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In a press release published on Friday, Atari congratulated itself on its resolutely retrogaming strategy.

Hardware true to its heritage

On the hardware front, the American company recently re-released updated versions of its iconic consoles: the 2600 and 7800. Unlike the ‘mini’ re-releases offered by Nintendo and SEGA, which include around twenty pre-installed games, Atari is banking on authenticity by allowing these new consoles to read the original 2600 and 7800 cartridges, thus strengthening its link with its heritage.

Software successes in 2024

On the software front, Atari also enjoyed great success in 2024 with titles such as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind, The Thing: Remastered and RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic. The company also consolidated its position in 2023 by acquiring two major retrogaming players: Digital Eclipse and Nightdive Studios.

"The 2023 acquisitions of Digital Eclipse and Nightdive Studios have significantly deepened the company's expertise in retro games from the 1970s to the early 2000s on PCs and modern consoles, and strengthened the company's skills and reputation for rights acquisition and content development around some of the world's most beloved intellectual properties," said Wade Rosen, Atari's Chairman and CEO.

A successful fourth quarter

Wade Rosen also praised Atari's performance in 2024:

"It was critical for Atari to execute our retro strategy in 2024, and I am extremely pleased with the company's performance across all of our businesses. Ending the year with such an enthusiastic response to our fourth quarter games - Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind and The Thing: Remastered, as well as the release of RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic on Nintendo Switch - I am confident that our strategy will lead to even greater success in 2025."

Retrogaming in 2025

Atari is fully committed to its retrogaming strategy, banking on the nostalgia and popularity of its historic licences. The year 2025 promises to be full of re-releases, new games and, who knows, hardware surprises.

Source: Time Extension

The original game Prince of Persia, released in 1989 for the Apple II, can now be played on Dreamcast.

The title was a huge success thanks to its captivating world and, above all, its avant-garde animations for the time. These used the rotoscoping technique to reproduce realistic movement dynamics.

This port is based on SDLPoP, an open source disassembly of the DOS version of the game, which has already been adapted for many other platforms.

For this port, homebrew developer memorix101 used the Dreamcast SDL2 library, designed by programmer Troy Davis. A solution that necessitated the adaptation of a number of features.

Nevertheless, the developer has succeeded in integrating the ability to perform Dreamcast-specific quick saves (VMU) into his port, which, in return, takes time away from players' runs.

Currently in the alpha stage, the project is available for download (CDI image) from GitHub. For fans of the Prince of Persia saga, it's worth noting that the first opus, its many ports and its sequels can also be played on Recalbox on a number of platforms.

Source: Time Extension

This is the story of an exceptional book. Three years ago, author and illustrator Philip Summers set off on a Kickstarter adventure to fund hand-illustrated guides to classic games from the 80s.

The campaign was a runaway success, with almost 4,700 contributors raising $322,000. But the enthusiasm wasn't enough to bring the project to fruition, for one simple reason: Philip Summers didn't own the rights to the franchises he was working on.

The project had to be abandoned on the last day of the fund-raising campaign.

Motivated by the support he received, Summers continued to work on his drawings while working discreetly to negotiate the rights that would allow him to publish an officially licensed guide.

And so, in partnership with NF Publishing and with Capcom's blessing, Philip Summers is offering his very first official hand-drawn guide: "Hand-Drawn Game Guides: Mega Man ’.

Launched just three days ago, the project has already raised almost €70,000 of the €19,302 requested, thanks to 1,404 contributors at the time of writing. In fact, the target was reached in just 12 minutes!

As well as making it possible to produce the book, this success could encourage Capcom to repeat the experience with future projects in the same spirit.

We invite you to discover the Kickstarter page, which reveals some illustrations taken from the book. After all, these are not just drawings: the entire guide is hand-drawn.

Characters, levels, tips, traps... everything is meticulously drawn with a remarkable pencil stroke that exudes passion and attention to detail. This 200-page guide will help you rediscover the secrets of the original Mega Man adventure (1987) and Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge (released on Game Boy in 1991).

Photos: NF Publishing

Source: mag.mo5.com

The PlayStation Plus catalogue will be expanded on 21 January with the arrival of a number of new games, including a title from the PlayStation Classic range that is sure to delight fans of retrogaming.

Medievil II, released in 2000 on PlayStation, joins over a hundred classic titles. A direct sequel to MediEvil, this game takes us back to the world of the skeletal hero Sir Daniel Fortesque, awakened after 500 years of well-earned rest for a new adventure set in England.

The version on offer is a remastered version: the original game, developed by SCE Studio Cambridge (now Guerrilla Cambridge), has been given a slight visual facelift. So it's not a complete remake, unlike the first MediEvil, released in 2019 and developed by Other Ocean Interactive, which offered a modern reinterpretation of the game.

MediEvil is an iconic franchise of the early PlayStation era, on a par with Crash Bandicoot and Tomb Raider. It stands out for its technical quality, quirky universe, charismatic hero and clear inspiration from the world of Tim Burton.

To enjoy MediEvil II, you'll need to subscribe to the PlayStation Plus Premium service or buy it individually. Note that the first instalment of MediEvil is also available, allowing you to discover the story in chronological order.

Finally, for fans of retrogaming, MediEvil titles can be played via Recalbox on PlayStation 1.

Following the announcement of his retirement, Shuhei Yoshida has given an interview to media outlet Kinda Funny Games, in which he looks back on his long career at Sony and shares some interesting observations on the failure of the PS Vita.

If the name Shuhei Yoshida isn't familiar to you, but you've been a PlayStation gamer, then you owe him a good portion of your gaming sessions.

Recruited by Sony in 1986 from university, Yoshida rose through the ranks working on iconic titles such as Gran Turismo and Ape Escape, before becoming president of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios from 2008 to 2019.

The Time Extension website reports on Yoshida's comments in the two-hour-plus interview.

The context of a failure

Building on the success of the PSP (which sold 80 million units), Sony decided to launch a new handheld console: the PS Vita. However, this ambition came up against a major competitor. Nintendo's 3DS was a runaway success, selling almost 76 million units. The PS Vita, on the other hand, has struggled to make an impact, selling only around 15 million units.

However, Yoshida stresses that competition is not the only factor holding back the Vita.

