Today's Interview Spotlight from our friends at the Indie Retro Homebrew Showcase at Super MAGFest 2025 features the charming action-puzzle game Discrete Orange by Tardigrade! In this quirky adventure, you'll play as a cute little Orange, and you must navigate through puzzle-filled levels and collect chocolate, using non-continuous turn-based movements.
Curious about how this fruitful concept came to life? Read on to see the development story behindDiscrete Orange!
Tell us about how your game was born.
Tardigrade: "I wanted to build on a game idea I had back in 2007—a platformer that felt like a Game&Watch. I made a prototype for the PSP back then, but I barely scratched the surface. When the GBA Jam 2024 was announced, I thought it would be great to create something for the GBA, and that’s how the project started."
What was the development like?
"Balancing work on the game with a full-time job and family life made finding time challenging. Thankfully, using public domain assets and a relatively simple library (butano), certainly helped. One of the main focuses became level design, a task I had a lot of fun doing."
What's your favorite memory as a gamer?
"Not surprisingly, some of my favorite gaming memories come from playing Game & Watch LCD games back in the '80s. I still have a deep love for them to this day."
What games influenced Banana Bash! the most?
"The discrete movement mechanics are inspired by Game & Watch games like Donkey Kong. As for the turn-based element, I've always enjoyed games of that type, especially a 1996 puzzle game called D.R.O.D. (Deadly Rooms of Death), which had a really strong impact on me."
Any fun stories or wild moments during development?
"Not especially fun or wild, but a nice development was having my sister create the artwork for the game. She's a talented artist but had never used digital drawing software before, so she took this opportunity to learn, and I think she did a great job."
Do you think preserving older gameplay mechanics in new games is important?
"I don’t believe we should cling to outdated gameplay mechanics if they don’t hold up. I prefer to explore interesting ideas, drawing inspiration from both old and new games without distinction."
What makes this game unique?
"The idea of discrete movement and turn-based platformer was never done before to my knowledge, and I think it opens up possibilities for interesting puzzles."
Anything else you'd like to add? Promote?
"The version of Discrete Orange playable at MAGFest is a demo. The full release, featuring new mechanics and levels, is set to launch on cartridge in 2025. If you enjoyed this demo, stay tuned for more updates! 😀"
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Discrete Orange is a homebrew game for the Game Boy Advance. It's a turn-based puzzle platformer with discrete movement.
Play as a cute little Orange, navigate through puzzle-filled levels, and collect chocolate, using non-continuous turn-based movements.
Follow Tardigrade onXto get more updates about the game and check out Discrete Orange on itch.io!
We've got a new feature for our interview spotlight with our friends from the Indie Retro Homebrew Showcase at Super MAGFest 2025, and today, we have the winner of Best Gameplay, the action puzzle game Banana Bash!byBrian Flanagan, and Robbie Dieterich. This reimagined Japanese folk tale is brought to life in an 8-bit world that blends classic action-puzzle mechanics with unforgettable charm. The game gives a funky remix to an ancient legend, turning it into an adventure brimming with vibrant, ultra high quality pixel art, wacky characters, and a head bobbing soundtrack like nothing you've heard on the NES!
Time to look into the development of the game!
Tell us about how your game was born.
Brian, and Robbie: "I took a simple, familiar mechanic and pushed it to its limits, exploring every way to keep it fresh and engaging.
The game is a remix of Japanese folklore, (loosely) inspired by an ancient Japanese legend that shapes its world and aesthetic."
What was the development like?
"Long, way too long! But had we rushed it, it wouldn't be the game it is now."
What's your favorite memory as a gamer?
"Late ‘80s arcades—the thrill of walking in and discovering something completely new, with no previews or spoilers. Every game was a surprise, and that sense of discovery was pure magic."
Any fun stories or wild moments during development?
"Not exactly wild, but bringing in my former iNiS programming compatriots to help finish the game was a lifesaver. Their expertise and camaraderie made all the difference.
Also seeing what our hired gun, Antoine did for the water effects was a major boost!"
Do you think preserving older gameplay mechanics in new games is important?
"Definitely! Especially in 2D games, where movement is still mainly limited to two axes, looking to the past is key to shaping the future. Retro mechanics provide a foundation that can be refined and reimagined in new ways."
What makes this game unique?
"The game stands out with its unique mechanics and a super poppy soundtrack featuring genres like disco, ’60s pop, and ska styles rarely, if ever, heard in NES games. We also have a vs. battle mode!"
