Secret Agent HD

I absolutely love the games from Apogee and Emberheart does an excellent job remastering this classic. It's a faithful remaster to the original in every way and even manages to create an entirely new chapter in the series. I really hope they continue on this trend of remastering the classics from Apogee because there are quite a few more that I'd love to have in my collection. Highly recommended for the price!

The Apogee platformers are some of my earliest memories of gaming, and while I'm still perfectly content playing the original DOS version this is a welcome revamp and upgrade. Music (which you can turn off), difficulty levels, smooth animations, a far broader colour palette, even a level editor. All welcome additions while keeping the core formula that made these games fun. My only minor niggle is I kind of prefer the original, low-frame animations but to many the new ones will likely seem far superior. Just my nostalgia getting in the way. Definitely keeping an eye out for more remasters from Emberheart, maybe they'll even do a better job of overhauling Raptor than the 2010 release.

First off, the original Secret Agent was a fun, if clunky platformer with mild puzzle elements. It's a old favorite that I go back to here and there just because it's simple fun. The remake preserves all of the charm and fun of the original, yet manages to do what many remasters don't; improve the original. The clunkyish controls of the DOS original are replaced with a much smoother and more responsive setup, with controller support that makes it a breeze to play. The graphics remain largely the same, yet there's constant little touches that make me laugh, or just make it look ever so slightly better, with what feels like a faster frame rate. The music added is catchy and enjoyable. Difficulty modes have been added, with an easy and a hard mode on top of the original experience. Finally, there's achievements, which I don't really care about, but are always welcome additions to any game. The best additions are the new fourth campaign, extending the playtime out, and a level editor, which the original sorely deserved. All in all, a very good remaster of a solid game, and worth the $8 or so.

I didn't play this game back in the day but this remasterization (that it's more like a respectful remake) it's simply amazing. I'd like that the SFX were improved, instead of keeping that kind of PC-Speaker beeping, but everything else it's simply perfect.