Devolution of the species?

I've just been alerted to a stunning little project that any fan of the original Gameboy should definitely check out.

Super Smash Land is a 'demake' of one of Nintendo's biggest and most famous franchises...Smash Brothers. For anyone not in the know, a demake is an unofficial version of a (usually current) big selling game, the difference though is that the fan made adaptation is created in the style of games from yesteryear. If you're the kind of gamer who lives for cutting edge graphics in your games then you'll probably wonder what all the fuss is about, but for anyone who still hankers after the sprite based offerings from days of yore, these games can be a stunning way of re-experiencing your favourite titles.

Super Smash Land plays in exactly the way you would expect a Gameboy offering of the classic franchise to and, the controls are tight, the characters (Mario, Link, Kirby etc) are well animated and although the in game sprites aren't the official Nintendo ones you'll be used to, they still look fantastic and you can tell they've been crafted with such love and enthusiasm...it simply won't matter that they're home made. Also present are the stages that we usually find in the official games, all lovingly displayed in classic Gameboy monochrome. As with it's bigger brothers, Super Smash Land is best experienced with friends, all the chaos and fun is present, but with a gorgeous twist.

I'm all for projects like this, they showcase the skills of the developers and leave you in doubt that the love for gaming, both modern and retro can extend beyond sales figures and chart positions. So if you like your news games old...or your old games new (bare with me here) then get yourself over to the Super Smash Land site right now and download the game for free.

Also, check out this Listal page for images of how some other popular games could look if they got the demake treatment...if only Final Fantasy XIII really looked like that, I might actually like it.