New Compatible A500(+) case campaign has launched!

After the recent success of the new coloured cases and keycaps for the Amiga 1200 such as blue, black, red and specials. We are pleased to finally announce it's the Amiga 500's turn, as A1200.net has launched the IndieGoGo campaign for new Compatible A500(+) cases. Basically if you've felt a little left out with the previous campaign, now is your time to bring your Amiga 500 out of its yellow shell with eye candy colours to show off to all your friends... Or just creamy white just as it came out of the show room.

OpenFire - A 2D action game for the Amiga gets a March update

Zbigniew "Saberman" Zielinski is on the ball again, as after previously sending us all those cool heads up via our email, he's now found another game worth mentioning, which is ' OpenFire ' by KaiN, Selur and Softiron. Now according to Saberman, OpenFire is a Amiga 2D action game inspired by Fire Power and Return Fire. The game is currently in development but is available for download via GitHub and requires at least an OCS AMIGA, 68000 14MHz CPU with 2MB Chip ram!

The Dawn of Kernel - A high quality game is in development for the Amstrad CPC

Most of you by now already know Juan J. Martínez (Reidrac), the same creator behind the high quality platformer 'Rescuing Orc' for the C64. Well as of a more recent tweet he has come away from that system and with the collaboration of Dylan Barry, is now hard at work on the Amstrad CPC with his latest game The Dawn of Kernel. Which is due to have a physical release by Poly Play and hopefully finished by the end of May.

Bomb Jack Beer Edition - Classic game enhanced gets a WIP AMIGA Debug Build 3E

It's still raining outside and making most brits feel naff, but at least there's games to play and more so with the latest beta release of ' Bomb Jack Beer Edition ' by Graeme Cowie. Now before you get too excited and think this latest version is going to be a big hit, I'm afraid not. As according to the creator this version is mainly a Debug Build which will help him pin down why his enhanced work in progress game keeps crashing on Amiga AGA computers.

Prince of Persia - A brilliant retro gaming classic gets a BBC Master port!

Today just gets better and better as just moments ago Inverse Phase contacted us directly to tell us the BBC Master port of an all time classic platformer ' Prince of Persia ' is complete and ready for download. This game was released in 1989 by Brøderbund for multiple systems and featured lots of well designed platforming levels and extreme danger, as you must be careful not to fall through loose floors, get hit by sword wielding guards, crushed by gates or at worst skewered in blood on deadly spikes.

Kaze and the Wild Masks - Another 16bit inspired platformer is in development!

Fox N Forests isn't the only upcoming 16bit inspirational platformer to grace our Steam screens, as we've been informed Vox Game Studio's 'Kaze and the Wild Masks' will be released early 2019 for PC Gamers. Looking like a cross between Wonderboy and other classic platformers, you play as a lovable Furry character that has had her world turned upside down. A meteor has crashed into her lands, vegetables have been turned into monsters, and it's down to you to find the ancient Wild Masks and bring peace back to her homeland!

Romhacking Spotlight - Mario Land, Turtles and Balloon Fight!

 

Welcome to the first installation of Indie Retro News Romhacking Spotlight! There are a lot of hacked rom files out there and new hacks gets released every week and it's very easy to miss some really amazing hacks. So I decided to create this segment to spotlight some of those hidden gems that might have passed under the radar.

Eye of the Beholder on the ZX Spectrum? Welcome to ZX Dungeon

Year in year out I always talk about Dungeon Crawlers, It doesn't matter if it's a new game, mod, or just a trip down memory lane related to games such as Eye of the Beholder, I just have to talk about it. So it stands to reason why in complete disbelief I've come across what looks to be the 90's classic RPG Eye of the Beholder but being demo'd on the ZX Spectrum with a new video by Saberman.

Hyper Sentinel - A kick ass Uridium is coming to Steam!

Just moments ago Andrew Hewson & Rob Hewson, the surname behind the awesome legendary company Hewson Consultants from the 80's to the 90's with games such as the fantastic Uridium, Paradroid, Cybernoid, Exolon, Nebulus and many others, have announced that the awesome looking Hyper Sentinel is finally coming to Steam for PC, MAC, Linux and SteamOS!

