Homebrew

Visual Genesis/Mega-Drive game creation software MD Engine releases today

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Happy Labor Day, Sega fans. Now get to work and make us new Genesis/Mega-Drive games to play.

Who remembers MD Engine, the visual Genesis game creation toolkit being made by Two Black Cats, which was revealed last year? Now it’s finally come out. Originally only for Windows and Linux, the program has now expanded with Mac support, so the brightest new Genesis game visionaries have no shortage of options to start working on their new games. You can purchase a license for this program now on Steam or the Two Black Cats website.

There’s a lot of other new features under the hood that MD Engine didn’t have in its infancy last year. To hear more about it, go on ahead past the break and read more. It’s not like you have to do any coding to get there.

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Cuphead spin-off Mighty Cuphead Adventure being developed for Master System

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In all the excitement from this year’s Summer Games Fest and other new game showcases this June, you might remember an announcement being made that two new Cuphead games were in development by the creators of the award winning original game, Studio MDHR. The first is a new, hand-drawn adventure very much like the beloved original game, which is still a ways away in development as of this writing. The other game, which is clearly much closer to completion, is an 8-bit spin-off called Mighty Cuphead Adventure, but what might not be apparent right away is that this is a Master System game, not an NES game as many were quick to assume. (Pay close attention to the console and controllers in the above trailer.)

We could hardly believe it ourselves, but it’s true. Mighty Cuphead Adventure is coming soon as a game you can play on your Master System or anything else compatible with Master System games. It will also be available on modern consoles and PC as well, but the small team working on this at Studio MDHR is making it as a Master System game first and foremost in Assembly code. They’re also committing to an eventual physical cartridge release for original Master System consoles and compatible consoles.

Sounds pretty crazy, and the best part is that this was a longstanding dream for the Cuphead developers, which they never gave up on. To find out more, pour a cup of your favorite beverage and adventure on past the break to see what I mean.

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The late bloomer Saturn homebrew game, Vigilant Paradise, is available now

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I’ve long waited for the day I could talk about an impressive new indie game for the Sega Saturn, and the wait is finally over.

Vigilant Paradise is a new Miami Vice inspired FPS designed for the Saturn by one Riccardo Campione. Of course, although I say it’s new, the game actually made its debut with little-to-no fanfare in November 2025. It sat quietly on itch.io until someone going by dmar3000 just happened across it from simply searching for “Sega Saturn” on itch one day and then posted about it on Reddit. From there, it caught the attention of our good friends at Sega Saturn Shiro, who then wrote about the game themselves. It goes to show that sometimes going off the beaten path can lead you to some interesting hidden discoveries.

If this looks interesting to you, you can read on past the break to find out more about this hidden homebrew gem.

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Tanglewood Definitive Edition launches on Nintendo Switch eShop

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The darling Genesis/Mega-Drive indie game Tanglewood has come to Nintendo Switch with a new definitive edition. Originally released on Genesis/Mega-Drive in cartridge form and to PC, Mac, and Linux in 2018, this new release adds extra features that even the computer versions don’t have, such as widescreen support, new high quality music, and a new storybook mode to flesh out the world of Tanglewood.

Already an amazing achievement on Genesis, Tanglewood Definitive Edition (which just goes by “Tanglewood” on Nintendo’s eShop) is largely the same as it was on Genesis. However, this new version adds in enough to easily warrant a new playthrough if you’re already experienced in the game. You can find out more about this new release past the break below.

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New visual coding program for Genesis/Mega-Drive, MD Engine, coming soon

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Look. I get you, Sega fans. You saw all these cool new homebrew games for Genesis/Mega-Drive coming out and you wanna make a game just like those, but you don’t know how to write code for Genesis. Thankfully, Two Black Cats have got you covered.

MD Engine is a new visual coding program made for easy development of games for Sega Genesis. A visual coding program, much like Game Maker or Clickteam Fusion, allows for the development of video games with an interface that allows for you to build a game with visual assets and menus without having to rely so much on writing code. With this, and a bit of patience and inspiration, you should be able to make your very own new Genesis games without having to write one line of code.

MD Engine was made as a fork of GB Studio, an open source visual coding program for making games for Nintendo’s Game Boy (Color) handheld. It uses much of the same interface and menus, so MD Engine should look familiar to anyone who has worked in GB Studio. However, MD Engine touts some extra special features that are not available even with GB Studio, such as exporting your game as a special PC or HTML5 game with extra features not possible on Genesis, such as a widescreen visual mode and CRT visual filters. Of course, if you just want to make a game ROM that can play on Genesis consoles or in Genesis emulators, you can do that as well.

Be sure to take a dive past the break to find out more about how MD Engine could help you make the Genesis game of your dreams.

