Someone has ported Wolfenstein 3D for the Pico-8 fantasy console

Porting old id Software shooters onto ridiculous devices is hardly a new phenomenon, but it's never not amusing. This time, someone has ported Wolfenstein 3D onto the Pico-8 fantasy console, and while it's just the first level, it's a pretty neat achievement when you consider the Pico-8's specs.

The console supports 128x128 pixels with up to 16 colours, and enforces a 32k memory limit. There are also limitations on sprites, sound and control schemes. Pico-8 was where the critically acclaimed platformer Celeste first debuted, and there's a nice selection of games to sample on the console's official site. Most of these games tend to be 2D sidescrollers, so it's quite impressive to see a smoothly scrolling first-person shooter. For reference: the original Wolfenstein 3D for DOS required a minimum of 528kb RAM.

The work of 'hungrybutterfly', they admit that there's "loads missing", in particular textures. But what do you expect? It works, and surprisingly well at that. You can play it here, or if you'd prefer to watch someone else do it, here's a video:

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.