Two retro arcade remakes are free today on the Epic Games Store

Two more games have become free on the Epic Games Store, and you may want to take note if you’re a fan of old-school arcades. Centipede: Recharged and Black Widow: Recharged aren’t so much remakes of the 1980s originals, as much as they a reimagining of each. Both games have been remade from the ground up but include features absent in their predecessors. They’re both pretty cool-looking games, and it makes me hope we can see more arcade classics go free on the Epic Games Store.

Arcades of old thrived on simple core gameplay loops, and Atari’s Centipede and Black Widow were not the exception. In Centipede: Recharged, you play as a little, uh, well a little thing (a tank?) that shoots up. Moving around on a flat field, you fire away at oncoming bugs and fight off the titular centipede itself. The crux was that the centipede would grow longer over time, until it became too tough to fight and you’d lose. Arcade games, right? Black Widow: Recharged is a twin-stick shooter where you play a black widow spider that blasts bugs entering your web.

The classic gameplay is modernized in the Recharged variants, and each one comes with new features. Both games include new abilities, such as the charged blast in Black Widow and the power-ups in Centipede. The games also come with a local co-op mode, updated controls, leaderboards, and a synthed-up soundtrack by Megan McDuffee.

No school like old school

I grew up on arcade games of yore, so it’s neat to see a couple remakes go free on the Epic Games Store. They’re rudimentary, sure, but sometimes that simplicity hits the right spot when dealing with the chaos of real life. Perhaps a break from Elden Ring and an embrace of bleep-bloops sounds enticing for some.

Epic is also giving away a Slayer Kit for Dauntless. It comes with a “bundle of supplies” and a three-day VIP club pass, as well as currencies. If you’re smacking away at beasts in this Monster Hunter-inspired game, the kit is available to you until March 10.

Next week, Cities Skylines is going for free.