A.R.T.I.
In 2023, homebrew programmer Lewis Hill (aka MuddyVision) released their own take on H.E.R.O., for the Atari 7800. This was no mere clone or upgraded port of the original game. The basic concept of the original game remains the same, but with a level of flair and polish that H.E.R.O. never had, plus a few new additions. Even better, Atari’s legal division confirmed that it wasn’t just “H.E.R.O. Redux”, and gave it the official greenlight for it to be manufactured and sold through their subsidiary company Atari Age. According to Hill, “Yes it’s inspired by H.E.R.O., but graphically, it’s a world apart. Also, the levels do diverge quite significantly the further in you get, and there’s an actual ending, with a bit of a twist. I also wanted to go a different route on the level design, new challenges and obstacles etc, and then add graphical themes and a bit of a story.”
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