Counterweight Kate - A bouncy C64 game is in development, release date April 2018!

L'abbaye Des Morts isn't the only game coming to the C64 as we've recently been informed Cogitare Computing's game of Counterweight Kate, which is being developed by Alex Martinelle, is set to be released this upcoming April 2018. If you love platformers, then this is the game for you, as not only does it feature 12 levels of bouncing fun but it has a lovely tune to keep you going through the day!

Road Avenger - LaserDisc Racer gets a special Amiga release by ReImagine Games!

It's wet outside and it doesn't look as if the sun will come out any time soon, so if like me you're stuck in doors, how about playing the latest Amiga release from our good friends ReImagine Games 'Road Avenger'. Now if you've followed our news you would've read that LaserDisc support was added to the Amiga emulator WinUAE some time ago, as generally LaserDisc games were played via an Arcade cabinet using Amiga 500 hardware, along with a genlock and a laserdisc player. So it stands to reason why many of these games are now appearing on the Amiga such as the more recent Time Gal.

New Compatible A500(+) case campaign is launching this weekend!

If you've been following Indie Retro News throughout these last few years, you not only would've heard about A1200.net's successful kickstarter regarding both the new A1200 cases and the keycaps, but you probably would have most likely by now received a lovely new Amiga 1200 case in your hands all coloured up to show off to the world. But what if you don't have an Amiga 1200 case and just an A500? Well you'll be pleased to know we've just read an update via our Facebook group, that a new Amiga 500/+ Case crowdfunding campaign will be launched within 2 days time!

Sheep it Up - Baaaaah new Gameboy cartridge game goes online for FREE!

It's strange to think that not long ago I found my original Gameboy, which was lost for all those years with only memories to go by. Thankfully after finding it and looking out for more games, I was pleased to hear that games were still being developed for it such as this one ' Sheep it Up ' by LudoScience and Catskull Games. The idea behind this arcade game is rather unusual, climb as high as you can by hanging yourself from flying velctro straps while trying not to fall.

Fox n Forests - A nostalgic trip back to the 16bit platforming era, gets a new trailer

I have such fond memories of playing 16bit platformers such as Mickey Mouse or even Ghouls 'n Ghosts, so it stands to reason why I've been eagerly awaiting 'Fox n Forests' developed by Bonus Level Entertainment. A lovely looking 16-bit inspired pixelated platformer, where you play as a Furry that can loot, upgrade, hack and slash and even change the very seasons of the game you're playing in! Yes that's right, this game lets you switch seasons to avoid obstacles or even beat enemies! What a lovely game indeed and not only does it have a new game player trailer but it's coming to PC, Linux, Mac (Steam and DRM free) Spring 2018.

Hot News as L'abbaye Des Morts is coming to the C64 under a new label!

Some time back we announced the release of L'Abbaye des Morts; a great retro platformer in a ZX Spectrum style that was originally developed by Locomalito who is no stranger to developing fantastic games such as Maldita Castilla and Hydorah. Well you'll be pleased to know that same game which also appeared as a port for the Amiga OS 4 and Sega Megadrive has officially been announced as coming to the C64!

Rubicon - Colourful and very musical in dev ZX Spectrum game

While many of you speccy owners are still looking forward to RuckSack Games ALL HALLOWS, which is being coded by John Blythe. You'll also be pleased to know the developer is also working on another cool game called 'Rubicon' which unlike the bouncy platformer of ALL HALLOWS, is a maze like game requiring the player to collect items such as Amulets, Keys and Gifts.

ZX Spectrum homebrew review - Trooper: Point 5 (The Games Helmet)

The Games Helmet is back again with yet another "Your Sinclair" style ZX Spectrum homebrew game review! This time it's fast paced shoot-em-up action in Trooper: Point 5, a 2010 release from The Bog Brothers. Personally i'd find it difficult enough just managing to stay alive flying a jet pack around - if I had to shoot evil alien invaders at the same time, things could get very ugly indeed! But, if you feel like you have the relevant multi-tasking skills, then you're in for a real treat...

