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New Games On Old Systems

Bullet Club

Banned
Coco Banana
System:
Amiga
Developer: Johnny Acevedo, Luis Fernandez and Dani Hermans
Release Date: 2019
Price: €29.90
Website: https://www.facebook.com/Coco-Banana-1837408569897833/

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A platformer with 100 levels that was made with AMOS.



Powerglove Reloaded
System: Amiga, PC, C64
Developer: Lazycow
Release Date: Amiga 2019/PC Out Now
Price: Amiga Boxed + Digital -£15.00/PC Digital - Free, Name Your Price
Website: https://rgcddev.itch.io/powerglove-reloaded

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This was originally a 16k C64 game from 2013, that got a remaster for PC in 2015, that has now been ported to the Amiga.



Bonus game!

Gran Turismo 5 on the Mega Drive!

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It's a Russian hack of Fun Car Rally.

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Bullet Club

Banned
New old game!

https://cosmium.itch.io/quadron

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Developer finally releases cancelled ZX Spectrum game 30 years after he finished it

Never say never.

In 1988, Andy "Cosmium" Beale finished work on his ZX Spectrum game, but its publisher canned it at the last minute and it never came out.

Now, 30 years later, Beale has finally released the game he'd finished what felt like a lifetime ago and, he tells Eurogamer, it "seemed like an old friend!"

Beale's game is called Quadron, a "new" retro 48K ZX Spectrum arcade game that's currently available on itch.io priced $4.99. It draws inspiration from 1980s Williams classics such as Defender and Robotron: 2084, and features fast arcade-style gameplay, with loads of weapons, enemies, power-ups and collectables.



Beale wrote the game in the assembler development tool over the course of two years and completed it back in 1988. But then its publisher, London-based Palace Software (Barbarian and Cauldron), pulled the plug towards the end of development, and the game remained unreleased - along with its plans for an Amstrad CPC conversion.

"They were really excited about it when I first showed them my work in progress at their London office," Beale said of the now defunct Palace Software. "Then towards the end of development the producer came round and told me there wasn't such demand for this type of game anymore. I was hit pretty hard by that."

Beale moved on to working on the Amiga ("loved it"), and then, while at Populous developer Bullfrog in the mid-nineties, worked on the Mega Drive version of Theme Park and the Sega Saturn version of racing game HiOctane.

In 1997, Beale moved to sunnier climes in California to work at a startup. When his project was cancelled he moved to Universal Studios' video game division to work on games for the PlayStation. Eventually, Beale found himself at Namco's United States development house, working on the original Xbox, PS2 and GameCube versions of 2002 action game Dead to Rights. After that, burnt out by crunch and with a family to consider, Beale left the video game industry. He only returned in the last few months to work on Quadron after Retro Gamer magazine got in touch about a profile piece that ran earlier in 2018.

"I hadn't realised the retro scene had become such a big thing," he said. "I'm really happy that it has."

Beale didn't have access to the original source code for Quadron, but he did have a "snapshot" he played occasionally. So, to prepare for its release, he worked with the disassembly toolkit and his original notes to "kind of reverse engineer the whole thing".

"I also spotted some bugs and tweaks to address along the way and five months later, it's finally out!"

Now Quadron is available 30 years after he finished it, Beale said he's "really pleased".

"What I love about the 8-bit system is that you can do it all yourself," he said. "It's so refreshing from being a 'cog in the machine' programming big games on modern hardware.

"I enjoyed making these changes and revisiting the Z80. Seemed like an old friend! It seemed apt to release the game on its 30th anniversary too!"

Source: Eurogamer
 
Sega Master System: :lollipop_airplane: Flight of the Pigarus.

I've just spent three nights of this week playing a few short five-minute games of this indie shooter after work on my Wii (via an SMS emulator on a CRT and SNES gamepad):

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It's become like crack to me. It's an ultra short and sweet 2D shooter. But it completely shows off what the Sega Master System hardware is capable of, with smooth gameplay and nice graphics (don't let the smudgey screenshots above put you off, it looks pixel sharp and colourful IRL). It's gameplay candy. I love it. It's a fun 2D shooter with a slight Geometry Wars Retro Evolved level of addictiveness. And the title tune is really cool.

It's by the legendary Kagesan. Be a good gamer. Download it for free from here:

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Bullet Club

Banned
The C64 is on fire!

