Dave's Retro Forge

09/10/2025

Grazie!!!😃🙀👌🏻🤩👍🏻😎

09/10/2025

Grazie infinite per la splendida recensione 😃🙏🏻

Sulla pagina web www.retromagazine.net abbiamo recensito Bubble Bobble Remastered di Dave's Retro Forge.

08/10/2025

Bubbles in VR!🎉 Rickard Widell — yes, the brother of our brilliant hacker, Victor! — has just played and finished Bubble Bobble C64 Remastered… in VR on his Meta Quest headset! 🤯✨

Seeing our little 8-bit bubbles pop in virtual reality is something I never imagined when this project started. A huge thanks to Rickard for this unexpected and awesome surprise — what a way to celebrate the release! 🙌

💚 Retro magic meets future tech.

07/10/2025

Io ve lo dico: non perdetelo, che poi vi mangiate le mani… 😛

06/10/2025

V1.0 AVAILABLE NOW!⚡️After months of pixel pushing, palette tweaking, and bubble-popping madness, Bubble Bobble C64 Remastered 1.0 is finally here!

💬 I hope you enjoy this remastered version as much as we enjoyed making it. If you’ve followed the project over the months — thank you for the support, feedback, and encouragement!

👉 Download now: https://daves-retro-forge.itch.io/bubble-bobble-c64-remastered
☕ Buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/davesretroforge

💚Now grab your joystick, pop some bubbles, and enjoy the adventure all over again!

WHAT'S NEW

⭐️Completely Redesigned Graphics

-Bub, Bob, enemies, the final boss… everybody got a full makeover: redrawn and animated pixel by pixel, straight from the arcade original!
-Most levels have been completely redesigned; the rest got a nice polish or color tweak. Some even proudly strut in 3 colors instead of just 2!
-Food and bonus items are 100% juicier and some even got swapped out for fresher ones!
-“Pon” is back when you pop bubbles (because yes, it matters)!
-And the font? 100% Taito arcade approved!

⭐️Miscellaneous Fixes and Improvements

-Popped enemies drop the right goodies (yes, peaches and grapes!).
-Secret Doors and Teleport Doors each have their own graphics now.
-Fixed several inaccuracies (potions, bombs making the screen flash green, big and small diamonds colors not matching...).
-...And more!

⭐️Continue System Fix

-Forget the old split-second continue! Now you can press the button anytime after Game Over — credits permitting.

⭐️New Intro

-A beautiful fan-made loading picture kicks things off in style.
-A brand new rendition of the iconic arcade tune to get you in the mood.

🔮 What’s Next
Version 1.1 is already in the works! Our goal is to introduce two-button controls, and — if we manage to gather a few brave C64 hackers — we plan to add the brand-new arcade-faithful soundtrack composed by Aldo Chiummo (of A Pig Quest fame).

If you’re a passionate scener and want to lend a hand, get in touch!

❤️ Final Words
This remaster is a tribute to a timeless classic — not meant to replace it, but to offer a fresh way to experience it, as if the original team had just a bit more time and resources to push the C64 even further.

Now grab your joystick, pop some bubbles, and enjoy the adventure all over again!

CREDITS

Bubble Bobble Remastered Team

Graphics & Coordination: Davide Bottino
Hacking & Tools: Victor Widell

Intro screen: Simon Marson
Intro music: Aldo Chiummo
Intro code: Antonio Savona

Original C64 Version Team (1987)

Coding: Stephen Ruddy
Graphics: Andrew R. Threlfall
Music: Peter Clarke

DISCLAIMER

This project has been created in good faith and with the utmost respect for Taito and their work. It is an unofficial hack of the existing official Commodore 64 port from 1987, with the goal of enhancing and celebrating a video game classic while preserving the spirit of the original game. The project is entirely free of charge and is not for profit. It has not been created or authorized by Taito and does not intend to infringe upon any intellectual property rights. It is a tribute to the game and its cultural legacy.

A graphically enhanced, fan-made version of the C64 game Bubble Bobble (Firebird, 1987)

04/10/2025

Se amate i giochi arcade non perdete Zzap!Raine 13! L'ORDINE VA FATTO ONLINE ENTRO IL 15 OTTOBRE 2025 da questa pagina: https://oboli.zzapmagazine.it/prodotto/sovvenzione-stampa-zzapraine-13/

Potete scaricare il PDF GRATUITO di 10 pagine qui:https://raine.1emulation.com/zzapraine/pdf/zzapraine_13_sampler.pdf

Vi lascio ora delle info sulla rivista
* formato A4 con copertina plastificata
* 60 pagine
* 13 recensioni arcade di giochi arcade Capcom CPS-1 e CPS-2
* un articolo sulla sfida tra CPS-1 e CPS-2 con schede hardware
* un articolo sui giochi da bar classici del 1983
* un articolo sulla scheda arcade Taito F3 e come applicare la modifica Darksoft
* un articolo sulla genesi di Arkanoid
* rivistina "Zzap!Test" di 15 pagine allegata con pagina news e 3 recensioni di giochi per computer e console. Ogni recensione tratta 4 diversi sistemi dal C64, Spectrum, Vic-20, Atari 2600, TI-99 e altre
* poster A3