ALBATROSSITY - A new review by The Games Helmet of a ZX Spectrum game!

Here we have something of an anomaly! Albatrossity (2008) is a highly addictive golf / puzzle game from Jonathan Cauldwell that really sets itself apart from pretty much everything else, sitting somewhere between Worms and PGA Tour Golf - if that sound’s implausible you’ll have to find out for yourself and give it a play! If you can get past the terrible golf puns, this mock up magazine scan style review from The Game’s Helmet should tell you all you need to know!

Simon the Sorcerer 25th Anniversary Edition - Double compilation of classic Adventuring coming 3rd April!

Don't get me wrong I'm a huge fan of Adventure games such as Broken Sword, The Secret of Monkey Island, Kyrandia and even the Discworld series, but there's two games that really top the list for me and that's Simon the Sorcerer 1 and 2. Two brilliant adventure games released in the 90's by Adventure Soft, that follow a story about a boy called Simon. The game was full of charm, great characters, fabulous retro detail, lovely music and voiceovers by Chris Barrie. If you remember these glorious Adventure games you'll be pleased to know Simon the Sorcerer: 25th Anniversary Edition is coming to PC 3rd April!

Airwolf Sprite Mod - Allan Turvey tweaks a classic ZX Spectrum game

Ask most retro gamers or people of middle age and upwards about the name Airwolf and they'd probably tell you of a TV series in the late 80's that revolved around a rather powerful military helicopter and its crew undertaking missions with cool action sequences. In fact living on in memory with that awesome theme tune, the TV show did even appear as its very own game on multiple platforms such as the Amstrad and the even the ZX Spectrum, but sadly the games were nowhere as good as the TV show.... At least until now!

The Official C64 SEUCK Compo of 2018 is ready for awesome C64 games

Last year the Commodore 64 saw some of its finest releases with the likes of Argus, Sam's Journey, LuftrauserZ and Planet Golf giving all of us plenty of reasons to fire up our hardware and emulators. Thankfully even those without coding experience are able to get involved, as The New Dimension have even been running another Shootemup Construction Kit (SEUCK) competition titled as The Official C64 SEUCK Compo of 2018!

Super Cars - A fantastic retro top down racer you've got to play!

"Super Cars" was developed by Magnetic Fields and published by Gremlin Graphics in the early 90's for the Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MSX, NES and even the ZX Spectrum. The core of the gameplay was to race around tough tracks, earning money, then purchasing better weapons and power-ups to beat the competition in one of the best top down Amiga racing games as the prequel to the even better Super Cars II. Thankfully memories live on with this game as GamesNostalgia has made available a portable Amiga to MAC/PC edition of this game for all to enjoy.

Lust for Darkness - Occult and Erotic based horror is a Kickstarter success

We've certainly featured our fair share of horror games on Indie Retro News, but a horror game with an intriguing plot based around erotic and occult themes is something we certainly haven't featured before. So to change all that we've recently been told that Lust for Darkness, which is exactly that , was not only a Kickstarter success raising CA$ 52,944 of a CA$ 8,000 goal but it's also going to appear on Steam Q2 2018.

Heroes of Gorluth - Tales of Gorluth creators shows off work in progress town footage

If you've not heard of AmiWorx, they were behind Tales of Gorluth and Tales of Gorluth II; two great Amiga action adventure games which featured hours of game play, great colour graphics,exciting quests and more than 40 pieces of music that made them both a great experience to play. Well the same team have decided to go away from that original game style, and have shown off a new progress video update for their upcoming spin off action RPG platformer 'HEROES OF GORLUTH'!

GRIP - Rollcage inspirational racer coming to PC, XB1 PS4 and Switch later this year!

Although we have already done a feature on Caged Element's futuristic racer of 'GRIP' some time ago which is inspired by the incredible fast paced racer of Rollcage, published by Psygnosis way back in 1999. We are here to give you the heads up that this game that is still available to purchase through Steam Access since 2016, has since been announced as coming to PC, XB1 PS4 and Switch later this year!

