Castleminer Z, one of the many Minecraft knockoffs that came to Xbox Live back in the early 2010s, is getting a remaster in 2025 and it's making me oddly nostalgic.
As one of the biggest games of all time, Minecraft is available on pretty much every platform there is, even with Xbox owning the rights. That wasn’t always the case, though, as there was a dark time when Minecraft was locked to PCs and console players had to settle for whatever clone rocked up on the Xbox Live Arcade.
There's not going to be any Sonic-style tweaking this time.
Before Minecraft finally got its official Xbox 360 Edition in 2012, Xbox Live was filled with ripoffs that tried to capitalise on the long wait for a console release. Most of these, like Cubeworld, Craft World, and UberBlox, didn't have much to offer beyond that, but there were a few that stood out, such as the gun-toting CastleMiner Z.
If you were around during the good old days of waiting patiently to be able to properly play Minecraft, then you no doubt remember CastleMiner Z, as it was one of the most popular knockoffs and an evolution of...