Anything else you'd like to add? Promote?
"Huge thanks to Mega Cat for giving us a spotlight, and a fistbump to the judges for voting us with for gameplay!
I hope you all enjoy our homage to ’90s arcade action! We’ve poured our hearts into this game, packing in tough bosses, rewarding endings, and nonstop fun. If you’re excited to play, you can register your interest on our Kickstarter."
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Join Ooki the monkey on a whimsical journey across a mysterious island to reclaim his stolen bananas from a cunning clan of crabs! Navigate through lush jungles, sandy beaches, deep lakes, and perilous oceans, each filled with its own surprises. But beware: the crabs are calling in backup—bigger, tougher family members who’ll stop at nothing to keep Ooki away!
Jump, punch, smash, warp, and swim through mind-bending traps and puzzles. Will you outwit the crab clan and reclaim your treasure? Embark on this epic journey in Banana Bash! and rewrite a legendary tale, 8-bit style!
Follow Work3 Studio onXto get more updates about the game! Follow Banana Bash! on Kickstarterto get notified of its launch
We are back again for our interview spotlight with our friends from the Indie Retro Homebrew Showcase at Super MAGFest 2025, and now, we’re shining the light on the winner of Best in Sound, the action-adventure game Cronela’s MansionbySTRAYNUS. This spine-chilling, pixel-perfect adventure enchanted audiences with its hauntingly atmospheric soundtrack, perfectly balancing eerie ambiance and retro charm. Let’s look at the game that claimed this title and how its development went.
Tell us about how your game was born.
Straynus: "As a big fan of Maniac Mansion, I always wanted to create a point and click video game inspired by it, and this was easy if the idea was to create it for modern consoles and PC.
Then I realized that many people wanted a point and click game inspired by Maniac Mansion but compatible with retro consoles! like the original, and there was none, how difficult was it to create a similar game?... Well yes, it was very difficult, but not impossible.
After creating the NES version, nothing could stop us! I wondered if it would also be possible to create it for Game Boy Advance, and then Super Nintendo and Game Boy.
All versions are created from scratch due to the limitations of each system. Each version has its own music and graphics, as well as the puzzles, which makes each version unique."
What was the development like?
"I wouldn't know where to start hehe, it has been more than 4 years of development, where we have had to create our own engine with 6502 assembler. We have fought with each line of code to make it work, and there are thousands and thousands of lines! Creating the cursor, inventory, objects, collisions, characters, scene animation, texts, music and much more.
We have suffered a lot to make everything work, but we have also had continuous joy, days of celebration when we finally achieved something important, and after all the effort the moment of truth arrived, recording it on cartridges and testing it on the native consoles, when I saw the game working on my original console and my CRT TV, it was a great night, I had achieved something that I set out to do so many years ago, and I had a strange feeling...
In the 90s I played games created by other people, these games excited me, made me happy and I learned a lot from them, I will always remember them with affection and nostalgia, and now that I have created a game I wonder if anyone will feel these same things with something I have created, will they fondly remember my video game as time goes by? I hope."
What's your favorite memory as a gamer?
"I am 8 years old, it is 7 in the morning, it is summer, I wake up and go down to the first floor of the house, where my maternal grandparents live. My grandmother prepares me a glass of milk with some biscuits while I turn on my Nintendo NES on her television and get ready to play Maniac Mansion, Marios Bross, Turtles... My grandfather tells me to play quickly, we will leave in two hours to the field to pick watermelons and melons and today he will let me drive the tractor!
For years everything was the same, then I changed the NES for the Super Nintendo, but my grandparents never changed, their energy and vitality was magical, it seemed that those days would last forever. Today, my grandmother and I miss those days, we miss him so much. When I play with my retro consoles, I feel like he is here with me, waiting for me to go to the field to farm."
What games influenced Cronela's Mansion the most?
"All LucasArts and Sierra games, but without a doubt, Cronela's Mansion is totally inspired by Maniac Mansion, both the artistic style and the dark and strange story with a touch of humor (Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnickare geniuses). I've added my own ideas and some different mechanics, and I think they fit the game very well!"
Any fun stories or wild moments during development?
"Many funny or memorable things have happened to us during development. But I will tell you one of them, I will put you in situation.
One room, the bathroom of the mansion, in the middle of the room there is a huge bathtub, so far so good, the character can go behind the bathtub, but he must also be able to go in front of it, which means that the bathtub has to know when the character is in front or behind, this is difficult.