Lack of development resources

Yoshida explains that Sony had split its teams between the PS Vita and home consoles, in particular the PS4. With a limited number of studios, the company had to make choices, and it was the PS4 that was prioritised. In comparison, more recently Nintendo has managed to consolidate its teams to work on a single hybrid platform, the Switch, a strategy that Yoshida considers to be one of the keys to its success.

Proprietary memory cards: a costly mistake

Another point raised by Yoshida concerns the PS Vita's proprietary memory cards, often criticised for being prohibitively expensive. He admits that this choice weighed heavily on consumers:
*It was a mistake. People have to spend more money to get a memory card.

Standard SD cards, such as those used by Nintendo for its 3DS, would have been a more economical and practical alternative. Note that for some games, this memory card became compulsory.

Questionable hardware choices

The PS Vita included innovations such as a rear touchscreen and a high-quality OLED screen (which was later removed in favour of an LCD screen), but Yoshida now admits that these choices increased costs without adding any real value. These elements, although attractive during the prototyping phase, were not essential in the end.

In addition, the lack of a TV output on the commercial model was also detrimental to the console. Yoshida reveals that this feature was present in the development kits but was removed to save on production costs. A regrettable decision considering the positive impact of TV compatibility on the Switch's success.

An analysis after the fact

It's always easier to draw lessons after the fact, especially in the face of the Switch's success, which now seems to be a given in terms of design. However, there's no denying that Sony tried to innovate with the PS Vita, delivering a quality product that was forward-thinking for its time, not least thanks to its OLED screen, rear touch surface and impressive graphics for a handheld console released in 2011.

After hearing Yoshida's words, we can't help but wonder how successful the PS Vita might have been if it had been dockable or, at the very least, compatible with a TV output, a feature that the Switch brilliantly exploited five years later.

Warner Music Japan has opened pre-orders for a vinyl set that should be high on the wish list of Super Mario collectors and fans.

The Super Mario World soundtrack will be available from April 30, 2025 and will come in the form of a three-disc box set featuring no fewer than 179 tracks featuring music from the titles Super Mario Bros to Super Mario Bros 3. Notably, the B-side of the third disc contains 118 sounds, mainly sound effects from the games.

According to RetroRGB, the tracks appear to be based on the CD version of a compilation released in 1991.

At present, the vinyls are only available on two Japanese sales platforms, but these are expected to offer international delivery.

This boxed set of three vinyl records is priced at 11,550 yen, or around $74, from these two addresses:

Tower JP / HMV.CO.JP

You may be familiar with the Arcade Archives range from Konami, which offers re-releases of the Japanese firm's classics on modern platforms. This time, the surprise comes in the form of Escape Kids, an arcade game released in 1991 that has never before been brought to home consoles.

With its colourful style and very ‘toonesque’ animations, the game asks you to complete three laps of each race, the aim being to come out on top while beating the black-clad champion.

There are several circuits to choose from, each with its own variety of scenery and obstacles. Along the way, you can collect coins to improve your stats: endurance, crash recovery and even braking.

To add a little spice, bonuses can appear on the ground. These can be used to make up a substantial deficit, or to see your opponents swooping down on you.

Escape Kids will be available from 16 January on PlayStation and Switch.

Source: Time Extension, Famitsu

A few days ago we told you about an innovative CAPTCHA that lets you play Doom, and now fans of the franchise and of technical tinkering can rejoice: the famous 1993 first-person shooter has been ported... to a PDF file. This feat is the work of a high school student known as ading2210 on GitHub, inspired by a similar project for Tetris.

Using the capabilities of Javascript in PDF files, ading2210 used Emscripten to compile Doom in asm.js format, making the game playable in Chromium-based browsers. The rendering, minimalist but functional, is based on a palette of six ASCII-art colours.

Admittedly, it lacks sound and the original palette, but players can still wander around level E1M1, eliminating demons and zombies, simply by typing commands or clicking on on-screen buttons, which allow them to move the character, shoot and switch from one menu to another.

Because of the PDF format, you'll understand that there are a few constraints, notably a response time of 80ms, which in itself isn't really a problem but isn't up to the standards of the genre.

This port continues the long tradition of running Doom on improbable objects, such as toasters, fridges, pregnancy tests and treadmills (you'll find here this long, improbable list).

For those who want to try out this offbeat version, the project is available on GitHub and at this address.

Sources: IGN, Time Extension

A few weeks ago, GOG announced its preservation programme entitled ‘Preserved by GOG’. It's an initiative designed to safeguard the great classics of video games, in order to preserve these works while making them compatible with today's PCs.

The programme currently includes just over 100 titles, including Diablo, Fallout: New Vegas and System Shock 2. These games have been tested and optimised to offer a DRM-free experience, with manuals included, technical support and much more.

This ensures continued compatibility and support, so that these iconic titles will be around for years to come.

Retro News today announced that GOG has reinforced this commitment by joining the European Federation of Video Game Archives, Museums and Preservation Projects (EFGAMP).

Founded in 2012, this federation brings together more than 20 institutions across Europe, including the French association MO5.com.

This step marks a further commitment by GOG to the preservation of videogame heritage, by collaborating with recognised associations in the field of video games and retrogaming.

Andreas Lange, Director of EFGAMP, welcomed the move:

"GOG brings a unique perspective to EFGAMP as Europe's leading digital distributor of games [...] its experience in making classic games accessible to modern audiences complements the work of our existing members by bringing additional digital expertise to our collective efforts".

At a time when dematerialisation is playing an increasingly important role, it is reassuring to see that this can coexist with the protection of our heritage, and that major players such as GOG and Sony, with its game library, are taking steps to address this issue.

Source: Retro News

8BitDo has become accustomed to more elaborate accessories than the one presented here. The manufacturer, well known for its Recalbox-compatible peripherals, offers controllers of excellent quality, with exemplary finish and few bugs.

This time, the accessory manufacturer is unveiling a "Mobile Clip ’, a simple plastic clip designed to attach a phone to a Micro or Zero 2 controller from the same brand (these are very small controllers).

With the disappearance of physical buttons on smartphones, many users of retro games find themselves frustrated by the often uncomfortable grip of touch screens.

The solution proposed by 8BitDo has the merit of offering an alternative that allows you to have a controller in your hand and your smartphone, offering a slightly more natural gaming position while remaining close to your phone screen.

The quality and finish of this clip remain to be seen. Let's hope it has a little foam to protect the screen and a system that's strong enough to hold both the controller and the phone, without requiring excessive effort.

