Retro Gaming Hacks

Play Retro Versions of Modern Games

Play the games of today, just without that pesky third dimension.

Part and parcel of the retro game revival phenomenon are modernized versions of classic games. Updated with new, slick graphics and/or expanded gameplay, modern versions of retro games bring the classic gameplay to a new audience. These can be official, like the Arrangement versions of Namco arcade games in more recent editions of Namco Museum [Hack #16] , or unofficial, like the fan creations collected at the site Retro Remakes (http://www.retroremakes.com).

But that’s not what I’m going to talk about in this hack.

No, this section is about hacks that are the exact opposite of what you’d typically think of as a “retro remake.” These hackers look at games like Metroid Prime or Halo and think to themselves, “This is a great game…but it would be even better if it was done in 2D with 256 colors.” They’re taking modern games and stripping away the glitz, making them retro in the process.

Warning

Since the projects described in this hack tend to skirt the boundaries of copyright and fair use, it’s very possible that by the time you read this, one or more of the projects may have been shut down. Caveat lector.

Ocarina of Time 2D

One of the most famous (or infamous) 2D-ification projects was housed at http://www.oot2d.com before creator Daniel Barras took the site down sometime in 2004. As the name implies, Ocarina of Time 2D is a DOS version of the Nintendo 64 smash hit The Legend of Zelda: ...