The 1987 game “The Last Ninja” was 40 kilobytes

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Game size and hardware constraints

  • The C64 version of The Last Ninja reportedly fit in 40KB of RAM, with total disk/tape content on the order of a single 1541 floppy side (170KB–a few hundred KB at most).
  • Some clarify that C64 could access nearly 64KB by bank-switching out ROMs; tape games often just loaded one contiguous memory image and never streamed more.
  • Comparisons are made to similarly tiny classics: Super Mario Bros. at ~40KB ROM, Elite fitting in 32KB on BBC Micro, Pac‑Man at 24KB.

Efficiency vs modern software “bloat”

  • Many contrast these sizes with modern games and tools in the tens to hundreds of GB (e.g., COD, Claude Code CLI at 200+MB).
  • Several recount modern systems where actual data is a few MB while processes consume GBs, attributing this to layers, frameworks, and lack of pressure to optimize.
  • Others argue the increased footprint often buys safety (GC, bounds checks), networking, crypto, and richer media.

Graphics, audio, and data representation

  • Old games used low resolution, tiny color palettes, and procedural or tracker-like audio; today’s games use high‑res textures, 32‑bit color, and PCM/streamed audio, which inherently scales storage and RAM by orders of magnitude.
  • Framebuffer and texture sizes alone now exceed entire 8‑bit games.

Demoscene and extreme compression

  • Multiple posts highlight modern 4KB–64KB PC demos and a sub‑100KB 3D FPS as proof that high‑res real‑time graphics and music can still fit in tiny binaries via procedural generation and streaming.
  • There is debate whether this approach just trades memory for CPU/VRAM and engineering effort; consensus: impressive, but not generally economical for mainstream software.

Tradeoffs, economics, and tooling

  • Some defend “waste” as rational cost: developer time and maintainability are expensive, memory is relatively cheap; optimization is only pursued when constraints bite.
  • Electron and similar stacks are repeatedly criticized as emblematic of avoidable bloat and custom UI churn; others note they win on portability and developer availability.

Nostalgia and design

  • Many share fond memories of The Last Ninja: distinctive isometric graphics, tape‑loading music, finicky movement/search mechanics, and iconic SID soundtracks.
  • A recurring theme: constraints once forced ingenuity; today, abundant resources plus business pressures favor “good enough” over tightly engineered minimalism.