A SIDE-SCROLLING BLAST FROM THE PAST
Based on the original Amiga classic I loved playing as a kid, this is my tribute to a game that left a serious impression. Getting into PICO-8 lit a fire — rebuilding this classic was my way of seeing how far I could take it. So fire it up, and enjoy a compact, side-scrolling shooter where you pilot a bipedal mech, blast enemies to bits, and try not to overheat. Built entirely in PICO-8 — same spirit, smaller footprint.
HOW TO PLAY
The game is perfectly playable with a controller, but I recommend playing it with keyboard and mouse — just as the developers originally intended.
KEYBOARD + MOUSE:
- Move: A / D or ◀ / ▶
- Aim: Mouse
- Fire: Mouse button
CONTROLLER:
- Move: O + ◀ / ▶
- Aim: D-pad / Analog stick
- Fire: X
CREDITS
This PICO-8 version of WALKER was created by John Buise — a personal tribute to one of my favorite childhood games, and a way to dive deeper into the world of PICO-8 development. The fantastic soundtrack was composed by Eric Billingsley, faithfully recreating the original Amiga score with stunning accuracy. Eric also contributed to several sound effects, helping shape the game’s punchy, satisfying feel.
THE ORIGINAL WALKER (1993)
Of course, I also want to give credit where it’s due — to the creators of the original Amiga classic that inspired this project.
A DMA Design Game
Written by: Ian Dunlop
Design: DMA Design, Ian Dunlop, Neill Glancy
Graphics: Mark Ireland, Stacey Jamieson, David Hally, Neill Glancy, Scott Johnston
Music: Raymond Usher
Sound Effects: Ian Dunlop, Neill Glancy
I loved the original, and this looks just as sweet. Haven't got much time at the moment for a proper playthrough, but I guess this will eat up a considerable amount of my time in the future ;) Well done.
Not heard of this before, but this version is brilliant. What a great job you did with the graphics, it's got amazing atmosphere.
This is incredibly impressive. A lot of fun and really well done! I enjoyed playing this with a controller which brought me back to old snes shooter days :) albeit a different era, the nostalgia is just as present.
Thanks for sharing. Bravo!
This is great! Love games with giant mechs, and I figured out how to be a killing machine on my second life >:)
My gosh.... dude I absolutely LOVE this game. This is the kind of games I look forward to. I especially like your sound design. Almost Every sound effect has that little bit of EXTRA that is totally unnecessary, but it adds this certain "je nais se quois" that lends the game an identity! Many games opt for more safe, "Pico 8" sounding tones, but not you!
Fantastic work on this game, man. You deserve all the praise. This would be the perfect quarter muncher in an arcade!
I got an error upon death.
Edit: Never mind. The error has disappeared.
@Steven()#6
Hey! Thanks for spotting that bug! your screenshot made it super easy to track down.
I’ve fixed it now! Really appreciate you taking the time to let me know!
@Turbochop
Thank you so much!!
I really poured my heart into this one, and it's awesome to hear you picked up on those little details.
Huge shout-out to Eric Billingsley for the amazing music and his help with the sound effects! I’m super happy with how it all came together!
Whoa ⭐ stunning music, it's "our" @ericb right? I don't see his user tagged anywhere.
Cool game, everything's smooth. I tried "controller"-only and it's very hard to control/aim, while the KB+mouse is perfect (I actually used a drawing tablet, does its job great).
Edit: there's no hi-score recorded I see, btw best so far is 24060 (3rd attempt)
@Heracleum
Yeah, that’s Eric! I’ve been name-dropping him all over the place, but you’re right, haven’t actually tagged his handle yet. @ericb
He totally killed it on the soundtrack and even gave me a hand with some of the SFX.
Really took the whole thing to the next level.
This is great. The animation is absolutely first-class and the whole feel of the game is great. A really fun, if slightly short, game.
One minor gripe (which may have been in the original game - I've never played it). When you die you basically start again but with your score intact. When you win you get 500 points per remaining life. To get a high score, you want to get to the end, die, repeat, die and then complete the game. If the bonus for lives intact was much higher then this wouldn't be an issue.
Still, I had great fun playing this and am really impressed by what you've made.
@phil , thank you so much for the positive feedback!
You're absolutely right about the bonus points. Even though it's identical to the original, it's something I could tweak to eliminate that kind of "milking" — but then the game would end even quicker ;)
Either way, it's noted, and thanks for taking the time to check out the game!
@buzzard1337 I still come back to this game every now and then. Even though I know the order of the waves and can get to the end pretty easily, its fun controlling the walker and shooting everything that moves.
It would be great if you enhanced this with a survival mode, where there was a single static screen and you are just constantly attacked by random waves of enemies.
@phil That would definitely be awesome, though it does go a bit against the "original" concept.
I’ve thought about a survival mode before, but I’m afraid that will not fit (not in this cart, anyway). Who knows, maybe someday!
And seriously, the fact that you keep coming back to the game — that’s just amazing to hear. Really appreciate it!
This is fantastic! Never heard/played the Amiga version but your remake is so much fun. This is exactly the type of P8 games I love to find...just straight forward, fun arcade games. I was hoping I could step on dudes with the mech but then maybe that'd be too easy! lol
I hope you take this and expand on it. Like others above, I'm thinking of lots little add-ons that could make things interesting/challenging/whatever. Original mode vs enhanced mode ;P Either way, awesome...
@morningtoast Thanks so much for the kind words! Really appreciate it. 😄
And you actually CAN stomp the dudes ! If you lure them close and then start walking, you’ll squish them under your feet. It’s a subtle mechanic, but super satisfying to pull off. If you look closely, you can even spot it in one of the gifs! Give it a try next time 😉
https://www.lexaloffle.com/media/88469/walker_apc%20and%20ropers.gif
Glad you’re enjoying it—comments like this make my day! Thanks again!
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