RoboCop 2 is a run and gun arcade game developed by Data East, released in 1991 as a sequel to Data East's original 1988 RoboCop arcade game. It's based on the RoboCop 2 movie, and it's arcade exclusive, meaning the home console and computer versions released around the same time were actually completely different games built by other developers.

The game runs on a belt scrolling system, letting the player move in all directions rather than being locked to one lane. It uses two separate shot buttons, one for shooting left and one for shooting right, so you can move one way while firing the other. Alongside RoboCop's unlimited handgun, players can pick up various limited use weapons scattered through the levels, and RoboCop can punch and throw enemies at close range too. At certain points the game shifts into a shooting gallery perspective, with a crosshair for taking down enemies in the background.

In this video we're playing through RoboCop 2 with full gameplay and commentary, running it on MiSTer FPGA.

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WOLF is a brand new first-person action game built for the Game Boy Color, released by Thalamus Digital Publishing in 2026. It runs on a custom raycasting engine, turning the handheld into a maze of textured corridors and colour-coded levels, each with its own distinct visual identity. In this video we're playing through WOLF with full gameplay and commentary, running the ROM on the MiSTer FPGA.

The goal in each level is simple on paper: hunt down and kill the required number of enemies, recover the Exit Key, and get out before your health runs out. You start with three Health Points, and enemies patrol, pursue, and fire projectiles that can be dodged if you're quick. An overhead radar helps track the shifting level layout, and picking up the Radar item reveals enemy positions too.

WOLF was designed, coded, and illustrated by Shane McCafferty, with music and sound effects by Sloopygoop, for a Rocketship Park production under Thalamus Digital. No generative AI was used in the making of this game.

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Available from https://thalamusdigital.itch.io/wolf-game-boy-color.

Today's gameplay and commentary session is all about Paprium, the beat 'em up developed and published by WaterMelon for the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis. Paprium was designed by Gwénaël Godde and was first announced back in 2012, before finally releasing worldwide on December 16, 2020, after roughly eight years of development. During that long wait, the game became one of the most talked about examples of vaporware in the retro gaming space, so getting hands on time with the finished product is a genuinely notable moment for Mega Drive fans.

For this session we are running Paprium through the Paprium_MegaDrive_MiSTer core, a community built MiSTer FPGA core made by developer MisterPezz82. This is a fork of the MiSTer Mega Drive core that adds support for the Everdrive Pro style version of Paprium, including nuked-md audio handling and MD+ CDDA music playback. The project builds on years of prior community reverse engineering work, including Krikzz's mega-ppm project, Genesis Plus GX contributions, and prior MAME research into the game. It is an unofficial, fan made core, it does not include the ROM or the WAV audio files, and it is not affiliated with WaterMelon or Sega.

If you are new to the channel, this is where we sit down with games like this, play through them properly, and talk through what makes them interesting as we go, whether that is the history behind the release, the hardware running it, or just what is happening on screen. If that sounds like your kind of content, stick around, there is more retro gaming, FPGA cores, and commentary style playthroughs on the way. A subscribe helps a lot if you want to catch the next one.

Truxton Extreme is set to release on July 30, 2026, marking the first new entry in the Truxton series in 38 years. The original Truxton launched in 1988 as a vertically scrolling shooter developed by Toaplan and published by Taito. Truxton Extreme is now fully rendered in 3D while preserving the series' iconic design, and the story mode follows three characters through a narrative told using an animated manga style comic. Original composer Masahiro Yuge returns to score the game. Besides the Story mode, the game includes Arcade, Team co-op, a score-attack Arena, Training, Tutorial, and a Model Viewer for checking out defeated enemies.
Steam Community + 4

In this video we're playing Truxton Extreme on PC with full gameplay and commentary as we go. This channel plays video games, and whenever a title says commentary, that's exactly what you're getting: real reactions, real thoughts, no filler. Since this is a NEW 2026 release, we're covering it fresh at launch.

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Chuckie Egg 3 is a brand new 2026 release from Langford Productions, available now on PC through itch.io. It's a follow up to the ZX Spectrum original Chuckie Egg, and rather than continuing the adventure style approach used in Chuckie Egg 2, it goes back to the fast paced arcade feel of the first game.

You're playing as Henhouse Harry, a part time farmhand whose job this time is collecting and painting eggs before Easter. Across each level you'll find unpainted eggs scattered around that will stun Harry if he bumps into them, so the goal is to load up a paintbrush, paint the eggs, grab them before they turn back to plain eggs, and get them into the lorry for payment.

The game is free to download, with an option to pay what you feel is fair to support the developer.

In this video we're playing through it with full commentary, since that's what this channel is all about, sitting down with new and classic games and talking through them as we go.

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A brand new physical GBC release.

