An Indie gaming company, RobotLovesKitty had the amazing idea to combine the Raspberry Pi’s RetroPie emulation project with a 3d printer to create a gameboy-like handheld that will play NES, SNES, Sega, Playstation 1, Nintendo 64, , x86 PC, Amiga, Sega Genesis, Turbo Grafix 16 and about 20 other formats. The Kickstarter still has a few weeks to go but has already reached its goal and the lower tiers are selling out fast! Get yours while you still can!
It may seem a bit backwards to take a 3D game and recreate it as a 2D one, but, the results are very promising. Check out the boss fight at the end of this video. It’s like finding a all-new SNES Zelda game. The project is only 15% done (started last year) and the programmers have already received some letters from Nintendo, but not a formal cease and desist. We can only hope that they can complete this awesome project soon! It’s definitely more interesting to me than the attempt to make Zelda 1 into 3D.
They even recently announced that a multiplayer online mode will be coming. How this functions, I can only guess. Maybe it’s like Secret of Mana, same game, but with multiple swords swinging? It seems the project is completely non-profit, just a work of true fans. Check it out today. Playable demos are available.
Beatscribe is a full time indie composer, musician and writer. By day he creates soundtracks and sfx for various mobile gaming companies, by night creates megaman-inspired chiptunes, in the afternoons he drinks tea. Check out his latest releases, tutorials and retro ruminations at www.beatscribe.com.
Year of the Yoshi is a collaborative album including a diverse lineup of musicians and remixes.
Featuring music inspired by the Super Mario series and as Yoshi-themed spinoffs, Year of the Yoshi is the definitive musical tribute to Nintendo’s green dinosaur.
Featuring music byDj CUTMAN, Kevin Villecco, Ben Briggs, Grimecraft, Kubbi, RobKTA, ABSRDST, ectogemia, James Landino, and Mega Ran. The tracklist contains music inspired by several games featuring Yoshi including Yoshi (NES), Yoshi’s Island (SNES), Yoshi Story (N64), Yoshi Falls (Mario Kart DS), Yoshi Star Galaxy (Super Mario Galaxy 2 Wii), and Yoshi Touch and Go (DS).
Year of the Yoshi was produced by Chris Davidson and Kevin Villecco. It was published by GameChops on June 1st 2014 with music licensing facilitated by Loudr.fm
I’ve noticed most people either dabble with Zelda games or have completely uncovered every secret and know every dungeon inside and out. There are tons of great Zelda Rom Hacks out there. So many that I decided just to cover one from each original game. If you want to have that fresh, new adventurer feeling all over again, check out these amazing hacks. Remember, these are just code patches so they’re completely legal as long as you apply them to your legally obtained ROM. Patching the original rom is not hard, just follow our IPS patching tutorial to learn how to do it.
Original Game: The Legend of Zelda
Platform: NES
What It’s Like: Like Playing Zelda for the first time again, but with more headaches.
Outlands is one of the first romhacks I ever played and it is amazing. The game keeps all the original graphics, sound and music but redoes almost everything else. The dungeon locations are all different. There are tons of secrets and new enemy behavior. The 2nd quest is one of the most ridiculously hard things ever contrived in a video game. No joking, you won’t even get your sword in the first hour of play. All that aside, this is a truly enjoyable romp for a Zelda fan. Have fun finding the sixth dungeon without consulting a FAQ.
Original Game: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Platform: NES
What It’s Like: Uncovering a whole new 8 levels of Zelda II.
Ice Penguin has made a bunch of Zelda hacks but most would agree this is some of his finest work. Almost every area is remade and the dungeons are particularly awesome. There’s a lot of little graphical updates too that add some new flavor to the game. There is a new plot and other little surprises along the way. You might get off to a tough start with this hack since it’s pretty tough until you have built up your levels a little bit. Just wait until you encounter Thunderbird! While not everyone loves Zelda II, if you are a fan, this game will definitely satisfy your craving for more. Check out any of Ice Penguin’s other hacks too. They’re all of a similar caliber.
Original Game: Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past
Platform: SNES
What It’s Like: Like a professionally-made SNES sequel to Link to the Past
The level of detail in this hack is just amazing. There’s a whole new story, awesome dungeons with monstrous changes and insanely tough boss battles. The dungeons require a level of dedication that few gamers possess. Some have 4 different inside/outside sections, pretty much just to make you pull your hair out. There is tons of backtracking required whenever you get an item or a key. The craziest thing to me was the fact that I didn’t even get my sword until passing most of the first area. It really changes the gameplay.
Original Game: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Platform: N65
What It’s Like: A mini-Zelda game of the highest quality
While this game is only three dungeons long, it’s completely redone with new story line, acting sequences, side quests and multiple endings. They even redid most of the music or at least sort of remixed it. It’s not really long, but that might be part of its charm, really. It’s just a great fun nostalgic game. Highly recommended.
Beatscribe is a full time indie composer, musician and writer. By day he creates soundtracks for various mobile gaming companies, by night creates megaman-inspired chiptunes, in the afternoons he drinks tea. Check out his latest releases, tutorials and retro ruminations at www.beatscribe.com.
