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SUPER TILT BRO: A RETRO INNOVATION BRINGS ONLINE MULTILAYER TO THE NES
Remember the NES? Well, it’s back! Despite the official Nintendo Entertainment System being discontinued almost thirty years ago, Broke Studio has breathed new life into this retro gaming platform through homebrew titles. One such title is Super Tilt Bro, which introduces Wi-Fi-enabled online multiplayer to the NES, almost three decades after the console was discontinued.
THE GAME: SUPER TILT BRO
Super Tilt Bro is an open-source eight-bit fighting game with platform mechanics that is essentially just a demake of Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. However, it is without any of its recognizable characters, probably best not to poke the Nintendo copyright lawsuit dragon after all. What’s interesting is that players can expand the current roster with their own custom characters, as the game is open source and can be updated through an internet connection.
KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN
Broke Studio has completed development and testing for the Super Tilt Bro game and its Wi-Fi-enabled cartridge and is now raising money to cover the hardware manufacturing cost through a Kickstarter campaign. Pledging €55 (around $61) gets you a boxed copy of the game cartridge and digital access to its original soundtrack and comic book. Providing it goes smoothly, Broke Studio is expecting to ship the game globally by April 2024.
ONLINE MULTIPLAYER MODE
The game cartridge supports online co-op multiplayer on unmodified NES consoles, thanks to a custom board. This board sports an ESP8266 Wi-Fi chip, a Wi-Fi antenna, and an FPGA circuit. Players can bypass the console’s lack of front-end wireless and configure their Wi-Fi settings directly through the game’s own system menu. From there, you can access various matchmaking options, including ranked competition and even private play with friends.
OTHER GAME MODES
Super Tilt Bro also includes a story mode to play solo and improve your skills and supports local co-op if you want to relive a more nostalgic couch-based multiplayer experience. Both story mode and local multiplayer are available to try out on the web or via a downloadable ROM demo.
INTERNET SUPPORT FOR NES?
Retro gaming aficionados may recall that the NES did actually have limited internet support. A modem was released for the Japanese version of the console (known as Famicom) in 1988 that connected to the cartridge connector. It saw limited success as online applications were mostly limited to horse race betting and stock trading. The famicom modem was never released for the US NES market.
LAST WORDS
As Wi-Fi support comes from the Super Tilt Bro cartridge and not a console modification, you sadly can’t use it to play other NES games online. Alternatively, the Nintendo Switch Online service supports multiplayer gameplay on a handful of NES titles, but you’re limited to playing with friends. Super Tilt Bro innovates online multiplayer gaming on the classic NES console, providing a creative and engaging gaming experience.
