GAMES FROM THE FROG'S BOX #14: GENERIC MAN

GAMES FROM THE FROG'S BOX: GENERIC MAN

INTRODUCTION: LESS IS MORE

Oh, boy, this is a good one. This is a game that you might have a lot of trouble finding due to its name- I only became aware of it thanks to a TVTropes browsing session. Needless to say, it's a hidden gem.

Released in 2012 by Doctor_Lite, Generic Man is an exercise in creative limitations, and the innovations that can be born from that. Made in Game Maker Lite, this is a Mega Man-esque action platformer that punches well above its weight class for a game so unassuming. 
Now, every other thing I've ever seen made with Game Maker Lite was... not good. There's no shame in that, given it's a demo for a full engine. You're not supposed to be able to make huge ambitious things in it.
This game said "hold my beer" in response to those limitations.
Over 10 full stages, an entire hub full of goodies, character upgrades (both mandatory and hidden), an unlockable cosmetics system, a sound test, fluid and responsive controls, time attack records...
For this game, that watermark is a badge of honor. Like "look what I made with all these limitations! i made something not just good, but GREAT."

The story is that the Master of Evil (MOE) has tried to take over the world, yadda yadda, you know how this goes. The story's not the star here- the gameplay is. And oh boy, the gameplay gives me a LOT to talk about.

GAMEPLAY
This was the thing that grabbed me instantly about this game. You have a surprisingly robust moveset to play with, with a double jump, simple buster shot and a melee slash. The controls are REALLY smooth, like shockingly so. It's a bit looser and floatier than Mega Man, but the levels are designed heavily around that looseness. For the most part, it feels like the physics were taken perfectly into account here.

With one exception, but I'll talk about that later.

As you beat the main levels, you'll get upgrades to yourself, ranging from a higher jump, to upgraded attacks, to being able to aim your bullets. It's very gratifying, going from slow and kind of clunky to fast and fluid.

MUSIC:

I do have to shoutout the music in this game- all of it is glorious MIDI arrangements of already banging tunes. Is it original? No. Is it nostalgic as all hell and fits the mood of the game perfectly? Yes. And some of them really had me tapping my feet throughout.

THE HUB
As i said, the hub is a surprisingly full place. Menus? we don't need menus, when we can run around to various teleporters to do what we need.
There's a room where you can change headgear- which is only unlocked by completing levels on the Hard difficulty. Also present are a sound test, a save teleporter, and a couple other things.
The actual stage select is a Mega Man-esque teleporter hub, with the main stages being able to be completed in any order, and the fortress stages opening up in a linear fashion afterwards. It's simple, but seeing the stuff in the hub expand as you go is very satisfying. I love when you can see right off the bat the amount of stuff you're in for, and steadily build towards the end.

NOOB ISLAND

Everything about this screams "first level", but it's about as good of a tutorial you'll need to get used to the controls. The gimmicks are simple as expected- moving platforms and springs are the only major innovations here, and they work just how you'd expect.

There are only two enemy types in this level, both from Kung Fu for the NES. Blue guys that throw knives at you, and purple guys that come in packs and rush your way. They seem simple- one slash can take them out quick.
But you'll learn pretty quickly how tricksy the enemy placements can get- for example, this bit right here. Do you jump down and immediately try to slash the knife guy, or deal with the faster running guys?
Also of note are these yellow orbs- each one gives you five more HP, and you will NEED that extra buffer in some later stages. Always grab it.

The boss, Urban Champion, is a bit nastier than you'd expect. He only has two moves- tossing Hadoukens high and low...

And throwing out Sonic Booms on both sides of him at varying speeds. Between that, he'll run back and forth, which is a great time to smack him around with your sword. Which is a running theme in this game- you'd think a melee attack would be useless when you have a gun, but the bosses have a way of opening themselves up to your sword.
Anyway, Urban Champion's easy, but he's not effortless. The ideal intro stage boss.

MUSHROOM KINGDOM

This stage is heavily populated by destructible brick blocks, that you can smash apart with your attacks. However, what you really need to watch out for are the ? blocks... they EXPLODE if you attack or come into contact with them, blowing apart everything around them.

On the enemy front, we have Lakitus that are very annoying to hit, as per tradition, and their Spiny minions that you can just smack away with little effort.