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Physical copies of new Master System indie game, Frontier Force, coming soon from 2Minds

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The hot new Master System indie shooter, Frontier Force, which I had written about here just two days ago, will soon be available in a boxed physical cartridge form from 2Minds, a new publisher for indie games on Master System and Game Gear. The game will be packaged much like any old retail release for Master System, complete with box, reversible color inlay, manual, poster, and cartridge for use in any Master System or Master System cartridge adaptor for Genesis/Mega-Drive, Mark III, or Game Gear. It will cost €50 (Currently $56.78 USD).

For links to order the game, check in after the break below.

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New indie shooter “Frontier Force” released for Master System

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We love new games released for Sega consoles here at SegaBits, and this is one you won’t want to miss. Homebrew developer Badcomputer has just released an amazing new shmup for Master System called Frontier Force. The game sees your Space Harrier-looking character on the ground firing upwards at enemy forces with six different weapons, five of which have limited ammunition that requires replenishing. The game boasts some incredible graphics with plenty of detail and parallax scrolling, more than you saw in most official Master System games at retail back in the day. It also features an incredible soundtrack by chiptune musician Crisps as well as a printable digital manual.

The game is now available as a digital ROM file for your favorite Master System emulator or to run on a flash cartridge on any Master System, Mark III, or Master System-compatible Genesis/Mega-Drive console for only $5 USD from Badcomputer’s itch.io page, which will be linked beyond the break below.

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Phantasy Star II getting a fanmade port to the Amiga platform

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These are interesting times for retro ports. First, we had folks porting games to Sega consoles from other platforms, then someone ported Shinobi and Golden Axe to SNK’s Neo-Geo platforms, and now someone wants to bring Phantasy Star II (1989) to the Amiga platform. I’m certainly not against it.

Homebrew developer RetroLover is now hard at work on an Amiga conversion of the seminal and very influential Genesis/Mega-Drive JRPG Phantasy Star II. That game is their favorite RPG of all time, and this is their way of paying tribute to it and the Amiga platform. The game is being rebuilt in Scorpion Engine, which is made for development of Amiga, Genesis, and even Neo-Geo games, but RetroLover is aiming to make this as faithful to the Genesis original as possible. They’ll still be adding enhancements to make it easier to play through, such as an improved battle system based on that of Phantasy Star IV (1995).

For now, though, the port is still early in development. However, RetroLover has released a demo for the public to try and is open to feedback. If you have a way to run Amiga games, I’d say give it a go. You can find a link to download it below the break.

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Golden Axe arcade game now ported to SNK’s Neo-Geo

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The arcade version of Golden Axe (1989) has now been ported to the Neo-Geo family of systems by h0ffman. This comes a couple of weeks after their homemade port of the arcade version of Shinobi (1988) to Neo-Geo, and the Golden Axe port was handled in much the same way. Now that their Golden Axe port is completed, it is now available to download for free from their itch.io page and ready to run on Neo-Geo AES, MVS, and CD hardware.

Unlike with their Shinobi port, they’ve added some extra special features to this new Neo-Geo port. You’ll find more information, along with a download link, right past the break.

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New mid-range Genesis/Mega-Drive flashcart, the Mega Everdrive Core, launches from Everdrive creator Krikzz

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The ever-so-busy creator of the Everdrive line of flash cartridges for various retro systems, Krikzz, has debuted his newest edition to the Mega Everdrive lineup for Genesis/Mega-Drive hardware: The Mega Everdrive Core. This new mid-range flash cartridge, in terms of functionality, sits between his most feature rich option: the Mega Everdrive Pro, and the next best option: the Mega Everdrive X5. (Not to mention a much bigger step up from the next newest edition to the Mega Everdrive family, the OpenED)

Like any flash cartridge, this allows you to run digitized Genesis game roms on original Genesis consoles, as well as certain clones. The Mega Everdrive Core can also run Master System and 32X game roms on Genesis systems as well. (Provided you’re using a system compatible with Master System games in the former case or have an original 32X equipped in the latter case.) It also has support for the Genesis version of Virtua Racing too, unlike the OpenED. The most important difference between this and the Pro model is that it cannot run Sega CD games, the modern classic Genesis RPG Pier Solar (2010), or games patched with MSU-MD support.

After the break, you can expect a handy chart detailing the differences between the Core and the Pro and X5 models, as well as a link to order directly from Krikzz’s Everdrive store.

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New Genesis/Mega-Drive shooter ZPF now available for pre-order

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Remember the new hit indie Genesis/Mega-Drive shooter ZPF, which succeeded in its Kickstarter campaign to fund development in July of last year? The game is still in development as of this writing, but pre-orders have now opened up to the public on Backerkit (In December 2024, but hey, they’re still available right now, at least). Even if you didn’t back the Kickstarter, you now have a chance to get your order in and be assured to receive your copy of the game as soon as it’s available. If you did back the Kickstarter, you can take this opportunity to order any items that weren’t included with your pledge that you may want.

