Devwill Too

When you say "a new game for the SEGA Master System in the 21st century," most people don't believe you — and that's exactly why Devwill Too is so interesting. It's a modern homebrew platformer that proves creativity long ago outgrew the boundaries of commercial support for long-dead hardware.

The game falls into the action-platformer genre: you explore levels, jump, fight enemies and advance toward bosses, with a design that leans into the classic eight-bit school. Devwill Too was originally created for several retro platforms, and its port to the Master System is part of a broader wave of multiplatform homebrew projects.

What's charming about homebrew work is how its authors honour the aesthetics and limitations of the original hardware while at the same time exploiting today's knowledge and tools. The result tends to be games that look and play "like back then," but with a polish that period development under deadline pressure often couldn't afford.

For the community around the Master System, such titles have special value — they come out on physical cartridges, have their own boxes and become collector's pieces. At the same time they give owners of the old console a reason to plug it back in and discover something that didn't even exist a few years ago.

Devwill Too should be taken for what it is: honest platforming fun made out of love for the platform, best judged by its game feel and craftsmanship rather than by sales charts. And in that respect it holds up as a lovely refresh of the catalogue.

Why play it: Proof that the Master System is still alive — a fresh homebrew platformer for enthusiasts of the eight-bit era.