I cannot fathom…
My closes reference is a PIC16F that I used to program in 8bit assembly, but the thing was 8MHz, and I only blinked an LED! :)
My closes reference is a PIC16F that I used to program in 8bit assembly, but the thing was 8MHz, and I only blinked an LED! :)
That's basically the CPU running at 1.024 Mhz. The video hardware is dumb, runs independent of the CPU, and just scans a region of memory to send pixels to the display. All software pushing pixels otherwise.
You are not wrong with the NES, C64 and other machines using a graphics chip with sprites and other hardware features to assist in various ways. But, quite a lot happened on the CPU.
BTW, this game is done on a 1Mhz 6809, all software pushing pixels.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAKxa5C9jHY
(I would skip out to the middle somewhere in that video to get a sense of what is being done)
On that game specifically, it's a single frame buffer. Screen divided into two halves, each drawn while the display is delivering the other to the player.
I won't bother, because I've got a good retro hobby going and under control, but I want one of those. :D