"A new, challenging top-down run 'n' gun set in a parody world where the USSR won the Cold War!"

Nah, better make a game where nazi Germany won the WW2.
Or maybe the chairman Mao reached the superpower state and won everything.
It's a parody after all, nothing really bad is associated with it. /* scarcasm */

Good luck with your campaign.

The box art looks great! 😃👍

You can download the demo (for Genesis / Mega drive) here: https://retrosumus.com/sovietborgs-demo/
The Genesis version is the base build.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated. This is a work in progress, and if the community and backers want changes to improve the game, we’re open to suggestions.

Thanks for your comments!

Is a DOS demo in the plans?

vstrakh wrote on 2025-06-27, 07:56:

"A new, challenging top-down run 'n' gun set in a parody world where the USSR won the Cold War!" […]
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"A new, challenging top-down run 'n' gun set in a parody world where the USSR won the Cold War!"

Nah, better make a game where nazi Germany won the WW2.
Or maybe the chairman Mao reached the superpower state and won everything.
It's a parody after all, nothing really bad is associated with it. /* scarcasm */

To be charitable, maybe that's the most "retro" thing about this game: play-acting like we're in that long-ago world where people's worldviews were still easily distinguishable from parody, and where terminally-online edgelordism wasn't a core component of personal identity. 😉

VileR wrote on 2025-06-27, 19:59:

To be charitable, maybe that's the most "retro" thing about this game:

To be "charming retro" that needs to be a thing of the past. Trialed, judged and held accountable.
Soviets never were. And right this moment the self-proclaimed "heir" of the soviets is actively seeking to destroy your ways of life as you know it, even if you refuse to admit it.
And you'd just praise the graphics and the packaging of the fantasy where the same soviets not just went dormant but actually achieved what they're trying to do in reality...

Cyberdyne wrote on 2025-06-27, 16:54:

Is a DOS demo in the plans?

Maybe in the future, just before launch, but I'm afraid the campaign won't be successful.

Sorry for the comments about the USSR and Russia. Our intention was not to offend anyone. We just wanted to capture the vibe of old movies like Rocky IV and do something a bit different.
Clearly, now is not the right time to release a game with this kind of theme. Apologies to anyone we may have ofended.

LocoMJ wrote on 2025-06-28, 07:57:

Maybe in the future, just before launch, but I'm afraid the campaign won't be successful. […]
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Cyberdyne wrote on 2025-06-27, 16:54:

Is a DOS demo in the plans?

Maybe in the future, just before launch, but I'm afraid the campaign won't be successful.

Sorry for the comments about the USSR and Russia. Our intention was not to offend anyone. We just wanted to capture the vibe of old movies like Rocky IV and do something a bit different.
Clearly, now is not the right time to release a game with this kind of theme. Apologies to anyone we may have ofended.

That's too bad. The game really looked cool with an impressive art style. But I totally get that this gives people an uneasy feeling now that drones are currently actually trying to re-establish the old Soviet order in Ukraine.

Oh well. Personally, I also feel a little torn.
On the one hand, the timing may not be the best, but on the other hand, humor means that you're laughing, anyway.
And parodies in general are often met with hostility these days.
And the hurt feelings in turn build walls that can't be overcome anymore, eventually.
This is quite different to the 90s, in which it was still common to poke fun in each others, make friendly insults and laugh about ourselves.
Ok, it sounds a bit drastic to say or hear that if you're watching the daily news about war at your front door.
But once you (or we) loose (y)our humor, optimism and ability to forgive you're (we're) having a hard time to recover, too.
About the Soviet theme..
I played on the side of the "bad guys" in MiG-29 Fulcrum flight sim in early-mid 90s, just shortly after coldwar had ended.
I didn't know at the time that in real life my country had gotten such MiGs from ex-GDR just about same time.

Jo22 wrote on 2025-06-28, 09:08:

On the one hand, the timing may not be the best, but on the other hand, humor means that you're laughing, anyway.
And parodies in general are often met with hostility these days.
And the hurt feelings in turn build walls that can't be overcome anymore, eventually.

Soviets: We're laughing as we kill ya, because the humor, you know. And as we flood the Europe with the refugees from Middle East because EU won't comply with our wishes and we support the dictator that bombs its population, markets and hospitals with soviet's airplanes. And as we destroy your precious USA economy because we needed the Orange One in the office to make USA abstain from upholding the international law and assist their allies. And as we jam your GPS so your planes won't fly normally in Baltic, burn your power boxes and comms relays, poison the water treatment plants. As we train and supply the terrorist organizations all around the world, and maybe unleash them on a country on October 7 in exceptionally atrocious killing spree.

