A.R.E.S. Extinction Agenda EX

I have a soft spot for small studios that take on genre giants without apology, and Extend Studio out of Thailand does exactly that here. A.R.E.S. Extinction Agenda EX is a 2.5D side-scrolling action platformer that wears its Mega Man X and Contra influences openly, sets you loose across seven stages aboard a virus-infected space station, and asks you to shoot, dash, upgrade, and survive. It is not subtle about what it is, and that honesty is part of its appeal. You pick between two robot soldiers: Ares, the nimble combat specialist with an air dash and four upgradeable main weapons, or Tarus, a heavier tanker character whose moveset leans toward brute force. The distinction between them is real but not enormous - think palette-swap-plus rather than a full alternate build. What keeps both campaigns worth playing is the progression loop: stages have branching paths hiding upgrade chips and credits, and backtracking with a newly unlocked ability to reach previously inaccessible areas gives the whole thing a light Metroidvania texture. A ranking system grades you on completion time and damage taken, which is genuine replay bait for score hunters. The boss encounters are the clearest high point - they escalate meaningfully, and the mid-to-late fights demand actual pattern reading rather than just holding the fire button. Here is where I have to be straight with you, though. The jump controls are the game's most cited flaw, and the criticism is fair. Both characters can feel slightly sluggish in the air, and the precise platforming sequences scattered through the middle stages will punish you for it repeatedly. Ares's air dash in particular needs practice before it feels reliable. The checkpoint system is generous enough that you rarely lose much progress, and lives are unlimited, so frustration stays manageable - but if fluid, responsive platforming is your baseline requirement, you will notice the imprecision. Level environments also blend together a bit visually; the space station setting is cohesive but not especially varied. What the game absolutely nails is its audio. The original Hyperduck Soundworks soundtrack carries that tightly wound, guitar-driven energy that defined 16-bit action at its best, and Tarus's campaign gets an entirely separate heavy metal soundtrack by Charlie Parra del Riego that shifts the whole tone. The music alone is a reason to run both campaigns rather than stopping after the first. Visually, the EX version updated textures to higher resolutions and added newly animated cutscenes over the original, so it presents cleanly on modern screens. Runtime is the other honest caveat: a single campaign clocks in around three to four hours for most players. Two characters and the ranking system push total engagement higher if you engage with them, but if you need fifty hours of content to justify a purchase, look elsewhere. For everyone else who has been waiting for something to fill that specific Mega Man X-shaped gap without the baggage of certain crowd-funded disappointments, this is a compact, earnest, and genuinely fun answer. Kai, Scout Team