Also, Hammer Bros, which are as annoying as you'd expect, and Bullet Bills, which are not legally enemies and thus can't be killed- or jumped on, sadly. You can't jump on anything in this game.

There's some neat setpieces in this stage, like the strings of ? blocks that form an exploding tunnel for you to outpace...

Also, this part with the moving platform and the Hammer Bros- which is definitely the most threatening use of that enemy in the whole game. Overall, though, this stage isn't too tough. They saved that difficulty for the end.

Mario is a step up from the first boss, with some interesting attacks that will NOT let you sit still. From summoning barrages of vertical fireballs that cover the whole screen...

Swinging around his hammer and tearing apart the entire arena around you, which is quite intimidating, and tossing Luigi at you, which is his easiest move to dodge since he just falls forward. Still, this boss will keep you on your toes- all of his moves are designed to force you to constantly dodge, and the continually changing arena that he destroys keeps things lively. Still, it's easy to get opportunities to stack up the damage.
A good boss fight- and it's the easiest of the main 6!

BIG BROKEN BRIDGE

Oh look, it's a Final Fantasy reference, complete with FFV's Battle on the Big Bridge in glorious MIDI. Anyway, this stage has some pretty annoying enemy types to deal with- as befitting the inspiration, they're all FF1 classes. These warriors are tanky as hell and always seem to be in your way, especially when they come in packs.

And the Black Mages spew out lightning bolts threeways, aimed towards you. And they are OFTEN placed in annoying spots.

The ninjas appear behind you and toss ninja stars constantly. You could try to outrun them... or turn around and smack 'em real quick.

This level doesn't have much in the way of platforming challenges for the most part, preferring to bumrush you with its cast of foes in increasingly ridiculous positions. Well, until you get to this part, with the collapsing single columns of brick- better move quick!
The enemies here feel more like midbosses with how tanky they can get, and it's certainly an interesting change of pace. Thankfully, they die quickly enough that the stage doesn't feel like a slog.

The boss is CHAOS from FF1, and he has the most attacks out of any of the four main bosses. He'll spew water waves, shake the screen from side to side while making blocks fall, summon storms of tornadoes...

The nastiest one is this, where he summons a column of energy from front to back, and you only have a second to get out of the way. Unfortunately, he is also a massive target that doesn't move- so he's not as difficult as he could be, really.
But he is certainly climactic enough to feel like an exciting finish for the stage.

MOUNT DOOM

It's the Pokémon level! And this one has another batch of unique and sometimes annoying enemies to deal with. Sableyes will teleport to your location when you pass by them, and alternate which side they slice at you from- patience is key to dealing with them.

Meanwhile, swarms of Golbats while converge on you all at once.  I have to say, I LOVE how the enemies in this stage burst into Pokeballs. It's SO much fun to swipe them all away with a well-timed slash, watching all those Pokeballs fall away.

Altaria fires a stream of bullets roughly towards you, and is surprisingly tanky for such a cute bird. 
The only real platforming hazard in this stage are regularly falling rocks, which are pretty self-explanatory since they fall in a regular rhythm.

The boss is Rayquaza. It's completely stationary, but its real tactic is summoning all four forms of Deoxys to make your life miserable. Normal Forme slowly floats in and shoots energy balls, Speed Forme bounces across the screen willy nilly, Defense Forme just sits on its ass and clogs up the elevators you need to use to hit him... and he summons these two at a time, constantly. It's as hectic as it sounds.

Rayquaza itself isn't defenseless, though- every so often, it'll charge up a super move, which can only be averted by smacking it. The entire fight is a constant juggling game of destroying the minions before they can cause trouble, while trying to deal as much damage to the big serpent as you can.

It's a tense fight to be sure, but also one of the most complex ones in the game, and better for it.

RIVAL ROUND 1

After you beat three of the main stages, you get dropped back into the hub... but with a twist! Your rival, an inverted-color version of you, appears, ready to smack you around. Thankfully, he doesn't have a sword yet, and he is CRIPPLINGLY weak to your own. Keeping your distance and blasting away will deal with him effectively enough.

He'll be back, though... Oh boy, he'll be back.

SAND WILDERNESS

Mega Man Zero 2 reference, HELL YEAH. Anyway, this level has another batch of new foes to deal with... and some are more aggravating than others. These shield guys were pretty annoying... until I found out that I could slash the shields away. Then they were fun.

