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A few years ago, [Smashcat] ported a ZX Spectrum game called Manic Miner to the Arduino Uno. The Arduino has less memory than the original Spectrum did, so doing all this on an 8-bit microcontroller was no easy lift. Since then, parts of this original port have been adapted to produce a game engine, allowing [Smashcat] to port several other games to the Arduino Uno as well .

The engine is able to host a 2D map with the ability to scroll, at a resolution of 256×256, as well as up to nine sprites at the same time. The graphics are locked to 50 FPS, but only with a real Arduino Uno that has a crystal oscillator. Some replica boards do not have a timekeeping chip accurate enough to replicate the video signal, which is done without a framebuffer.…