STARDUST GIRLS puts two Raspberry Pi microcontrollers in a Famicom cartridge

Two Raspberry Pi RP2350B microcontrollers sit inside the cartridge, but the game runs on real Famicom hardware. STARDUST GIRLS, the tentative title of Yunomi Factory’s homebrew shooter, has begun an in-store demo at Kaden no Kenchan in Akihabara. It’s an early look at the project, not a finished-game launch.

A purple-haired character and a mustached commander

The store photos offer a glimpse beyond the shooting: a purple-haired woman and a mustached commander appear in separate dialogue scenes. AKIBA PC Hotline! also reports character illustrations in the opening and an animation of the protagonist after a stage clear.

Red bullet patterns and a huge stage boss

STARDUST GIRLS is a vertically scrolling bullet-hell shooter. The store photos show a small player spacecraft facing red projectiles and a large mechanical boss, while another scene features smaller enemies and rocky scenery.

AKIBA PC Hotline! describes unusually high bullet counts and says a huge boss appears at the end of a stage. The game’s more demanding rendering is attributed to its cartridge design—not to the stock Famicom doing all the work alone.

Two microcontrollers stand in for ROM and RAM

The cartridge’s two RP2350B chips emulate PRG-ROM and CHR-RAM—program ROM and graphics RAM. These are microcontroller chips, not two complete Raspberry Pi computer boards. According to AKIBA PC Hotline!, the arrangement enables demanding rendering on real Famicom hardware while reducing costs.

The developer’s August 30 build log explains the move away from costly older 5V SRAM and flash EEPROM components. In a later post quoted by the report, the developer also cited dwindling supplies of compatible ROM chips as a reason for the new cartridge design.

A display demo for now, with release still ahead

AKIBA PC Hotline! lists an expected price of around ¥6,000, not a confirmed final retail price. The shop says release is still some way off, and the report gives no exact date.

If you’re in Akihabara, the display offers an early look at the game. Notices on the photographed setup ask visitors not to touch the demo unit, so plan to watch rather than expect a hands-on trial.