Klax

Klax is a puzzle game developed and published by Atari Games. It was designed in 1989 by Dave Akers and Mark Stephen Pierce, with Akers as programmer and Pierce as artist, and it reached arcades in February 1990.

Instead of dropping pieces from above, Klax has coloured tiles tumble down a ramp towards you. You move a paddle left and right to catch them. The paddle holds up to five tiles, and you flip them into a 5 by 5 bin below. Line up three or more tiles of the same colour horizontally, vertically or diagonally and you make a Klax. Pushing the joystick up flips the top tile on your paddle back up the ramp, and pulling down speeds the tiles up. If you let a tile drop into the pit, you hear it scream as it falls, and if you fail a wave the crowd is disappointed.

The game has 100 waves in 20 groups of five, and each wave sets a different goal, such as making a set number of Klaxes, clearing tiles or reaching a score. There is also a secret. Completing the “Big X”, a 5 by 5 X pattern, on certain waves lets you warp ahead to higher levels. The game supports two players at the same time. Atari Games released it while its Tengen version of Tetris was caught up in a legal dispute, and it was a major arcade hit.

Home versions followed under the Tengen brand for systems including the NES, Mega Drive/Genesis, Atari Lynx, Commodore 64 and Amiga, and Midway gained the rights when it bought Atari Games in 1996.

MiSTer is an open-source project that recreates classic arcade machines, consoles and computers using FPGA hardware instead of software emulation.

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Sabre Wulf Remaster

Sabre Wulf Remaster is a port and remaster of Ultimate Play The Game’s 1984 ZX Spectrum classic, made for the Commodore 64 by Sveinacious-G and published on itch.io in October 2026.

The original was designed by Tim and Chris Stamper. The developer’s aim is to reproduce the Spectrum game as faithfully as possible while improving it where it makes sense. All the original features, creatures and mechanics are kept, right down to the spawn rate of each monster and item. The page highlights two ideas the original introduced. Enemies keep tracking you beyond your visual boundaries, and the world is large and interconnected, with your final destination visible from the very start.

The remaster uses the Commodore 64’s sprites and sound hardware to run much smoother than the original. The framerate is mostly stable at 50 frames per second on PAL systems and 60 on NTSC. The palette has been reworked to look rich and saturated on the C64, and there is a selectable alternative palette with a more subdued, dusky look.

A ZX Spectrum palette is also included for people who prefer the original colours. At one point I saw we will switch to the palette and we actually keep the Commodore one before playing a third game with the dusky look as shown on the title card.

Get the game here, on a pay what you want basis

Available from https://sveinacious-g.itch.io/sabre-wulf-64
 

Driver-X

Driver-X is an action game for the ZX Spectrum Next, listed on itch.io under the developer name ZX Gaming. Its page describes it as inspired by the classic arcade thrills of the 80s, with fast-paced action and addictive gameplay.

Available from https://retronextgen.itch.io/driver-x.

MiSTer FPGA is an open-source project that recreates classic arcade machines, consoles and computers using FPGA hardware instead of software emulation.

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Ribbit Rush

Ribbit Rush is a frog-hopping arcade game for the ZX Spectrum Next, made by roman126 and released on itch.io in 2026. The developer describes it as a full-screen game with 9-channel TurboSound music. It is a Frogger-style game with six worlds, and the world changes every three stages through day, dusk and night. Each world has its own backdrop, sprites and theme tune.

The worlds are Lily River, Harbour Docks, Autumn Woods, Frozen Fjord, Desert Canyon and Neon City.

The traffic, river platforms and predators change in each one, so Lily River has crocodiles and logs, while Neon City has hover cars and a robo-croc. After world six, the game loops back to world one, but faster.

There are also three rotating bonus rounds, one after every world. Firefly Frenzy is the original bonus round, Fly Feast has you fire your tongue at flies, and Lily Pad Leap has you hop across sinking pads to golden lotus homes.

The game has 30 speech and sound clips played through the DAC without interrupting the music, including an announcer and a lady frog who says “My hero!” when you get her home.

Available from https://roman126.itch.io/ribbit-rush .

Black Tiger

Black Tiger MD is an unofficial, native port of Capcom’s arcade action platformer, made by rester159 for the Sega Mega Drive and Genesis using SGDK. It was published on itch.io on 21 September 2026 and is free to download.

The page says it runs native Mega Drive code and does not run an arcade emulator. All eight original stage maps are included. The graphics have been converted to the Mega Drive’s tiles, sprites and reduced palettes, and the music plays through a native FM sound engine.

There are two ways to play.

Arcade mode keeps the coin and credit structure and the original game intro, with settings in a DIP switch menu.

Home mode starts a game straight away and adds an options menu, a Boss Rush mode that puts all eight bosses into one palace arena, and an unlockable debug menu.

Batman

Batman is an arcade game made by Atari Games.

It was released in April 1991, even though the title screen says 1990. It was sold only as a conversion kit, with 500 kits produced in the USA and 101 in Ireland for Europe, at a launch price of $1,095. The story is based on the 1989 Tim Burton film, and Batman must save Gotham City from the Joker.

The stages include sections in the Batmobile and the Batwing, and the game uses sounds and voices from the movie. It is a one player game with an 8-way joystick and two buttons. It is not related to the later game Batman Forever, which was made by a different company.

MiSTer is an open-source project that recreates classic arcade machines, consoles and computers using FPGA hardware instead of software emulation.

New here? This channel is all about playing video games with commentary, covering classic arcade, console and computer games as well as new releases. Subscribe so you don't miss the next one, and tell me in the comments which game I should play next.

Joust

Joust gameplay with full commentary, played on a MiSTer FPGA.

Joust is an arcade game released in 1982 by Williams Electronics, with John Newcomer as its lead designer. You fly an ostrich by tapping the flap button, and you fight enemy knights riding buzzards. When two riders collide, whoever is higher on the screen wins the clash.

A defeated knight leaves an egg behind, and if you don't collect it in time it hatches into a new rider. Take too long on a wave and a pterodactyl appears, and a lava troll's hand can grab you if you fly too close to the lava.

Two players can play at the same time, either working together or competing for score. Joust was later ported to many home systems, including the Atari 2600, Atari 7800, NES and Commodore 64.

About MiSTer FPGA: MiSTer is an open-source project that recreates classic arcade machines, consoles and computers on FPGA hardware. Williams arcade games like Joust are available on it as cores.

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