You can talk about hurt feelings later, when the perpetrator has recognized its wrongdoing. Soviets and russia never did, never stopped. They continue to be the cancer of the world. You do want the walls now if you want to survive. Because the only time soviets won't cause any issues is when they have to survive on humanitarian aid. The "Bush legs" if you know.

Forgiveness may only come after the justice. Until then it's not a parody. It's romanticizing and normalizing. And normalizing the "great soviet culture" serves only one purpose - make them appear as something you can deal with, "after all they're people, the humor and smile". And you weaken your defenses, you let them in, and they destroy your life and rewrite history books.

Uh, have anyone ever seen the game trailer? It is offensive, yes, but for the opposite reasons.

I'm up for a DOS copy. Looks & sounds quality to me. The music is great. Nice touch with the red diskettes. This is art folks. Stop making it political. Many games touch upon all sorts of political upheavals and war where you can play both sides. If art stopped every time someone disagreed with it, nothing would be made. If you're offended by this, holy crap, don't even get close to the ever popular alternate history genre.

We never intended to offend anyone with SovietBorgs. If any content in the game or trailer made someone feel uncomfortable, we sincerely apologize.

This is the first chapter of the pocketbook that will be included with the game.

We've extended the campaign to two months to cover the summer and hopefully spark more interest in the community.
Since the game is still in its demo phase, everything —including the pixel art— is subject to change in order to make it a better experience. We’re aware that some aspects of the game can be improved, and if the campaign is successful, we’ll do everything we can to turn SovietBorgs into a great arcade title.

Any feedback is truly appreciated

liqmat wrote on 2025-06-29, 13:43:

If you're offended by this, holy crap, don't even get close to the ever popular alternate history genre.

Alternate history. History.
Right now the "soviets" are not history, they're a scourge. Ongoing rot.
Showing them as charming or useful is just witewashing their real nature, makes you an unwitting supporter, a flag-bearer for soviets.
Already you protect the holy sovietness. "Don't touch the Soviets, you're too politicized".

Is there any real need in naming those borgs "soviet"? Are soviets criticized in the game, or it shows those "sovietborgs" a heroes saving the day?

It's a foolish position to ignore the real threat. They are your enemy, they declare you their enemy on their state TV.
They entertain the idea of nuking you all into radioactive ash on a state TV.

Alternate history is nice, but we do not have current problems with nazis from Germany. But europe has a real problem with deranged nuclear soviet nazis from russia. Anithing that legimitizes that mafia state is not good for the world.

vstrakh wrote on 2025-06-30, 08:54:

Right now the "soviets" are not history, they're a scourge. Ongoing rot.
[...]
Is there any real need in naming those borgs "soviet"?

Is there any real need in calling modern Russia "soviet"?

Sure, there *is* certain connection, but there's also similar connection with the Russian Empire, and even the pre-Empire Tsardom.

Are soviets criticized in the game, or it shows those "sovietborgs" a heroes saving the day?

I can only judge from the trailer:

"The Sovietborgs will free you... from your freedom"

Seems like criticism to me...

They entertain the idea of nuking you all into radioactive ash on a state TV.

This reminded me about communist propaganda from the Cold War times - especially the early period - where the USA leaders were constantly portrayed as some maniacs, only dreaming about nuclear war.

Anyway, the point is:
LET THE FREE MARKET WORK.
The best part of democracy is: VOTING WITH THE WALLET.

I don't understand why we're having this drama over a fictitious video game...

Grzyb wrote on 2025-06-30, 11:37:

Is there any real need in calling modern Russia "soviet"?

They always claim the soviet legacy as their own. They rely on your perception of them being "the great culture" as the defense mechanism.
So yes, you must maintain those words and the image connected. You must not fall to the illusion they aren't.

Grzyb wrote on 2025-06-30, 11:37:

Anyway, the point is:
LET THE FREE MARKET WORK.
The best part of democracy is: VOTING WITH THE WALLET.

If only their "wallet voting" affected their wallet alone...

The free market is not ready to withstand the tailored abuse, and the recent events show that clearly.
People have no habits of keeping the mental hygiene. They watch nice pictures and movies, they build their image of the world on that fantasy constructed by the enemy media. Then they go and vote for shit that destroys them, because it did appear nicely in the "trailers", and they just don't care about the consequences past just one immediate step. And the wrong man at the wrong position costs millions of lives elsewhere.