These big cannons are just sitting ducks for your weapons. Also, can I gush over the fact that these enemies have different death animations for being shot and slashed? It's SO cool the way you can just slash the muzzles off these guns.

Simple guys that shoot forward and jetpack robots round out the enemy set in this stage, and they get put in some nasty configurations to knock you around.

I mean, look at this bit right here with the shield guy in your way, while the jetpack guy takes potshots... and the whole stage is full of moments like this. Again, on point enemy placement that makes you stop and think for a second instead of just blindly facetanking everything.
Out of the initial six, this is my favorite level. It's got it all- great enemy placement and variety, and enough challenge to make it memorable.

The boss of this stage is, of all people, X himself, and he's packing heat. Storm Tornado, buster shots, Soul Body from MMX5... that one in particular is interesting to dodge given it travels in a straight line directly towards you, and there's five shots of it to deal with.

And- X, that's not what Shotgun Ice does. Anyway, he moves from side to side a lot, but occasionally stops in the middle to use Storm Tornado, so you can't count on him always moving the same way. Like most bosses that move horizontally, it's easy to smack him with your sword on the way back- but getting too close can get you smacked instead. And the entire time, a MIDI version of X vs Zero is playing to pump it up even further.
This guy's probably my favorite boss in the initial 6, the flow of dodging around his moves and returning fire is some of the best action in the game.

THE MOON

Hell yeah, it's the Ducktales music. As befitting a level in space, this stage has low gravity, and you'll need it to make some of these jumps, complete with falling platforms. Don't fall!

The enemies are pretty tanky here, though. The Pinkies take a lot of punishment, and Pain Elementals... function exactly how they do in Doom 2, spewing Lost Souls regularly and spawning 3 more upon death, to slightly aggravating results. If you time it right, though, you can slice away all three of the spawned Lost Souls at once- and you should, lest they spawn one in an inconvenient spot.

Once you get inside the station, there are spikes all around, but thankfully they're not too tough to deal with. This level is generally a bit less flex-worthy with its assets than the rest of the main 6, which is a bit of a shame- it's probably the weakest of the initial set.

The boss, however, is one of the tougher ones- MechaHitler over here will walk around, occasionally stopping to unleash some storms of bullets- that can block your own, as well. Thankfully, they get destroyed when you do that, so you can carve yourself a safe spot in his curtain of projectiles.
Though, he has a frustrating habit of comboing you to death if you get inside him, so don't do that. The wide room helps you get around him a bit more effectively, though.

As he loses health, he'll also lose the armor- though, I didn't notice if this changes up his pattern any. Regardless, put him down (again) and you'll win the day. A great boss that rescues a kind of mediocre stage.
(I do love how his theme is Sturm's from Advance Wars- oddly fitting.)

PLTFRM6

This stage is unique, as it's the only one that's not entirely horizontal- there's some vertical scrolling here, varying up the gameplay quite a bit from the usual. Despite this, there's very few blind leaps to be found- and it's very obvious where you need to go most of the time. The enemies just move back and forth- they're not worth talking about, really. (I do love the BOING sound effect they make when they die, though.)

What IS worth talking about, is this segment. Moving platforms all in a row, slipping past crosses of spikes, all while dinosaurs fly around and get in your way... this is a nice change from the rest of the game- I do wish more levels had vertical scrolling in them, if it meant we got bits like this, but oh well.

There's also these vines that you can chop down (though they'll regrow). They're not really used in any meaningful ways, just a fun thing to smash out of your way. Again, this level doesn't feel like it explores its gimmicks enough, mostly due to its short length- a rarity in this game.

The boss that I have no idea what it's supposed to be, is my least favorite boss out of the main 6. She runs around and jumps, and only has two moves. Throwing bombs around to explode after a few seconds, and a whole stream of them heading your way. It's the frustratingly erratic pattern here that gets on my nerves- it's entirely random what she'll do, so you can either play keep-away or get in close and risk damage.
Overall, this stage is pretty weak despite it's unique aspects- it's too short to make much use of its assets, and the boss is just aggravating.

RIVAL- ROUND 2

Round 2 of the rival fights commences after you defeat the main six bosses, and he's packing a sword this time. Still not terribly difficult... but after that, the fortress stage opens up, and the real game begins.