Top 11 Games for the Amstrad CPC in 2017

2017 was yet again another fine year for homebrew and indie releases for the humble CPC, again boosted by CPCretroDev's yearly competition, but many more games made their way onto the Amstrad from some very talented programmers. Shining, Keith Sear, Naverro, McKlain, 4mhz and more were very busy indeed. The quality of the games has rose to amazing standards, so choosing a Top 11 was tricky to say the least.

SweepOut - A new MineSweeper goes online for the Amiga

I'm sure many of you have heard of MineSweeper; a puzzle game in which players had to clear the board of numbers without coming across deadly exploding bombs, using help from clues about the number of neighbouring mines in each field. But I bet you haven't heard of SweepOut, which is the latest Amiga game to be developed by Crisot! Well if you haven't you'll be pleased to know this game is an Amiga online MineSweeper, released, for any Amiga with TCP/IP!

DIZZY IN BAGO BAGO ISLAND - A new Dizzy fan game for all to enjoy!

If you are a fan of the Dizzy games by the Oliver Twins or want a fun little adventure to play, then come and check out Steve Johnstone's brand new Dizzy fan game called ' DIZZY IN BAGO BAGO ISLAND' developed using DizzyAGE! This is Steve's first game where you can carry up to 5 items and the story goes that the evil Zaks has transported Dizzy and the Yolkfolk to BagoBago Island, a Magical Island Somewhere off of the Bermunda Triangle. It's down to you as Dizzy to explore this mysterious island, solve lots of puzzles and to find the Yolkfolk!

Indie Retro News NEEDS YOU! :)

As mentioned some time back it's time we moved forward and look towards hiring new additions to our website to make this place even better than it could be. As such we are looking for new writers who can not only help write the latest news up but perhaps even do awesome reviews of those favourite games from your past. All we ask is that you can pull the reader in, do a cool write up review with pictures and at least have some knowledge of writing via websites.... So Amiga, Amstrad, Atari, C64, PC, ZX Spectrum or even NES cartridge slot blowers now's the time to sign up and have fun! - Contact us here

Alley Cat Remeow Edition - A remake with enhanced graphics, playability and new features for the PC!

Probably one of the coolest retro games on our website is Bill Williams and published by Synapse Softwares 'Alley Cat' for the Atari 8bit in 1983 and MS-DOS in 1984. Playing as Freddy the Cat, your objective was to perform challenges such as catching mice in a persons home in order to reach his Cat love, Felicia. For what was a very odd game indeed with Cheese the size of an entire room, and a humorous cat falling behind the fence, Alley Cat has now been released as a remake with enhanced graphics, play ability and new features for the PC called Alley Cat Remeow Edition!

Handheld Brick Racer is coming to the ZX Spectrum!

As many of you are aware by now going by our write up today, the Internet Archive has added many new handheld games to their playable line up going right back to the early 80's such as Donkey Kong, Pac-Man and even Q*Bert! Well it looks as if another handheld has made an appearance as Dave Clarke has contacted us regarding his in development Brick Racer for the ZX Spectrum!

Handheld History launched via The Internet Archive!

A long time ago in New York in a local store on my way to eating a lovely Pecan Pie it was the very first time I ever saw a 1980's Nintendo Game and Watch with a little guy that had to put out a fire. Sadly I was never able to buy one of them and it wasn't until now that I heard many of those famous LCD style games had been re-released via The Internet Archive that are playable online via your browser and MAME.

Mini Swat Demo - Top down shooter teased for the Amiga

First day of the week and already the games are coming thick and fast, as after already mentioning a great NES game to come, we've recently had word about a new demo for the Amiga as ' Mini Swat ', which is being developed by Jojo073 with music by Estrayk. Unlike previous games made with backbone you'll be pleased to know this demo is a top down shooter that was also made using Deluxe paint and Protracker!