If the character passed in front, his head would be cut off, and if we passed behind him, his legs would be seen under the bathtub. We had this error for days! In one of the tests it finally worked! I jumped for joy, I called my partner! we laugh, we celebrate! we had it working! What a good night!... then... I realized that I had left the pizza in the oven for more than half an hour, and it was the only one I had left.
That night, I didn't have dinner, but nothing took away the joy of being able to pass in front of and behind an object."
Do you think preserving older gameplay mechanics in new games is important?
"Totally, before I thought that old game mechanics were only liked by people who grew up playing these video games, people who are already over 30 years old, but I see more and more young people who love these types of retro games and their mechanics and they do not have our nostalgia, which means that retro games were very good in their time but they continue to be so in new times."
What makes this game unique?
"Cronela's Mansion is the first point and click adventure of the century, compatible with NES and SNES, and the first in history compatible with Game Boy and Game Boy Advance.
But what makes this game unique is that it is created for those people who wanted a Maniac Mansion 2, or a Monkey Island on Nintendo consoles and that never came.
With this game you will feel the same sensations, and it will take you back to those wonderful years.
Cronela's Mansion has been created with care, polishing every detail, with the intention of being remembered over the years."
Anything else you'd like to add? Promote?
"If you like the project and want to see it come true on a physical cartridge, you can help me on Kickstarter.
See you at the Mansion more manic than ever!"
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Cronela's Mansion™ is a point-and-click adventure game compatible with classic consoles, PC, and modern consoles. Inspired by Maniac Mansion but with its own unique identity.
Compatible with:
* Nintendo NES * Super Nintendo * Game Boy / Color * Game Boy Advance * PC and Nintendo Switch
Follow Straynus onX! The game has been fully funded on Kickstarter, but you can still back the game here!
Continuing our exploration of featuring games from our Indie Retro Showcase from Super MAGFest 2025, we shine a spotlight on the visually stunning world of Vengeance Hunters by Nalua Studio, the winner of the Best in Art Directionaward.
Inspired by 90's era beat'em-ups and fighting games, Vengeance Hunters delivers a thrilling experience with fast-paced combat, fluid combos, and a vibrant Saturday Morning cartoon aesthetic.
Join us as we uncover the artistry and innovation behind this captivating game!
Tell us about how your game was born.
Nalua Studio:"A group of people really wanted to make a Neo Geo beat'em'up. So we did!"
What was the development like?
"It was pretty rough as the Neo Geo is not the easiest platform to develop for. We also targeted the PC, Switch, PS4/PS5, and Xbox ecosystem as well as shipped real carts for the Neo Geo."
What's your favorite memory as a gamer?
"The first time I heard thunder in Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. The rain, the screen changing when lightning hit, and the sound of thunder. It was such a massive shift for me as games went from something I played to pass the time (NES) to something that I could be deeply connected to."
What games influenced Vengeance Hunters the most?
"Genre influences include, of course, all of the heavy hitters like Final Fight and Cadillacs and Dinosaurs as well as later games like Guardians 2. However, Marvel vs. Capcom and other fighting games influenced the gameplay quite a bit."
Any fun stories or wild moments during development?
"When trying to come up with ideas for a boss, I had brought up the concept of walls that could pop up during a fight with turrets that could shoot at the player. The turrets would be destroyable and something the player could choose to ignore and rush down the boss. Risk/reward idea. However, one person on the team HATED the idea so much that he even said the soul of the game would suffer. So, naturally, we didn't go with that idea LOL."
Do you think preserving older gameplay mechanics in new games is important?
"Yes and no. Replicating all mechanics has its place in regard to helping define a game and it's genre. However, there should be room for changes, improvements or additions. For example, Vengeance Hunters do not have the traditional "walk into the enemy to grapple and throw" them. For me and many others, this has always been a pretty wonky mechanic. Also, from a dev side, it ends up creating a lot of work that has to be duplicated for each character just so they can have a homogenous attack. If you attempt to make it not homogenous, it becomes very costly in terms of time and money. Instead, we went with a character specializing in grappling and gave him 9 different throws for people who want to feel like a wrestler type. All while freeing up the other two characters to play uniquely."
What makes this game unique?
