by Update []: It's been four years since we covered the playable preview of The Genesis Project's Sabre Wulf Commodore 64 remaster, and it appears the wait for the finished version is finally over!
You can now download the game from itch.io and give it a try for free, with the game in question playing much faster and smoother than the original. There are more enemies, an improved UI, and the addition of a high score screen, the latter of which serves as a pretty good motivation to keep diving back in whenever you find yourself on the receiving end of a game over.
Here are some comparison shots:
Original Story []: Here's something that will have you reaching for a makeshift helmet and a cane to swing about your room in celebration — Indie Retro News is reporting that a new remaster of Ultimate Play the Game's Sabre Wulf for the Commodore 64 is in development.
In case you're in need of a reminder, Sabre Wulf was a 1984 game released by Ultimate Play the Game (the company which later became Rare) for the ZX Spectrum, and followed the explorer Sabreman, as he searched a dense jungle looking for the individual pieces of a mystical amulet.
Featuring a large and impressive map and some stunning character and enemy animations for the time, it proved to be a huge success for the Midlands-based developer, becoming a best seller and attracting several accolades, including the title of 'Best Maze Game' from Crash Magazine in that publication's 1984/85 Christmas issue.
While today, it's still mostly associated with the ZX Spectrum, versions for other home computers like the BBC Micro, Commodore 64, and Amstrad CPC inevitably followed, though the Stampers had very little to do with any of them, as far as we're aware. In the case of the Commodore 64 port, for instance, it fell to an individual, Greg Duddle, to bring the ZX Spectrum classic to the original Commodore 64, with this version receiving pretty mixed reviews (including a score of 36 out of a possible 40 from CVG and a significantly lower rating of 40 out 100 from Zzap!64), suggesting there was potentially room for some improvement.
Understandably, then, it makes sense why there are some Commodore fans out there who would inevitably want to see it receive a remaster, with the demo group Genesis Project being the individuals who have stepped up to make this a reality.
The new remaster provides an overhaul of the visuals, introducing some fancy new environment art and a new redesign for its central protagonist, Sabreman. That's in addition to a brand-new loading image and a new introductory credits scene with Sabreman tumbling through the forest canopy.
It all looks pretty fantastic, with one small caveat for us. While we appreciate the added detail to the world, we can't help but miss Sabreman's original iconic black & white look a little, with the revised design being slightly less impactful, despite being much more detailed.
A preview of the remaster is currently available to download as a D64 file but represents an unfinished version of the game. You can currently explore the map and collect amulet pieces and other pickups, though there are no enemies or wildlife to stand in your way. You can also enable cheats using C to walk through walls (something we initially thought was a bug, d'oh!). Still, it's fun to poke around in and has us excited to see more. Once we have more information, we'll be sure to update you on the status of the project.