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As a huge fan of Rare (and by extension its predecessor Ultimate Play The Game), one of my favourite retro-themed releases of the last few years was BitGlint Games' Melkhior's Mansion.
A PC tribute to classic Ultimate games like Atic Atac and Knight Lore, it featured some truly spectacular Spectrum-inspired artwork, as well as a ton of fun nods to the Stamper Brothers and their original home base of Ashby-De-La-Zouch, serving as a perfect tribute to the '80s games that inspired it.
In the past, I've had the pleasure of speaking to the developer Richard Jordan in my former life as a freelancer for Wireframe Magazine, and was aware that the developer had started creating games had begun creating titles for Panic's Playdate handheld. What I didn't know, however, was that he was also working on a Playdate-exclusive spin-off of Melkhior's Mansion called Melkhior's Tower, which could be released before the end of the year (if all goes to plan).
Given the monochrome display, the game sadly doesn't have the lovely, vibrant Spectrum colour palette of the original, but the sprite work still looks absolutely top-notch, with the returning playable characters retaining the same Knight-Lore-esque charm from the original.
As stated in one of Jordan's recent tweets, the game is set to feature 221 floors in total, with the game following three of the four characters from its predecessor, Sir Stamperlot, Princess Ashby, and Lester, as they embark on a new adventure to solve the riddles of Melkhior's Tower, battling enemies with different weapons they find while solving brain-tickling puzzles:
"The Melkhior’s Mansion crew are returning in a brand-new adventure built exclusively for Playdate. Guide Sir Stamperlot, Princess Ashby, and Lester as they combine strength, wit, and guile to unravel the puzzles of Melkhior’s Tower. Descend floor by floor, overcome devious challenges, and find a way to escape before the tower claims them forever."
According to Jordan, the first iteration of each level is now complete, with the developer holding back some information to avoid giving too much away for now.
This is definitely a project I'll be keeping an eye on in the future, and it seems like a perfect excuse to get my Playdate off the shelf, where it's admittedly been gathering dust of late.