ARCTIC CAVERNS

Oh boy, it's the ice level... and i have ISSUES with this stage. The Ninja Gaiden music is a portent of frustration to come. Not with the actual level design itself, it's fine for the most part. The big new gimmck are these icicles that fall when you get underneath them, forcing some tight dodges to get through- and they're fun to charge past.

This level's also a huge monster mash of a bunch of the enemies from previous stages, all back to get in your way. And in your fully powered-up state, it's fun to just tear through all of them. So what's the issue here?

What makes this level frustrating? The ice physics. The ice physics are HORRENDOUS in this game, in a way I've never seen before. Momentum speeding up when you move is fine, that's nothing new. But there's a bizarre glitch with this level. Namely, if you land on ice... you slide BACKWARDS from the direction you're facing.
I've NEVER seen anything like this with an ice level, and it makes platforming absurdly punishing when you can slide right into spikes, or off a platform, etc. It's consistent, so once you get used to it it's not TOO bad... but still.

At the very least, though, there is some mercy. These collapsing ice pillars don't make you slide- if they did, this level would be the most rage-inducing thing ever. Definitely the worst level in the entire game, all because of those awful physics. Its relative shortness, underlying good bones in the level design, and consistency are the only things keeping it from being unsalvageable.

The boss of this stage is pretty easy, thankfully. SpongeBob and Patrick run around back and forth, with SpongeBob occsasionally stopping to spew projectiles while Patrick bounces around. They have separate health pools, so if you focus on one, you can clear out more room for yourself.

SpongeBob has two moves, and the laser one you have to watch out for. The rocks are pathetic and can barely hit you. Patrick, though, once he gets below a certain health threshold, will start raining icicles from the ceiling- THAT you have to worry about.

Honestly, these guys go down so quickly I'm not even sure if Patrick has any other attacks. I would call this an anti-climax, but if this stage had a brutal boss at the end of it, I think I would have ragequit this game.

THE BARRACKS

Now this, this is a step up in difficulty, but in the right way. No annoying movement physics, just raw challenge and an army in your way. The other half of the unique foes that weren't in the last stage all show up in spades here, along with a couple unique hazards.

Like these crushers. Conveniently, the black space in the background tells you how far down they go, so you're never in any danger of getting blindsided by them- very considerate.

The other major obstacle are these spiked walls that you have to break down, and the game LOVES putting tanky foes that spew projectiles behind them to trip you up. It's a very creative use of such an obstacle...

Culminating in this bit where you have like three of them in a row in front of a cannon and Hammer Brother, forcing you to hurry up and chop them down while dodging the whole time. It's good stuff.

The level ends off on this gauntlet of crushers that raise and lower in different intervals- requiring a fair bit of precision to slip through. This is a great, challenging stage, made better by a choice MIDI selection from Mega Man 9.

If you thought the boss of the last stage was too easy, well, DORA THE FUCKING EXPLORER is gonna come and blow you away. Her attack where she swoops down is her EASIEST one to dodge, and the prime opportunity to get some damage in on her. But her other attacks, like this bomb barrage, are tense to deal with- only the explosions hurt you, thankfully.

Her last move is this Machinegun attack, which tracks where you are and follows you all around. Again, the bullets' impact is the only hitbox, but i have to point out how COOL this looks with the yellow lines of bullets dynamically tracing across. This boss is one where you REALLY have to start using the aimed bullets, since she's out of reach most of the time. It's hectic, but very fun. Great stage with a nice variety of challenges, and a great palate cleanser after the Arctic Caverns' misery.

H.F.I.L.

Welcome to the hardest level in the game, bar none. It's a boss rush of all six main stage bosses plus the intro boss, all with altered arenas to make them tougher (in theory for some of them) with mini-gauntlets of their respective levels' hazards in between 'em. Buckle up for a long ride.
This stage has BY FAR the hardest health upgrade to obtain, surrounded by exploding ? Blocks that you have to CAREFULLY get on top of, then negotiate your way through while they're all exploding around you. I probably died more to this part than any other platforming challenge in the game...

Thankfully, Mario doesn't have much different about him other than his arenas' block configuration. Still an easy boss, especially now that you're powered up.

The Pltform6 segment has a new way to use the vines, to chop off part of them then stand on top to reach a high ledge. Neat.

