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Regressing To A Simpler Time With Modern Devices

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It is amazing how far technology has come in the last few decades, with a super computer in our pockets and gaming consoles that blur the line between reality and the virtual world.

We are in awe of our smartphones and can’t even imagine what our 15 year old self would have thought of this contraption if we were able to time travel back to the 80s. Back in the old days, we would play and then trade or sell our last gen system to fund the next big shiny new gen gaming system – this cycle was repeated for close to 3 decades! As we have gotten older and perhaps wiser, we keep yearning for the good old days, hence why we have immersed ourselves in retro gaming, reliving and revelling in games and systems from our distant past that gave us (and are still giving us) much joy.

The PocketCHIP beast!

Anyone for tennis?

Even with all of the classic gaming systems and games we have in our possession to intoxicate ourselves with nostalgia, we felt like something was missing, but we didn’t know what. We then stumbled upon contemporary technological marvels that stirred up something deep within us that made us take note. Thanks to playing retro-inspired games on the fantasy video game console, the PICO-8, we went down the rabbit hole of finding out more about playing pixel perfect 8-bit style games on modern devices, which also allowed us to tinker and do other stuff like coding! Welcome to the world of the PocketCHIP and Arduboy FX! Yeah, yeah, we are aware that you can play 8-bit style games on modern consoles, but these two little beauties are different – they are simple (in comparison), yet powerful, and very very elegant indeed.

Bit of Linux action

The Arduboy FX modded to be used as a gamepad for playing PICO-8 games on the PocketCHIP!

Selecting our next PICO-8 game

The PocketCHIP and Arduboy FX are both marvellous technological achievements, which fit the bill of being modern enough to be able to get on the net, code, tinker and also create our own games! The fact that you can also play games that other people have created is certainly the cherry on top!



Our Favourite Retro Games on the Pico-8

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There are a heap of great Pico-8 games out there, but for those of you yearning for a hit of nostalgia on the fantasy console, you may find it difficult to find that classic 80s game you enjoyed in the arcade amongst the plethora of available Pico-8 games.

Well, we are here to help you find a few needles in the massive haystack of Pico-8 games that will help with your hunger for nostalgia. Get your Pico-8 ready, and start favouriting these games:

Wizard Rule: If it’s Wizard of Wor you are after, then this port is absolutely amazing. We can’t stop playing it!

Galactic Wars: Um, it’s Galaga, and it’s awesome.

Pico Tetris: As if it wasn’t addictive enough on the Game Boy, this version is just as addictive.

Pico Sprint: A suped up version of Super Sprint on the Pico-8, need we say more?

Pico Frogger: Leap onto the highway and avoid the cars and other obstacles to reach the other side. The iconic arcade game is superb on Pico-8. If in case this Frogger version doesn’t feel right, then check out Minionsoft’s Frogger.

Bomb’n Picoman: eliminating your enemies by placing bombs strategically, just like Bomberman, it’s darn enjoyable.

Sonic 2.5:  Don’t be thrown off by the .5, there is nothing half about this version of Sonic The Hedgehog. This is a work of art and has the speed to match.

MOTU: If you liked Palace Software’s head-chopping Barbarian game, then this version with Masters of The Universe characters takes it to a new and cooler level.

Super Mario Bros: How can we have a list without the little Italian plumber? Easy, we add him here as SMB is cool to play on any device.

Gaplus – Galaga Edition: There is nothing Galaga about this side-scrolling shoot’em up, but that’s not to say it is bad. If you like games like Salamander or R-Type, then this game is for you!

Bubble Bobble: The cutest dinos, Bub and Bob, are back and still as awesome as ever. This game never gets old -on any platform!

Minionsoft Scramble: The Minionsoft treatment is fantastic on this classic arcade game!

NOTE: Most games are available via the official PICO-8 site, while others can be found via itch.io.

Well, there you have it, a list of a few classic old games (and some not so old) to play on the Pico-8 that will satisfy any retro gamers’ nostalgia yearnings. Enjoy!

 

POOM Is Out Now on Pico-8!

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The highly anticipated Doom clone, Poom, is finally released on Pico-8!

This amazing conversion by Frederic Souchu and Paranoid Cactus is available for play right now, so go get blastin’! This is an absolute blast (Ed: pun fully intended) to play. Thank you to the developers for their meticulous work on this game, as they have transported us back to the 90s playing one of the greatest FPS games of all time, we love it!

If you like the game, and we assure you, you will, please support the creators so that they can continue making awesome games for us to enjoy!

 

PICO-8 Masters Of The Universe: The Battle For Eternia

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Do you guys remember when we got giddy over the fictional C64 Barbarian – Masters Of The Universe Edition game?

Well guess what, thanks to the amazingly talented game programmer, Andrea Baldiraghi (aka: TheRoboZ), you can now play the ultimate rethemed Barbarian video game, Masters Of The Universe: Battle For Eternia right in your browser (or that nifty little PocketCHIP running PICO-8) for some slashing good times!

Mr Baldiraghi, we thank you for creating this awesomeness in 3 months – Wow! Now grab a sword and let’s battle for Eternia!

image source: TheRoboZ – MOTU

 

Learn To Make Your Own Video Games With PICO-8

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Finally, my childhood dream of making games in my bedroom can come true!

How to make games with PICO-8 Kickstarter is exactly what we have been seeking – an easy-to-learn and all-in-one development tool that allows you to draw sprites, design levels and add sound effects and music. The programming itself is done in an extended version of Lua, a widely used and easy to learn programming language.

This Kickstarter (by Tassilo Rau) is for the book on how to make games with PICO-8*, which comes with 100 full-colour pages in a child-friendly layout, with reasonably sized textblocks and lots of illustrations. While the book’s primary target audience is kids and teenagers, us adults will get a hell of a lot out of it too. Feel safe in knowing that this book will help you to take your first steps to making games.

With the Kickstarter campaign ending in about two days, you better hurry and secure your tome so you can start making your own video games!

source: Tassilo Rau on Kickstarter

*Note that PICO-8 is not included with this book, so you will have to increase your pledge by USD$14.99 or buy the license separately. PICO-8 can be used on Windows, Linux, Mac or a Raspberry Pi with a 700MHz CPU and any video card.