However, given the high standards to which 8BitDo has become accustomed, it's regrettable that the brand has opted for such a simple and, let's face it, somewhat ‘cheap’ accessory compared to its usual products.

The Mobile Clip is available for $9.99.

If you want to spend the next 15 minutes shaking your head with a goofy grin while watching a speedrun, you've come to the right place.

From 4 to 12 January, the Awesome Games Done Quick festival was held, a charity marathon which, as the name suggests, is centred around speedruns. During the event, spectators had the chance to make donations, which were donated to cancer prevention and Médecins Sans Frontières.

For this first edition of 2025, the marathon was a great success, with $2,556,305 raised. Among the many speedruns broadcast live, one in particular caught our attention: that of the legendary Crazy Taxi, performed by Chuckles825 in just under 18 minutes.

This performance made its mark not only because of its speed, but also because of the unique conditions in which it took place. The game's famous soundtrack, featuring iconic tracks by The Offspring and Bad Religion, was played live by a group of musicians. The musicians didn't just play the songs: they synchronised their performance with the different phases of the game, starting and stopping their tracks at the beginning and end of each level.

To top it all off, the musicians also commented on the session, replacing the game's announcer, who had been cut for the occasion. It's an original approach that has allowed us to recreate an atmosphere faithful to Crazy Taxi's wacky, free-flowing spirit, while cleverly sidestepping copyright concerns.

If you're interested in this kind of performance, don't hesitate to explore the Games Done Quick channel, where you'll find other videos just as entertaining.

As a reminder, Crazy Taxi was originally released on Naomi (arcade) and was one of the major titles of the Dreamcast. If you own this game, you should know that it is perfectly playable on Recalbox (a Pi5 with 4 GB RAM is recommended).

Source: vg247.com

My Arcade is certainly prolific at CES 2025. After unveiling its partnership with SEGA to offer mini kiosks featuring Sonic and its new Game Gamestation Retro, the American manufacturer this week presented the Super Retro Champ.

This portable console, equipped with a six-inch screen, is capable of reading SNES and Mega Drive game cartridges. If this project sounds familiar, that's because it was already presented at CES 2020 before being shelved without any official communication until now.

The console's architecture is based on an emulation system and not on FPGAs, as is usually the case with this type of device. You'll be able to connect Bluetooth controllers and also link the console to your television via an HDMI port.

The Super Retro Champ is due for release this year, at a price that has yet to be confirmed. However, according to the mag MO5.com, it could go on sale for around €99. This is not the first console of its kind to be offered by My Arcade, which also markets the Retro Champ, capable of holding NES and Famicom cartridges.

While the quality of the device remains to be seen, it's worth pointing out that My Arcade has taken up an unprecedented challenge: to offer a console capable of bringing together SNES and Mega Drive ‘cartridge’ players on a single device!

If you frequent the Recalbox Discord, you'll have noticed that beudbeud organises a fortnightly challenge open to everyone. The idea is simple: try to achieve the best score on a selected game, often from the arcade catalogue.

To kick off 2025, the first challenge will be played on Over Top :

Over Top, developed by ADK in 1996, is an iconic arcade racing game. Get behind the wheel of sports cars or off-road vehicles to take on a variety of dynamic circuits. From snow-covered mountains to tropical forests and urban roads, each track is a unique challenge where precision, speed and cornering are essential. ‘*

Challenge rules

At the wheel of one of the eight cars available, your objective will be to complete a full lap of the map, divided into several stages, before the dreaded "Time Over ’ appears.

Each car has a unique driving style, favouring certain types of surface (tarmac, mud, snow, etc.) but with weaknesses on others. It's up to you to choose the one that best suits your style of play.

A few tips to help you shine:

• Take the time to memorise the lines.
• Be precise, because the slightest mistake could ruin your race.
• Note that there are few shortcuts: consistency is better than improvisation.

How do I take part?

1. **Start the game ** (rom ‘overtop’)
2. Play and try to beat the best time.
3. Take a screenshot or photo of your final score.
4. Share your score on the Discord channel #challenges or use the command /submit score leaderboard on the same channel.

Rules to follow

To ensure the fairness of the challenge :

• The score must be achieved in only one credit, without save state, rewind, cheats, or auto fire (unless provided for in the game).

Rewards and fair play

The challenge is all about discovering new games, sharing tips and, of course, having fun. All in a spirit of competition that's always welcome!

The winner will receive a game key (GOG, Steam, etc.) to choose from a list of over 80 titles. Note that if you've won a challenge in the last three months, the prize will go to the next person on the podium.

**Good luck to you all, and may the best score win!

If you're familiar with retrogaming and emulation, you'll no doubt know that some consoles are harder to emulate than others. Among them, the Nintendo 64 is often considered a real bête noire.

The site Time Extension recently shared an article with a video from Modern Vintage Gamer on YouTube. The video, which is in English but can be automatically subtitled in French via the settings, explains in an accessible way why Nintendo 64 emulation is so complex.

To put it simply (and with a lot of shortcuts), the Nintendo 64 has a atypical architecture. While some consoles have similarities with the architecture of PCs, the Nintendo 64 has radically different hardware.

Emulation of the Nintendo 64 began in the early 2000s, at a time when PCs were often less powerful than the console itself, which was released in 1996. To get round this problem, developers had to use custom ‘micro-codes’ for each game, to ensure faithful, high-performance emulation.

At the same time, specific plug-ins were developed to emulate the graphics, sound and joystick management sub-systems. However, these solutions, adapted to specific games, proved ineffective, and even problematic, for other titles.

So why does this problem persist with modern PCs? Because it's not just a question of power, it's a question of methodology. The basics of Nintendo 64 emulation haven't really changed for 25 years.

Even Nintendo's official emulation struggles to faithfully reproduce Nintendo 64 games on its Virtual Console.

When we asked Recalbox which version of the Raspberry Pi we were able to use to offer a correct solution, BkG2k's response was apt:

It's hard to say. On the Pi3 there were games that already ran well. It was more a question of emulation than power. Then new emulators/cores came along, and they all evolved. It's quite hard to say really.

The Time Extension article concludes, through this video, that the problem stems from the very approach to Nintendo 64 emulation. Cobbled-together solutions, such as plug-ins and other micro-codes, must be abandoned in favour of a rethought emulation dedicated to the console's unique architecture.