The boss, though, is actually made easier by the flat arena, since you can more easily keep your distance and not get stuck.

The Mount Doom segment has a LOT of Sableyes teleporting all around- approach calmly to only aggro one at a time, and you'll win the day.

Rayquaza has springs instead of the elevators, and this actually makes him easier to bounce up and slash him- or you can just aim upwards with your bullets. Take your pick.

The Moon segment turns Pinkies into hazards with how small their roaming space is- those tiny ledges are your only safe footing, and you still have a Pain Elemental to deal with. A very short segment, but one that can get painful if you let it get out of hand.

MechaHitler is fought in a much smaller room, which makes him a LOT harder to deal with. Don't get caught inside his hitbox!

The Broken Bridge segment is a long sequence of single-tile platforms above a pit, with enemies every step of the way. Make sure to kill them when you're at a safe distance, because one wrong move could get you knocked back into instant death.

Chaos' arena isn't much different other than the platforms being slightly lower, making some of his attacks harder to dodge. He's still just as big of a target as before.

The Sand Wilderness segment is a long stretch with a moving platform, while jetpack guys take potshots at you. It's tense, mostly because of the lack of room for error.

X is only more difficult thanks to this stupid pit in his room, so you can't simply dodge Shotgun Ice in the center like you could before. It forces you into more dangerous positions more often, which is good for a rematch.

The last real platforming segment is a victory lap- tearing your way through armies of the Kung Fu mooks, watching them all fly away, is so cool.

And Urban Champion actually being a tense clash thanks to the crushing wall coming down is an excellent capper of the level.
As if it wasn't obvious, I love, love, love this stage. The aesthetics are on point with the Giygas static in the background, like this is some sort of glitched out hellscape simulation of the main stages, and all the hazards and remixed bosses are a great way to show how far you've come. And the music, a banging MIDI version of Pursuit- Cornered from Phoenix Wright, slaps. It's tough as nails, but as climactic as a penultimate boss rush stage should be.

THE MASTER OF EVIL!

HOOOOOOOOO BOY. The level isn't much to look at- it may look like it's just spikes everywhere, but the key is you can walk on top of them. Just don't touch the ones on the ceiling.

But now, you've made it to the end. The Master of Evil awaits, and his true form is...

BARNEY THE FUCKING DINOSAUR.
Yes, the final boss of this game is Barney, fought in a galactic void, while Touhou music plays in the background, and it's as epic as it sounds. He has EIGHT health bars, each corresponding to a different phase of attack. They start off relatively simple, from just walking back and forth with an occasional jump,

To hovering all around while meteors rain down on your head...

But they rapidly increase in complexity and difficulty. Just look at him summoning bursts of spiraling buzzsaws... that are deceptively hard to dodge, to be honest.

Or filling the ENTIRE SCREEN with lasers...

To a giant barrage of spears flying in at you from both sides...

To the grand finale, a proper bullet hell gauntlet with huge projectiles flooding in from every step of the way, with barely enough room to slip through. He'll switch positions on the sides of the screen, so you can't just camp him with the sword, you'll have to EARN your victory.

And when you do, he goes out in an Earthbound PSI effect extravaganza and a bevy of purple explosions.

This fight is epic. Every phase is a struggle to survive until you figure out the optimal strategy and blind spots in his attacks, then slicing him down as fast as possible. You do get health at some points during the fight, but it's still a tough as nails endurance test. It's insanely cool, and a fittingly brutal challenge to end the game with.

Of course, that's not the end!

HARD MODE

Hard Mode still awaits! You get a hat for finishing each stage on this difficulty, and you'll see most of them in the upcoming screenshots. Hard mode is a fairly big step up- the levels have more spikes and nastier enemy placements, and the bosses have way more health and new attacks- and the bosses are the most interesting part of this equation.

Urban Champion, for example, has a new attack where he drops explosive flowerpots from the ceiling... it's not that much harder to dodge than the rest of his stuff, to be honest.

Mario himself is made significantly more dangerous by the fact that Luigi can now spin along the ground, thus making floor space at a premium whenever Mario uses that.

Chaos summons this giant energy ball that follows you wherever you go, which is a fairly difficult thing to dodge in an arena like this.

Rayquaza will claw down both sides of the screen where the elevators are, though I only saw him use it once.