"Our Signature move system is not something I have seen in other beat'em'ups and I am proud of it. It's both easy to use and has a lot of depth for those who want to lean into it. The aerial combo system is nothing super new to modern beat'em'ups, but nothing like it existed back when Neo Geo games were still being produced. I am very proud of it and how it feels different with each character."
Anything else you'd like to add? Promote?
"We are developing a new game for the Neo Geo that we can't talk about yet. But we will hopefully have something to unveil in the next few months!"
Vengeance Huntersby Nalua Studios is an adrenaline-fueled Neo-Geo hardware-developed beat-’em-up that lets you and a friend in local co-op fight mutants, zombies, punks, gangsters, lab techs with bombs (you read that correctly), suited mystery men, cyborgs and more across multiple stages, sublevels, and secret areas.
Follow Nalua Studiosto learn more about their studio!
The Indie Retro Homebrew Showcase at Super MAGFest 2025 has ended, and it brought together some of the most creative and passionate developers in the retro gaming scene. These finalists poured their hearts into crafting unique, nostalgic experiences that captivated players and judges alike.
Over the coming weeks, Mega Cat Studios will spotlight these standout games and interview the developers about their inspirations, experiences, and what makes each one special!
First, we highlight Former Dawn by Something Nerdy Studios LLC, the esteemed winner of Best in Show in the Indie Retro Homebrew Showcase. Grab your swords and prepare to be enchanted by this epic 8-bit Action RPG with a 16-bit soul element and innovative gameplay!
Tell us about how your game was born.
Jared: "I dreamt up the storyline and basic world for Former Dawn around the tail end of 2010, and it was only intended to be a Science Fiction story in the raw, not necessarily used for a video game. Over the years, I chewed on the ideas and refined them from time to time.
In late 2018, Dominic showed me how (contrary to both of our fears) easy it was to get a basic NES game written in 6502 assembly. We pair-programmed 3 proof of concept NES ROMs to get our feet wet with the major points of the NES hardware, and a few months later, we founded Something Nerdy Studios LLC with a vision of making a radically advanced NES game the likes of which the world has never seen."
What was the development like?
"Well, it's still ongoing! But it's been a rough ride. Like war, it has been stretches of boredom and grunt work punctuated by moments of sheer terror or extreme victory.
Recruiting for this thing has been extremely challenging, but that phase of the project seems to be (thankfully) over. It's been a weird mix of modern and vintage computing, which is definitely not everyone's cup of tea. In particular, it's been very hard finding artists who can create graphics that conform to the system while also hitting the quality level that we're striving for."
What's your favorite memory as a gamer?
"Playing Final Fantasy II(read: IV) with my best friend in ~1992. At the time, the SNES was brand new and it felt revolutionary. That particular game was an instant classic and just has a certain charm that has never gone away. I'm very glad I got to play it when it first came out."
What games influenced Former Dawn the most?
"Chrono Trigger, Final FantasyIV-VI, Terranigma, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Metal Gear. We're trying to take the best elements from all of these games and synthesize them into a coherent whole. I don't believe that a story-driven RPG has to have boring mechanics, nor do I think that a lack of literal magic in the game's universe has to rob it of magical feeling."
Any fun stories or wild moments during development?
"The wildest moment was probably the first time that my wife Hali (who is also now the lead artist on the project) showed me what she could do with 8x1 attributes on the NES. Even I did not know until that moment just how far we could push this. I'm not the only person to look at her artwork and think "This looks like a painting." -- which makes sense, because Hali is a classically trained painter."
Do you think preserving older gameplay mechanics in new games is important?
"Yes, if they're good. We can safely jettison the bad stuff from the past!
In some ways, Former Dawn is trying to do this: It combines older, pixel-based 2D graphics and mechanics with modern smoothness and an intuitive feel."
What makes Former Dawn unique?
"I think there are two broad sources of uniqueness for Former Dawn: One is the fact that it's the first truly modern, expansive game to be developed for the NES. Another is that the storyline is something that has been carefully written to be high-brow science fiction at its core instead of something cheesy that you can brush off as necessary but unimportant video game filler. Hopefully, the combination will land us a place in video game history."
Former Dawn is an upcoming Action RPG for the NES!
Set in the future on an exoplanet called Astraea, you take on the role of Jekuthiel, a hunter toiling away at the lower ranks of The Organization. Inspired primarily by 1990s JRPGs, this is a full-length, story-driven, action-packed epic adventure. It is unlike anything ever released on the NES. Help Jeku uncover the truths of Astraea and the origins of his people!
