Just to preface, I'm approximately 50 hours into UFO 50. I have played 35 of the 50 games in chronological order and fully completed 18 of them. A full completion is referred to as a 'cherry' in this game.

This game is incomprehensibly ambitious and I still can't wrap my head around how this was ever made and released at such an inexpensive price point. There really are 50(!) video games in this pack, each of which could have been released for $5 and nobody would bat an eye. Of course, some are better than others but there is not a single one that I've played that could be seen as being objectively bad.

As you work your way through this fictitious developer's chronology, you'll notice a marked increase in video game complexity and scope, which makes me so much more excited to try out the remaining 15 games. Many of the earlier, more simplistic games took me 1.5-2 hours for a cherry completion but the newer RPGs, puzzle games, strategy games, metroidvanias, and even an immersive sim-like are taking me upwards of 5 hours per game to cherry.

One tangential complaint I have is this game's handling of achievements, it should have shipped with 100-150 achievements with 2-3 per game to meet the gift, gold, and cherry requirements. The current achievements are extremely unrewarding and frankly dull.

I believe UFO 50 is a must-own for any gamer who even remotely enjoys the NES/SNES era of video games, and for those who don't, this is an excellent introduction and what may become an eventual deep dive into what made these games so iconic. Almost all of these games, if released in the 80s, would be talked about like Mario and Zelda are today. A tremendous accomplishment from Mossmouth.