Created by Luca Carminati and first released in 2025, H.E.R.O. Is Back is a homebrew continuation of John Van Ryzin‘s classic mine rescue game, H.E.R.O.
Tag Archives: Modern Retro
Wycheweald, ZX Spectrum
Wycheweald is a rare thing on the ZX Spectrum – an actual Role-Playing Game, with a first-person viewpoint and turn-based combat. It was created by Red Zebra and first released in 2023. And, while it is a little slow to play, it is well presented and quite absorbing. That is: if you like these kinds of esoteric RPGs. Which I do! 🙂
Pac-Man Arcade, ZX Spectrum
Written by Marco Leal and first released in 2023, Pac-Man Arcade on the ZX Spectrum is about as close as you could possibly get to the original Pac-Man, without using voodoo.
Ghosts ‘N Demons, PC
Written by BonusJZ and first released in 2016, Ghosts ‘N Demons is an amazing homebrew tribute to Capcom‘s Ghouls ‘N Ghosts arcade game. It’s actually an unofficial remake of the original “Makaimura” for the WonderSwan handheld gaming console, which goes some way to explaining the game’s weirdly small screen size.
Sam’s Journey, Commodore 64
Developed by Knights of Bytes and published by Protovision, Sam’s Journey is a super-polished platform game released for the C64 in 2025. It has numerous similarities to Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo, which is no bad thing, and features 27 levels, each with multiple sections.
Homebrew Special
Here’s a celebration of homebrew gaming grabs for you! The word “homebrew” has come to mean “making games at home“, and – in modern times – this has become a hobby/pursuit for many budding coders, game-designers, artists and musicians.
Postal: Brain Damaged, PC
Postal: Brain Damaged is a so-called “boomer shooter” (whatever that means), developed by HyperStrange, and first published in 2022. It’s a fast-moving, humorous and challenging First-Person Shooter with a Story Mode and a Survival Mode (but no multiplayer, that I could see).
The Deadly Tower of Monsters, PC
The Deadly Tower of Monsters is a third-person action game, released in 2016, where you must climb a series of large towers, to complete various tasks, all presented like a parody of old fantasy and science fiction films. You can play as either a man (Dick Starspeed) or a woman (Scarlet Nova), and you can even play as the robot sidekick (just called “Robot“) at certain points too.
Carrion, PC
Carrion is a ‘reverse’ horror game, meaning that it puts you in the position of creating the horror, as a ‘monster’, killing humans. The humans, though, don’t seem like they’re up to much good, so MUST DIE AT YOUR HANDS… Or: your tentacles…
Carrion was developed by Phobia Game Studio and published by Devolver Digital, first releasing in July of 2020.
Castlevania ReVamped, PC
Castlevania ReVamped is a homebrew remake of the original Castlevania, for Windows and Linux, by Lv.4 Games. It was initially released in March of 2024 and was inspired by the developer’s love of the Castlevania series (“it’s something I have wanted to do for many years,” he says, and “it took about four/five months to create“).
The game was made in Game Maker Studio 2 and is based on the first NES Castlevania, and Akumajō Dracula on the X68000 (and the remake in Castlevania Chronicles), and in it you play as the iconic Simon Belmont, with his trusty “Vampire Killer” whip.