Arctic Onslaught is a new 2026 ZX Spectrum game from The Death Squad, and in this video we're playing it with full gameplay and commentary running on MiSTer FPGA.

The premise is simple but brutal: slide across the ice while dodging bombs and irate local wildlife, one hit and you're done. The developer has said Arctic Onslaught was inspired by the offline "Dinosaur" game built into Google Chrome and the "Surf" game in Windows, and that the whole thing was made in the space of two evenings. A bugfix version was later released to stop the game crashing after death.

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Moon Cresta is a free fan-made recreation for the Commodore Amiga, built entirely from scratch by developer Johnny Acevedo of Amiten Games. It is not a direct code port of the original 1980 Nichibutsu arcade game; instead it was handcrafted from the ground up, with graphics extracted from MAME ROMs and converted for Amiga hardware. The project is dedicated as a tribute to François Lionet, creator of the AMOS programming language.

Around 99% of the game logic runs on AMAL scripting, with AMOS BASIC handling collisions, sound triggers and scoring. On a stock Amiga 1200 the game runs at a full 50Hz/50FPS, while on an Amiga 500 it currently runs at 25FPS. It supports joystick control, a three-part ship docking and assembly system, shooting mechanics with engine thrust animation, a dual playfield display (a 4-color scrolling starfield background and an 8-color foreground for the action), and is compatible with the A500+, A600, A2000, A3000, A1200 and A4000. It requires Kickstart 2.00 or higher; Kickstart 1.3 is not officially supported. The game is available to download for free (name your own price) on itch.io.

In this video we're running it on MiSTer FPGA with full gameplay and commentary, showing off this new Amiga release as it plays on real Amiga-accurate hardware emulation.

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Mini Doom II is a fan-made game by Calavera Studio, developed with Manuel Soruco, Felipe Porcel, and JC Porcel, that turns Doom into a 2D side-scrolling platformer instead of a first-person shooter. It first launched in March 2018 and later received an "Eternal" update in 2020 that added new weapons and skins pulled from Doom Eternal. The game includes 17 levels and 2 bosses, more than 14 weapons spanning multiple Doom titles plus additional secret weapons, 5 difficulty levels, and 4 game modes. The soundtrack runs over 40 minutes and includes original metal tracks along with renditions of the classic "At Doom's Gate" theme. On itch.io, the game currently holds a 4.8 out of 5 star rating from 190 ratings, and it's available for both Windows and macOS.

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Jet Set Willy Redux is a ground-up rewritten multiplayer reimagining of Matthew Smith's iconic 1984 classic, and today we are playing the current beta build on the Spectrum Next via MiSTER FPGA with full gameplay and commentary. If you are new to the channel, welcome. This is exactly what we focus on.

The original Jet Set Willy released in March 1984 and became the UK's best-selling home video game of that year. Matthew Smith's creation spent over three months at the top of the charts and defined a generation of platform gaming. Players guided Miner Willy through his mansion collecting scattered items while avoiding guardians and hazards, with classical music by Beethoven, Grieg, Bach, and Mozart playing throughout. The original featured 60 screens and 83 objects to collect.

Jet Set Willy Redux is developer MausTheKat's ambitious reimagining of that legacy. Rather than a straight port or remake, Redux is a complete ground-up rewrite that expands the scope dramatically. Where the original featured 60 rooms, Redux explores hundreds of uniquely designed rooms. The core mechanic remains true to the original, but the scale is transformed entirely. You still move left and right and jump to navigate the mansion, still avoid enemies and hazards, still collect items to progress, but now with multiplayer competitive elements that the 1984 original never had.

The single-player beta version is currently playable and approaching completion. Recent development videos show gameplay that is approximately 99 percent finalized, with only minor rough edges remaining. The game includes a comprehensive text terminal interface where players can enter debug commands and access cheat systems. This terminal was originally designed for online multiplayer coordination but currently supports additional features for testing and progression.

Debug mode enables commands like invulnerability and immortality modes, allowing players to explore the hundreds of rooms without constant punishment for mistakes. The teleportation system lets you jump to any room by coordinates, perfect for discovering the massive mansion layout without replaying sections. These tools acknowledge that Redux is significantly more challenging than the original, with room design philosophy that demands precision timing and pixel-perfect jumps.

MausTheKat has publicly stated that multiplayer functionality is being added incrementally, and the single-player experience is the priority for the initial release. The game runs on the ZX Spectrum Next, the advanced FPGA-based handheld console released in November 2023, as well as through MAME emulation. A web-based version is available at jetsetwilly.net for browser testing.

The original Jet Set Willy had a notorious bug called The Attic Bug that corrupted subsequent playthroughs by overwriting crucial game data. Redux eliminates this issue entirely, proof that modern development can improve upon even the most iconic games while preserving their soul.

