Introduction

Team17 doesn’t need to prove much in the gaming world. Created in the 1990s, Team17 has stood as one of the older running gaming developers, having developed and produced some pretty popular titles. Their more recent works with their names on it are titles like Date Everything (which they published and we reviewed here), Golf with Friends 2, and the multitude of Worms games that I love playing from time to time. Their rise to fame though came from a series that spawned several games dubbed Alien Breed. First releasing on the Amiga, Alien Breed would hop around numerous platforms and the last game, Alien Breed 3: Descent, was on Xbox 360 back in 2010, so yeah, a series that is also as old as I am. For their 35th anniversary, Commodore has decided to grace us retro gamers with a collection of some of their more popular Alien Breed games and guess what? We got a review copy here at SunsetNerdVerse! Is this retro collection going to bring a tear to our eyes with fond memories or remind us how good we have it nowadays? We find out in our review of Alien Breed 35th Anniversary Collection for the PS5! Thank you Commodore for the review copy!

Gameplay

Alien Breed 35th Anniversary Collection is an assortment of games from the franchise so you’re going to see there are two types of games here. Alien Breed, Alien Breed: Special Edition, Alien Breed II: The Horror Continues, and Alien Breed: Tower Assault play like twin stick top down shooters. You control your various character who is smack dab in an alien overrun environment. Your goal is to reach specific areas and kill aliens while doing so, either alone or with a buddy via couch co-op.

Despite how old these four games are, they still play pretty well in 2026! The controls feel responsive and the gameplay loop is simple but always fun. Even if you play alone, it’s a lot of fun just mowing down aliens big and small with your arsenal of weapons. I think of the six games in Alien Breed 35th Anniversary Collection, these are the most timeless and easiest to play.

The last two games, Alien Breed 3D and The Killing Grounds, is where my opinions of the series would change quite a bit. Clearly these games are trying to be DOOM-like and…they just don’t have that same level of polish. I won’t say they aren’t fun DOOM clones, running around FPS mode and blasting aliens like a killing machine is fun, but compared to the other four games…these two just feel old and dated. I read online that when Alien Breed 3D released it was met with a lot of fanfare and I could see why, but in 2026, the original games hold up better I feel than these.

Aside from just these six games you get some extra goodies too to play around with. There are demo versions of the 3D games, which is kind of cool to see how the games formed and shaped in comparison to the final product. There’s also an extra mode that allows you to explore the space station and learn more about each Alien Breed game with interviews and behind the scenes! As a nerd and geek, I love when games offer extras like this…it’s akin to the special features on Blu-Rays and DVDs where you get commentary or behind the scenes. Let me know in the comments that I’m not the only one who loves those things.

Graphics

I’m not going to sit here and lie to you readers and say Alien Breed 35th Anniversary Collection looks amazing. While you can tweak a ton of settings to change the presentation of each game and stretch and scale the games to look better, these are still 35 year old games that were released on the Amiga. While the twin stick shooter games look a little less painful on the eyes, as they are crisped up and have some enhancements made to be visually a tad more appealing, the ones that play like DOOM games, Alien Breed 3D and The Killing Grounds, look…very old. Again, I don’t want to sit here and gripe on their visual style when all these games date back to one of the oldest systems, but you do need to know what to expect. You are going to have to turn off your modern gaming mindset and remember that old games look old, as silly as that comes across. I think there’s a charm to how most of the games look in Alien Breed 35th Anniversary Collection and the visual styling is perfect for that occasional nostalgic trip when games were a lot simpler, just don’t expect any of the games to have been enhanced or remade.

Sound

Not much to say about the sound in this collection. Music, when it’s there, is solid and gets you into the alien killing mood. Aside from that though there’s no voice acting or anything much else. I give Commodore credit for keeping Alien Breed 35th Anniversary Collection pretty close to the original games and not trying to add anything that doesn’t need to be there.

Story

The Alien Breed franchise has always had a pretty simple story formula. People are sent to investigate a ship or location, it’s filled with aliens, they need to survive or escape. Even in the original Alien Breed games, most of the story is delivered through static text and is really only meant to set up the scenario you’re about to enter. Personally, I’m sure die-hard fans of Alien Breed games can find every detail of these games and make more detailed plots, but for what is offered the stories are fine and give the players enough of a reason to want to survive.

Overall Impression

Alien Breed 35th Anniversary Collection is an absolute assortment of nostalgia on a modern day gaming console. Fans of this franchise will be overjoyed to get to replay their favorites of the Alien Breed franchise without having to dust off their Amiga. Newcomers, that might be a bit of a harder sell, as these games are certainly old and dated so your level of enjoyment will come from how much you appreciate retro gaming or don’t. With six games, plenty of extras, and a pretty nice cost, Alien Breed 35th Anniversary Collection is easy to say it’s worth it…even if quite dated.

Conclusion

I commend Commodore for releasing the Alien Breed 35th Anniversary Collection, as this is a retro collection I thought I’d never see happen. While the games within are fun and hold fond memories for me and I’m sure hundreds of others out there, I can’t deny these are just that…old games. Still, I think those who buy Alien Breed 35th Anniversary Collection already know what they are getting into, or maybe some are just on the fence about hitting purchase. If you love the Alien Breed franchise and want to see where it all started in its purest form, outside of dusting off an old Amiga, then Alien Breed 35th Anniversary Collection is for you and should be purchased. This is a retro series so don’t go in expecting anything on the higher end, that is all I’m saying.