From Backerkit, you can order new exclusive Complete-In-Box packages, collector’s edition sets, and other goods such as an artbook or a vinyl or CD soundtrack. You can also order copies of the developer’s previous game Tanzer or the other recent new indie Genesis game Rocket Panda, if you feel like having an extra game with ZPF. These two games are available for $45 USD, while ZPF is available as a $50 cartridge-only package, a $60 CIB set, and a $150 collector’s edition complete with unique cartridge design.

For a link to the pre-order page, and details on other goods you can pre-order, have a look after the break.

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Shinobi arcade game ported to SNK’s Neo-Geo; Golden Axe arcade port coming soon

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Mock cover art by Pedro Soares https://x.com/peachflavor3d/status/1876277610961043787

The Sega arcade classic Shinobi (1988) has just been unofficially ported to the Genes- sorry, I meant the Dreamca- wait! No! It’s been ported to SNK’s Neo-Geo system. That sounds like a first.

Yes. Hobbyist developer h0ffman has just brought Shinobi to the Neo-Geo system by seemingly disassembling the original arcade ROM to make their own source code and then converting it to run on Neo-Geo hardware just to see if they could. They first got the game running from a physical CD on a Neo-Geo CD console and have since released versions that run on that as well as the Neo-Geo AES and Neo-Geo MVS. What’s more, they’re also currently doing the same with Golden Axe (1989), though they have not yet finished that port as of this writing. For now, you can download Shinobi and try it on your favorite Neo-Geo emulator or any Neo-Geo hardware you may own.

For download links, sneak on in past the break.

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Mega Drive Tracker website set up to catalogue upcoming physical indie game releases for Genesis/Mega-Drive

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Brand new games for Genesis/Mega-Drive, coming from talented indie enthusiast developers, are a common occurrence today. It is rather exciting, but it might be a little tough to keep track of them all. Of course, you can search SegaBits for our own articles about new Genesis game releases, but what if I told you there’s now a website with an easy to read catalogue of upcoming releases to look out for?

Developed by fellow Sega fan and writer Mollie L Patterson, Mega Drive Tracker is a WordPress site keeping track of upcoming Genesis releases that are planned to come out on physical cartridges that you can buy and run on original Genesis hardware. The pages for each game include links to the websites where the games can be bought or pre-ordered, if they are still available. This includes a couple of games we have written about before too. They’re grouped by four categories:

  1. New Releases, which are brand new games being developed from the ground up for Genesis. (Examples: Phantom Gear, Earthion, ZPF)
  2. Ports, which are conversions of games that already exist on other hardware. (Examples: Black Jewel Reborn, P47 II MD, Asuka 120% Re-bon)
  3. Reprints, which are brand new printings of games that already released on Genesis years ago. (Examples: Aero The Acro-bat, Grind Stormer, Twin Cobra)
  4. Localizations, which are translated releases of games originally unreleased in English speaking countries. (Example: Eliminate Down, Slap Fight)

Take a look after the break for a link to the website for you to bookmark and look at.

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Homebrew Genesis/Mega-Drive game Hayato’s Journey finishes development; now available to download for free

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An all new homebrew action platformer for Genesis/Mega-Drive, called Hayato’s Journey, has just finished development and is now free to download. Developed by Master Linkuei, Hayato’s Journey is a fanmade spiritual sequel to the Master System game Kenseiden (1988). The game is now available on his itch.io page for whatever price you wish to pay. Although it is free, it couldn’t hurt to give Master Linkuei a buck or two to reward their hard work.

Have a look beyond the break for a trailer and a link to the game.

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Fanmade Dreamcast port of Grand Theft Auto III being worked on; WIP footage shown

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How many of you were aware the Grand Theft Auto III (2001) was originally meant to have a version on Sega Dreamcast? It moved away from Dreamcast after developer DMA Design, today known as Rockstar North, came into agreement that the Dreamcast was no longer a viable platform for the game, most likely due to Sega bowing out of the console hardware race in 2001. Had the game released on Dreamcast as originally intended, it would’ve gone on to be a major feather in the Dreamcast’s cap for years to come.

While we can’t go back in time and make DMA Design stick to it’s original Dreamcast release plans, one fan has taken it upon themselves to convert the game over to Dreamcast. Homebrew developer SKMP has been building a new Dreamcast GTA III port using assets and reverse engineered code from the original PC version. Lately, he’s even gained some help from a few other Dreamcast homebrew developers, including Frogbull, who’s best known for creating a Metal Gear Solid 2 tech demo for Dreamcast. While the port is still work-in-progress as of this writing, what’s been done so far is nothing short of amazing. After all, just because GTA III was originally meant to be a Dreamcast game, doesn’t mean that bringing the finished game to Dreamcast is as simple as you might think.

You’ll find out more about what I mean past the break.

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