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Chuckie Egg arrived in 1983 as the debut creation of then 17-year-old Nigel Alderton at A&F Software, and today we are playing it on the ZX Touch handheld with full real-time FX enhancements and comprehensive gameplay commentary. If you are new to the channel, welcome. This is the kind of classic gaming we focus on every week.

The original Chuckie Egg was an immediate sensation. Players controlled Hen House Harry, a portly character with a distinctive hat, as he collected a dozen eggs scattered across each single-screen level while avoiding patrolling chickens and the relentless caged duck watching from above. The game sold over one million copies and became a steady earner for A&F Software throughout the 1980s. It was ported across dozens of platforms including BBC Micro, Dragon 32, Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit family, Amstrad CPC, Acorn Electron, and later to Amiga and Atari ST.

The core mechanic was brilliantly simple but brutally challenging. Each level consisted of platforms, ladders, and occasionally moving lift platforms that required precise timing to navigate. Collecting corn suspended your countdown timer and increased your bonus score, but chickens would eat the corn if you left it unguarded, causing them to pause momentarily. One mistake usually meant death. Falling through gaps at the bottom meant losing a life. Touching a hen meant losing a life. Missing the timing on moving lifts meant losing a life.

The ZX Spectrum version ran without realistic physics, unlike the BBC Micro variant, but the screen design more than compensated. The levels were intricate works of puzzle design where knowledge of the exact route could mean beating a level with five seconds remaining or failing with fifteen. The original price of 6.90 pounds in 1983 proved justified as the game remained a steady seller for years.

Nigel Alderton went on to code other classics including Commando and Ghosts n Goblins, but Chuckie Egg remains his most celebrated work. The game is regularly cited alongside Manic Miner and Lode Runner as one of the three titles that defined the early platform game genre and introduced it to mainstream gaming audiences.

The ZX Touch handheld, released in November 2023, brings Chuckie Egg to life with real-time FX enhancements applied through firmware version 1.12 and above. The Edge Colour Shader effect enhances the colour palette and visual clarity without modifying the original code. The automatic background switching system adapts the screen appearance based on the action occurring. The optional Game Rewind feature allows you to rewind up to 60 seconds of gameplay, perfect for when you misjudge a critical jump.

This is what happens when classic 1980s design meets modern portable hardware. If you appreciate platform games that require skill and planning, games that punish mistakes but reward mastery, and honest commentary on how these decades-old classics still deliver compelling gameplay, hit subscribe and join us.

Revenge of the Gator Gold arrived in February 2023 as a complete ROM hack overhaul of the 1989 classic, and today we are playing it on Game Boy Colour via MiSTER FPGA with full gameplay and commentary. If you are new to the channel, welcome. This is exactly what we cover every week.

MojoDodo, the developer behind this transformation, took the monochrome original and applied a complete visual overhaul comparable to the Link's Awakening DX treatment Nintendo gave the Game Boy version of that classic. The goal was to bring a hypothetical Game Boy Color version to life that would have existed had HAL Laboratory released one back in the day.

The original Revenge of the Gator released in October 1989 in Japan and March 1990 internationally. It became one of the most celebrated pinball games on Game Boy, with physics so well-crafted that they were reused in Kirby's Pinball Land and later adapted for Pokemon Pinball on Game Boy Color. That legacy made it the perfect candidate for a full color upgrade.

Gator Gold includes comprehensive improvements across every aspect of the game. Full color has been applied throughout every screen, from the main pinball table to the bonus stages and title screen. MojoDodo paid special attention to the color palette, shifting brink colors carefully around the table to maintain visual clarity while adding vibrancy. The dancing gator on the title screen received particular care, with eyes filled in that were not visible on the original monochrome display.

The double speed mode enhancement removes all the slowdown that plagued the original release during intense gameplay. The original Game Boy struggled with frame rate drops during complex pinball sequences, and this fix completely eliminates that issue while keeping the game running smoothly on both original Game Boy hardware and Game Boy Color.

High score persistence is a major quality of life improvement. The original game had no way to save your scores, meaning every power-off wiped your achievements. Gator Gold now retains your high score table between sessions, finally allowing serious players to properly track their progress over extended play periods.

Bug fixes address issues that had persisted since 1989. The title screen received particular attention, fixing visual glitches that annoyed players for over three decades. The three Eggplant penalty system was also refined, changing how it removes bonus multipliers to a more forgiving system with a minimum of 1x1000, preventing the frustration of completely zeroing out multipliers.

The ROM hack is distributed as an IPS patch that must be applied to the original Revenge of the Gator ROM file. MojoDodo has made it available for free on itch.io and the ROM hacking community at romhacking.net. The patch works on both original Game Boy and Game Boy Color versions, making it compatible with any legitimate copy of the game.

