Spong

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  Devin and Max playing Spong

Inspiration

For a while, I've been wanting to get into the NES homebrew development scene. I have some experience making homebrew Nintendo DS games, and I really want to get back into simple hobbyist game creation. So for this MHacks, I created Spong!

What it does

Spong is a simple video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) that puts two players in control of space ships, and pits them against each other. Armed with a blaster and a shield, players will find the game fast-paced, addictive, and extremely fun.

How I built it

The NES comes equipped with a modified Motorola 6502 processor, and so the game was coded entirely in 6502 assembly language. I used a community-made assembler called NESASM3 and a graphical tile-editing program called YY-CHR. Once compiled into a NES ROM, I was able to play the game on my PC through an emulator. But in order to get the real experience, I ordered a flash cart that lets me flash game ROMs onto an actual NES system, specifically the NES PowerPak from RetroZone.

Challenges I ran into

Assembly language is notorious for being difficult to debug, since small errors can manifest into very big problems that can be hard to diagnose. I came across several of these during MHacks, but managed to solve all of them in one way or another in order to produce a playable game.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

I'm definitely proud that people really seem to enjoy playing the game. It means a lot that other people can enjoy something I developed.

What I learned

I learned a lot about what it takes to develop a (retro) game, and I hope to continue working on hobbyist NES games.

What's next for Spong

Better graphics!

Built With

• 6502-assembly-language
• nes-powerpak
• nesasm3
• nintendo-entertainment-system
• yy-chr