Black Myth: Wukong Looked Even Cooler In The 90s

"Black Myth: Wukong" blew everyone away when it debuted, and now that the dust has settled a bit, we can confidently say that this game has some real staying power. After exploring every nook and cranny of the game, fans are coming away feeling inspired. Some of them have decided to keep their gameplay experience going by creating some truly wild "Black Myth: Wukong" mods, and others are expressing their love for "Black Myth: Wukong" by building their very own "de-make" version of the game from scratch.

One particularly passionate "Black Myth: Wukong" fan who goes by 火山哥哥 (that's "Brother Volcano," according to per Google Translate) has been hard at work recreating the entire game as a 2D side scroller. His take on "Black Myth: Wukong" looks like the coolest Super Nintendo game you never got to play, and it's beyond impressive how many of the original game's design details he managed to capture in the pixel art. This is without a doubt one of the coolest fan creations we've ever seen, and it's only getting us more excited for the future of "Black Myth: Wukong."

We all know that gamers are creative, but Brother Volcano has really taken things to the next level. In a Reddit thread where someone shared a clip of the retro-styled Elder Jinchi boss battle, commenters quickly started fighting about whether or not the clip was from a playable game. Some thought it was a promotional animation made by Game Science and others insisted that even if it was real, it must not be playable. Another sarcastic commenter quipped, "Is this the Xbox version?"

Sadly, no, Xbox players still can't have "Black Myth: Wukong," but they can check out Brother's Volcano's pixel version. In a video posted to Bilibili, Brother Volcano walks through some of his development process and shows how he's managed to recreate basically the entire first chapter of "Black Myth: Wukong." He even showed off some of the trial-and-error involved in the process, with one hilarious moment being when the Destined One's acrobatic moves clip him completely out of the level. 

The forest environments, wolf enemies, and epic bosses are all here, and Brother Volcano even managed to fit in a surprising number of the Destined One's combat abilities. Players can use the 2.5 space to maneuver around enemies, utilizing jump attacks and even blocking incoming arrows by spinning their weapon. The core "Wukong" combat experience has been faithfully recreated, and it's frankly amazing what one engaged fan has been able to create. Best of all, fans can play the demo for themselves on PC and Android devices.

Brother Volcano isn't the only person feeling inspired by "Black Myth: Wukong." He's also not the only Game Science fan out there with a fondness for retro games. Other "Black Myth: Wukong" players have been posting their own fan creations, some of which could easily be companion pieces to Brother Volcano's side scroller. The game hadn't even been out for a full week before fans started drawing pixel versions of the Destined One.

Black Myth Wukong#pixelart pic.twitter.com/hOzNjf50S4

— tisoo_art ( Commission Open ) (@tisooart) August 25, 2024

There are even other versions of pixelated Elder Jinchi floating around the internet. This one looks quite a bit more friendly than the version in Brother Volcano's side-scroller, though.

took a break from monke game to make monke game pixel art 🐒 #BlackMythWukong pic.twitter.com/ytIYeUvWwE

— Brandon James Greer (@BJGpixel) September 7, 2024

Fans are having a blast imagining what their favorite "Black Myth: Wukong" bosses might have looked like a few decades ago, and some of the imagery they're coming up with could serve as concept art for whenever Brother Volcano gets around to recreate the game's later chapters. 

If Wukong was a pixel art game #BlackMythWukong

u/Scilex pic.twitter.com/PRCMjsZr3P

— Black Myth: Wukong News (@BlackMythNews) September 11, 2024

It's clear that "Black Myth: Wukong" players just can't get enough of the game, and all of them are probably impatiently waiting for Game Science to tell us more about the upcoming DLC. At least they've got a place to channel their energy while they wait.