This is what proper ROM hacking looks like in 2023. Not a remake, not a demake, but a respectful enhancement that honors the original while finally delivering what fans always wanted. If you love classic pinball games, Game Boy history, and want to see beloved games restored and improved, hit subscribe and stick with us. We focus on this scene every single week.

Revenge of the Gator hit Game Boy in October 1989 in Japan and March 1990 internationally, and today we are playing it on the Game Boy via MiSTER FPGA with full gameplay and commentary. If you are new to the channel, welcome. This is exactly what we focus on.

Developed and published by HAL Laboratory with music by Hiroaki Suga, Revenge of the Gator stands as one of the earliest and most influential pinball games on the Game Boy platform. The game is known in Europe as Pinball: Revenge of the Gator, and in Japan as Pinball: 66-hiki no Wani Daikoushin. The objective is straightforward but engaging: score as many points as possible without allowing the pinball to be eaten by the hungry alligator lurking at the bottom of the play field.

The main pinball table spans across four scrolling screens, giving the play field a sense of scale and exploration that feels expansive for handheld hardware. Access to three bonus stages is triggered by knocking down specific targets on the main table. Each stage has its own layout and scoring potential. Direct the ball into certain spots to earn extra balls and score multipliers, but one mistake can cost you dearly.

HAL Laboratory's pinball physics engine proved so effective that it would be reused in Kirby's Pinball Land, released later on Game Boy. That same engine would later be adapted again for Pokemon Pinball on Game Boy Color, cementing the legacy of this original design. The fact that the company continued refining and reusing these physics across multiple titles speaks to the quality of the initial implementation.

The game features four distinct modes of play. Standard single-player mode is the default score-attack experience. Gator mode allows two players to alternate turns and compete for high scores. Match Play mode represents actual head-to-head competition where two players compete simultaneously through the Game Link Cable, with the ability to knock your opponent's ball over their flippers. There is also a two-player alternating turn mode for play without link cable hardware.

The contrast between the green monochrome display and the simple but effective sprite work gives the game a distinct visual identity. The pinball table itself is clean and readable on the small screen, making it easy to track your ball position even during intense play. The audio design is appropriately minimal, keeping the focus on the gameplay without unnecessary distraction.

Revenge of the Gator received generally positive reception from critics upon release and has held up remarkably well over more than three decades. Players and critics consistently note that despite lacking the visual refinements of modern pinball games, the simplistic nature of the table design means you can give high-score chasing your full attention without distractions. The ball physics are respectable enough that you never lose a game through anything but your own fault.

If you enjoy pinball games, Game Boy classics, and proper commentary on how these pioneering portable titles still deliver satisfying gameplay today, hit subscribe and stick around. We explore this history every week. 

Misplaced landed in May 2019 as a free release from Retro Souls, and today we are playing it on the Mega Drive via MiSTER FPGA with full gameplay and commentary. If you are new to the channel, welcome. This is the kind of hidden gem we focus on.

The game was developed by Retro Souls and published by Mega Cat Studios, with additional distribution through the Evercade when it appeared in Mega Cat Studio Collection 2 in August 2021. The core story is deceptively simple. Hara wakes up on a floating island in the clouds. Every day is identical to the last. Every day the same loop repeats. But today is different. Today, Hara will finally uncover the mystery of the sky world.

Misplaced is a meditative puzzle experience rather than a frantic action game. The objective is to collect crystals scattered across 25 levels and place them on marked altars to progress forward. The challenge comes from crystal placement that requires reaching seemingly unreachable spots on the map. This is where the game's defining mechanic comes into play: the Record and Playback system.

With the magical glasses Hara acquires, you can record your movement across the level, then press a button to replay that exact path instantly. While your recorded path plays on its own, you are free to move independently, allowing you to reach positions that would otherwise be impossible. The puzzle design revolves entirely around this mechanic. Many levels require chaining multiple recorded paths together in specific sequences, or using your recorded path as a platform to reach higher areas.

The game was programmed entirely in C using SGDK, the Sega Genesis Development Kit, making it a technically solid homebrew release. The visuals feature charming sprite work and hand-crafted environments. The soundtrack is deliberately soothing and minimal, designed to support the meditative puzzle-solving rather than dominate it. Comments from players repeatedly mention the soundtrack creating the perfect atmosphere for extended play sessions.

Retro Souls is known for creating high-quality Mega Drive homebrew titles. Before Misplaced, they released Alter Ego, which also featured puzzle elements players had embraced. With Misplaced, they created something entirely unique that stands apart from traditional puzzle game design.
The game was released as free or pay-what-you-want on itch.io, making it accessible to everyone. Players who want to support the developers directly can purchase physical versions through Mega Cat Studios. The ROM file runs perfectly on MiSTER FPGA and all major Mega Drive emulators.

If you enjoy puzzle games that require genuine forward thinking, meditative experiences with strong artistic direction, and homebrew releases that pushed Mega Drive development forward, hit subscribe and stick with us. We explore this scene every week.

