Bruce Lee - Fantastic homebrew Sega Master System release!

[Neil79]

In 2013 Bruno R. Marcos released the PC successor Bruce Lee II and in 2015 Jonas Hulten released a true C64 port of Bruno R Marcos's release. But today we are going to go even further and announce the release of a homebrew port of the original Bruce Lee but for the Sega Master System!

Indie Retro News: The latest free games, indie games and retro news: Bruce Lee -

[CraigsBar]

Indie Retro News: The latest free games, indie games and retro news: Bruce Lee -

this was one of my fave games on my mates speccy as a kid, somehow the CPC version seemed less good.

I wonder if this SMS version is a candidate to a gx4000 port as both are z80 machines. And we now have c4cpc carts to fill.

It could look and more importantly play lovely with nice backdrops and hardware sprites.

[MacDeath]

You can't just port SMS on GX4000/PLUS.

Very different systems despite it not being easy to see on the paper.


Yeah PLUS/GX4000 is supposed to have 16 sprites but they really work very differently than proper console's ones... it is not 16 sprites per lines that go read datas into RAM/ROM but some masked tiles you upload into the ASIC and can somewhat multiplex badly via some codinng tricks.


Also very big differences in display.

GX4000 : Amstrad CPC like video modes.
SMS : 256x192x16 + sprite layer (15 colours?), shittons of scrollings too

SMS is quite like some MSX2 actually, but is quite short on VRAM actually, hence many sprites would flicker.



tl;dr :
GX4000 game would rely on Software sprites a bit like CPC games do... not sure you can get really fast stuff.
Yet well programmed CPC could be great and PLUS/cartridge extra features definitaly enables for some CPU-gain tricks.

Also due to this specific game's style, the game may actually be quite nice on CPC and may use Hardsprites :
only 3-4 sprites actually on screen... and somewhat 16x16 pixels sized...
The 16 sprites slots could use some buffer trick as you could upload next animation frame into another sprite slot while displaying current one and no need to actually refresh/reload all 16 sprites slots at 50hz lol...

This game is not supposed to have scrollings (as often for computer games) and the good old Mode0 on PLUS could really shine well.



But "Bruce Lee II" should also be ported the way it was to C64... question is : who will spend time coding this ?

[CraigsBar]

You can't just port SMS on GX4000/PLUS.

Very different systems despite it not being easy to see on the paper.


Yeah PLUS/GX4000 is supposed to have 16 sprites but they really work very differently than proper console's ones... it is not 16 sprites per lines that go read datas into RAM/ROM but some masked tiles you upload into the ASIC and can somewhat multiplex badly via some codinng tricks.


Also very big differences in display.

GX4000 : Amstrad CPC like video modes.
SMS : 256x192x16 + sprite layer (15 colours?), shittons of scrollings too

SMS is quite like some MSX2 actually, but is quite short on VRAM actually, hence many sprites would flicker.



tl;dr :
GX4000 game would rely on Software sprites a bit like CPC games do... not sure you can get really fast stuff.
Yet well programmed CPC could be great and PLUS/cartridge extra features definitaly enables for some CPU-gain tricks.

Also due to this specific game's style, the game may actually be quite nice on CPC and may use Hardsprites :
only 3-4 sprites actually on screen... and somewhat 16x16 pixels sized...
The 16 sprites slots could use some buffer trick as you could upload next animation frame into another sprite slot while displaying current one and no need to actually refresh/reload all 16 sprites slots at 50hz lol...

This game is not supposed to have scrollings (as often for computer games) and the good old Mode0 on PLUS could really shine well.



But "Bruce Lee II" should also be ported the way it was to C64... question is : who will spend time coding this ?

that is always the question. Oh well MD.EMU on the JXD 7800b for the master system release then

[andycadley]

I'm not sure why this "all the GX features are useless" meme persists, despite ample evidence to the contrary. The hardware sprites are certainly not useless and can be much more effectively exploited from a cartridge title (especially given that you no longer need to worry about the cost of cartridge size).

Bruce Lee could be very easily recreated as a GX title, it wouldn't even need a particularly skilled programmer - it isn't a particularly complex title at the end of the day. And it could very definitely be software sprite free too. It wouldn't be a straight port from SMS but that's because, whilst both Z80 based, the GX4000 is a different from the SMS as the SMS is from the Spectrum.

[CraigsBar]

I'm not sure why this "all the GX features are useless" meme persists, despite ample evidence to the contrary. The hardware sprites are certainly not useless and can be much more effectively exploited from a cartridge title (especially given that you no longer need to worry about the cost of cartridge size).

Bruce Lee could be very easily recreated as a GX title, it wouldn't even need a particularly skilled programmer - it isn't a particularly complex title at the end of the day. And it could very definitely be software sprite free too. It wouldn't be a straight port from SMS but that's because, whilst both Z80 based, the GX4000 is a different from the SMS as the SMS is from the Spectrum.

it would be great to see a version on the plus machines that really knocked the socks off the other 8 bits.