This year, expectations are high when it comes to Nintendo's announcements, and it seems that the Japanese firm has decided to surprise us. While leaks about announcement dates and even supposed photos of the Switch 2 have been circulating online, Nintendo has chosen to defy predictions... by unveiling a LEGO GameBoy.

If you're active on social media, you've probably seen this news thanks to a short teaser posted on Nintendo's official accounts.

This isn't the first time that Nintendo and LEGO have worked together. We remember the set reproducing the NES with an ‘interactive’ CRT screen, or the sets more geared towards a younger audience, such as those inspired by the Super Mario franchise.

This time, LEGO is targeting an older audience, in particular those nostalgic for the 80s and fans of retrogaming. The video presentation is very brief, however: there's no mention of the scale (which we hope will be life-size) or the number of pieces that will make up this replica of the famous handheld console.

The only information confirmed is the release date. You'll be able to get your hands on this GameBoy in bricks from October 2025, at a price as yet unknown.

Let's hope this model proves to be both ingenious and faithful to the original, making it a must-have collector's item. Today, the GameBoy is a veritable pop culture icon, having left its mark on the history of video games with some 119 million units sold, and greatly contributed to the democratisation of portable consoles.

The Kubii website, the official Raspberry distributor in France, has announced the availability of the Raspberry Pi 5 in 16GB RAM version.

A boosted Pi 5, but for what use?

The Raspberry Foundation is kicking off the new year with a Pi 5 boosted by 16 GB of RAM. While this evolution may make sense for uses such as office automation, programming, multitasking or servers, it is totally superfluous for use dedicated to Recalbox.

For optimal use with Recalbox, the Raspberry Pi 5 4 Go is still the ideal solution. It's more than enough to run your PS1 and Dreamcast games, demanding arcade titles (particularly Cave games), and soon, with version 10 of Recalbox, some GameCube games (with a few reservations depending on the title).

Even the 8GB version, offered with the release of the Pi 5, doesn't seem relevant for Recalbox use.

Price comparison

The 16 GB model is priced at 147 €, compared with 69 € for the 4 GB version. We therefore strongly recommend the 4GB version and advise you to invest the money you save in a good microSD card (for example a SanDisk that meets U3 A2 standards) and a quality external storage device. These elements will improve your user experience far more significantly than a few gigs of RAM.

What's more, the 2GB version of the Pi 5, released a few months ago, is now compatible with Recalbox (as we explained in this article). However, we continue to prefer the 4GB version for optimal use, particularly in the context of the release of version 10.

Raspberry Pi 5 specifications (16 GB version)

Finally, with regard to the 16GB model, it's important to note that apart from the RAM, its specifications remain strictly identical to those of the other versions:

• Processor**: Quad-core ARM Cortex-A76 (64-bit, 2.4 GHz)
• GPU**: VideoCore VII (800 MHz)
• Connections**: identical to other versions.

If you're just discovering these microcomputers and how to get to grips with them with Recalbox, we invite you to watch the video below:

A few hours after unveiling their partnership with SEGA, My Arcade has announced a new range and a collaboration with Bandai Namco and Capcom.

A new range: **Gamestation Retro

This range, called Gamestation Retro, includes three distinct game stations:

Gamestation Retro Go**

A portable console with an 8-inch screen in 4:3 format, respecting the original resolution of the games on offer.

• Controls**: joystick, D-pad, four action buttons, four additional buttons (M1/M2) and four triggers located on the top edge.
• Detailed hardware specifications and a list of games are not yet available.

💵 Advertised price: $199

Gamestation Retro Pro

A home console dedicated to retrogaming.

• Main features** :
  • HDMI output offering a 1080p signal (no 4K, a coherent choice for retrogaming).
  • Comes with two joysticks, which are fairly standard, but feature six action buttons like the MegaDrive controller.
• Once again, no precise technical details have been revealed.

💵 Advertised price: $149

Gamestation Retro Mega

A miniaturised wooden arcade cabinet, slightly larger than the other My Arcade cabinets.

• Design**: dressed in Bandai Namco and Capcom colours.
• Screen**: 10.1-inch 4:3 format.
• Controls**: joystick, scroll wheel, eight action buttons and four additional buttons (M1/M2).

💵 Advertised price: $299.99

Games, but few details

My Arcade is promising around a hundred games across these three devices, without specifying whether some will be exclusive to one platform or available on all.

Warning**: these devices are not compatible with Recalbox.

Dedicated accessories

My Arcade is offering two accessories with this new range:

• Gamestation Retro Gamepad: a controller identical to the one supplied with the Gamestation Retro Pro.
  💵 Price: $39.99
• Gamestation Retro Arcade Stick**: an arcade panel based on that of the Gamestation Retro Mega, but with more comfortable dimensions. It includes a joystick, scroll wheel, eight action buttons and four additional buttons (M1/M2).
  💵 Price: $69.99

Availability date

The entire Gamestation Retro range is expected to be available in third quarter 2025.

Photos: My Arcade / Bandai Namco / Capcom

The CES show in Las Vegas, which opened on 7 January, is a chance to plunge into the future with a host of innovations designed to transform the homes of tomorrow. But it's also an opportunity to take a look in the rear-view mirror, with a few objects riding the wave of retrogaming. Among them, My Arcade, in partnership with SEGA, has unveiled four mini kiosks paying tribute to iconic titles.

My Arcade, a company known for its mini kiosks (really mini), is collaborating with SEGA (though more of a fan of mini consoles) to produce six models celebrating cult games. Four of them were unveiled at CES 2025: two featuring Sonic, one dedicated to Golden Axe, and another to Shinobi.

The Sonic kiosks are distinguished by their design: the first is a traditional kiosk with a joystick and three buttons, while the second is a simpler kiosk with a joystick and a single button for jumping. As for the Golden Axe and Shinobi terminals, each has a joystick and three buttons, arranged differently depending on the title.

Each terminal should include ROMs for the games it represents. However, it is not yet known whether these will be arcade or console versions. Likewise, no information has been released on the possible presence of other playable games. As such, we would point out that Recalbox is not compatible with these systems and if you wish to play these games, you will have to turn to the platforms we support.

Those familiar with the My Arcade brand will know what to expect. While these mini kiosks have an attractive retro look, they are still very small and fragile, offering limited comfort for prolonged gaming sessions.

The last two terminals, already announced but not yet presented, will pay tribute to Streets of Rage and Out Run. The teasing surrounding the Out Run edition is particularly exciting, and we'll leave you to discover the photo that has been unveiled for it.