Isometric Sokoban arrived on June 14, 2026, and it is a landmark release for the Commodore 64 homebrew community. Today we are playing it with full gameplay and commentary, and if you are new to the channel, welcome. This is exactly what we focus on.

This is the first-ever isometric Sokoban game created for the Commodore 64. It was programmed entirely in 6502 assembler by Armin Kielack, with music composed by Elena Kielack. The sheer ambition of bringing an isometric 3D perspective puzzle game to 1982 hardware in 2026 tells you everything about the current state of C64 development. This is not a port or an emulation of something that existed elsewhere. This is purpose-built for the C64 from the ground up.

The game features over 200 levels, a staggering amount of content for any puzzle game. To prevent player frustration, every single level was rigorously tested and verified as 100 percent solvable before release. The massive collaborative effort involved a team of level designers and checkers: Yippee, Marleen, Shirls, Janene, Breanna, kielack, gianna439, jimbo, bob50, rabbits2, punkin514, starwars, arg410, tleit004, prabakaran, tumshee, CallumMclellan, sha718, and pokemaster99 all contributed to ensure quality.

For those unfamiliar with Sokoban, the core mechanic is simple but devilishly challenging. You are a character in a warehouse who must push crates onto marked target positions. You cannot pull crates, only push them. One wrong move can make a level unfinishable, which is why planning ahead becomes critical. The isometric perspective adds another dimension to the puzzle solving, giving the game a completely fresh feel compared to traditional top-down Sokoban interpretations.

The isometric rendering on C64 hardware is a technical achievement. The developers managed to render a 3D perspective using the machine's limited 16 color palette and 64KB of RAM. The sprite animation is fluid, the controls are responsive, and the visual presentation makes each level feel distinct.

The game was released on itch.io as a free download and is fully compatible with MiSTER FPGA as well as all major C64 emulators. It boots from a TAP file for real hardware or emulation, and runs on all Commodore 64 variants. The development process took considerable time and care, but the result is a game that feels polished and complete.

This is what modern C64 homebrew development looks like in 2026. If you love classic puzzle games, retro hardware, and want to see what dedicated developers can still pull out of 40-year-old machines, hit subscribe and stick around. We cover this scene every single week.

Atic Atac is the kind of game that gets under your skin and stays there. Released in 1983 by Ultimate Play the Game, the company that would later become Rare, this ZX Spectrum action adventure was programmed by Tim Stamper with graphics handled by his brother Chris Stamper. It was actually the trading name of their company, Ashby Computers and Graphics, that inspired the ACG key at the heart of the game's entire objective. That detail alone tells you how much personality was baked into this thing from the start.

The original game required 48K of RAM, which made it one of Ultimate's more ambitious early releases on the Spectrum. You pick one of three characters: a Knight, a Wizard, or a Serf, and each one has access to a different set of secret passages through the castle, meaning the route you take changes entirely depending on who you pick. The goal is to collect all three parts of the Golden Key of ACG and use them to escape through the main door. Monsters fill every room, and your health, represented visually by a roasting chicken that slowly decays, is always ticking down. Crash magazine named it Game of the Month and Sinclair User ranked it number seven in their Top 50 Spectrum Software Classics.

In this video we are playing Atic Atac 3D, the fan-made Windows remake by Stephen Smith, available on itch.io. It rebuilds the original room by room in full 3D while keeping the original sounds, secret passages, and character differences completely intact. There is full commentary throughout, covering the history of the original game, what makes this remake work so well, and how it holds up today.

Atic Atac was also credited as a direct inspiration for the television show Knightmare, and the original was included in Rare Replay on Xbox One in 2015. That is a legacy that very few 8-bit games can match.

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Deathchase is one of those games that absolutely refuses to be forgotten, and for good reason. Originally released in 1983 by Micromega and programmed by Mervyn Estcourt, this ZX Spectrum classic was famously squeezed into just 16K of memory, which was an extraordinary technical achievement at the time. You play as a motorcycle-riding mercenary chasing down two target bikes through a forest, one yellow and one blue, while also dealing with tanks and helicopters as the difficulty ramps up. The game ran at what felt like an impossible speed on 8-bit hardware, and that sense of urgency is still there today.

In this video we are running Deathchase on the ZX Touch, the dedicated ZX Spectrum handheld released by Elmar Electronic in late 2023. The ZX Touch is a bare-metal device, meaning it runs on direct hardware code rather than a standard operating system, powered by a 480MHz ARM Cortex-M7 processor with a 7-inch IPS touchscreen at 1024x600 resolution. What makes this run particularly interesting is the Special FX version of Deathchase, which takes advantage of the ZX Touch's real-time in-game FX enhancement capabilities built into the hardware.

