I recently got a chance to play through Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bit on the PlayStation 5 Pro, thanks to a review code provided by Retroware.
You can find my platinum trophy walkthrough below:
Trophy Guide and Road Map:
Make sure that the Final Life Assist Item setting is enabled. It should be on by default. Afterwards, start a new game in Chill as Hell. You can also try Normal if you want, but the game will be a lot harder.
Step 1:
Play through the Speziman stage until you get to the boss. During the boss fight, make sure you die until you have zero extra lives remaining. Afterwards, pick up the Golden Pickel power-up that spawns and use it immediately. The pickle should take care of the boss by itself soon afterwards.
You should unlock the following trophies:
- Fully Powered!
- Defeat Speziman
- Brined Speziman
Step 2:
Play through the Speziman stage again but try to take no damage. Make sure you enter the stage with zero extra lives so that the Golden Pickle power-up will spawn.
Every time you get hit, restart the level. Keep trying until you get to the boss. From there, stand underneath the middle platform and summon the pickle to quickly end the fight without you getting hurt.
If you beat the stage without getting hit once, you should unlock the No Damage! trophy.
Step 3:
Complete the rest of the stages in the game while using the Golden Pickle power-up to defeat the bosses.
You might want to consider losing all your lives first when you start a new stage so that your lives counter will be reset to 5, giving you plenty to go through the stage. Once you reach the boss, you can then die until you get to zero lives again to get the Golden Pickle.
The following trophies will unlock:
- Defeat The Devil
- Defeat T.P.
- Defeat Letule
- Defeat F-14 Tomcat
- Defeat Festerdrome
- Defeat Super Mecha Death Christ
- Brined The Devil
- Brined T.P.
- Brined Letule
- Brined F-14 Tomcat
- Brined Festerdrome
- Brined Super Mecha Death Christ
- Victory!
Step 4:
For the Boss Rush trophy, you need to complete the Boss Rush mode. Enter the following password to unlock it in the Chill as Hell difficulty:
A4, A5, B1, C3, C4, D2, E2, E4, E5
You have five extra lives to beat all the bosses in the game without using any power-ups. If you need to, you can practice each boss fight. For strategies in specfic, you can check out my video.
You can find my mini review of Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bit below:
Pros:
- Fun retro run-and-gun gameplay.
- Stages inspired by classic games.
- Assist feature.
Cons:
- None.
Overall:
Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bit is a 2D run-and-gun action-platformer that take heavy inspirations from Mega Man. At the start, you can tackle the first stages in any order. Once you complete all of them, the final level, which is unsurprisingly the longest and most difficult one, will appear.
The stages actually pay tribute to some of the classic and infamous 8-bit games such as Castlevania, ET, and Ghosts ‘n Goblins. Every now and again, you will get a live action cutscene featuring The Angry Video Game Nerd that furthers the story.
Just like the classic titles, Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bit can be brutally difficult. Thankfully, there is a Chill as Hell difficulty that gives you a lot of health in addition to removing instant kills from pitfalls. In Chill as Hell and Normal, you can also get an assist power-up when you are down to your final life that will help significantly as well.
Overall, Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bit is a fun nostalgic 2D run-and-gun platformer, especially for those looking for a brutal challenge. Several quality of life features are also available for those looking for an easier romp through the game. Either way, if you are a fan of AVGN and/or retro 2D action games, then you should definitely pick this game up.