The rival fights will actually have him drop HEALTH ITEMS for him to pick up- other than that, he's pretty much the same. Round 2 can be a real pain in the neck because of HOW MUCH extra health he gets back, plus his tendency to turn around and smack you with his sword.

X has by FAR the most annoying- he'll use a Sub-Tank in the middle of the fight, just giving him a ton of extra health. Jerk. At least he doesn't do this in the boss rush, because that would be SUPER unfair.

Hitler has this one move where he shoots bullets in a swastika pattern before they home in you- clever, heh.

The boss of Pltform6, as if she wasn't annoying enough, gets a move where she summons in a car that flies over you and tosses down exploding gasoline cans. FUN.

I have no idea if SpongeBob and Patrick have a new attack, they go down too quickly for me to notice.
Dora, though, has a doozy of a missile barrage, where they'll split into three missiles when they hit a wall! Until they turn yellow, then they just explode. Still one of the hardest attacks to dodge consistently.

The Master of Evil gets the biggest upgrade, though. He gets FOUR MORE PHASES tacked on to the end of his fight, where he uses Dora's missile attack for one...

Summons giant spears from the top and bottom of the screen, with barely and space to slip between them...

And the last is a full-on Touhou Survival Spellcard, with multiple barrages of bullets to dodge. Better save your health! This part especially is a bit of a nightmare, with the buzzsaws appearing where you're standing and spiraling outward. The only consistent way I could dodge this was to move around in a counterclockwise circle while jumping- once you get the rhythm down, it's not too difficult.

The last phase, though... hoo boy. Each of these drills will fire bullets in a 5-way spread, and getting the rhythm down to dodge them is not easy. But once you finally do, once that monster of a health bar finally ticks down to 1...

You get to deliver the final blow yourself, and it's well worth all the hell you had go to to beat him.
At least you get Kamina Shades for beating his ass.
Though, back in the hub, a new teleporter opens up for 100%ing everything else, and... oh boy. Here we go.

THE TRUE FINAL BOSS- ROUND 3, WINNER TAKES ALL

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY... this fight. Oh god this fight. Your rival's back for round 3, and he's using his DANGEROUS FORBIDDEN TECHNIQUE to even the odds.
On the one hand, he doesn't summon health anymore. On the other hand, he has a HUGE health bar now. Even with that ticking down over time, he's still powerful enough to kill you before that even becomes an issue. And that's not getting into his pattern... or should I say, lack of one.

He is a random son of a bitch. I think there's certain things like the fact that he can only slash every so often, but so many times he'd turn around instantly when I hit the ground and slash at me, then run into me for MORE damage. The fact that his bullets and slashes are bigger than yours makes everything so much worse, especially since his slashes travel farther!
But you can't simply play keep away- he WILL win such a contest, with his absurd health pool. You need to be getting hits in constantly, while not taking too much damage yourself. But he's on the move constantly, throwing out bullets in just the right way to catch you, slashing to trip you up on the way down, doing a double jump at absurd timings to catch you if you get over him, and a million other ways to end your attempt.
And I swear, slashing him with the sword just makes him counterattack- or it seems like that, anyway. I have no idea how this guy works.
With time, effort, and a lot of practice, you can get into a groove, but this fight is still miles above everything else in the game in terms of sheer punishment, and I'm not sure if it's in a good way. I'm glad I beat it... but I don't think I'd try that again.

However! You do get a reward for finally besting him. Namely, you get to use his Super Mode for yourself, with all the giant projectiles and boosted health.
Not that there's much to do with it at this point, but still. It is cool. Time Attack records are disabled with it on, though, so it's just there for bragging rights.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Generic Man is one of my favorite indie games around. It's a concentrated hit of nostalgia for me, but even outside of that, it's an extremely polished and full-featured platformer that punches way above its weight class for being so (deliberately) constrained. The levels are rock-solid (for the most part, ARCTIC CAVERNS), the bosses are excellent, the unlockables are so much fun to get, and the entire thing just exudes joy.
I highly recommend this game- it's so obscure that, unless I missed one, nobody has played it on YouTube yet as far as i'm aware. Maybe that's because of its name making it hard to search for, maybe it's just obscure. Whatever the case is- if you like platformers or are nostalgic for the 2000s, give this game a spin. It's excellent.

GAME LINK:
https://gamejolt.com/games/generic-man/10519