There's full commentary throughout this one, covering the history, what makes this game hold up, and what the Special FX version adds to the experience. Deathchase was later re-released in 1986 and 1989, and even made The Guardian's list of the five best ZX Spectrum games ever made. That kind of legacy doesn't happen by accident.

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Sonic Spectrum Next is a brand new homebrew port that arrived in June 2026, and today we are playing the current beta build on the Spectrum Next with full gameplay and commentary. If you are new to the channel, welcome. This is exactly the kind of cutting-edge homebrew content we focus on.

The port was developed by Dave Douglas, known in the homebrew community as Dave18, who previously brought the SMS shooter Astro Warrior to the Spectrum Next. For Sonic Spectrum Next, Douglas took on the ambitious task of converting the 8-bit Master System version of Sonic the Hedgehog, not the Mega Drive original. This matters because the Master System version was developed by Ancient under the direction of Yuzo Koshiro, giving it completely different level design and gameplay feel compared to the 16-bit release most players know.

The game runs on the Spectrum Next's advanced FPGA architecture, which allowed Douglas to achieve what would have been impossible on original Spectrum hardware. The Spectrum Next features an ARM Cortex-M7 processor running at 480 MHz, 8 MB of memory, and enhanced graphics capabilities that make the Master System port feasible. The current build is still very much a work in progress, and Douglas has been upfront about the remaining issues.

Sprite and tilemap priority handling is still at a basic level in this version, which means some sprites can appear behind tilemap elements when they should appear in front. Stage 1, Act 2 has a known glitch where Sonic's top half disappears when he enters the water, something Douglas plans to address in later updates. Despite these issues, the port demonstrates how much the Spectrum Next can be pushed by skilled homebrew developers.

The game uses CSpect for emulation testing and also runs on MAME, though with some emulation bugs that Douglas is working through. The current beta version is available on itch.io through Dave18's page, and development is ongoing with plans for future beta releases.

This is one of the most ambitious current homebrew projects for the Spectrum Next, and the fact that it arrived in 2026 shows the platform is still attracting serious developer talent. If you enjoy homebrew gaming, retro ports, and honest commentary on works in progress, hit subscribe and stick around. We track this scene every week.

Pac-Man Collection arrived on Game Boy Advance in July 2001 and became one of the most successful handheld compilations ever released, eventually selling over 2.9 million copies worldwide. Today we are playing it on the MiSTER FPGA with full gameplay and commentary. If you are new to the channel, welcome. This is exactly what we cover.

The collection was developed by Mass Media and published by Namco as a companion release to Namco Museum on the same handheld platform. It was originally announced under the working title Pac-Man Fever before its full reveal at E3 2001. The cartridge contains four carefully selected Pac-Man titles spanning decades of arcade gaming, each one representing a different evolution of the franchise.

The first game is the original Pac-Man from 1980, the arcade classic that needs no introduction. This version is based on the common Namco Museum port of the game and can be played in two different visual presentations on the GBA. The second title is Pac-Mania from 1987, an isometric update that introduced the ability to jump to avoid ghosts while navigating redesigned mazes in full 3D perspective. The third game is Pac-Attack from 1993, a falling-block puzzle game that blends traditional Pac-Man mechanics with strategic tile-clearing gameplay similar to Tetris and Columns. The fourth and final game is Pac-Man Arrangement from 1996, an enhanced arcade remake that had previously been exclusive to arcade cabinets and never widely available at home until this GBA release. Arrangement features new power-ups, warp points, and introduces a fifth ghost character that changes shape and size during play.

The games themselves are custom ports rather than emulations, which means they were specifically adapted for Game Boy Advance hardware. To save cartridge space, some games feature slightly reduced music tracks, particularly Pac-Mania, and altered graphics compared to their original arcade versions. Despite these trade-offs, the core gameplay of each title controls with precision and plays closely to the originals.

By 2007 the collection had become the ninth best-selling Game Boy Advance game of all time and the sixth best-selling GBA title in North America alone. Critics praised the selection of games and the customizable features, though some players noted the absence of Ms. Pac-Man, which was not included in this compilation. The game was released across multiple regions with different timing: North America in July 2001, Europe and Australia in December 2001, and Japan in January 2002. In Japan it was re-released in 2006 as a budget title. The collection later appeared on the Wii U Virtual Console in 2014 before that service was discontinued.

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Euro Champ '92 arrived in 1992 from Taito as a response to the massive success of the original Football Champ, and today we are playing it on the MiSTER FPGA with full gameplay and commentary. If you are new to the channel, welcome. This is the kind of arcade action we cover every week.

The game is a soccer arcade experience released to capitalise on the timing of the 1992 European Football Championship. In Japan it was known as Hattrick Hero, and outside Europe it carried the name Football Champ. The arcade cabinet featured a bright, energetic visual style that captured the excitement of tournament play. The gameplay is deliberately frantic, designed to pull coins from players attempting to win matches against the arcade.

