Cracktro Tuesday #1 - Exploring the very latest releases from the C64 Scene

Welcome to a new series of articles where I pluck a selection of C64 programs from Commodore Scene Database (CSDB), play them live on my Twitch stream on real C64 hardware, and write up the highlights here on Indie Retro News. Whether it's artwork, demos, music, classic games revisited in the form of trained cracks or the very latest games - we've got it covered!

Into the Blue - Tetris Attack inspired game comes to the Game Boy

Oh joy of joys, if you loved the 1984 game of Tetris or the 1995 game of Tetris Attack, you'll be pleased to know a brand new puzzle game inspired by those games has been released for the Game Boy. This game named as 'INTO THE BLUE', is a puzzle game developed by Jonas and comes with all the features you would expect of an officially released game from back in the day(Romhacking).

Gameboy Tetris - The original "Gameboy" Tetris makes an appearance on the C64

Funnily enough during today I've been trying my utmost to find my original Gameboy which was given over to my Brother some years ago. Sadly I haven't been able to find it but at least this latest release by Laxity of the original Gameboy game Tetris on the C64 will rekindle some of those great memories, with thanks to Wiebo De Wit and music by Vanja Utne of course!

Tetris Mix - 1980's Tetris classic comes over to the Pico-8 as a first preview!

One of the most popular games of all time was a tile-matching, block rotating puzzle video game first released in 1984 which became a huge hit on the Gameboy in 1989.  It just had to be the classic 'Tetris'; a game that caused many people to spend hours playing to the point of addiction. Although we've had numerous clones over the years some of them good and some of them rather bad, today's Tetris is known as ' Tetris Mix ' and is available to play online or on your Pico-8.

Gameboy Tetris V2 Preview - The original Tetris on a C64? Oh Yes!

What a week for the C64 we've just had, with lots of cool new games and previews to enjoy. But it's just got even better with the preview release of ' Gameboy Tetris V2 ' by Wiebo De Wit. Yes indeed, the original Gameboy classic with it's block switching and turning fun is now available to enjoy as an early scene release found on Github by Laxity untouched for more than 5 months. But that's not all, as Laxity have added a Joystick option and a restart! So make a beer, grab a Pizza and reach that high score!

Falling Blocks - ZX Spectrum homebrew takes on Tetris!

One of the most popular games of all time was a tile-matching puzzle video game first released in 1984 which became a huge hit on the Gameboy in 1989. Many hours were spent rotating blocks and placing them in a line to gain a high score. It just had to be 'Tetris; a game that caused many people to spend hours playing and could not put it down. Although a conversion of Tetris was released on the ZX Spectrum by Andic Software in 1986, 'Falling Blocks' which we are going to feature today is a new take on that classic but developed by Peter McQuillan and released just last month.

Twister - Public domain Tetris for the C64!

Originally released in 1988 by Shane Broadberry as a public domain Tetris for the Commodore 64, has just been cracked by Atlantis & Fantastic 4 Cracking Group. Enabling some extra cheats over the original, this isn't a bad clone of the classic hit as you move blocked shapes around with the aim of creating a horizontal line of ten blocks without gaps. What really adds to the game though is the great intro which has been added by the recent releasers.

Archeomania - Brilliant Tetris Plus inspired ZX Spectrum remake

I feel sorry for the C64 lately as it seems the ZX Spectrum homebrew scene are getting more and more great releases that are out to impress. We even had the more recent ZX inspired Speccyjam with lots of lovely free retro inspired games to play. So here we are with Archeomania; a great Tetris style game developed by Ralf that has a pretty interesting twist. Unlike the usual Tetris with falling shaped blocks to make a filled line, in this one you need to save a girl by erasing the block rows underneath her in that usual Tetris style. If she reaches the bottom you've done it, but if she doesn't she'll end up being squashed by the spikes above.

Unkatris - Impressive Tetris clone for Sinclair 1K ZX81

The screenshot above might not look like much but when you think how well Tetris actually plays and looks today you'll be pretty impressed to see that this is a Tetris clone on just a Sinclair 1k ZX81! Developed by antoniovillena and using the original code of a ZX81, "Unkatris" has the same objective of manipulating shapes with the aim of creating a horizontal filled line of blocks without gaps. Not only is it great fun but it's seriously impressive how the developer has made it seem so Tetris and run incredibly well on such an old retro system.

GemHEX - A colourful nod towards the puzzle game GemX

Game Genre : Arcade Puzzle
Developer(s) : Jay Griffin
Developer Quote: GemHEX is a challenging puzzle game with a side-order of cute, inspired by Kaiko’s ’90s classic Gem’X.
Game Info : Join Kaci, your perky host, as you solve your way through sets of “mines”, 4×10 puzzle sets that rise in difficulty with each set. Use the full-featured level editor to make your own sets and share them with your friends, or submit them and share them with everyone.
This is the initial release version, with the first set of 40 levels and the editor.
Release : Now (FREE)
Systems : PC