Mazinger Z
System:
C64
Developer: Carlos Zubieta, Errazking, Gryzor87, Marina-NT
Release Date: ???
Price: ???
Website: https://mazinger64.itch.io/mazinger64

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A game based on Go Nagai's 70s anime. A demo is out now at the website link above.




Steel Ranger
System:
C64
Developer: Covert Bitops
Release Date: Out Now
Price: $4.99
Website: http://www.psytronik.net/newsite/index.php/c64/95-steelranger

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A Metroidvania style run 'n' gun for the C64.




Digiloi
System: C64
Developer: Dr. TerrorZ
Release Date: Out Now
Price: Free
Website: https://csdb.dk/release/?id=173223

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A PETSCII action platform game. Check out those chunky graphics!

Game dev info blog




Killer Bees
System:
C64
Developer: Asura, Hokuto Force
Release Date: Out Now
Price: Free
Website: https://csdb.dk/release/index.php?id=173107

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A fast and frantic game where you control a swarm of bees. Killer bees!

 

stranno

Member
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Sim City for NES. Of course not a new game but it was never released until now so.. The prototype is fully playable tho there are some broken features, like land value (SNES donut trick doesnt work anymore).

https://gamehistory.org/simcity/

Get it here: https://archive.org/details/simcity-nes

It needs an emulator with MMC5 support, so it wont work on some low-end Libretro (RetroArch) core ports and it wont work on most (any?) flashcards. It works fine on emulators/cores like Nestopia or Mesen.
 
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Bullet Club

Banned
One of Black Mirror: Bandersnatch’s games is available to play right now

But only using an emulator

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Black Mirror: Bandersnatch is Netflix’s new choose-your-own-adventure interactive special and, in traditional Black Mirror fashion, is full of fun Easter eggs — including giving people the chance to play one of the games featured in the film.

Bandersnatch introduces viewers to a fictional game development studio, run by an ambitious leader who wants to turn the company, Tuckersoft, into the “Motown of games.” The goal is to produce a series of hit titles that will reward its developers with fame and fortune. One of those games, Nohzdyve, is available to play right now — but there’s a twist.

Nohzdyve was developed for the ZX Spectrum, a personal computer that was released in Britain in the early 1980s. It’s the same time period in which Bandersnatch takes place, and also a special time in gaming for Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker, who started out as a video games journalist. The only way to play Nohzdyve in 2018 is to download a ZX Spectrum emulator, and experience the game the way it was envisioned by Brooker and his writing staff. There are several emulators to choose from, including Fuse, Qaop, and Speccy.

Nohzdyve is described on Tuckersoft’s site as follows:

You’re falling fast through the sky! Collect eyeballs and avoid the buildings and other hazards. Perfection is key. This was truly a five star game by none other than Colin Ritman (played by Will Poulter).​
This isn’t the first time that Netflix has developed a game for one of its original series. There are multiple Stranger Things games available to play on browsers and mobile devices. Still, this is one of the first that will require an emulator.

Source: The Verge




A version that works on a ZX Spectrum is available here:

https://www.worldofspectrum.org/forums/discussion/comment/948932/#Comment_948932
 
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That 'Wolfing' game has a really self-aware graphical style and color palette. Looks like something that could've easily launched in the 1980s.
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus
This is a fantastic thread. Everybody ought to subscribe and keep this active with the latest indie games, homebrews and hacks.

Here is a quick sampling of recent videogames at the AtariAge store, featuring the newest hits for Atari 2600, 5200, 7800, Jaguar and ColecoVision. These include original titles, arcade translations and cancelled games that were brought back to life (Jaguar has a number of revivals like Total Carnage).

Many of these games push the hardware systems to new limits and equal, if not exceed, anything in the back catalog. Mappy gets my vote for 2018 Videogame of the Year, and many others below are worthy candidates as well.

This is the hottest scene in videogames today and has been for some time. Coupled with the digital indie community, this represents a true renaissance for the medium.


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H

hariseldon

Unconfirmed Member
Just want to thank everyone involved in this thread again. It is fucking magnificent, and honestly every time I open it I smile. The idea that wonderful people are out there making stuff for these old machines, pouring love and hard work into their passion, does a vitally important little bit to restore my faith in humanity.
 

Havoc2049

Member
I'm really looking forward to Last Strike and Crescent Memories for the Atari Jaguar. It looks like both will be coming out in 2019.

Last Strike is a shmup with different levels that pay homage to games like Super Cobra, Caverns of Mars, R-Type, etc. The game looks and sounds amazing.