[MacDeath]

About useless sprites, I was actually thinking about many other SMS games, but BruceLee could be quite suitable for GX4000 sprites actually.
Yeah my post wasn't as clear as that, can't always edit everything lol.


Those sprites are not useless of course, just that they don't offer the same freedom or effectiveness as those on many other systems.

it would be great to see a version on the plus machines that really knocked the socks off the other 8 bits

The way RickDangerous 128k PLUS did ?


Anyway, Some neat fullscreen Mode0 could be sweet... 

I wonder if this SMS version is a candidate to a gx4000 port as both are z80 machines.

The game originally already exists on CPC and spectrum, which are already/also z80 based machines, CPC being also the actual precursor of GX4000... 

[CraigsBar]

About useless sprites, I was actually thinking about many other SMS games, but BruceLee could be quite suitable for GX4000 sprites actually.
Yeah my post wasn't as clear as that, can't always edit everything lol.


Those sprites are not useless of course, just that they don't offer the same freedom or effectiveness as those on many other systems.

The way RickDangerous 128k PLUS did ?


Anyway, Some neat fullscreen Mode0 could be sweet... 

The game originally already exists on CPC and spectrum, which are already/also z80 based machines, CPC being also the actual precursor of GX4000... 

Yes exactly the way Rick Dangerous 128k+ did.


Bruce lee was great fun on a Speccy, but the CPC version always seemed only average at best considering how much more the machine could have done.


I woudl hope a proper GX4000/plus release to have coloured sprites and better backdrops. 2 button controller support and smooth controls would be essential too

[McKlain]

Bruce lee was great fun on a Speccy, but the CPC version always seemed only average at best considering how much more the machine could have done.

I have to disagree. The original version is the Atari XL one, and the amstrad and c64 versions are almost identical besides the colour choices. Even the MSX version is similar, and the spectrum conversion is the odd one.

[CraigsBar]

I have to disagree. The original version is the Atari XL one, and the amstrad and c64 versions are almost identical besides the colour choices. Even the MSX version is similar, and the spectrum conversion is the odd one.

I guess as all things it comes down to which one you played first. I played the speccy one before I even owned a computer. But right now I have fallen in love with this SMS remake.

[MacDeath]

Speccy was the odd one...
C64, CPC and Atari all used wide pixels and 160x200... didn't they ?


Atari :

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpfv7_m7hyQ

CPC :

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxuaiI-rUvg

C64 :

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHzW7T-bwBc


CPC is actually an Atari/C64 port that was laid down due to the fact they didn't even tried to compensate for CPC having only one grey but more colours on screen with no attributes...
As a result they didn't even tried to upgrade the graphics into CPc standards (more colourfull backgrounds)
concerning playability, I don't think CPC is really slower then others...


and then :

www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7gcnxHC3h8

[McKlain]

I think that the SMS Bruce Lee sprite could be done on plus machines without problems, right?

[CraigsBar]

I think that the SMS Bruce Lee sprite could be done on plus machines without problems, right?

I just completed the SMS version under emulation on my Morphos box.


I never completed the CPC original or speccy versions wen I was a kid. But OMG that game is really small LOL.

[MacDeath]

is it shorter than original or just easier ?

[CraigsBar]

Having now watched a play though on YouTube. It's the same length, and I only saw one difference.

[Shaun M. Neary]

I have to disagree. The original version is the Atari XL one, and the amstrad and c64 versions are almost identical besides the colour choices. Even the MSX version is similar, and the spectrum conversion is the odd one.

Sorry for bumping this old thread guys, but after playing a number of different versions over the last few days. It made more sense to revive this one than start a brand new thread.

Played the C64, Speccy and CPC versions essentially back to back. Speccy version played quite well, but the C64 version was abysmal in my honest opinion. Colourless, lifeless and the response at times was often pathetic to the point where I would lose lives as a result of it. Honestly, the CPC version definitely shined over the other two. Must look up the MSX and Atari versions though.

[CraigsBar]

Sorry for bumping this old thread guys, but after playing a number of different versions over the last few days. It made more sense to revive this one than start a brand new thread.

Played the C64, Speccy and CPC versions essentially back to back. Speccy version played quite well, but the C64 version was abysmal in my honest opinion. Colourless, lifeless and the response at times was often pathetic to the point where I would lose lives as a result of it. Honestly, the CPC version definitely shined over the other two. Must look up the MSX and Atari versions though.

I am inclined to agree. 😁

You could have played the Atari version.... It is on my 130xe as well lol. Next time.

[Shaun M. Neary]

I am inclined to agree. 😁

You could have played the Atari version.... It is on my 130xe as well lol. Next time.

I was only thinking this actually after looking at the long play. It looks like the C64 version, only with the speed of the CPC version. =)

[CraigsBar]

ISTR it is nice and responsive

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