Slam Siblings - Could this Smash Tribute be the next best thing on the C64?

We always try to get the best retro gaming updates for you on Indie Retro News as thanks to Per-Ola Eriksson who sent us the heads up just recently through Facebook we've got a brand new news story for you which I think you might like! Welcome to Slam Siblings for the Commodore 64, a hopefully in development game which according to the creator is clearly a tribute to the much maligned Super Smash Bros , one of Nintendo's flag ship game franchises. 

Video Link for Mobile Users

While the game is very much unfinished, the developer says the above demo which has been recorded via an emulator was put together from recordings of the game running on an unmodified Commodore 64 using a game engine that can be used to play a two-player match the developer. In fact, I could explain it myself, but here's what the developer has to say in full from the video description!

I had been working for quite a while on my LIMBO conversion to the Commodore 64, when out of the blue "some guy on the internet" started complaining to me that I had not made a proper parallaxing effect. That made me really want to try that out (though it probably should just have made me annoyed - and maybe it also did that a little bit). But the LIMBO graphics did not fit that since all surfaces are uneven - and parallaxing on the c64 requires the graphics to fit very closely to the 8x8 chars. So instead I decided to make a little parallaxing test project with the "Small Battlefield" level from Super Smash Brothers, that fit a lot better.

Unfortunately, after that was done I found it super unimpressive. It was clear that I needed to add some gameplay to show, that it was not just a "precalculated" effect. So I had to add a character running around. Then I did that - and was still unimpressed with the result, so I added a few attacks and an opponent and... was unimpressed... so I added... and added... and... you get it.

WHAT ARE YOU ACTUALLY LOOKING AT:

This Demo is put together from recordings of the game running on an unmodified Commodore 64. (Yes, the recording is on an emulator... but in default mode). The game is actually a game engine that can be used to play a two-player match. The engine does not know about the characters - they can be loaded or patched in runtime, and contain all data and special code to handle their moves.

Since the characters you are seeing are clearly copyright protected (even though I have so cleverly obfuscated their names), there is no chance that this will ever be released as a game for purchase in the current form - unless Nintendo calls me and makes a deal. BUT any characters can be created with the engine - so if anyone SERIOUS wants to try to make something with it, feel free to contact me. But be SERIOUS, since the amount of tutorial material I would have to make would be enormous.

TECHNICAL NOTES:

Each character has 14.5 KB available for graphics and code. The Characters shown here each use around 9-10 KB for sprite data, and the rest for animation setup and custom code.

Each character support:

• 5 normal aerial attacks
• 5 normal ground attacks
• 3 "smash" attacks, and
• 3 special attacks.

And shielding, air dodge, jumping, double jumping, running, breaking, ledge hanging, tumbling, falling, taking damage, and so forth. The game is still in an early stage. Currently it has no menu or sound, and a good range of visual glitches.I have not made an AI, and probably never will. A good AI will take way too much memory, will be super hard, and even if pulled off "perfectly" playing against an AI in Smash Brothers is only one tenth as fun as playing against a human - so I dont think it is worth the effort.

FOR THOSE WHO PLAY SMASH:

The commodore 64 only has one button on the joystick. So I have decided that a short tap on the button is a normal attack, while holding the button will give a 'special'. I have decided to remove "Neutral Special" - instead, holding the button with no stick input in air will do an "air dodge", while holding it on ground will make a shield. There is no grabbing/throwing in this version.

Real purists will notice that Ness has gotten a few of Lucas' moves... for simplicity.

"Sir Boxer Shorts" (Arthur) is my own design. I always wanted him in Smash Ultimate, but he never joined the fight (except as a mii - that does not count). To test my engine's flexibility I made him quite a bit different, since he has different moves when in and out of armor, and different close combat attacks depending on the weapon currently being held - which can be changed by throwing an urn. For memory reasons he reuses a lot of the attacks for different input, though.

A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO

* Klaus Schneyder for doing a big part of the work on the "Ness" sprites.

* PRESS PLAY ON TAPE  for gameplay recordings and valuable assistance in making this video.

* Colleagues, wife, bonus kid, and band member kid for feedback, game testing and help with