Prezzo 9.90 euro inclusa spedizione

Bisogna aderire e pagare entro il 15 ottobre

Grazie a tutti per l'attenzione :)

30/09/2025

😍Ami i classici arcade della Capcom? Allora non puoi perdere il nuovo numero di Zzap!Raine !✅Edizione premium di 56 pagine + poster centrale, formato A4, a colori con copertina plastificata!
Riscopriamo insieme classici come Strider, Ghouls n' Ghosts, Street Fighter II e tanti altri!
Partecipa alla sovvenzione: https://oboli.zzapmagazine.it/prodotto/sovvenzione-stampa-zzapraine-13/

30/09/2025

😃👍🏻

Una partita alla "nuova versione" di Bubble Bobble per Commodore 64.Ringraziamo Davide Bottino e tutta la ciurma che ci stanno regalando un vero e proprio gi...

06/07/2025

🔥 Aggiornamento sulla traduzione di "Life Is A Game"! 🔥

🇮🇹Ho tradotto il 53% della coinvolgente autobiografia di Mevlut Dinc e il viaggio si fa sempre più entusiasmante! 🚀📖

📚Tradurre questo libro è un'immersione nella storia dei videogiochi attraverso gli occhi di chi l’ha vissuta in prima persona. Ogni capitolo è ricco di aneddoti, retroscena e momenti che hanno segnato l’industria, e riportarli fedelmente in italiano, mantenendo intatto lo stile e l'energia che rendono il racconto di Mev così avvincente, è una sfida che affronto con enorme passione.

👉Vi ricordo che la versione originale è disponibile qui https://mevdinc.com/ e che i proventi sono devoluti in beneficienza.

🎮 Continuate a seguirmi per altri aggiornamenti… il traguardo della pubblicazione entro il 2025 piano piano si avvicina! 💪✨

02/07/2025

Bubble Bobble C64 Remastered - WIP 4 - We're getting there!🐉✨A lot has happened since the last update! Basically, all of the core graphics work is now complete. All collectible items have been redrawn and recolored, many discrepancies with the arcade version have been fixed, and the info panel has been completely redesigned. Even the font has been replaced with the one from the original coin-op for added authenticity. Can you spot all the new stuff?

The overall look is now much closer to the arcade classic, while staying within the tight C64 constraints. Some visual compromises were necessary, of course, but we’ve pushed the old hardware pretty far while keeping the original engine intact!

There’s still work to be done, mainly on the programming side to fix some graphical behaviors that are currently hardcoded. And who knows… maybe we’ll even find a way to improve the gameplay too.

Let us know what you think—and thanks for following the project! 🐉💚🟡

🎮 Get my retro remasters (when available): https://daves-retro-forge.itch.io/
☕ Buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/davesretroforge

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Bubble Bobble C64 Remastered Credits
Project & Graphics: Davide Bottino
Hacking & tools: Victor Widell

20/05/2025

Watch me remaster an enemy sprite from C64's Altered Beast arcade conversion!

Just for fun, I decided to have a quick stab at redrawing one of the zombies from the first level of Altered Beast on the Commodore 64, starting from a ripped sprite of the original Arcade version.

Altered Beast is one of those classic SEGA coin-ops I’ve always had a soft spot for. Sure, it’s a pretty mediocre game overall, but it has a unique charm that stuck with me over the years.

The C64 version wasn’t great either, a bit clunky, but not terrible to play. Graphically, though, it felt like a rushed and blocky adaptation of the 16-bit versions, losing much of the visual impact of the Arcade original.

In this video, I do a quick pixel art reinterpretation using Paint.NET, blending nostalgia, curiosity, and retro-style fun.

I use the C64 palette and manually draw each pixel with a 2x1 ratio, just like real C64 multicolor sprites. I start by ripping the original arcade sprite, then resize it to fit within the same number of sprites used in the C64 version.

Colors are reduced to just three, in line with C64 sprite limitations. I deliberately replace black with brown, since black is too limiting for this kind of sprite: the arcade graphics are colorful, and sacrificing a usable color just to include black would mean losing the chance to replicate some precious little details.

The footage is sped up by 300%, the full process took about 15 minutes in real time.

🎮 Discover my retro projects: https://daves-retro-forge.itch.io/
☕ Buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/davesretroforge

18/05/2025

🥳I still can't believe I am doing the graphics to Geppo's excellent Turrican MSX port! I loved the entire saga on my C64 and Amiga! Take a look at Level 1 & 2 in the video.

Finally spaceships have their own movement and attack patterns. In this update there are some improvements in both code and gfx. You should see the second l...