Next Misifu: Alley Cat Demake Prowls the ZX Spectrum Next
Some games just refuse to stay buried, and honestly, I'm glad. Next Misifu is the latest proof. Spanish-style naming aside, this one has a very clear family tree: it's a ZX Spectrum Next take on a Spectrum demake of a 1980s computer classic. That's a lot of layers for one alley cat, but stick with me.
The news came via Twitter. Developer Jordi has released an overhauled version of his ZX Spectrum game Misifu Remeow, now reworked for the Spectrum Next. If the name rings a faint bell, there's a good reason for it.
Where Misifu Comes From
Misifu Remeow didn't appear out of nowhere. It was first released through the ZX-DEV MIA remake competition, an event where Spectrum developers bring older games back to life in new forms. Jordi's entry was a demake of Alley Cat.
For anyone unfamiliar with the term, a "demake" flips the usual remake idea on its head. Instead of polishing an old game with modern tech, you squeeze a game onto hardware that is older or more limited than the original platform. It's a love letter written in fewer colours and tighter memory budgets.
Competitions like this have a habit of producing gems. I've always liked how they push hobbyist coders to finish something rather than tinker forever. We've seen a similar spirit with the MSXdev26 contest on the MSX side, where deadlines turn into actual playable games.
A Quick Trip Back to 1983
So what exactly is being demade here? Alley Cat first showed up on the Atari 8-bit computers in 1983, followed by an MS-DOS release in 1984. It was created by Bill Williams and published by Synapse Software.
The premise is simple and kind of sweet. You play as Freddy the Cat, who has one goal on his mind: rescuing his feline sweetheart, Felicia. The source describes it as a challenging mission, and anyone who grew up with games from that era knows "challenging" usually meant you'd be swearing at your keyboard within minutes.
I'll admit there's something charming about a romance plot starring two cats. No world-ending threat, no chosen hero. Just a cat with a crush and a lot of obstacles in the way.
Why the Spectrum Next Version Matters
Here's where the new release gets interesting. The ZX Spectrum Next is a modern machine built around Sinclair's classic 8-bit home computer, so it keeps that familiar Spectrum feel while giving developers more room to play. Taking Misifu Remeow and reworking it for this hardware is a natural next step, pun fully intended.
The source calls this an overhauled version, which tells us Jordi didn't just copy the old build across. Beyond that, details are thin, so I won't pretend to know exactly what changed under the hood. What I do know is that the Next has been quietly building up a library of these kinds of projects. Just recently, Frogger Junior hopped onto the Spectrum Next alongside the Amstrad GX4000.
And the original Spectrum crowd isn't being left out either. New releases keep landing on the classic machine too, like the moody Shadows of Belial adventure we covered earlier this month.
Who Is This For?
If you played Alley Cat back in the day, this one practically sells itself. Seeing Freddy's quest reinterpreted on a different family of computers is a fun bit of cross-platform nostalgia.
If you never touched the original, that's fine too. The core idea of a small cat on a big mission to reach the one he loves is easy to get into, and demakes like this tend to be bite-sized enough to try out without a huge commitment.
Our Take
Next Misifu is a small release, but it says something about where the retro scene is right now. A game that started life as a competition entry has been picked back up, reworked and moved onto newer hardware. That suggests these contest projects aren't one-and-done experiments for their creators. They can turn into ongoing passion projects that keep evolving.
It also fits a broader pattern we keep running into here at Relaxed Gamers. Classic titles from the 1980s keep getting ported, demade and remade across old and new machines, and the Spectrum Next seems to be carving out a spot as a home for that work. For readers who enjoy relaxed, low-pressure retro play, that's good news. These projects are usually focused, charming and made with obvious affection.
What to watch next? It's worth keeping an eye on whether Jordi shares more about what the overhaul actually adds, since the announcement itself is light on specifics. It will also be interesting to see whether more ZX-DEV competition entries follow the same path onto the Next. If they do, this little cat might be leading the way for a whole litter of upgraded demakes.