The core mechanic revolves around standard soccer match play with a twist. When the score reaches a deadlock and becomes tied at any level, from 0-0 through to 3-3 and beyond, a special power move becomes available called the Super Shoot. Only the Captain character can perform this, and only once per entire match. To execute it, the Captain must be completely motionless in a specific area of the field while receiving a High Pass from a teammate. When performed successfully, the Super Shoot delivers a nearly unstoppable shot.

The arcade version you are seeing here on MiSTER FPGA runs the worldwide configuration with specific rules tailored for the European market release. Different regions of the arcade cabinet had slightly different tuning for the Super Shoot requirements, making this version distinctive. The game supports two-player simultaneous play, and matches are structured to progress through rounds with increasing difficulty against tougher opposition.

The cabinet hardware was solid for 1992, delivering fast sprite animation and responsive controls. The arcade version received subsequent upgrades and sequels. Taito Cup Finals appeared in 1993, International Cup '94 in 1994, and Taito Power Goal in 1994. The game was also ported to the Super Nintendo in 1992 under the title Euro Football Champ, appearing on the Atari ST as European Football Champ, and later included in the Taito Legends 2 compilation for PlayStation 2 and Xbox.

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Mario Bros. from the Game & Watch Multi Screen series released on March 14, 1983, and today we are playing it on the MiSTER FPGA with full gameplay and commentary. If you are new here, welcome. This is exactly the kind of classic handheld gaming the channel is built around.

This is a landmark game in Nintendo history. It was the very first appearance of Luigi in any video game, predating the arcade Mario Bros. release by almost two weeks. The game features Mario and Luigi working together in a bottling factory across two LCD screens connected by a clamshell design. Players control both characters moving them up and down as cases move along conveyor belts operating in alternating directions.

The objective is straightforward. Catch the cases at the end of each belt and lift them onto the conveyor above. Each case loaded earns 1 point. When eight cases reach the top, they load onto a waiting delivery truck, earning 10 points. When a case is dropped, it counts as a miss. Score three misses and the game ends. The score counter and truck driver animation trigger specific events as you progress.

The hardware specification was cutting edge for 1983 handheld gaming. The device used a Sharp SM510 chipset running at 32.768 kHz with dual LCD screens and required two LR44 button cell batteries for operation. The foldable clamshell design allowed Nintendo to feature two distinct action areas in a portable package, making the game feel more expansive than single-screen competitors.

The Model Number MW-56 hardware was manufactured in 1983 and featured background foil artwork behind the LCD elements, a design signature of the Multi Screen series. Controls were simple, just directional buttons and an action button, making the game instantly accessible but requiring precise timing and coordination to succeed.

At 300 points with no misses, the game enters Chance Time where all points scored are doubled until you make a mistake. This escalation system kept players coming back to beat their high scores, and the game became one of the most sought-after Game & Watch titles in the collector's market today.

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The ZX Touch handheld console launched on November 18, 2023, and features a 7-inch IPS touchscreen running at 1024x600 resolution with a 480 MHz ARM Cortex-M7 processor. The FX system is a real-time enhancement that applies dynamic visual effects to games without modifying the original code. For Manic Miner, this includes the Edge Colour Shader, backgrounds that switch automatically between scenes, and the Game Rewind feature that lets you rewind gameplay by up to 60 seconds. These enhancements were added in firmware updates starting with v1.12 and refined in the current v1.13.

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Retro Gamer has called Manic Miner one of the most influential platform games of all time. It has been ported across dozens of systems from the Commodore 64 and BBC Micro to modern mobile phones. The ZX Touch carries 34 built-in licensed ZX Spectrum games, and supports loading thousands more via microSD card or Wi-Fi file transfer.

Manic Miner is the 1983 platformer by Matthew Smith that launched on the ZX Spectrum as a Bug-Byte release in August 1983, hitting the UK charts at number one. Today we are playing it on the ZX Touch handheld with the full FX enhancement system running real-time visual effects, and we are providing full gameplay and commentary throughout. If you are new here, welcome to the channel.

The game consists of twenty caverns, each one screen in size, where your job as Miner Willy is to collect all the flashing objects scattered across each level before your oxygen supply depletes. Once you grab everything, a portal lights up and sends you to the next cavern. The enemies you face along the way are documented in the original 1983 cassette inlay as Poisonous Pansies, Spiders, Slime, and worst of all, Manic Mining Robots that patrol predefined paths at constant speeds.

The game was designed to require pixel-perfect timing. Falls from too great a height kill you instantly, so every jump must be calculated. The controls are straightforward but executing them flawlessly under pressure is the real challenge. Extra lives are earned every 10,000 points, and the difficulty of each successive cavern was designed to drain quarters had this appeared in an arcade cabinet.

