A TechTuber who describes himself as a lover of weird and impractical tech has converted Super Mario Bros. and Doom into a VHS tape-based FMV game system. Throaty Mumbo was inspired after struggling with the 1987 ActionMax, a VHS-connected console whose limited and imprecise interactivity made it a clear dud. The replacement uses a DE1-SoC FPGA board and a Raspberry Pi RP2350 MCU to build a more capable version of the old concept.
In the Doom conversion, the FPGA handles overlay graphics and switches between one of eight simultaneous video streams played by the VHS deck. Pressing the correct button at the right time selects another stream, and a counter tallies timely inputs to keep score. The result is on-rails rather than a true Doom experience, but the audio and visuals feel close to the original.
The Super Mario Bros. version takes a different approach: the SBC runs a faithful-looking version of the game while VHS-taped imagery replaces the backdrop. Mumbo notes a similar technique was sometimes used in early CD-ROM games to boost their visual appeal. The source also notes the video includes frequent swearing, and that Mumbo previously ran Sega games off vinyl records.