After a long absence, PSP homebrew meister Zion makes his comeback, and he's bringing along an updated copy of Legend of Hyrule: Linkens Quest.

For a short refresher: Hyrule was a most welcome title that popped up a few months ago, and while it had a few bugs, it was considered by many as an example of how far LUA games could go, given time, effort, and six days of sleepless night, at least according to Zion.

Speaking of bugs, we're happy to announce that Zion's fixed up some of the major gripes reported in previous versions of this homebrew. Everything else should handle the way you'll remember them.

1. Fixed bug where you would re-enter the house and the game would crash.
2. Fixed bug where you would try to buy something at the shop and it would deduct rupees from you without you even making a purchase.
3. Fixed bug where the Controls for the bomb were assigned to the wrong button.
4. Fixed bug where Rupees could be collected even though there was no rupees there.
5. Fixed Game over crash bug.
6. Added character to give you a clue on how to get the sword.
7. Added controls screen to the shop purchase system, so you can tell what buttons do what.
8. Added mini game option menu.
9. Added Cutscene skip option, press load game instead of new game.

Zion's also planning to add mini games to Hyrule in a few days, and we're hoping they'll make this game all the more fun. Once again, we thank Zion for releasing this little homebrew. Sieg Zion!

Download [Legend of Hyrule: Linkens Quest 2.1]

Framerate has finally allowed us a peak into his PSP homebrew project, Shining Fantasy. After 14 months of keeping the project under wraps, though constantly talking about it, he's finally released the first preview of his work-in-progress RPG engine.

The project opens with Mog (that friendly Moogle from Final Fantasy) in the forest in Hyrule. He then finds Ceres, another FF character, and strikes a conversation as to why they are in the land of all-time classic Nintendo title, Legend of Zelda. Being directed to the North, Mog then meets Terra, yet another FF local, who then tells him that he is supposed to battle it out with dragons and other vicious creatures, as he wanted. However, as Framerate has disabled battle at this point, all that we were allowed to view was an image of how a battle will actually look like.

While the battle code is programmed in the preview, Framerate has expressed that he had a few different reasons why he had to disable it. Now we're not privy as to what those reasons are. But rest assured, Framerate promised the battle code will be in preview two.

So in sum, the preview demonstrates the beginnings of the movement/collison engine as well as some primitive dialogue features. The controls, so far, have proven to be rather simple. The control pad moves, x button confirms, and Select quits the game inside the main game.

We don't have much to work on for an in-depth review just yet, given the limited access the preview provided. But still, this project looks fun and promising. So, check it out for yourself and feel free to throw in your own ideas on what you want to see in this RPG for PSP. Framerate will surely appreciate that. In the meantime, here are some screenshots to tickle your tastebuds from Shining Fantasy.

Download: [Shining Fantasy Preview 1]

Discuss: [Forum Release Thread]

We previously mentioned that zion has the potential to be one of the better developers out there. While some may have met this prediction with skepticism, he's determined to make these doubting thomases give him a 'thombs' up. We hate to brag but it seems the foresight we've concocted back at the QJ's halls of alchemy is slowly materializing as he released this very promising game - his first version of Legend of Hyrule: Linkens Quest.

Perhaps motivated by people downplaying the wonders of the lua platform, zion said this project is a "prime example of what can be achived in lua coding if you put the time and effort in" it. And boy did they put "time and effort" in this one. According to him, he and PSPDemon (gfx designer) worked for '6 all-dayers and all-nighters to get this done'. Considering it took two and a half weeks to finish, these guys really must be tired; another reason why they deserve our gratitude as this is all done for us - free.

The role-playing homebrew really flaunts the quality of a 21-day project. Link's interaction with the other characters are notable, graphics are crisp, sprite's movements are fluid, words are well-thought off, and it even has some functional stores for Link to purchase weapons and other goodies. We wouldn't have thought it was created in lua if zion hadn't said so himself. If this is just the first level, we're very raring to try the upcoming stages.

For someone who codes full-time and still manages to create simple yet fun games during a fifteen-minute break, zion really is fast becoming someone. So we here at the Kingdom of QJ dub thee, zion, as the "Master of Motivation"; arise and follow the path you're set to take - the road to respect and recognition.

Download: [Legend Of Hyrule: Linkens Quest v1.0 FW 1.50]
Download: [Legend Of Hyrule: Linkens Quest v1.0 FW 2.xx]