Some game mechanics are eternal. The techniques used in retro classics are also used in today’s hits – making them something that all developers need to master.
The best tool for mastering these skills is the Unity Engine – it includes features like sprite management, physics, and tools for animations and effects, ensuring that whether you’re creating retro or modern games, you have everything you need to bring your games to life.
Retro Game Development Academy
Retro Game Development Academy is the world’s most comprehensive collection of courses on building ’80s and ’90s-inspired games with Unity. You’ll learn modern game development skills by recreating classic games like Pong, and mastering core techniques like jumping, shooting, item collection, and couch co-op.
These courses will set you on the game development fast track – once you’ve mastered the basics of Unity, you’ll create your first game in just 2 hours. The skills you’ll learn can be used for a wide range of genres, so you can use them to create your own unique projects.
LEARN ALL ABOUT
- Platformer design
- Item collection mechanics
- Health & damage systems
- Player & enemy movement
- Score tracking
- Game control flow
- Local multiplayer
Build Retro Games
Create a portfolio of retro game projects, including:
Curriculum
- Unity & C# basics
- Platformer & pong mechanics
- Randomized movement
- Scoring & escalating difficulty
- Game boundaries
- Implementing obstacles
- Leveling up
- Game-ending scenarios
- Missile & firing logic
- Cooldown effects
- Cumulative scoring
- Infinite enemies
- Health, lives, & re-spawning
- Enemy movement
- UI systems
- Local multiplayer
Why Build Retro Games?
Retro games continue to be a popular choice for players, indie developers, and AAA studios. Whether inspired by arcade-style graphics or mechanics, new and thriving games based on classic games continue to come out each year.
With a multibillion-dollar market and high salaries to match the growing demand, the game industry has unlimited opportunities for developers.
WHO CAN TAKE THESE COURSES?
We start with the absolute basics and go through everything step-by-step – so even if you have zero experience in programming, you’ll be able to easily follow along.
More experienced? Whether you’re wanting to brush up, expand your skills, or learn a new technology, our courses are structured in a way that makes it easy to skip ahead to the lessons that are relevant and interesting to you.
REINFORCE YOUR LEARNING
Zenva’s courses feature quick challenges that will speed up your learning.
Access live coding lessons where you can practice coding right in your browser, and instantly see the results of any changes you make to the code:
Reinforce key concepts with in-course quizzes, which appear throughout courses:
COURSES BY THE WORLD’S BEST
Our course instructors aren’t just fun to learn from – they’re also serious gamers, qualified coders, and have been formally certified by Unity Technologies and CompTIA for their excellent programming and teaching skills. That way, you can be confident that you’re developing strong, modern skills that will set you up for success as a game developer.
YOUR COURSES, YOUR WAY
Learn with project-based courses that are designed to be flexible – access them 24/7, fit them around your schedule, and choose the learning materials that suit you best.
With an online platform optimized for all modern devices, you can even learn on the go!
✅ Watch video lessons
✅ Download course printouts
✅ Explore interactive lessons
✅ Practice with source code
✅ Build real projects
✅ Earn completion certificates
ACHIEVE REAL RESULTS
Our community of 1,000,000+ learners and developers have used the skills learned with us to publish their own games and websites, land their dream jobs, and even start their own businesses – and you have the potential to do the same!
Check out what our learners think below:
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MIHIR PATEL
I love the lectures, concise course objectives, and how they not only teach you enough to get started, but prepare you for the advanced stuff later down the road.
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MONICA MANCUSI
With Zenva, I started learning a more accurate way to approach problems and develop solutions. It’s full of interesting topics that I love to learn in conjunction with my work.
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CRAIG BICKFORD
I chose Zenva because of the large selection of topics and the fact that I can choose what courses I want to take whenever I want to take them. That level of freedom is unique to Zenva.
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ANDREA CARDENAS-ROEDER
The Unity courses at Zenva helped me achieve a level of comfort with game development that I didn’t think was possible. They give you the confidence to expand your skills, and were so easy to understand.
