Back to the consoles we grew up with

I started with the cartridges we used to plug into consoles connected to our CRT monitors and TVs as kids. I wanted to recreate that experience: picking a cartridge, inserting it and watching the boot screen before choosing a game. Astra built the first twelve playable games, and I kept adding to the collection.

I shared references for the old multicart labels and asked for chunky plastic cases, a CRT and that “press start” menu. The collection grew to fifty solo games and two multiplayer duels across six cartridges. Dangerous Dave, Super Mario Bros. and the Nokia games were among the references. I included ALT+TAB in the first twelve, where you switch back to a document as the teacher approaches.

Getting past the first versions

The early games looked flat. I asked for more colour and texture, shaded characters, scenery and sound effects, then rebuilt the console as a beige CRT with curved glass. On a phone, the game occupied a tiny part of the screen, so I pushed for a larger play area and controls you could hold down with your thumb.

I kept comparing the games with screenshots and level references. Some “new levels” repeated the same scene with a different label. I asked for the original layouts and rules: the pipes in Mario, the rooms in Prince of Persia, the water and rings in Nokia Bounce. Published map transcriptions helped us rebuild those levels. I dropped the early NFS, Subway Surfers and Road Rash attempts because they weren’t good enough.

Duck Hunt came next, from a screenshot reference. I added the flying ducks, three shots per pair and the dog’s reactions. It’s a collection of compact recreations with graphics drawn in code, and I’m still refining how they play. You can pick a cartridge and try them with a keyboard or touch controls.

Thanks to the people who shared their map transcriptions, including deadly-dave, FullScreenMario, Bounce-Vita and PrinceJS.