Crescent Memories has three games on the cart set in the Trevor McFur in The Crescent Galaxy universe. Two of the games are mini-games, Odd Ball (Odd-It was the end boss in Trevor McFur), a pong game and Flappy McFur, one of those continuous gravity flyer games. The real meat of the game is Odd-It Will Be Watching, which is a crash landing/planet survival/crew management game and has all the characters from Trevor McFur in The Crescent Galaxy in the game.
 
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UltimaKilo

Gold Member
I don’t understand how these guys don’t get the crap sued out of them, or even make money from doing this. Hell, I’m not even really sure why you would do this!
 
I don't have a whole lot to add, but I had a lot of fun reading this thread. Thanks for making it Bullet Club Bullet Club !

It's really amazing to see how much modern day developers can take out of these old systems. That Portal demake and the Micro Mages games for the NES look really cool. I never knew so many people are still making games for old systems. It really makes you wonder what would have happened if these games were released at the peak of their systems.
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus



Old Towers looks fantastic. It appears to play a bit like Llamasoft's Goat Up with the tilting tower from Castlevania Bloodlines. I can't wait to see how this one turns out.

As to UltimaKilo's question about legality, this is really not an issue for the indie-retro gaming scene. We're talking about software titles that will sell in the hundreds, at most. Most developers are lucky to break even with their physical cartridge releases, and really do it out of love and respect for the classic systems. They will make most of their money on the digital editions for modern platforms.

Generally, most homebrew programmers are left alone to create their micro-hits on classic systems, and it's only on rare occasion where lawyers will step in. Princess Rescue on Atari 2600 is one such example, as it was an unlicensed version of Super Mario Bros. Of course, Nintendo should have been wiser and released that title on Switch, but that's not likely to happen. Oh, well.
 

lo zaffo

Member
I almost like retro gaming more than current generation gaming. Tools like sgdk for Megadrive, FOSS/opensource repos, are giving unprecedented energy to old old hardware, being MSX or Nec PC-88 and people are already here.
 

Havoc2049

Member
I don’t understand how these guys don’t get the crap sued out of them, or even make money from doing this. Hell, I’m not even really sure why you would do this!

Some of these games, like Bruce Lee Return of Fury, are given away for free.

I can't speak for every game in this thread, but I know that the ports of Defender of the Crown and Treasure Island Dizzy on the Jaguar were made with the concent of the IP holder.
 

Bullet Club

Banned

Bullet Club

Banned
Resident Evil on the Megadrive preview video:




Here's another video for Old Towers:



The Age of Heroes
System: Commodore 64
Developer: Achim Volkers, Trevor 'Smila' Storey
Release Date: March/April 2019
Price: $$$
Website: http://www.psytronik.net/newsite/index.php/c64/108-heroes

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A very nice looking Rastan style platform adventure game.

THE AGE OF HEROES will be released later this year and will be available to order from Psytronik Software in standard cassette format, a special clamshell tape edition (limited to 50 copies), budget C64 disk, premium+ C64 disk and as a special Collector's Edition box set featuring the game on disk, soundtrack CD, artwork poster, keyring, badge, stickers + more!

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Aliens: Neoplasma
System:
ZX Spectrum
Developer: Sanchez Crew
Release Date: Out Now
Price: Free
Website: https://zxonline.net/game/alien-game/

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A platform adventure set in the Aliens universe.




Tenebra Macabre
System:
C64/VIC-20/Plus4
Developer: Digital Monastery
Release Date: Out Now
Price: Free
Website: https://majikeyric.itch.io/tenebra-macabre

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Another cool looking platformer.



 
H

hariseldon

Unconfirmed Member
Lunark looks absolutely lovely! Getting a hint of Flashback there....
 
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Bullet Club

Banned



Game preview of Chaos Generator for the Commodore 64 (C64) developed by Icon64 and expected to be released in 2019 by Amicom Games/Psytronik Software.

Panzer
System:
C64
Developer: Sputnik World
Release Date: Out Now
Price: Free
Website:
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Lumberjack Platform
System: Amiga
Developer: Megastyle & Protovision
Release Date: Out Now
Price: Free
Website:
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Redneckerz

Those long posts don't cover that red neck boy
Bullet Club Bullet Club interesting that you mentioned Eon by TBL, really a great story telling demo for regular Amiga OCS.

