Over the years, Playsoft has developed various games, from *Blowsub* on the Atari 5200 to a Donkey Kong hack for the Atari 8bit by Darryl1970. Now, the Atari 5200 is set to welcome a new title: *Wee Ninja*, a high-quality platformer inspired by Mario. In this game, players can headbutt blocks, collect power-ups, and throw ninja death squares at foes. Check out the latest work-in-progress footage by Saberman below.
The developer shares: “I’ve been creating a Mario-inspired platformer for the 5200 and wanted to release a work-in-progress build now that I’ve assembled the first four levels. Feedback on playability would be greatly appreciated before I move forward. While it isn’t a direct Mario clone, it certainly takes inspiration from it. Players can find three power-ups by headbutting bricks: the red ninja grants temporary invincibility, the black ninja can throw ninja death squares, and the blue ninja can poke enemies with a stick. Instead of losing a life when hit in ninja mode, players revert to normal. Plus, headbutting bricks in ninja mode destroys them.”
To wrap up, the developer noted, “Some pipes can be entered to discover secret areas. Certain enemies can be squashed by jumping on them; defeated shell enemies leave behind an empty shell that can be launched. Collecting hearts grants extra lives. The game is a 64K ROM utilizing @Bryan’s M.U.L.E. bank switching scheme, and it can be played on actual hardware with the Atarimax Ultimate SD as well as the BackBit Pro. It runs on the Altirra emulator (just use the .car file to avoid selecting the ROM type), and if it doesn’t work, an update to a more recent version may be necessary. The soundtrack is adapted from the Super Boy 3 game on the MSX, which itself is a Mario clone. A big thanks to @Beeblebrox and @RB5200 for their assistance and support!”
Links: 1) Download/Source
Original article by www.indieretronews.com