Photos: My Arcade / SEGA

An amateur LEGO designer has just passed the 10,000-vote mark on the LEGO Ideas website, a decisive step that will allow his project to be studied by LEGO teams with a view to possible commercialisation.

And if this project is of interest to us retrogaming enthusiasts, it's because it's an almost 1:1 scale reproduction of the legendary PlayStation 2.

RippleDrive, the Finnish company behind this creation, didn't just reproduce the console's exterior. They have taken their attention to detail to an impressive level, transforming a simple LEGO construction into a veritable object of admiration. The DualShock 2 is accurately reproduced, as are the memory cards. The disc drive is functional and removable, with a movable lens. The inside of the console reveals the electronic circuits, right down to the lithium battery that powers the internal clock.

One of the reasons I decided to build a PS2 is because I have so many fond memories of playing with it as a child and as an adult, as it's my favourite video games console of all time. I also decided to build this model because LEGO sets related to video games have been very successful, ‘* explains RippleDrive on the project page.

The Finn has indeed hit the nail on the head, as LEGO has already made a name for itself with nostalgic sets dedicated to gamers, such as the Pac-Man arcade terminal, the NES accompanied by its television set and the Atari 2600, with its iconic joystick and game cartridges.

RippleDrive has also thought of fans of hidden details: *The controller can be plugged into the console, and its interior hides the 7 orbs from the PS2 menu as an easter egg. The top of the console can be removed, revealing removable components.

It remains to be seen whether these arguments will be enough to convince the LEGO teams to choose this 2111-pieces set from among forty or so equally remarkable projects.

Photos: LEGO Ideas / RippleDrive

A few days ago we told you about the premium reissue of a book dedicated to Japanese arcades, by Victor Alonso. The Spaniard takes us on a journey through 25 Japanese arcades in The Last Game Centers, with a series of photographs paying tribute to the very special atmosphere of these arcades.

This reissue has already had to replace one arcade with another due to closure. Today, a sad and symbolic news has been added to this phenomenon, accentuated by the health crisis:

This time it's the a-cho arcade in Kyoto, which will close its doors on 31 January 2025. A veritable institution in an iconic city that is home to Nintendo's head office, its closure is a major blow for the arcade in Japan. But this announcement is accompanied by other news that is just as worrying for fans of the arcade and the games it used to showcase.

Three YouTube channels linked to the arcade (a-cho GAME, a-cho battle movie and a-cho staff) are also intended to disappear. The current owners of the venue will lose their rights to these channels, which will most likely lead to their closure. This situation was announced on X (formerly Twitter):

"Regarding the YouTube channel, a-cho will be shutting down and the staff responsible for managing it will no longer have any authority over it. In addition, the rights to manage the video material owned by the manufacturers cannot be transferred to a third party."

These channels bring together thousands of hours of broadcasts and replays of matches played in the hall on iconic franchises such as Street Fighter or The King of Fighters. They also featured shoot'em ups, puzzle games like Tetris, and many other genres.

Beyond simple gameplay sessions, it's a real intangible heritage that risks disappearing. The a-cho room regularly hosted tournaments and famous guests from the Japanese arcade world.

As the tweet points out, the main reason for the decision lies in rights issues, which are extremely strict in Japan. As games are the property of their publishers, the distribution of their video content is protected. With the closure of the venue, the tolerance accorded to these videos will also cease to exist.

In the world of retrogaming, the right to remember is paramount. While a few closures of rooms, sites or channels may seem anecdotal, they reveal a much more alarming reality: rigid intellectual property rights and non-existent archiving often prevent the preservation of this heritage.

Source: Time Extension

Announced barely a month ago on the networks, the unofficial port of Shinobi to Neo-Geo has been available since last Friday.

This “homebrew” port is the work of the talented Hoffman, known for his contributions to other ports. He has made the game available free of charge on itch.io.

Originally developed by SEGA for arcade terminals, Shinobi was released in 1987, marking the start of a series of a dozen games, and soon a film produced by Universal.

The arcade title was renowned for its quality, but above all for its difficulty. To make the experience more accessible, Hoffman has integrated dip switches for various settings and cheat options.

This port remains faithful to the original while exploiting the hardware capabilities of the Neo-Geo, offering better fluidity and more colorful visuals.

This project highlights the richness of homebrew productions, which continue to honor retrogaming to the delight of fans of retro franchises.

A remake in the works

If you're a fan of Shinobi, you may know that a remake is currently in development by Lizardcube, the studio already behind Streets of Rage 4 to name but one.

Rediscover Shinobi on Recalbox

If you own the games, many Shinobi titles are playable on Recalbox, opuses having been released from 1987 to 2002 on emulated consoles (Arcade, Mega Drive, Amstard, Atari, Game Gear, Game Boy Advance ...).

If you're a PlayStation Plus Premium subscriber, you'll know that this subscription gives you access to a selection of classic games from previous PlayStation generations.

Resident Evil, G-Police, Ridge Racer Type 4, MediEvil, Jak and Daxter, Sly Cooper, PaRappa the Rapper 2 and many more invite you to dive back into the hits that have marked the history of the SONY brand.

These titles can be played on PS5 and PS4 thanks to emulators built into the consoles. The only exception is the PS3 games, which can only be streamed via the cloud. There are two reasons for this.

The first is that the PS3 is not so old as to require the resources and energy to emulate it, as long as the streaming works.

The second reason is more technical: the PlayStation 3 is notoriously difficult to emulate. The high-performance emulators available today require a top-of-the-range PC, a level of power that was once beyond the reach of the PS4, but is now more accessible on the PS5.

Remember: the complex architecture of the PS3, and in particular its Cell processor, caused quite a stir when it was released. This processor requires considerable computing power and meticulous software optimisation. Developers at the time complained about it, and today it represents a major challenge for emulation.

However, the studio Implicit Conversions could well change all that. Little known to the general public, this studio is behind the ports of classic games available on PlayStation Plus Premium.

Their website makes a promising statement in their roadmap: "Researching and prototyping the possibility of a PlayStation 3 emulator package for Syrup ’. This initiative could lead to an official emulator for PS3 games.

All that remains is to wait for a response from SONY to find out whether this project will receive their support.

