PSX Homebrew Games

7.4.26

Secret of Monkey Island Is Coming to PS1 After 30 Years!

Few adventure games are as iconic as The Secret of Monkey Island. Originally released in 1990 by LucasArts (later known as Lucasfilm Games), the game became a defining title for the point-and-click genre, thanks to its humor, writing, and memorable characters. More than three decades later, the game is now making an unexpected appearance on the original PlayStation!

A new PS1 homebrew project by Mark “Happy-Ferret” Bauermeister aims to bring The Secret of Monkey Island to Sony’s classic console. The project was officially announced on April 5, and while it’s still in a very early stage, there’s already a first look available.

At the moment, the only public material is a video on the developer’s YouTube channel showing the game’s introduction running on PS1. The footage shared so far focuses on the game’s introduction. It begins with the title screen, where the main theme plays while the background clouds are already animated, hinting at the visual direction of the port. This is followed by the opening scene featuring Guybrush Threepwood speaking with the mysterious Old Man on a cliff, as he expresses his desire to become a pirate.

The footage reveals a few interesting technical details. The project is currently being tested using DuckStation, with the emulator configured to simulate 8MB of RAM (a notable tweak that hints at the project’s current requirements). Performance is still quite limited, with the frame rate hovering between 5 and 6 FPS, making it clear that this is very much an early prototype. The audio also sounds somewhat off, suggesting that the sound implementation still needs refinement. On the visual side, the game is running at a resolution of 320x239.

Despite these limitations, it’s already an impressive technical effort. Bringing a classic point-and-click adventure like Monkey Island to the PS1 (a system not originally designed for this type of experience) highlights both the challenges and creativity behind modern homebrew development.

It’s also worth noting that the project has already drawn attention from other developers within the PS1 homebrew scene. OldPirate (known for his work on ports like Wolfenstein 3D and Rick Dangerous for the original PlayStation) has reacted to the announcement, saying he’s looking forward to seeing the project move forward.

An alpha version of the project is currently available through the developer’s Patreon (around €4), giving early supporters a chance to try it out. If you’re interested in following the project, you can check out Mark’s work on YouTube and support the development through his Patreon page.

Don’t forget that you can follow us on Twitter (X), check out our collection of games on Itch.io and join our Reddit community!

30.3.26

Celeste Classic PSX (PSYQo)

Developer: Bonnie Games

Release Date: February, 2026

Last Update: March, 2026

Graphics: 2D

Version: 1.4

Genre: Platformer

Players: 1

Description

This version of Celeste Classic for the original PlayStation (PSX) is a native port developed using the PSYQo SDK, created by Bonnie Games exploring the possibilities of combining PICO-8-style development with real PlayStation hardware.

If you’re interested in an alternative version, you can also check out the Celeste Classic port developed by wildmonkeydan here: Celeste Classic (psn00bsdk).

Extra info

Celeste Classic is the original prototype of Celeste, created by Maddy Thorson and Noel Berry during a game jam. Despite its simplicity, it laid the foundation for one of the most influential indie platformers of modern times, focusing on tight controls, precision platforming, and pure gameplay.

This PSX version stands out for its low-level approach, recreating the original PICO-8 experience directly on PlayStation hardware. The game logic is based on ccleste, a line-by-line C translation of the original Lua code, while the developer has implemented a custom platform layer using PSYQo (C++20) to handle rendering, input, and audio.

One of the most impressive aspects of this homebrew is its audio system. Audio is generated in real time using the PlayStation’s SPU, without relying on pre-recorded samples. The original PICO-8 waveforms are converted into ADPCM data and processed dynamically, allowing effects such as vibrato, slide, and arpeggios. The system is already functional, although it is still being refined to better match the original sound.

Also thanks to the 60 FPS update and improved input handling, the game feels smooth and responsive, closely matching (and in some cases improving upon) the original.

Changelog

V4

Project cleanup.
Removed experimental Ocarina of Time files (moved to a separate repository).

V3

Added CD-ROM streaming for dynamic room loading.
Implemented orbit camera system with improved controls.
Introduced skeletal animation support.
Improved rendering and textures, along with general performance and stability fixes.

V2

Added VRAM management system and real texture uploading.
Introduced free camera mode for testing.
Initial work on 3D rendering systems.

Media

Official Download Links

Itch.io - Github

27.3.26

Can’t Play Sauna on PS1? Fix the Spinning Camera Bug in DuckStation

Are you having trouble playing Sauna on your PS1/PSX? Does the camera start spinning like crazy and you can’t even enjoy the game? Then you’ve come to the right place.

Before jumping into the solution, let’s add a bit of context. Sauna is a homebrew project for the original PlayStation released in May 2025 by Zhamul. It’s quite a curious little project, as it was created using PSXSplashEdit, a tool that allows developers to build levels in Unity and export them so the PS1 can render them. The result is a very short experience (just a couple of minutes) where you explore a small sauna environment, but it’s surprisingly interesting from a technical point of view.

If you'd like more information on how to use the tool, the developer himself wrote a post explaining how he created the project. Check it out: Using PSXSplashEdit to craft a scene for PlayStation.

Now, the problem. Some users have reported that as soon as the game starts, both the camera and the player begin spinning uncontrollably. At first it might even look funny, but after a few seconds it becomes frustrating… and in the end, you simply can’t play the game.

The good news is that the fix is very simple. There are two ways to play the game properly. The first one (and the more authentic option) is to burn the game to a CD-ROM and run it on a modded PS1 with a real analog controller. But let’s be honest, that’s not the most convenient solution (but the coolest one). I imagine that if you're here, it's because you've tried running the game on an emulator and are looking for a solution within the emulator itself. Anyway, you have a short tutorial here to burn this project in a CD-ROM.

The easiest way to play it is to use an emulator like DuckStation. The key thing to understand is that the game requires the analog mode to be actively enabled. Even if your controller is already set as analog in the emulator, that’s not enough and that’s exactly why the spinning happens.

To fix it in DuckStation:

Go to Settings.

Go to Controllers.

Go to Controller Port 1 and check Controller Type.

It must to be set to Analog Controller.

Then, assign a button to the Analog option (for example, Enter) below the image of the control.

Once that’s done, launch the game and don’t press anything at first.

As soon as you see the camera start spinning, press the analog button you assigned.

And that’s it! The spinning should stop instantly, and you’ll finally be able to enjoy the game as intended. This little trick can also be useful for other PS1 homebrew projects that rely on analog input and show similar issues, so it’s definitely worth keeping in mind.

Special thanks to izzy88izzy (developer of Classic Celeste PSYQo and Zelda OOT PSX, articles soon) and xXAquila2Xx on Reddit for helping figure out this issue. Their input was key to understanding what was going on and finding a proper fix.