Hey everyone,

​I wanted to share SHOOTER, an 80s style vertical arcade shmup I built for the NES and Famicom.

​The menus are in spanish since it's my native language, but it's completely intuitive and easy to play. No stages yet, just pure retro survival and chasing high scores.

​You can download the ROM in Archive.org:

https://archive.org/download/shooter_nes/shooterv1.13.nes

​Works on any NES emulator or flashcart. Feedback and high scores are welcome.

Chimp! (for NES and Famicom) - Play the demo now

A monkey dreams of owning his own hair salon.

To make his dream come true, he needs gold.
The gold is locked away behind closed doors.
To open the doors, he needs keys.
The keys are guarded by whimsical and absurd animal enemies.
To defeat the animals, he must find bananas to throw at them.
That’s the story.

Demo version available now:

https://eastpixel.itch.io/chimp
https://store.steampowered.com/app/5258030/Chimp/

P.S. everyone: No AI was used building this game. Fuck AI.

LEGIONNAIRES – Our father-and-son NES homebrew project is on Kickstarter

Hey everyone!

My 16-year-old son Noah and I are developing an original NES game called LEGIONNAIRES under our German Garage Games label.

It's a run-and-gun action game inspired by Contra, Metal Gear and Predator. Players are dropped onto a hostile island, where they have to fight their way through enemy territory, explore changing environments and solve alarm puzzles.

We're currently running a Kickstarter campaign to fund the physical NES release. We've raised €9,497 of our €5,000 goal, with 12 days left to go!

One interesting part of the game is the alarm system, which uses logic puzzles inspired by games like Akari. Quite a few people playing our demo got stuck on one of them, so we've shared a screenshot of the solution.

I'd love to hear what fellow NES developers think, especially about the gameplay and puzzle design. Making a game for this old hardware is a learning experience in itself, and it's great to see what people in the homebrew scene are creating.

🎮 Free playable demo:
https://germangaragegames.itch.io/legionnaires-brutal-8-bit-nes-demo

🚀 Kickstarter campaign:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2144376545/legionnaires-a-brutal-8-bit-nes-game

Thanks for taking a look, and good luck with your own projects!

my inspiration was '92 recca, but i'm trying to do something harder, more frenetic and more "heavy", something that comes close to a bullet hell

i plan to add a 2player option as well, and if possible, use my music engine's "software mixing mode" during gameplay

and to be clear, i'm NOT using AI in development, and i never will.

anyway, what do y'all think?

https://gamma-correction.itch.io/jacobs-elevator

Hello, I'm pretty good with famitracker, (little rusty but I'm getting back into it) and I've never actually made something for an actual game before. Other then some never finished rpg maker games. So if anyone needs some music for their game I'd like to contribute.

Though I'm still amaturish, fair warning. If you're standards are professional you should probably pass. Maybe I'll get to that point someday, but not yet.

I’m very new to nes deep tech, only just found out about the memory bank storage. but this led to the question of whether or not you could theoretically add more data to a cartridge to access more banks? I have no actual idea if this is even possible and I’m just blowing hot air, but that’s why I wanted to ask if you guys knew any better about whether something like this as possible or not.

Hi everyone, I found an interesting 3D demo for NES on one of the forums. Author: vitsum. I tested it in an emulator, and it works really well.

Author's notes: *3D maze with doors that open, torches, and a map.

Arrow keys: move. Hold B to strafe. A button: open or close a door. Select: map.

If you don't press any buttons in the menu, the camera will automatically pan through the maze.

Created by artificial intelligence.*

Link

You know the dinosaur from Chrome's no-internet page. This is it running on a real NES — ~4,900 lines of 6502 assembly, NROM-256, NTSC and PAL. I didn't hand-write the assembly: I used two AI models as the programmers and worked as the director, QA, and pixel artist. Sharing the workflow because it worked better than I expected.

Repo: https://github.com/atonamy/nes-t-rex-game
ROM: https://github.com/atonamy/nes-t-rex-game/releases/latest

The approach:

1. Ground truth first. We vendored the actual Chromium dino_game TypeScript source into the repo. Every physics constant, collision box, and obstacle rule was ported from it directly — not eyeballed from gameplay. At the end I made the model audit its own port value-by-value against that source; the audit caught real bugs (a mis-encoded jump-velocity table, an off-by-one in obstacle gaps, a size roll that wasn't uniform). The README now has a fidelity table: what's byte-identical, and what deviates and why.
2. Initial port with Kimi K3 — game loop, physics in the original 600×150 world units (8.8 fixed point), the sprite-zero scroll split for the static score bar, cacti streamed as background tiles so they cost zero sprites.
3. Debugging and polish with Claude (Fable 5). This was the loop that mattered: I play the build in Mesen → I describe the bug or just paste a screenshot / screen recording → the model reproduces it headlessly in a scripted emulator (Lua autoplayers that actually play the game, frame-by-frame RAM/OAM/nametable dumps, forced scenarios by injecting obstacles into RAM) → finds the root cause in the assembly → fixes it → proves it with automated before/after runs. No fix was accepted on "looks right".
4. Art: AI-designed, human-refined. Kimi K3 and Sonnet 5 did the initial pixel art design for the T-Rex and pterodactyl frames; the models also built me a browser-based sprite editor so I could refine and polish that art by hand myself, saving my edits back for the models to import into the CHR pipeline (at one point Fable 5 had to forensically recover a save from my browser's localStorage after I thought I'd nuked it). The game-over restart button is copied pixel-for-pixel from Chrome's own sprite sheet.

