Interview: Tiernan Hanby on the rise in popularity of retro mobile games

Carnaby International’s Rise of the Footsoldier: The Mobile Game has been developed in partnership with Soho Game Development, Platinum Pictures, Akupara Games, and Flowstate XR – featuring familiar faces from the film franchise, reimaged in old-school Beat-Em-Up style with modern 3D graphics and updated gameplay mechanics.

Tiernan Hanby worked on Rise of the Footsoldier: The Mobile Game, and shares his insight on the rise in popularity of retro & mobile games this year…

Can you explain why retro mobile games will have a boom in 2023?

The Videogames industry has been bigger than the Film and Music industry combined for years now. It’s so big that even non-gamers have their favourite Twitch streamers. And Twitch streamers are the new rock stars. E-Sports stars are the new athletes. Gamers take it so seriously that South Korea had to set up its very own E-Crime force to tackle online crime, and in the USA disgruntled gamers have had their opponents killed by calling the FBI and reporting shots fired at their homes. An activity so common it has its own term: ‘Swatting!’.

If all that sounds a little too postmodern and serious, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Lots of gamers long for much simpler times. When games were played for fun. A crazy concept in our overcomplicated times, but yes, the word on millions of gamers’ lips for 2023 is… RETRO

Nostalgia is one hell of a drug and retro games provide one of the purest blasts of undiluted nostalgic joy. Every gamer remembers their first console, that first game they got for Christmas, the first time they beat *that* boss. Retro gaming transports you there instantly.

There are three types of retro games. Pure remakes of original games, remasters (an old game given a new lick of paint) and homages. Homages take classic genres such as the shoot ’em up (known as shmups to the hardcore), beat ’em ups (is there any gaming top 10 in the world that doesn’t feature Street Fighter 2?) and 2D RPG’s (Role Playing Games). 

Rise of the Footsoldier: The Mobile Game is a homage to the ‘Scrolling beat ’em up’. A beloved but somewhat forgotten genre where you pick your fighter and you travel through a level beating various different goons and bosses to a pulp just for the hell of it. The most famous of these cathartic carnage titles are Double Dragon, Final Fight and Streets of Rage.

What can you tell us about Rise of the Footsoldier: The Mobile Game?

While other genres are well served by a plethora of titles, the Rise of the Footsoldier game is one of only a handful of titles to take the infamous film franchise and marry it with this bloody brilliant style of side-scrolling beat ’em up gameplay. Rise of the Footsoldier: The Mobile Game should sit proudly on any true retro gamers mobile device alongside their other favourites.

 The game offers an all-new story to enter into the franchise canon and offers bone-crunching action across a variety of locales, from tube trains to nightclubs. You fight wave after wave of villains, hoodies and even the police. Each enemy has a unique fighting style, so you’ll need to use different tactics for each. Some fight defensively while others will bum rush you. Some have weapons (that you can take off them and use against them) and some come packing heat! One-on-one they’re no match for you, but find yourself surrounded and things can get messy so use the terrain and try to keep enemies off your back.

Like all genres, this strategic element combined with hand-eye coordination has been proven to increase focus and reaction levels in players. The retro term is ‘in the zone’ but modern science has labelled it a ‘flow state’, where all of your sensory inputs are working in synchronicity. Videogames can create flow as quickly as meditation but are a lot more fun! Mobile gaming is a perfect way of giving yourself a short sharp shock of focus. Whether on your way to a job interview or before an exam. They’re also simply better for you than doom-scrolling for another hour.



If you’re new to retro gaming or don’t know what’s out there for your mobile device, here are five of the best to get you started:

Sonic The Hedgehog 2 Classic

Sega’s Mascot blue Hedgehog(ish) was the first videogame character to give Nintendo’s Italian plumber(ish) Super Mario a run for his money. And boy does he run. The first game was an instant classic, but the second game was better in every way. Winding rollercoaster levels of multicoloured ring collecting fun.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

If ever a game needs no introduction. Rockstar took over the gaming world with this sprawling masterpiece of carnage. The port is well done. Even on older devices, the game works great, provides a beautiful picture, and is conveniently controlled on the phone. Just when your character CJ thought he was out, the murder of his Mother pulls him back in. Crime doesn’t pay, but a lot of people do in this all time classic.

Rise of the Footsoldier: The Game

Based on the British gangster franchise, this is a hard-hitting homage to the side-scrolling beat em-ups that filled arcades worldwide from the late 80s to the early 90s. The genre was almost instantly killed off by the all-encompassing success of Street Fighter II but there’s nothing more satisfying than walking through a city taking on wave after wave of brutal thugs with a series of flying kicks, uppercuts and the occasional grenade. Developed by UK outfit The Flow State for Carnaby films to get your blood pumping and the Streets raging.

Star Wars: KOTOR

Eighteen years ago, the best Star Wars-themed RPG ever made was released for the Xbox. Eleven years later, Bioware’s Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was ported to Android by Aspyr Media. Now you can play this classic from the comfort of your phone or table. The game plays great using the default touchscreen controls, plus it also supports external controllers if you have them. An all-time genre classic.

Pacman

None more retro! The game that started it all (along with Space Invaders and Defender). Namco’s endlessly addictive pill muncher is arguably responsible for Manchester’s mid 90’s rave scene. Originally released in 1980, making it the OG of nostalgia. You play Pacman (originally named Puck-man) but lovingly lost in translation, you must munch all the pills (and as much fruit as you can, gotta get those vitamins) while avoiding ghosts. It still plays as perfectly as it did all those years ago, proving that the classics never die.