However, there was also something else presented there in beta form:

Cyberwolf (Preview)
System: Amiga OCS (Amiga 500, 512 kb Chip/512 kb Fast RAM. Will act finnicky on anything with an accelerator. Final release will support al 68k Amiga's)
Developer: Dekadence (Britelite, Bracket, Dodke, Spiikki, Oasiz and Chb/Kalms)
Release Date: Out Now (Preview)
Price: Free
Website: Notes: as impressive as it is seeing this run rather smoothly on a stock A500, which, aside from Cytadela hardly has had any FPS, Its still somewhat disappointing as the routines behind these were suspected to be even more impressive. However, it is a beta, so perhaps floor/ceiling textures will be possible too. Britelite and his crew are truly exceptional programmers.



By comparison, this is what Amiga OCS also can do with extended Chip and Fast RAM (So not a standard config but still good old 68000 and also done by Dekadence with Unique and Parallax). One of the most impressive displays for the A500 imo:

 
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Bullet Club

Banned
Parasol Stars finally comes to C64…and we’ve spoken to the game’s programmer




It’s one of the great lost games of the ’90s…but Parasol Stars is finally coming to the Commodore 64. Here, we recount the game’s bizarre history on the Bread Bin, and talk to Simon Jameson – the guy who’s making this new version happen. We’ve even shown the video to Colin Porch, the game’s original coder…

Parasol Stars
has been pined for on the Commodore 64 since 1992, when Ocean Software sheepishly announced that the game had been cancelled for our fave computer following a burglary at the coder’s house. They stole everything, said the Manc publishers, and there simply wasn’t time to start it again from scratch. The C64 was dying, and the momentum from the advertising campaigns would be lost.

The burglary story, though, wasn’t true. Let’s just rewind for a sec before we unpick things, mind.

SOME BACKGROUND

Stars is the third in the Bubble Bobble platformer series, following on from Bubble Bobble and Rainbow Islands. It first appeared on the PC Engine back in 1991 (unusually, and contrary to urban myth, it didn’t appear in the arcades). Bubby and Bobby are both present, and it’s more akin to the first game than Rainbow Islands. This time around, you have a parasol which can block as a shield, stun enemies, capture droplets or hurl enemies. At many points, it can be used as a parachute.

The C64 version was to be the only 8-bit micro computer Parasol Stars, and with software drying up anticipation was high. Both Rainbow Islands and Bubble Bobble were huge hits on the machine, so news of the game’s demise was devastating.

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Not as devastating as the actual truth, though.

HERE’S WHAT REALLY HAPPENED

The C64 version had been farmed out to veteran coder Colin Porch – responsible for a string of greats like Head Over Heels and Operation Wolf. He was working on Parasol Stars freelance, from home, and things had been looking good. Three months in, Colin remembers taking his work to Ocean. They were pleased. “Most of the elements of the gameplay had been included”, he recalls. And then, disaster:

“My wife and I had not been getting on very well, (usually rowing about her drinking habits) and she decided to go back to her first husband of twenty years earlier. Before leaving, she broke or corrupted all the disks she could find, including all the Parasol Stars developments and back-ups. She expressed extreme remorse afterwards, (she was two different people depending on whether she had been drinking) but the damage was done. I only had a disk previously shown to Ocean, about three months old, which had remained in my briefcase since showing it to them. They, unfortunately, could not spare the time for me to repeat the work.”

And that’s where the story stopped…until this weekend.

PARASOL STARS IS COMING TO C64 NOW: HERE’S WHAT’S HAPPENING

Over the weekend, Simon Jameson posted a video of what appeared to be a work in progress version of the game on Twitter. It’s the video you see at the top of this report. Could it be real? We asked him, and it is. Parasol Stars is a thing.

“I’m a Technical Lead for a large software company in London writing tools and libraries for our internal teams, working mostly in NodeJS”, he told us. He’s got C64 previous, though (check out Doc Cosmos from this Spring), teaching himself to code but “I was born in 1977, so by the time I was old enough to work the 64 was beginning to disappear.”

Parasol Stars started as an experiment with VSP scrolling and sprite multiplexing. I wanted to learn stuff I’d missed in the time I’d been away from the scene (like 25 years!) and so knocked up a simple tech demo using Rainbow Islands art. It was a short step from that to realising I could have a go at filling the huge whole left by the missing C64 version.”

So how did Simon approach the conversion?

