Hack84.Play Retro Versions of Modern Games

Hack 84. Play Retro Versions of Modern Games

Play the games of today, just without that pesky third dimension .

Part and parcel of the retro game revival phenomenon are modernized versions of classic games. Updated with new, slick graphics and/or expanded gameplay, modern versions of retro games bring the classic gameplay to a new audience. These can be official, like the Arrangement versions of Namco arcade games in more recent editions of Namco Museum [Hack #16] , or unofficial , like the fan creations collected at the site Retro Remakes (http://www.retroremakes.com).

But that's not what I'm going to talk about in this hack.

No, this section is about hacks that are the exact opposite of what you'd typically think of as a "retro remake." These hackers look at games like Metroid Prime or Halo and think to themselves , "This is a great gamebut it would be even better if it was done in 2D with 256 colors." They're taking modern games and stripping away the glitz, making them retro in the process.

Since the projects described in this hack tend to skirt the boundaries of copyright and fair use, it's very possible that by the time you read this, one or more of the projects may have been shut down. Caveat lector.

9.5.1. Ocarina of Time 2D

One of the most famous (or infamous) 2D-ification projects was housed at http://www.oot2d.com before creator Daniel Barras took the site down sometime in 2004. As the name implies, Ocarina of Time 2D is a DOS version of the Nintendo 64 smash hit The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, done up in 16-bit Super Nintendo style, as shown in Figure 9-20.

Those familiar with the game know that this is an ambitious project (too ambitious, if the fact that the site has been taken down is any indication). If you want to try a very simple demo that Barras crafted in the PC game creation software Game Maker [Hack #73] , it is available for download at Zelda Dungeon , along with other fan-made Zelda games (http://www.zeldadungeon.net/FG.php).

Figure 9-20. Ocarina of Time 2D

9.5.2. Metroid Prime 2D

Another retro remake crafted in Game Maker, Metroid Prime 2D is an attempt to create a traditional side-scrolling Metroid game from the 3D, first-person GameCube entry in the series. This sounds like an even harder task than Ocarina of Time 2D, but this project seems to stand a much better chance of being completed since there is a team of upwards of two dozen people working on every aspect of the game.

On the official web site (http://www.mp2d.co.uk) you can see much of the work in progress. The hundreds of artwork and music files being used in the game are available to view, and there are a few very brief concept and physics demos as well. The team hopes to release the first official demofeaturing the "frigate sequence" (see Figure 9-21) that was used to demo the original titlesoon.

9.5.3. Codename: Gordon

While the preceding projects surely raise the eyebrows of Nintendo's legal team, not all fan-made games are frowned upon by the copyright owners . Consider Codename: Gordon, a 2D version of the popular FPS Half-Life. Half-Life's developer Valve decided to support the creators of the game, making it available through their Steam digital download service along with other Half-Life and Counter-Strike games. Figure 9-22 shows Codename: Gordon.

Figure 9-21. Metroid Prime 2D

Figure 9-22. Codename: Gordon

The official web page for the project (http://www.halflife2d.com) is temporarily unavailable as of this writing, but you can get the game at classic PC game repository Home of the Underdogs (http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?id=4882). And if you've got a Steam game like Half-Life 2 installed, you'll see Codename: Gordon available in Steam's Play Games window. One word of caution, as Underdogs points out: though this adorable-looking shooter would seem to have low system requirements, it in fact requires a 1.6 gigahertz processor or higher to run. It is written in Macromedia Flash [Hack #74] .

Similar in concept, but not officially supported, is Halo: Blood Covenant, a 2D shooter based on the popular Xbox title. You can see screens and download a demo at http://www.consoletroopers.com.

9.5.4. Doom 2D

This is easily the oldest retro remake covered in this hack, as it was originally released in 1996and in Russian, at that! Yes, it's a 2D, side-scrolling shooter based on the seminal FPS, Doom. You can download an English-translated version at Home of the Underdogs (http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?id=2828). The levels are based on the original game's, and there's even a two-player deathmatch mode, shown in Figure 9-23.

Figure 9-23. Doom 2D in deathmatch mode

If you want to go even more retro, there's always Doom: The Roguelike (http://chaos.magma-net.pl/doom/), a top-down dungeon-exploration/shooter game with RPG elements that uses ASCII text characters for all its graphics. The name comes from the classic computer adventure game Rogue, which DTR's graphics and gameplay mimic .

More information on Rogue and roguelikes, including information on how to develop your own, can be found at http://www.roguelikedevelopment.org.

9.5.5. Grand Theftendo

And now for something completely different. Although many of the preceding projects stem from popular console games, all of them are programmed for the PC. Not so Brian Provinciano's Grand Theftendo (http://www.grandtheftendo.com). A remake of Grand Theft Auto III for the Nintendo Entertaiment System, Grand Theftendo (shown in Figure 9-24) is easily the most interesting retro remake out there.

In addition to programming the game itself, Provinciano has released a program called NESHLA, or NES High Level Assembler, which is an open -source 6502 assembler for the NES that promises to make life easier for would-be NES homebrew programmers. Check it out at http:// sourceforge .net/projects/neshla, and maybe you'll be making your own NES games in due time.