Is it Really Worth it? 2D Rewind Collection from S2 Games

2D Rewind Collection from S2 Games was the best-rated bundle last week, and after this week’s scoring formula update, its score has gone up even further to 7.5/10.

I tried out all the games to check if that score is well deserved. Since it’s a huge bundle with 13 games, I set a timer to 30 minutes before playing so I could get through all of them in a reasonable amount of time. Let’s see which games made me snooze the timer.

River City Girls 1 & 2

Two beat-'em-up adventures from WayForward starring Misako and Kyoko, who punch their way across River City after their boyfriends Kunio and Riki get captured. The first game is an old-school brawler in 16-bit style with manga story panels, anime cutscenes and 2-player local co-op. The sequel adds 2 new characters, online co-op, a bigger non-linear world with a day-night cycle and 40+ shops, and new combat moves like guard-crush attacks and lift-off combos.

Both games are competent brawlers with cool music and humor (including meta jokes in the sequel), but the sequel is clearly the better game. Unless you are a huge fan of the genre, I'd recommend to skip straight to the sequel.

My playtime: 0.5h x 2 • Will I keep playing? 👎

Game	Achievement count	% owners completed	Median completion time
River City Girls	29	9%	14h
River City Girls 2	62	10%	29h

Freedom Planet 1 & 2

Cartoony, fast-paced platform adventures set in the world of Avalice, where a dragon girl named Lilac and her friends fight off alien invaders. The first game is a combat-based platformer built around high-speed gimmicks like boosts and motorcycles that drive up walls, with Lilac and Carol as playable characters. The sequel brings four characters with different fighting styles, a world map with an Adventure mode and a story where the heroes end up on opposite sides of a war.

Similarly to the River City Girls, the sequel is an improvement in almost all areas. Weird controls from the first game were fixed, new mechanics were added and it looks better. If you're looking for a Sonic-like game you got it with Freedom Planet.

My playtime: 0.5h x 2 • Will I keep playing? 👎

Game	Achievement count	% owners completed	Median completion time
Freedom Planet	56	5%	35h
Freedom Planet 2	63	12%	57h

Nova Drift

A roguelite space shooter that mixes classic arcade space combat with action-RPG build crafting. You control a ship that evolves as you defeat enemies, combining weapon, shield and body gear into a different build every run. Runs are quick, which makes experimenting with builds easy.

Controls might take some time to get used to as you can only change your ship's direction and use booster, and UI is not intuitive at first. But you'll quickly get used to it, and once you do, it's simple and fun. It seems like a perfect game to play after a stressful day.

My playtime: 0.5h • Will I keep playing? 👍

Achievement count	% owners completed	Median completion time
40	4%	35h

Luck be a Landlord

A roguelike deckbuilder where your deck is a slot machine. You earn rent money by adding symbols with different effects and interactions to the machine, and pick up items along the way to build around, all to defeat your terrible landlord. Symbols and items are different every run, and there is no real-money gambling of course.

At first I thought this was a Balatro clone but it is actually the other way around - Balatro was inspired by Luck be a landlord! Gameplay loop is very similar but it feels like it's a bit more random and less controllable. Still, a fun game I'll keep playing.

My playtime: 0.5h • Will I keep playing? 👍

Achievement count	% owners completed	Median completion time
186	1%	30h

Rainbow Legends

A territory-control roguelike deckbuilder where the side with more tiles at the end of the round deals the damage. You seize ground, place structures and runes, shield your core and unlock builds through card shapes, factions and relics. There are four classes, each with their own storylines.

I'm a sucker for games like Slay the Spire so naturally I also like this one. The Steam reviews mention problems with English translation which might explain why I had trouble figuring out what some cards do. But once you start playing it's easy to figure it out. It was released in May this year, so we might see some additional updates and polish.

My playtime: 0.5h • Will I keep playing? 👍

Achievement count	% owners completed	Median completion time
40	Not enough data	Not enough data

Samorost 3

An exploration adventure and puzzle game from Amanita Design, the creators of Machinarium and Botanicula. You play a space gnome who uses a magic flute to travel across nine alien worlds in search of its origins, in a hand-drawn world full of creatures, puzzles and music.

The game looks and sounds beautiful. The story is presented without any written text, not even the menus have text. It looks like the puzzles might be a bit obscure, as event the first one is not obvious.

My playtime: 0.5h • Will I keep playing? 👎

Achievement count	% owners completed	Median completion time
30	33%	5h

NORCO

A dialogue-focused point & click adventure set in a surreal, distorted version of South Louisiana. Your brother Blake has gone missing after your mother's death, and to find him you follow a fugitive security android through oil refineries, strip malls and drainage ditches, all in painterly pixel art.

The story and setting are interesting and weird - in a good way. I got a teddy bear after defeating it at a staring contest. It then helped me beat up a guy in a fight that plays like Simon Says.. But yea, I might be focusing on the wrong things here...

My playtime: 0.5h • Will I keep playing? 👍

Achievement count	% owners completed	Median completion time
35	20%	13h

Folklands

A relaxing settlement builder with a retro look, set in a fantasy Nordic-inspired world. You harvest and refine resources through production chains, trade with three nearby kingdoms, and keep your simulated folks housed, fed, employed and happy.

I couldn't even get through the tutorial in my short playtime but it seemed like a decent, if somewhat unoriginal, city builder. It was released only a moth ago with mixed reviews, some mentioning performance issues and crashes so I would't expect too much from it.

My playtime: 0.5h • Will I keep playing? 👎

Not Tonight

A post-Brexit management game set in an alternate Britain run by an extreme far-right government, where citizens of European heritage have been exiled. You work as a bouncer on the doors of pubs, a time-pressure RPG with a politically charged story, and decide whether to join the resistance or keep your head down.

The main thigh that you're doing in the game, working as a bouncer, is inspired by Papers, Please so some might find it fun, while others might find it a chore. I'm in the latter camp.

My playtime: 0.5h • Will I keep playing? 👎

Achievement count	% owners completed	Median completion time
15	4%	15h

CHUCHEL

A comedy adventure from Amanita Design where the hairy hero Chuchel and his rival Kekel go through a series of puzzles and challenges to get their hands on the precious cherry. It is packed with whimsical animations, stages inspired by classic video games and a soundtrack by the band DVA.

It's silly and fun and just around 2 hours long so I intent to finish it.

My playtime: 0.5h • Will I keep playing? 👍

Achievement count	% owners completed	Median completion time
7	41%	3h

Karate Survivor

A survivor-like roguelite inspired by '80s action movies. You play a martial arts master fighting off waves of thugs with your fists, feet and improvised weapons like plastic flamingos and mop handles, while building combos and using the environment against them.

I usually enjoy Survivor-likes but not this one. I guess I just like shooting enemies more than punching and kicking them.

My playtime: 0.5h • Will I keep playing? 👎

Achievement count	% owners completed	Median completion time
22	15%	17h

Verdict

This bundle was a nice mix of games I'd never find out about if not bundled (Rainbow Legends), games I like but I wouldn't buy outside of a bundle (Chuchel, Norco, Luck be Landlord) and a game I'd buy on its own if I knew how good it was (Nova Drift). In total, $23 of value, which is around 1.6x the asking price. Not so great, mostly because I didn't like the top priced games in this bundle: Freedom Planet and River City Girls.

I guess that's what you get when you challenge yourself to buy the best rated bundle every week without taking into consideration your genre preferences!

My Score: 6.3 / 10

See the full 2D Rewind Collection from S2 Games breakdown

Browse the best active bundles