RETRO
Image: EA Arcade Classics (Colecovision)
RETRO HOMEBREW GAMES: MAKING NEW FOR THE OLD There has been a recent spike in interest of retro gaming among young and old gamers alike, and game developers are aware of that. With the recent release of Killer Instinct on Xbox One along with the up and coming Strider on PS3/PS4/360/ One in early 2014 as well as Thief due sometime this year, the proof is in the pudding. But let us spin things around and delve more in to homebrew games that people have recently made and are still making for older consoles. Dedicated fans of retro gaming have gone that next step to learn to code
wind for the SEGA Dreamcast which came out in April last year physically as a regular and limited edition release. Sturmwind is a side-scrolling shooter along the likes of R-Type or Darius with amazing graphics and sound. The game was in development since 1997 and originally was going to be an Atari Jaguar game with the moniker ‘Native’ although that ended up being just a one-level demo on a CD. Another recent release which was from a Kickstarter campaign. The Super 4-in-1 Multicart for the Super Nintendo (NTSC release) was made
for the ZX Spectrum in which you collect money to advance to the next level (ala Mighty BombJack). Mazezam Challenge is a puzzle game similar to the block moving puzzle game Sokoban which was out on everything. Skipp & Friends is a game resembling The Lost Vikings in which you and your friends have different abilities which are needed to get through each level and N-Warp Daikusen which is a fighting game, and notable is the first ever SNES game to utilise not one but two Multitaps bringing in 8 player gameplay.
“..THE SAME WAY SNES GAMES WERE PACKAGED BACK IN THE DAY.” the same way developers have developed games back in the 80’s and 90’s. There are dozens of homebrew games made but here are just some of the many out there. The first cab off the rank is Sturm-
in a limited supply packaged the same way SNES games were packaged back in the day. The pack contains 4 independently developed games: UWOL: Quest for Money which is a homebrew release
Tony Cruise of Electric Adventures specialises in making games for the Colecovision console and the MSX Computer which was more popular in Japan. The latest release is the EA Classics multi release.