Bean Brothers for Spectrum Next

[dcrespo3d]

Hello,

I have released a remake of Dave Hughes' Bean Brothers, this time for the Spectrum Next.



It is available through my itch.io page: https://davidprograma.itch.io/bean-brothers

A few months ago I contacted Dave and he kindly gave me permission for this remake.

It is written from scratch in C using the Z88DK compiler, and the gameplay is smooth and fast. The graphics have been revamped too to use the Next' 9 bit colors.

As there is more memory available, aside from the original 20 levels which are present (with few or no changes), I have designed 20 extra levels. They use the border area, so they are bigger, more complex, and more difficult.

Also, I have included 4 songs which cycle as you advance levels. They are chiptune versions of songs from my band Meteoritos (where I play the bass).

I think it's a fun game to play (I've had to play a lot for testing). I hope you like it and feed your Spectrum Next, he deserves it!

[oO cozy Oo]

Thank you for sharing this info and game

[stupidget]

I can’t wait to play this when I get my NEXT. Bean Brothers is a brilliant game and not just one of my favourite Speccy games but one of my all time favourite games.

[dcrespo3d]

I have released an HTML5 version of the game.

It is directly playable from top of the game page at https://davidprograma.itch.io/bean-brothers



On desktop, you can play using keys or connected controller (my Xbox controller works fine on my Windows PC on chrome and firefox).



On mobile, I have been able to play using a cheap bluetooth controller after a bit of tweaking. Your mileage may vary.

The experience is not bad, but there is some input lag (better on desktop, worse on mobile). For me, the best experience for playing this game is using a Spectrum Next (or the N-GO clone) connected to a CRT using VGA/RGB, in that situation the lag is minimal/non-existant. Other FPGAs such as MiSter are also highly recommended.

This HTML5 version is possible because I have prototyped my game using Godot Engine, having the Next's limitations in mind when designing and programming the logic, later translating GDScript to C and compilling with Z88DK for the Next.

[dcrespo3d]

Added Windows and OSX versions, they are native executables created by Godot.

It's lightweight and uses GLES2 backend, so it should run smooth on any machine with 10 years old or less.

Runs great on a Steam Deck using the Proton compatibility layer.

[Lee Bee]

This is fantastic! Dave's game is superb, and this Next version is extremely attractive. This game is a classic which deserves to 'go viral'.

[dcrespo3d]

I have released the full source code (Godot/Next) for Bean Brothers. You can download is as a file from itch.io, or check the GitHub repo https://github.com/dcrespo3d/BeanBrosRemake

In theory, using the Godot Editor, you could create your own levels yourself

See the README.md file for advice and pitfalls.

[Lee Bee]

I have to say what an awesome game this is, one of the best puzzle games ever. Full credit to Dave @R-Tape Hughes, who invented the original game. One thing I like about this conversion is how every level has different music. Which brings me to…

Did you know…?

The programmer (David) is in a rock group called Meteoritos, and all the tunes in the game come directly from real rock tunes they play! I think this is way cool!



Below are all four songs on YouTube! If you've been playing the game for a while and got these tunes in your head, it's fun to hear the 'real' versions!

Level 1: Meteorite Rain
Level 2: Lonely Road
Level 3: Next Revolution
Level 4: Leaving Town

[dcrespo3d]

Hello, I have published an update in the game page.

From now on, when completing a level, the next one is unlocked. Unlocked level can be accessed from the level selection screen.

But there is still a reward for players who finish the game from start to end: life counter and a surprise final screen.

Hope you like it!

[cmal]

Missed this one somehow, so just ran into it now. This is fantastic! I'm already a fan of Dave's version (which I need to still get further in), so this is a really good treat! Thank You!

[cmal]

There goes my Sunday morning! Completed the original 20 levels, using up 69 lives.
Now to go back to the original and do the same, with less lives, I hope.