Dead Tomb - A new NES game by CollectorVision Games is nearly here

CollectorVision Games, the team behind the upcoming Sydney Hunter and the Curse of the Mayan and have just announced via their Twitter page of a new game that is coming to the NES and will be offered as a limited edition gold cart and regular grey edition cart. Titled as 'Dead Tomb', this game is a love letter to Temporel Inc and will be a point and click adventure game in which you play as part of the Videoway Corp from 3017 captured in 1300 BC by the Pharaoh Seti 1st’ soldiers and placed inside an ancient pyramid.

Aeon of Sands - Dungeon Crawling RPG love letter to the 90's gets new footage

As most of you know I'm a huge Dungeon Crawling RPG fan, especially games that hark back to the days of Eye of Beholder or Lands of Lore. Thus it's with great pleasure to announce that the work in progress crawler 'Aeon of Sands ' developed by Two Bits Kid, has been shown off with new footage to whet your appetite! If you've not heard of this game before it is a "Dungeon Adventure" story-driven RPG love letter to the golden Amiga, PC classics of the 90's

Joe Gunn - A rather excellent platformer with new gameplay footage!

During this week Hayes Maker yet again had excelled himself with a great weekly write up full of interesting C64 games that had been released or were still in development. Once such game that he mentioned called Joe Gunn; a game first published by Psytronik in 2007 and RetroGamer Sizzler. Had recently been released as a digital download at Itch.io. Thankfully Zbigniew "Saberman" Zieliński joined in with the fun and has now done his own gameplay video of this lovely game!

Ferrari Grand Prix Challenge - 90's racing game gets an updated WIP Atari XL/XE port tease

Thanks to another heads up from Zbigniew "Saberman" Zieliński, we once again look towards the Atari XL/XE scene as it's just had another preview update of a rather fun racing game titled as Ferrari Grand Prix Challenge (Preview 4). Yes indeed a game that used to be called F-1 Hero MD which first appeared on the Sega Mega Drive and was then ported over to the NES and Gameboy, has yet again been updated to the Atari XL/XE as an early work in progress port with improvements.

Bomb Jack Beer Edition - Enhanced classic WIP for the Commodore Amiga gets a great beta!

It's not even the start of the week and do we have some great news for you! As Graeme Cowie has once again contacted us regarding his Bomb Jack Beer edition with a new beta update. Yes this rather nice Arcade to Amiga conversion has reached even higher heights, as not only does it look a lot better, but it's so much nicer to play which makes it a worthy download indeed!

MONTY MOLE AND THE TEMPLE OF LOST SOULS - Another special review by The Games Helmet

Dust off your Fedora and join Monty Mole on an adventure through the temple of lost souls! Released in 2017 by Andy Johns / Bubblesoft, this ZX Spectrum “Your Sinclair” style homebrew review should have you reaching for your whip and heading off into the unknown. Just remember to tell your mum what time you’ll be home - dinner’s at six…

C64 Roundup Weekly - Another exceptional week for C64 news! [Breaking news update]

This week has been another exceptional week for C64 news. We've seen a world's first C64 programming feat from Antonio Savona, a new Itch.io release, news of some great looking new games, and Commodore Format's world exclusive reveal: the return of a C64 legend. This has to be my last weekly roundup for a couple of weeks while I take a holiday. So enjoy the latest, and I'll be back early April.

Bomb Jack Beer Edition - Enhanced classic WIP for the Commodore Amiga reaches beta 2D

Yet again Bomb Jack has appeared in our news feeds; a classic Arcade game from 1984 which required you the hero to collect all the red bombs on the screen to save historic places of interest while also avoiding deadly enemies such as birds and mummies! As we said before that same game which also had many different ports including the less than great Amiga port, has once again been overhauled to Bomb Jack Beer Edition but this time as version 2D!

STEEL JEEG - ZX Speccy game based on the 1970's Toei Animation of the same name.

Even more speccy heads up has been sent to us by Zbigniew "Saberman" Zieliński, as he's come across a game called STEEL JEEG for the ZX Spectrum. Unlike the previous game we mentioned which was a puzzle game, this one is an action game developed by Francesco Forte using Jonathan Cauldwell's Arcade Game Designer, which is also based on the 1970's Toei Animation of the same name.