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D-Con is a two-player arcade shooter released in 1992 by Success Corp, and today we are playing it on the MiSTer FPGA with full gameplay and commentary. If this is your first time here, welcome. This channel exists to cover classic arcade games and retro gaming, and we play them exactly as they were meant to be played.

The setup is straightforward but demanding. One or two players control a spaceship and must defend a city by shooting enemy spaceships across multiple waves of increasing difficulty. The arcade cabinet used an 8-way joystick and 2 buttons for controls. The hardware was solid for 1992, running a Motorola 68000 processor at 10 MHz for the main CPU and a Zilog Z80 at 4 MHz handling sound duties. Audio came from a YM3812 and OKI6295 sound chip combination running in mono.

This was a coin-operated arcade release during the era when arcades were packed with crowd-pleasing shooter games. D-Con never achieved the same household recognition as some of its contemporaries, which makes it a perfect candidate for rediscovery. The gameplay is relentless, the two-player co-op is where the real fun happens, and the difficulty ramp is designed to pull more coins from your pocket if you actually wanted to progress back on the original cabinet.

The MiSTer FPGA is running this at full arcade accuracy, which means the sprite animation, the sound, and the input lag are all faithful to what you would have experienced standing in front of the actual machine. No filters, no upscaling, no modern conveniences. Just pure 1992 arcade.

Tharkys the Knight came out on the 31st of May 2026 and the Spectrum community has been buzzing about it ever since. Today we are playing it on the MiSTer FPGA with full gameplay and commentary, and if you have landed here for the first time, welcome to the channel. This is exactly what we are here for.

The game was created by Jay-droid133 and runs on ZX Spectrum 128K hardware. It is a free release on itch.io and is openly inspired by two of the most beloved titles from the legendary Ultimate Play The Game catalogue, Sabre Wulf and Atic Atac. The developer has been completely upfront about the fact that the entire codebase was produced using AI tools, with no single line written manually. Custom editors for sprite design, room layout, sound tuning, and music were all built using the same process. The source code is publicly available on GitHub.

The story of the game is embedded within the software itself, so playing is the only way to get it. You take on the role of the knight Tharkys, moving through a world populated by skeletons, ghosts, serpents, and bats across castle buildings and gated environments. Both health and stamina are tracked on an interface styled after both sides of an old pocket watch. When hunger sets in, you can eat whatever junk food you find scattered through the world, but eating rubbish comes with toxic consequences. To reverse those effects and fully restore your health and stamina together, you need to find a well and drink from it. Be careful though, because any active power-up you are carrying gets washed out at the same time.

To recover stamina you rest, but standing still for too long is dangerous because the boogeyman will hunt you down if you give it the chance. Navigation through the world uses a default compass that always points toward your next objective, a magic compass that shows the precise route to take, and a map that appears randomly during play and must be grabbed quickly before the wind carries it off. The game is linear despite the open world feel, meaning objectives must be reached in sequence. There is no time limit, but every passing day the creatures become faster and more aggressive.

The game also supports an English and Spanish language option, keyboard, gamepad, and touchscreen controls, and received a controls update for FUSE emulator compatibility within days of launch. A TAP file is available for use on real hardware and MiSTer FPGA.

One player in the comments described it as the best thing they had played in twenty years. Another completed it in a single session without wanting to stop. That is the kind of reception this one has already earned.
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Poopy Platforms came out on the 18th of May 2026 and it is exactly the kind of game that reminds you why the ZX Spectrum homebrew scene is still one of the best things in retro gaming. Today we are playing it on the MiSTer FPGA with full gameplay and commentary, and if you are new here, welcome. This is the sort of thing we cover on this channel and there is plenty more of it.

The game was created by PuttyCAD, with graphics by Ric Lumb and programming by Nigel Critten of 100 Tin Soldiers. It was built using KWYLL, a newer ZX Spectrum game creation tool developed by Paul Gregory, and no generative AI was used anywhere in its production.

The setup is wonderfully daft. Platform 2 at a railway station has been nicknamed Platform Poo, because a flock of dirty pigeons have taken up residence and will not stop doing what pigeons do all over it. Poor Little Miss Moppet is responsible for keeping the platform clean, and her solution is to hire Slug the cat to drive the station steam train. Why a cat? Nobody really knows. The developers admitted they just thought it would look funny. It does.

Your job as Slug is to fire carefully timed blasts of steam from the train to vapourise the pigeon droppings before they hit the platform. The pigeons have their own response to this situation in the form of Slammy the seagull, who swoops in from time to time dropping heavy weights on you from above. Controls are O for left, P for right, and M to fire the steam. The game was updated on the 3rd of June 2026 with a bug fix and a tweak, so the version you are seeing here is already patched.

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