“I tried to be as close to the PC Engine original as possible and played that version a lot to get the gameplay to feel as close as possible, the art is heavily based on that version too. The NES version was a good source of ideas for optimisation such as reducing the size of the water element drops, and also some lower resolution art inspirations. Overall the approach was always an iterative one starting with the original tech demo and slowly adding stuff. Generally I’ll think of the next big missing feature, write some code, optimise and refactor and then add art as required”.

And the big one, then – when’s it coming out?

“Publisher wise, it’s not something I had even considered when I wrote the code last year. Since releasing the video however, there’s been a lot of interest and I’m currently in discussions regarding the next steps.”

BLIMEY!

There’s loads to think about, for sure – including whoever publishes the game getting the appropriate rights – but Parasol Stars is on the verge of becoming real after 27 years. We’ll keep you updated with this one at Commodore Format, of course…and before we go, just one more thing. We wondered what Colin Porch might think about this. Astounded, is the answer, but very happy:

“I wish Simon the very best of luck! Back in the day, they said it was impossible. But I was convinced it wasn’t, after a couple of month’s work…What took so long, I wonder? (joke!)” CF

 

Bullet Club

Banned
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A new and original 16 bit game heavily inspired by Saturday morning cartoons from the 90s fueled by our deep love for the SEGA Genesis / Mega Drive Console.

A horizontal scrolling action platformer that will take you through six different levels each with it's own monsters and bosses, with tons of items to collect and powerful abilities to acquire.



 

Bullet Club

Banned
Canon - Legends Of The New Gods
System:
Genesis
Developer: Super Fighter Team
Release Date: Out Now
Price: US$54.99
Website: https://pikointeractive.com/store/#...nesis-Pre-order/p/132666164/category=20971055

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Originally called Feng Shen Ying Jie Chuan, Canon - Legends of the New Gods is a strategy RPG for the Sega Genesis and Mega Drive consoles.

Released in the early 90s in Taiwan only, we have acquired the rights and prepared for a world wide release. The game has been completely translated to English and made compatible with most consoles that run Sega Genesis games.

The Game features over 30 hours of gameplay, many playable characters and a rich story based in ancient eastern mythology.




Switchblade
System: Genesis
Developer: Core Design
Release Date: Out Now
Price: US44.99
Website: https://pikointeractive.com/store/#!/Switchblade-Genesis-Pre-Order/p/132666219/category=20971055

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Developed by Core Design for Gremlin Graphics, Switchblade is a classic Amiga action platformer from the late 80's!

New Cover Artwork by Simon Phipps original creator of Switchblade!

The Fireblade, sacred symbol of the ancient Switchblade clan, has been smashed into 16 pieces by the evil Havoc - but they say that a Hiro can save it, and as Hiro, you must retrieve the 16 pieces and restore your people's pride.

The gameplay is platform and ladders based, set both inside and outside. The layout of the territories becomes visible as you progress, and they can contain bonus weapons and secret rooms. Unlike the sequel you start without weaponry, and this is gained directly, rather than you collecting coins and trading them at shop sections. Holding down fire progressively builds up your fighting power.




Thunderbolt II
System: Genesis
Developer: Super Fighter Team
Release Date: Out Now
Price: US44.99
Website: https://pikointeractive.com/store/#!/Thunderbolt-II-Genesis-Pre-order/p/132768082/category=20971055

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Your goal is to destroy with impunity as you are Earth’s, no you are humanity’s, last hope of survival.

Rest assured, your failure means there will be no Earth to come home to.
Thunderbolt II is an original Taiwanese exclusive game that was published back in the 90s. It was very rare to acquire, however we have bought out the rights and have it for your ready for a world wide release! The game features some improvements like compatibility with genesis consoles and difficulty levels!

This product comes with plastic case, cover art, color instruction manual, and a Sega Genesis/Mega Drive game cartridge compatible with most consoles that run Genesis games.




Exploding Fist
System: NES
Developer: ???
Release Date: Out Now
Price: US44.99
Website: https://pikointeractive.com/store/#!/Exploding-Fist-NES/p/132666221/category=20971055

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Become a master of this mysterious ancient art: progress from novice to Tenth Dan and test your strength and discipline. You can control your character with either joystick or keyboard - 18 different manoeuvres including blocks, flying kicks, leg sweeps, roundhouse and even somersaults!

This is the unreleased NES version of Exploding Fist, however it has been improved and finished up from its prototype state. The game features faster game-play and a finish-able game!

 
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