Many websites regularly ask you to prove that you are not a robot by means of a CAPTCHA. This system is used to distinguish humans from bots before a connection is made, using visual and behavioural recognition (mouse movements) or logical resolution.

If these tests seem boring, the company Vercel, run by Guillermo Rauch, offers an original alternative: a CAPTCHA that invites you to... play DOOM.

This ‘DOOM CAPTCHA’ works using a WebAssembly version, which means that no downloading is required. The game runs directly in your browser and asks you to eliminate three enemies by using the arrow keys to move and the space bar to shoot.

However, what might seem fun at first quickly turns out to be frustrating for some Internet users, including retrogamers. The reason? You start with a simple pistol and have to face some particularly punishing enemies. The game seems to be set on the Ultra-Violence, or even Nightmare difficulty level, which requires bots' reflexes to prove that you are indeed flesh and blood.

The concept quickly gained in popularity. The link has been shared in many retrogaming communities, and you've probably come across it on the Recalbox Discord.

If you want to die to give it a go, head over to this address!

Fans united under the name Starteam have just released the demo for Sonic Galactic, an unofficial Sonic title of disconcerting fidelity and quality.

Lasting around 40 minutes, the demo lets you play as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Fang the bounty hunter and Tunnel, a mole. The protagonists will have to traverse fast-paced platform levels, take on bosses and explore 2D worlds faithful to the series' heritage, all in beautiful pixel art.

But the developers haven't taken the easy way out: in addition to the platform phases, they've included 3D sections and broken new ground with enemies, mechanics and level design never before seen in the series.

On their website, the developers point out that this is not an official Sonic or SEGA product (an important clarification given the quality) and explain:

"Sonic Galactic is a fan-made interpretation of what a 2D side-scrolling game in the Sonic series might have looked like on 5th generation 32-bit hardware. With its clean backgrounds and fluid animations, the game aims for an aesthetic that pays homage to the best of the era.

Think of this game as a what-if scenario: an imagining of what Sonic Team could have produced on the SEGA Saturn!

Although the hardware limitations of the time have been taken into account, Sonic Galactic draws on many inspirations, not limiting itself to what the systems of the time could do, nor to what SEGA would necessarily have achieved.

With new areas, new concepts, new characters, a new setting and many other additions, Galactic aims to offer a unique take on the classic 2D Sonic formula, while continuing the story and gameplay of the classic Genesis/Mega Drive games".

As Time Extension points out, this production follows in the footsteps of fan-made Sonic games. It's all the more pleasing to note that SEGA is ‘letting it ride’, adopting a radically different policy to Nintendo, which is very keen on protecting its intellectual property.

If you're interested in the demo, it's available for free at this address.

At CES 2024, Atari briefly presented a handheld console without giving many details. Since then, there has been no news from the retrogaming community, leading to speculation that the project might be abandoned.

But that's not the case! Atari has just posted a video on its X account unveiling the Gamestation Go, a handheld console that, at first glance, looks familiar in its design, while displaying some intriguing features.

Atypical design

The first surprise is the absence of a joystick on the right-hand side of the console, an unusual choice for a modern handheld console. Instead, there is a 12-key numeric keypad. Just above this are the four classic action buttons, backlit like all the buttons on the console.

The left-hand side features a joystick, a D-Pad and a trak-ball. The latter is nothing new for Atari, who had already offered this feature on the Atari 2600.

Photo: Digital Game Museum

A nod to the past

These design choices seem to indicate that the console is partly dedicated to iconic Atari titles. The numeric keypad could be used for games such as Star Raiders, Defender, Codebreaker or Total Carnage. The trak-ball is reminiscent of classics such as Centipede and Missile Command, which already used this accessory back in the day.

What's more, Atari could enhance this offering with its vast library of retro games, recently augmented by the acquisition of Intellivision. This acquisition includes over 200 titles from Intellivision Entertainment LLC, which could make the Gamestation Go even more relevant.

Connectors and features

In terms of connectivity, Atari is sticking to the classic: an HDMI output (suggesting that it will be used as a controller connected to a TV set), a mini-jack headphone socket, a microSD card slot, and two USB-C ports for controllers 1 and 2.

Still some mysteries to unravel

For the moment, it's difficult to say more about the exact nature of this console. Atari did not provide any additional details in its presentation video. However, the wait shouldn't be long: the Gamestation Go will be presented in greater detail at CES 2025, which starts on 7 January.

You may already be familiar with the project we're going to talk about here, for the simple reason that it started eight years ago. Led by independent developer CryZENx, the unofficial remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time continues to dazzle fans, and the video released on 31 December will only add to that enthusiasm.

This is not the first time CryZENx has done this. The developer has already worked on unofficial remakes of Super Mario 64 and Diddy Kong Racing, two other major titles from the Nintendo 64.

The developer has now released a 30-minute video of his remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which runs on Unreal Engine 5.5. This version of the graphics engine displays more detail, uses Lumen technology (for fully dynamic global illumination and reflections) and incorporates DLSS upscaling.

The video highlights the village of Kakariko in particular, with never-before-seen detail in both indoor and outdoor environments. CryZENx has also announced that it is currently working on the next update to the project, which will focus on the domain of Zora.

It's important to stress that this is not just a technical demo, but a playable version with exploration, combat, interaction with NPCs, inventory management and cinematics animated by the game engine.

If you would like to support the project, you can become a member of Patreon via this page. Please note that you will need a PC Gamer to play this remake, as the project is particularly resource-hungry.

A new year brings new anniversaries, and SEGA confirms by announcing plans to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Jet Set Radio (Jet Grind Radio in the US).

Whether you've owned the Dreamcast or not, Jet Set Radio is firmly rooted in pop culture, thanks to its cel-shaded graphics, acclaimed soundtrack, and original concept featuring a bunch of rollerblading kids marking their territory with graffiti.

Firstly, Masayoshi Kikuchi, the original creator of Jet Set Radio, confirmed that he was still actively working on a new Jet Set Radio game, which was revealed at the Game Awards 2023. He expressed his desire to honour the legacy of the game while bringing something new to modern audiences.

SEGA has hinted that more information on the title will be released in 2025. However, no release window has yet been revealed. In what form will this news arrive? It remains unclear: trailer, gameplay, release date?

SEGA could also capitalise on the remasters trend. Many gamers are calling for a remaster or a simple port of Jet Set Radio Future (the sequel to Jet Set Radio, released exclusively on Xbox).

