Elden Ring works surprisingly well as a SNES game

The Lands Between has had a 16-bit makeover, as a fan-made demake has reworked the brutal boss-bashing combat of Elden Ring in the style of a classic SNES game.

Animation group 64 Bits has reimagined what Elden Ring might have looked like if it was made for Nintendo’s classic console, recreating many of its key environments, characters, and bosses as era-appropriate pixelated sprites. Although only a kort video (öppnas i ny flik) rather than a playable demo, the Elden Ring Demake for SNES includes a couple of standout moments.

The game’s biggest bosses have all been recreated in pixel art – including Malenia, Radahn, Godrick the Grafted, and Stormgate Troll – with each one animated to reflect their signature attacks in the main game. Plenty of Elden Ring’s most notable NPCs have also received the pixel treatment, such as Iron Fist Alexander, Ranni the Witch, and Miriel (or Pope Turtle, as you might know them).

Pixel perfekt

While the video starts with a Tarnished gazing at the Erdtree, it shifts between underground caves, the road to Stormveil castle, a pathway through Liurnia of the Lakes, and more. It even briefly shows an overworld map that imitates the player riding Torrent to reach new areas.

As an added touch, the video’s player character changes their equipment at several points. We can spot them switching between the General Radahn armor set and the iron helmet that the Prisoner class starts with.

It looks like 64 Bits has drawn on a bunch of classic SNES-era games for the demake. The top-of-the-screen bosses are reminiscent of Contra, while the overworld map is akin to that of the 2D Legend of Zelda titles. Some of the exploration segments also give off big Secrets of Mana vibes, while the style of pixel art appears to be more inspired by Final Fantasy.

The demakes just don’t stop coming. Earlier this year, one fan reimagined Elden Ring for the Game Boy. Before that, BloodbornePSX caused quite a stir for bringing FromSoftware’s Victorian gothic RPG to PC.

This Elden Ring SNES demake isn’t the first project 64 Bits has tackled. The group has previously created a SNES imitation of BioShock Infinite (öppnas i ny flik), en Game Boy Advance version of Mass Effect (öppnas i ny flik)och a PS1 take on God of War.

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