Yoshi takes the spotlight in another Super Mini Mario V3 (SMM) mod released by homebrew developer Safari Al. Super Mini Yoshi V3 not only adds another entry to the library of SMM incarnations, but also introduces 10 new levels and other nifty changes.

According to Safari Al, the project started around May earlier this year; the time spent in making the game leaves us to believe that there are more than tiny tweaks of Arguru's work. The readme file lists the features to expect:

• Sounds: Brand New Yoshi's Island sounds.
• Levels: 10 new challenging levels made using notepad by me.
• Secrets: Secret Passages and areas.
• Wording: At the bottom and beginning screens, "Total Coins" is now "Total Eggs" and "Super Mini Mario" at the beginning screen, is now "Super Mini Yoshi"
• Enemies: Shyguy takes away the bomb-omb, and the goomba has a new style.

Don't forget to check out the Readme file that comes with the download to ensure smooth installation. Enjoy!

Download: Super Mini Yoshi V3

 

Mr. Shizzy has just released his very first homebrew game mod, Turrican South Park Mod. As you can probably tell already, this mod builds on Arguru's Turrican brew which was first released way back in July last year.

But to put an interesting slant into the game, he decided to create a South Park theme for the game as well, allowing users to take on the character of our foul-mouthed friend, Cartman. Timmy, Kenny, Mr. Hat, Mr. Hanky (The Christmas Poo, for those who don't know), Terrence, and Phillip will be your enemies. There are currently two levels in the game, but Mr.Shizzy says that if Arguru releases a level editor for Turrican, he'll be updating his mod as well.

Mr.Shizzy wants to give a shout out to Team DJMNV, Arguru, and VettaCossX for all his help and support. Installation instructions and more notes on the release can be found in the readme so please do check it out.

Download: [Turrican South Park Mod]

This Arguru homebrew - SpiceBoy GB/GNC Emulator - offers full speed emulation of GameBoy and GameBoy Color on a PSP (much like Homer's RIN or GeMP). That's full-speed fps for all GB and GBC ROMs. Not bad for a day's work; it was tweaked from InfoBOY (a Win32 GB/GBC emulator) in less than one day.

Impressive as that might sound, there are a few limitations to the current version, Release 0:

• There's no browser. You have to manually replace the rom.gb file.
• Sound is not synchronized with the emulation.
• Some users report color changes.
• No savestates.
  

Download: [Spiceboy GB/GBC Emulator R0]

In need of a cool homebrew game for PSP? You might want to check out Turrican, which was developed by Arguru. The game is a cross between the Metroid and Turrican games that were first released during the late 80's and early 90's, wherein you battle different kinds of alien beings, explore the terrain, and get power-ups along the way.

The graphics and gameplay are great, as Arguru made lots of changes from the alpha version. Some modifications include:

• Weather effects system (map opcodes: r0 = no rain, r1 = rain, r2 = snow).
• Proper intro/title sequence.
• Proper game over sequence.
• Alien mini-spiders / Eggs (spider breed) enemies.
• "Walker" enemies.
• Big / small spike ball enemies.
• Boss system (only one boss defined 'storm gauntlet', map opcode : 'f0'). Don't use it yet.
• Level wraps nearly finished.

We've been playing this game since we got it, and it's one really cool game. So, below are some screenshots we took from the Turrican to let you know we aren't kidding at all. But then again, you'd really have to play the game's demo to know what we're talking about. Have fun!

 

Download: [Turrican Release 3 (Level 2 Demo)]

Arguru and PSP 3D have finally released the newest game currently in development: Turrican PSP alpha. You might remember our article about Arguru testing his 2D engine with the Turrican graphics a while back, and now the game's alpha version has been released.  Although the game needs more work as it's still in development, this clone of the popular Turrican/Metroid games is showing promise.

Turrican PSP Alpha isn't fully playable yet though, as the engine lacks some basic things like additional enemies and working level transporters, to name a few.

But like we said, this game shows promise. These are some of the features the finished version WILL have:

• Non-linear levels that will allow players to put in links in the level maps to a specific point in that level;
• Permanent power-up items that can also be included in the same way in level maps;
• Items that players will need to achieve certain skills (morphing, double jump, etc.).
  

Turrican PSP has only been tested on 1.50 FW, and developers are not yet sure if it's going to work under GTA/eLoader. This is because of the memory requirements of the alpha release, but cutting the .WAV sound files is said to reduce RAM load.

Hopefully, the developers of Turrican PSP will be able to finish the game soon. Stick with us for more updates.

Download: [Turrican PSP Alpha]

Best known for games like SMM (Super Mini Mario) and L.A.S.T 0.01 (Shoot'em Up Test Demo), Arguru is stepping up his game by testing his 2D engine with Turrican graphics.

Screens from L.A.S.T

An extension of the shoot 'em up engine used for L.A.S.T, but with the addition of non-linear scroll-maps, some 2d basic physics (body), and some map/tiling AI so map-text files can be edited easier (the engine will fill corners, shadows, etc). For those thinking that this is the same as the SMM engine, Arguru assures us that it's a new rewritten one. Despite all software rendering, it's running nicely at 60FPS with background parallax scrolling, etc.,

Screens from PSP Turrican

Sadly, we still have to wait for a couple more agonizing weeks before we get our hands on this new game. Oh the agony! So for the meantime let us content ourselves with L.A.S.T first. It'll be a good way to gauge how much we should expect from Arguru. And boy I tell you, after trying it out for a couple of times, I can't wait for the release of the next one.

Download: [L.A.S.T 0.01]