’s on purpose. There are no colors because of the GPU issues, the enemy movement is hindered because of a virus affecting the AI, and much more. This is a big issue with the game, as it starts off as an excessively challenging and seemingly broken game, which is also tough to look. You need to endure some annoying levels before the game becomes admittedly a lot more interesting and digestible.

The game is unfair with its crappy platforming and enemy placement, but boss battles are surprisingly fair and easily beatable.

You may be wondering, what about the retro levels? What about the levels clearly based off Prince of Persia or old-school Mario? They are here, but they are not the actual emphasis of the game. In Byte The Bullet‘s lore, there are some old ROMs scattered inside the computer, which can be accessed by reaching secret exits inside each level. Those are optional, and somewhat hard to access. You can, in theory, beat the game without ever accessing one of these older levels.

These levels are fun, sure, but they don’t add a lot of substance to the overall experience. They are merely carbon copies of famous 8-bit game levels with an added twist here and there, such as being able to jump more freely in Prince of Persia (the overall platforming in Byte The Bullet is still wonky, though). It’s less of an homage, and more of a mere reference. The entire game just feels like mere references for the sake of it, by the way. You can see that whenever you talk to one of dozens of NPCs scattered throughout the main levels, who will always spout out a famous one-liner or gaming-related meme. No apparent reason to do so, but they’ll certainly do it regardless. Wanna her some random NPC talk about the fact the princess is in another castle? I have a game for you…

Retro levels are Byte the Bullet’s main selling points, but that’s all they are… they are classic videogame levels you can play with your protagonist.

Byte The Bullet is a game with a neat premise but shoddy-at-best execution. For every interesting idea, such as the premise, retro levels, or level completion fanfare, there was something else either hindering it or just making me feel fed up with the game as a whole, such as the wonky platforming, unfunny references, or unfair level of difficulty. I won’t deny that the game gets a lot more manageable and interesting the more you play it, but in order to fully enjoy it, you need to deal with a ton of jank at first. Whether you’ll have the patience to muster through it is up to you.

Byte The Bullet is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PC and Switch

Reviewed on Xbox Series S.

A copy of Byte The Bullet was provided by the publisher.