The strength of the game lies in this: “Shadowrun Returns” is a great example of how to combine old-style gaming themes with modern sensibilities.

Also intact are the standard RPG mainstays like inventory management, character progression, and dialogue trees though these are less blasts from the pasts than they are ever-present genre mechanics that have simply been given the retro touch. “Shadowrun Returns” cuts a similar profile to those games, being an isometric RPG played on a grid. The “Shadowrun” series began as a tabletop pen & paper role playing game, but most gamers probably recognize it from the SNES and Genesis console RPGs released in the ‘90s.

Most of the time, this conversation is just nostalgia, but “Shadowrun Returns” from developer Harebrained Schemes offers a tantalizing taste of the past mixed with a bit of modernity to make you think that yes, some things may have been better back then. It’s always popular to talk about how games were supposedly better back in the old days: stories were stronger, gameplay was more complex, the difficulty was more unforgiving, etc.

Price: $19.99 (PC and Mac, includes mod support), $9.99 (iOS and Android) Where to get it: Steam (for PC and Mac), App Store (for iOS tablets), Google Play (for Android tablets)

Shadowrun Returns for mac download