The Japanese company has already stated its intention to exploit its old franchises. Masayoshi Kikuchi has indicated that he is considering ideas for celebrating this 25th anniversary. Events, digital content, musical products? For now, the mystery remains.

We should have news before the middle of the year, as Jet Set Radio was launched in June 2000. In the meantime, if you own the game, it is perfectly playable on Recalbox. However, we recommend using a Raspberry Pi 5 for the best experience.

Here we are, 365 days together: 2024 is behind us, and what a year it's been!

The Recalbox project continues to move forward with you, and this year we brought you versions 9.2 and 9.2.3 of Recalbox, versions developed thanks to your feedback and suggestions.

2024 also marked the launch of RGB JAMMA, a hardware solution that has given new life to hundreds of arcade terminals thanks to a Plug and Play system. We had the honour of installing this solution on around twenty PCB terminals at the National Video Game Museum in the Netherlands!

It was also a year in which we had the pleasure of meeting you at trade fairs, notably in Saint-Martin-de-Crau, Mouans-Sartoux and Avion. These meetings are essential for us: they give us a chance to talk face-to-face and to thank you for your unfailing support. Your feedback, your sharing on the networks, your activity on Discord, and your support via Patreon encourage us to go from strength to strength.

On Patreon, we've tried to offer you a variety of benefits this year, including exclusive playlists (notably with the arrival of Cartridge 1987 titles), optimised scraping, new partnerships with online shops, etc.

The retrogaming community remains our greatest reward. Your generosity during our live event hosted by Fabrice at ZEvent 2024, which raised €11,500 for charities, was further proof of this.

But now that this page has been turned, it's time to look to the future: 2025 will be an exceptional year for Recalbox! And why is that? Because Recalbox is celebrating its 10th anniversary!

To celebrate this anniversary, we've got lots of projects in the pipeline, version 10, which will be arriving soon for our Patrons, the All in One, which will continue to be developed, and lots and lots of surprises... but it's still a bit early to reveal more. Stay tuned 😉

Finally, and most importantly, what would a New Year's article be without the wishes, so while of course our top priority is to wish you good health, we wish you hours and hours of retrogaming in our company, success in unlocking your RetroAchievements achievements, finishing the 174 games you started in 2024 and discovering at least as many.

Excellente Année 2025 !

National Videogame Museum

We're delighted to be able to announce the completion of a project by Recalbox user and active member of our Discord, Frogbull. Frogbull is a member of the development team known as ‘The Gang’, led by SKMP, well known to Dreamcast fans for having developed nullDC and Reicast, two emulators dedicated to SEGA's latest console.

Frogbull has announced the availability of the Dreamcast port of GTA 3, an unofficial fan project called DCA3. To guarantee the legitimacy and legality of this port, you need to own a PC copy of GTA 3. You can also purchase a digital version of the game from Rockstar's official website, which offers a ‘Trilogy’ bundle including GTA 3, Vice City and San Andreas.

Once you have the game, you can create an image in .CDI format and follow the compilation instructions available on the project site. This will allow you to play the game on your Dreamcast, provided it can read burned CDs or is equipped with an optical drive emulator. Note that this port is not compatible with Recalbox.

The game is fully playable, allowing you to rediscover the streets of Liberty City, just as you did in 2001. The Dreamcast controller is fully supported, and saves work seamlessly on the VMU memory card. However, given that this is an alpha version, it is possible to encounter a few bugs, although early feedback on the internet suggests that they are infrequent.

The project even attracted the attention of Obbe Vermeij, original developer of GTA 3, last September:

"The first months of GTA 3 development (in 1999/2000) were done on the Dreamcast. For commercial reasons, we switched to the PS2. At the time, we thought it was technically possible to do it on the Dreamcast, and these guys are doing it right now."

This port is a vibrant tribute to the Dreamcast and to the development history of GTA 3. Rockstar's title was originally designed for SEGA's console, with a planned release on that platform. However, the worldwide success of the PlayStation 2 led Rockstar to redirect its plans to develop the game for the black monolith, which was distributed en masse across the globe. GTA 3 will sell 12 million copies** (18 million including ports).

If you own a Dreamcast (models VA0 or VA1) and want to relive the adventures of Claude, go to this address.

We were saddened to learn yesterday of the death of Martyn Brown, co-founder of Team17, at the age of 57.

Martyn Brown founded Team17 in 1990 alongside Debbie Bestwick, following the merger of 17-Bit Software and Team 7. He left the company in 2011 to join the studio Double Eleven.

During his 21 years at the helm of Team17, Martyn Brown greatly contributed to the studio's success with iconic titles such as Alien Breed, Body Blows, Superfrog, Project X, and of course Worms. The latter remains the studio's most famous franchise, a veritable icon that has marked generations of gamers, with its quirky humour, unlikely weapons and endearing warrior worms.

A turn-based multiplayer game, Worms won over players with its unique blend of strategy and humour. The series now has more than twenty installments, most of them in 2D, before a transition to 3D for some recent episodes.

Last November, Martyn Brown received the prestigious Game Legend award for lifetime achievement. Unfortunately, he was unable to attend the ceremony.

A big thank you to this iconic figure in video games, who leaves us far too soon but whose creations will continue to entertain and inspire us.

Released in 1986, Out Run is a legendary game from the golden age of arcade terminals. It remains an essential reference and is often considered to be one of the best racing games of its generation.

Developed by SEGA, Out Run stood out for its innovations:
graphics with a distinctive style, music that you could choose before each ‘run’ and a system for selecting courses as you went along (except for the first race).

A unique atmosphere

The game's atmosphere also made a big impression. While other developers favoured a competitive and sporting approach, SEGA opted for a more ‘chill’ experience, where the player took the wheel of a Ferrari Testarossa, accompanied by a passenger, in a wind-in-the-hair atmosphere. A bold choice, often imitated but never equalled.

A cult item

Out Run wasn't just a game, it was also an object. The arcade terminal offered a real driving station, complete with seat, steering wheel, gear lever and pedals. An alternative version was even released with an F1-inspired aesthetic, with some versions equipped with a hydraulic system simulating the car's movements.

A Game Makers project to revisit Out Run.

Today, it's precisely this ‘object’ aspect that interests us. Although it's nothing new, we wanted to tell you about a fascinating project being carried out in 2021 by the talented creators of Game Makers: an Out Run mini-horn.