RESCUE LANDER - A special review by a new team member Rob Munns, aka The Games Helmet

A couple of months ago I decided to start writing reviews of ZX Spectrum homebrew games in the style of “Your Sinclair” magazine - the classic and very silly computer mag of the 80’s and early 90’s. I am very happy to have been asked to post my reviews to Indie Retro News as of today, and here is the first, David Pagett’s “Rescue Lander” from 2015. I create the reviews in the style of a magazine scan for that true retro feel, and because I’m rubbish at desktop publishing. Hope you enjoy it!

Knights - Another puzzler but this time as a ZX Spectrum port!

When I was a young lad my step dad used to always go on about Chess. He'd sit there for hours on end moving around pieces as if the end result would be some grand prize. It certainly wasn't my idea of fun as I was a video gamer! So how do you blend something you don't enjoy into something you do, well this game might just do it, 'Knights'. A new game for the ZX Spectrum which is a port of a much earlier PC game.

The True Slime King - A very slime orientated challenging platformer!

When it comes to games such as Meat Boy and VVVVV you just know the game is going to be fun but extremely challenging and sometimes frustrating as hell. Well along comes another game to drive you completely insane while remaining fun too, is 'The True Slime King' developed by Josh Penn-Pierson. Currently available through early access with a demo to boot, The True Slime King is a hardcore puzzle platformer with a focus on tight controls, challenging maneuvers, and mind-bending puzzles.... So yes prepare to die A LOT!

Block Off - A new WIP Amiga game for puzzle fans!

We've recently received a heads up in our email and via Facebook that a brand new game has appeared for the Amiga called ' Block Off ', which was made in AMOS by Colin Vella with a cool soundtrack by Simone Bernacchia. If you love puzzle based games and are sick and tired of platformers then read on, as this one will suit you perfectly!

Indie Retro News Patreon Funding Campaign is launched!

Finally after being poked left right and centre last year to set up a Patreon Funding campaign to help Indie Retro News, it's time to announce that the campaign is now live! Yes indeed thanks to a kick up the back side ;) and Chris Wilkins of those awesome Fusion Retro Books such as The Story of the Commodore 64 in Pixels and The Crash Annual 2018 reminding us throughout 2017 we've decided now is the right time to launch for even more Amiga, Amstrad, C64 and even ZX Spectrum goodness!

So what do you get out of it? Well apart from more write ups from us which is really going to kick up a notch next week, we will hire extra writers, you will get some exclusive heads up news AND more awesome stuff in the pipeline ;)

Links : 1) Indie Retro News Patreon Page

Peter Pack Rat - Hokuto Force re-releases a C64 ratty classic with a number of fixes!

If you've heard of Pack Rat before then you were probably around in the 80's playing it in the Arcades or at home playing the Arcade conversion either on an Amstrad, C64 or ZX Spectrum. This game which was released back in 1985 by Atari Games, was ported over to home computers in 1989 by Software Creations and featured a very chirpy soundtrack by Tim Follin. The only problem with the C64 version however according to Hokuto Force was it had a few issues which of course they have set out to fix.

ZX-Dev Conversions Finished! - The announcement has been made and the winner is....

It's a time to rejoice ZX Spectrum gamers as we've just been told that the latest ZX Spectrum competition called ZX-DEV conversions is now over and the results have been announced. This competition which had its first edition in 2015 with some pretty cool games such as Steel Balls, Rabbit in Nightmareland and even Fist-Ro Fighter has once again astounded our readers with games such as Mighty Final Fight, Ninja Gaiden, Gimmick!, Retroforce and many others... So who's the big winner? Read on to find out!

The Long Reach - Horror filled Adventure on Steam today with a demo

Gamers who prefer a more horror oriented adventure will be pleased with this news, as we've recently found out the thriller horror game of ' The Long Reach ' will be released on Steam today between now and the next 5 hours, ( Depending on when you read this article ). The Long Reach is flavoured with sci-fi ideology, psychological context and a sceptical view on the human psyche. For anyone wanting to play the game early, the developers have released a small demo for you to try.