Bugs this workflow actually caught (my favorites): phantom walls of cacti painted by a clobbered temp register; invisible cacti from an 8-bit screen-coordinate overflow — you'd die to nothing; the HUD scrolling away on PAL because the sprite-zero wait loops were timed for NTSC's short vblank; ghost pterodactyl parts wrapping to the left edge at max speed; a fast-fall that hung the dino mid-air because two bytes were swapped in a velocity constant. Every one reproduced and re-verified by scripted emulator runs.

What's deliberately different from Chrome: whole-pixel world motion (floor(speed) px/frame), ~2% slower speed ramp from fixed-point granularity, an LFSR instead of Math.random(), night lasting 350 points instead of 12 seconds, and frame-locked timing (PAL runs proportionally slower, as was traditional). Full list in the README.

Builds from source with nothing but cc65. Happy to answer questions about the AI workflow or the NES internals — and if anyone runs it on real hardware, I'd love to hear how it behaves.

RALLY CROSS '87

Single player, Super Sprint style with rally mechanics

Link: (not sketchy I swear) https://files.catbox.moe/cz5qsx.zip

Menus

• Start or A — Title screen → Course select → Race
• Right on title screen — View HOT LAPS records
• Left / Right on course select — Change course
• Left, B, or Start on hot laps screen — Back to title

Driving

• A — Accelerate
• B — Foot brake (reverse when stopped)
• Left / Right — Steer
• Down — Handbrake (locks the rear axle)
• Select — Pause
• Start — Restart race (while paused: exit to course select)

Mechanics

• Race start — Three low tones, then a high tone to go. Clock starts on the high tone.
• Launch control — At a standstill, hold Down + A to rev, then release Down to launch.
• Trail braking — Press A + B together at speed to slow down and tighten the nose.
• Handbrake — Cuts rear grip while held. Steer to rotate the car, then release to catch the slide. Hold too long and you spin out.
• Tip: Down + A keeps the engine revved for a strong exit.
• Spin recovery — Brake (B or Down) below jogging speed, or ride it out.
• Surfaces:
  • Asphalt: fastest
  • Gravel: slower with looser, more slidable grip
  • Grass: slowest
• Jumps — Hit a mound at speed to become airborne. Steering in the air turns the car body but does not change trajectory. Aim before landing. Landing briefly reduces grip.
• Walls — Heavy speed loss on impact.
• Laps — Pass every checkpoint in order, then cross the finish line.
• Hot laps — Beat a course’s best lap time to save it permanently (confirmed by a chime).

HUD

LAP count · TIME (current lap in seconds:frames) · CP (next checkpoint) · V (speed) · S (surface) · D (drift angle) · BEST (session best lap)

Hey all,

Getting NES games running on Steam is something I've been trying to find for a few years. Didn't seem like anything existed and no one was working on it so I ended up building it and figure it could be useful for others.

When I say run on Steam, I mean:

• Native controller input support via the SteamInput system.
• Steam Achievements and proper overlay triggering.
• Works flawlessly on the Steam Deck (and should work on the Steam Machine).
• Built-in localization support.

I've been testing it with one of my projects and it came out very nicely. It's published under Apache 2.0 so do what you want with it.

• The project repo is here: https://github.com/karimhadjsalem/NEShim
• Docs are here: https://karimhadjsalem.github.io/NEShim/

The core emulator under the covers is BizHawk so it supports a lot of the mappers out there (I would say all but there's always edge cases I'm sure it doesn't cover). It natively rendering in DX11 but has a fallback to GDI+ for hardware that can't run DX11. I added a bunch of video, audio, and color filters. It has localization via Steam and OS level for 10 languages.

Hope someone finds it useful

Hi! I’m developing Hyper Pulse, a new NES homebrew shmup built for real NES hardware.

The game has arcade-style shooting, collectable coins, upgrades, and stage hazards like rising lava, falling ceilings, screen-shaking quakes, and living tiles.

Here is two short teaser / gameplay clips:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oU-kwGP9fM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7a94_Oc-JA

All feedback is welcome!

Tech info:
I am creating the game with Nesfab language and a custom self upgraded version of the MapFab editor.

The project currently uses the modern Rainbow mapper, but I intend to do a MMC3 conversion as well.

