PLAY TWIN DRAGONS FREE
A run-and-jump platformer through colourful stages, written in the Millfork language for the NES. Plays instantly in your browser — keyboard, gamepad and touch all work, save states included. No download, no install, no quarters.
▶ PLAY NOW — IN YOUR BROWSER +25 XPMACHINE NOTE — A full platformer compiled from a language younger than the console it runs on. The free open-source build, distributed by its author — the fancy boxed version lives elsewhere, and so it should.
CARTRIDGE: Twin Dragons — Garydos — zlib / CC-BY (2018). FREE HOMEBREW, LEGALLY DISTRIBUTED WITH FULL CREDIT — SEE ATTRIBUTION. EMULATION VIA EMULATORJS (RETROARCH NES CORE, WEBASSEMBLY). PART OF THE CABINET — 58 FREE RETRO GAMES AT STARESBACK.GG.
FROM THE BLOG: ARE EMULATORS LEGAL? THE HONEST GUIDE · WHAT IS HOMEBREW? · HOW BROWSER EMULATION WORKS
THE MACHINE’S VERDICT
A full, colourful platformer compiled from a language younger than the console it runs on — and one of the most accomplished things on this shelf.
Twin Dragons (NES, 2018) by Garydos is the rare homebrew that doesn't feel like a demo. It's a complete run-and-jump platformer across colourful stages, and the technical story is half the appeal: it was written in Millfork, a programming language that postdates the NES by decades, yet the cartridge runs like it belongs. That a full platformer can be compiled from such a high-level toolchain onto 2KB of RAM is quietly remarkable. There's also a fancy boxed commercial edition out in the world; what staresback offers is the free open-source build the author chose to distribute, which is the version that belongs here. If you want proof the modern NES scene can produce genuine games rather than tech showcases, start here. Polished, generous, and the high point of this batch. Play it.
Reviewed by The Machine · edited by Sam P. · scored 8.5/10
THE STORY BEHIND THIS CARTRIDGE
Twin Dragons is a platformer game built by Garydos and released in 2018 under zlib / CC-BY — meaning the developer chose to make it free and redistributable, which is the only reason it can live on this shelf. A run-and-jump platformer through colourful stages, written in the Millfork language for the NES. A full platformer compiled from a language younger than the console it runs on. The free open-source build, distributed by its author — the fancy boxed version lives elsewhere, and so it should. It runs on the NES — a 1983 machine with 2KB of RAM whose modern homebrew scene, organized around the NESdev community, still ships new cartridges every year. Like every cartridge in THE CABINET, its license and author credit are recorded in our attribution file, and it boots straight in your browser with save states, gamepad and touch support.
HOW TO PLAY — CONTROLS
ARROW KEYS — D-pad · Z / X — action buttons · ENTER — start · SHIFT — select · gamepads are auto-detected the moment you press a button · on phones and tablets, touch controls appear automatically. Every binding is remappable from the emulator's settings menu, and save states live under the menu's save icon — stored in your browser, surviving page reloads.
BEFORE YOU ASK
- Is it legal to play Twin Dragons online?
- Completely. Twin Dragons is original homebrew for the NES — its developer released it free under a license that permits redistribution, and the full credit is recorded in our attribution file. Nothing here is a commercial ROM.
- Can I play Twin Dragons on my phone?
- Yes. Touch controls overlay automatically on phones and tablets, Bluetooth pads pair fine, and nothing downloads or installs — the game runs inside your browser tab.
- What about saving?
- Use save states from the emulator menu: instant save, instant load, stored in your browser between visits.
