Manic Miner for Playdate

[Richard Hallas]

Hi all,

I've just stumbled across a new Manic Miner port that was completely unknown to me. As I've seen no mention of it here, I thought you'd all like to know about it. Apologies if you're aware of it and I've just overlooked it myself.

Anyway, it's a version for Panic's little Playdate console. There's an emulator for everyone without a physical device.

I haven't had chance to try it myself yet (I've literally only just spotted it) but from the screenshots it looks to be a promising monochrome translation of the game.

Here it is: https://kounch.itch.io/pd-mm-engine

[SymbolShift]

I must have been living under a rock, as I had never even heard of the Playdate until now. Looks like a nicely done conversion!

[Richard Hallas]

I've just tried it out briefly in the Playdate Simulator. It's really very good! It comes with two versions of the (Bug-Byte version) game: one with monochrome versions of the original 8x8 character graphics, which look minute even on the small Playdate screen, and a version with new 12x12 graphics that fill the screen width perfectly. The new graphics are nicely done: they look authentic, but pin-sharp and with obviously more detail than the originals.

You can choose between the default black on white graphics (which I do actually like; they feel appropriate for a mono LCD screen) or the more authentic-looking white on black, which also looks good (much like the monochrome Dragon version, I suppose!). As for the music, the rendition of the title screen music is good (very reminiscent of the Spectrum original, but a little less honky-tonk and more in tune). As for the in-game music, you can choose from a blippy version (very much like the Spectrum original, though marginally less annoying) or a version with more musical-sounding continuous-tone notes. Both are fine; I think I prefer the slightly modernised new version. Unlike some other conversions, there are no wrong notes! The jumping sound is of a similar nature to the original but uses different pitches, so that seems a little incongruous.

As for gameplay: very faithful, but not quite perfect. Collecting keys is more sensitive than in the original (you can easily miss ones that you'd normally expect to catch), and I noticed a difference in behaviour when jumping onto the conveyor at the start of Willy Meets the Alien Kong Beast, which really ought to be fixed for an authentic experience (as it upsets my traditional way of playing this level!). Eugene doesn't flash when you collect the last object in his Lair, and – from what I've seen from the demo on the title screen – there are no sunbeams in the Solar Power Generator. I also didn't see a screen flash for getting an extra life (in fact, I don't think I even received an extra life!) when hitting 5,000 points in The Vat. But these are all very minor shortcomings. For an initial version 1.0.0 product it seems extremely good. A handful of little tweaks might be nice to have, but overall this is a fantastic new version.

In a screenshot on the home page, it's clear that the author has other level packs beyond the two he supplies, so it'd be nice to see other packs released for this version. (I'd like a pack with Lee Tonks' game, for example, which mentions me in the name of its final cavern!)

Anyway, I'm very favourably impressed with this new version, and it ought to be known about as a further modern conversion that's worth having.

[jetsetdanny]

Thank you for finding this version, Richard, and for your review of it! 🙂

"Living under a rock": This is actually the first time I've heard of the Playdate console (and apparently over 70,000 units had been sold as of February 2024). One learns new things all the time 🙂 .