Screenshots:

I'm currently learning C and C++, and I thought it would be fun to try something: porting badapple to the NES without bankswitching

So I compressed the original video down to 16x12 @ 5 FPS (no audio) and stored it as a raw binary format (1 byte per horizontal pixel sequence) to make it fit inside the cartridge

There’s still a bug causing some flash when the screen refreshes, so it’s definitely not perfect yet, but I already wanted to share it

If you want to try it:

ROM: https://github.com/0xagvz/BadApple-NES-NROM

Own emulator: https://github.com/0xagvz/NES-Emulator

Edit:
Youtube: https://youtu.be/by-lQ6QA38I?si=cnemfqBKrbGN0sGH

Hey guys, I created an indie block pushing game for the NES [Nintendo Entertainment System] and was asked to join a promo with 29 other indie game devs. The bundle is 30 games for $30 and its on itch.

Here is the youtube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AumjO9RDGI

Here is the itch page:

https://itch.io/b/3695/new-8-bit-all-stars-bundle

The sale is only for 1 week and it starts this coming Friday.

The idea came from a similar bundle that previously happened for indie Game Boy games.

Thanks for reading!!

Hey everyone!

It was a long time ago when I was trying Nesmaker but was really upset It didn't have the tools like a graphic program to help me with my pixel art needs. I'm inclined on working with Nesmaker again but definitely need a piece of software that give me the tools like old pixel art soft like Graphicsgale did. Any tips on that?

Thank you in advance!

So I've been working on my Blasphemous demake. Lots of new mechanics, new enemies and new levels. Lots of bugs also to work on. There's a new HUD that tracks Health, Fervour, Bile Vessels, Bones and Attack power.

Enemy sprites are a bit sad still, same as background tiles. I tend to work more on mechanics and physics than grpahics, but I need to improve them.

Now there's a self-aware map screen (still buggy) and a work-in-progress Mea Culpa Altar menu (still to be improved).

I also added an AI-generated Manual to explain the mechanics and combos.

ROM here

I made this cover Almost a year ago and the game is still in progress but I’m mainly looking for help with coding, music, sfx, and animation, I already have done a few things like music/sfx, and tilesets but doing this on my own would take a lot longer..

anyways dm me if anyone is interested.

I'm working on a project where i take mother encore tracks that weren't in the original and remake them in the style of the original mother 1. I'm using famistudio, which takes .dmc files.

It's for a NES-style game I'm developing. I'm trying to follow the hardware limitations of the console. What do you think? Is my pixel art good? Would you play a game like this?

Hello,

In the .nes file (ines 1.0 format) of the Donkey Kong game, I extracted the game sprites and assigned random colors. Now I'm trying to assign the correct colors. To do this, I need to find the OAM representation within the .nes file in the PRG-ROM to retrieve the IDs of each sprite and the palette number to assign the correct colors. However, I can't find the starting address to access the sprite attributes in the PRG-ROM.

Despite many hours and days of reading, I still can't find where the sprite tile attributes are located.

Could you tell me where they are?

Here is the header of the .nes file for the game Donkey Kong (JU):

Game name : Donkey Kong (JU).nes

Size file ROM .nes : 24592 bytes

Size of PRG ROM in 16 KB units : 1, Size PRG ROM : 16384

Size of CHR ROM in 8 KB units 1, Size CHR ROM : 8192

Flags 6 - Mapper, mirroring, battery, trainer 0, Has Trainer ? No

Flags 7 - Mapper, VS/Playchoice, NES 2.0 : 0

Flags 8 - PRG-RAM size (rarely used extension) : 0

Flags 9 - TV system (rarely used extension) : 0

Flags 10 - TV system, PRG-RAM presence (unofficial, rarely used extension) : 0

Thank you in advance.

For some time, I've wanted to make an NES game. After some searching, I found NesHacker's tutorial on how to set up a development environment. I made sure to follow the video carefully, and I replicated everything done in the video up until the build part with the demo ROM. Every time I tried, VS Code did not come up with the ca65 option like in the video. I went through the comments, found some advice, but still couldn't get anything. The only thing I can think of is me using Windows 11 while the tutorial said it was for Windows 10. If anyone has any advice or knows if I glossed over something. Please share.

Here's the specific video for reference. NES Development Environment - YouTube

New stable release v0.0.7 available

It allows you to browse CHR and ROM graphics, edit pixels, create static art and animation layouts, manage palettes, and work with ROM-based views such as OAM animations, PPU frame windows, and much more.

• Here's the ItchIO page
• here's the GitHub page
• Here's the DB game tracker

Let u/tavuntu know if you have any questions about the DB tracker or the app in general.

Hello all, I’m looking for some help to understand how difficult it would be take export music written in Famitracker and then put it into a game to play it on a NES.

I’m looking to essentially make my next album playable on a NES. I did this with my first release on GameBoy using GB Studio with the inbuilt music making. I use a NES mini on stage to play back the tracks with the PowerGlove while I sing and play double bass!

I want to make a similar game to test my skill, and I want to use it as a reference. If it's available, how accessible is it?