But be warned, this isn't just any miniature terminal. It's a complete reinterpretation in the spirit of the legendary 1986 terminal.

A faithful and improved miniature bollard

Inspired by an earlier creation by CircuitBeard, Game Makers has designed a miniature version that is faithful to the original, while retaining the authentic feel of the game.

Miniaturising such an object without sacrificing its proportions or ergonomics was a challenge. Yet the model includes a steering wheel, gearbox and two pedals. The modders didn't stop there and added several improvements.

Firstly, a small built-in motor generates vibrations when braking. But the real icing on the cake is the ‘Breeze’ mode: a built-in fan blows a stream of air over the player's face and hands, recreating the wind-in-the-hair effect during driving sessions.

An open source project for enthusiasts

The project is entirely open source. Game Makers provides all the necessary instructions for building this kiosk: list of materials, 3D printing diagrams, assembly guides, stickers, etc.

But be warned: this is not a conventional project. 3D printing, for example, is particularly time-consuming for this type of object, and you'll need special equipment, patience and attention to detail.

If you're motivated, Game Makers will take you step by step through a detailed inventory, down to the smallest screw, and a precise assembly guide.

Software

The terminal is powered by Recalbox, installed on a Raspberry Pi 3.

And that's not all...

For your viewing pleasure, here are two other Game Makers creations: a Mini Aero City and a Mini New Astro City.

They're just as gorgeous and are detailed on their website if you're in the mood for some extra DIY.

Initially released on the NES, the first three Ninja Gaiden games were a huge success, boosted in particular by the arcade version of the first opus, which greatly helped to popularise the licence. This success propelled the series, which continued to release titles until 2014.

And the licence has not said its last word! It is about to be reborn with Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, a new opus developed by The Game Kitchen (Blasphemous) and published by Dotemu (Streets of Rage 4, TMNT: Shredder's Revenge). Scheduled for release in summer 2025, this title marks a long-awaited comeback for fans.

Back to retrogaming

Let's focus on the origins of the saga with its first three instalments, released in 1988, 1990 and 1991 respectively. Building on the success of these episodes, Tecmo decided to compile them for the SNES, but the latter was a disappointment. Few improvements had been made to exploit the console's power, and a number of questionable choices had left their mark on gamers.

Among the decisions criticised were

• A modified soundtrack, which moved away from the original compositions.
• The removal of parallax scrolling, a key graphic technique in 2D games. This process, which gives an impression of depth by shifting the speed of different visual planes, was essential to the atmosphere of Ninja Gaiden.

We had to wait 25 years to see these shortcomings corrected thanks to a fan project.

A faithful and improved NES-SNES port

Infidelity's NES-SNES conversion combines the three iconic titles - Ninja Gaiden, Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos and Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom - into a single playable ROM for the SNES. Unlike the official 1995 compilation, this port faithfully recreates the original experience while exploiting the capabilities of the SNES to offer notable improvements:

• Elimination of slowdowns and flickering sprites.
• Improved overall fluidity for enhanced playability.
• Ability to switch from one game to another without restarting the console.
• Choice of colour palette directly in-game using the Select button.

All this has been achieved while respecting the legendary spirit and difficulty of the NES opuses.

Where can I play this version?

The ROM for this trilogy, developed by Infidelity, is available free online. Fans can use it with emulators or devices such as the EverDrive to play on an original SNES.

If you're a fan of the saga, you should know that the Ninja Gaiden games can also be played on numerous platforms via Recalbox, including the NES, SNES, Game Boy, Game Gear, Master System and many others.

If you're looking for a laugh, you've come to the right place. It looks like the SuperSega affair is coming to an end. A quick reminder if you haven't been following the story of the so-called FPGA console that could read all the SEGA console cartridges.

Demonstration videos that failed to convince Internet users (with major doubts about the authenticity of the hardware tested), pre-orders debited for a total of €400 without prior notice, more than dubious overall communication, refusal to send prototypes to journalists on the pretext that there was too great a risk of theft of the project's intellectual property... And, most recently, a letter threatening legal action by SEGA for copyright infringement.

Things have accelerated in recent days: SuperSega project leader Alejandro Martin has put his Lamborghini (bought during the project) up for sale to cover damages, losses and legal costs. This was followed by a statement from the person concerned:

"To be clear, we didn't rip anyone off. Soon we'll be releasing a video to thank you for your unconditional support and to let you know what we're up to. Stay tuned between now and early January 2025. ‘

Alejandro Martin / Photo iainlee

Contacted by Time Extension, Alejandro Martin confirms that this is essentially a problem with the name of the console, and not with the device itself. The company had even proposed the name Super SPGA, which was also rejected by SEGA:

"Why can't we call it SuperSPGA according to SEGA? Why can't we mention the word SEGA on our website, even when showing the TM (trademark)?

SEGA is not friendly to us. We have processed all refunds. We have to wait and see what happens. Nothing more to say at this stage, we'll see what happens in 2025.

So it would seem that the project is on the rocks, but that was without counting on another last-minute turn of events! Alejandro Martin has sent Time Extension a ‘copy and paste’ of an email he received from SEGA (with no official attachment, of course).

We'll leave it to you to read it:

‘Greetings to anyone who may be affected by the SuperSega-SuperSPGA group.

We apologise for interfering with your game console project without providing any evidence of your wrongdoing in relation to these ongoing matters.

We actually approve of your plans and appreciate your contributions to gaming communities/industries worldwide.

Please understand that some of the employees/associates of our legal team behind the false takedown requests have intentionally made false reports in order to commit crimes on behalf of your group members for no reason whatsoever.

We invite you to continue your projects by keeping all the units you have manufactured. Do not hesitate to contact Sega's offices if you need help with the development of your SuperSega-SuperSPGA console.

Please feel free to report certain employees/associates of our legal team who are behind these illegal attacks for misconduct, harassment, etc.

Yours sincerely

Sega Europe Legal Department

The Time Extension team will of course be contacting SEGA to verify the authenticity of this e-mail, which seems somewhat... unexpected...

When Tim Burton released Batman Returns in 1992, the rights to the associated video games were split between several platforms, including the SEGA Mega Drive and the Super Nintendo.

These two versions were radically different. The Mega Drive offered a platform game with stages in the Batmobile, in addition to the classic walking sections. The SNES, on the other hand, offered a game that was more oriented towards side-scrolling combat, which - without fuelling the traditional SNES/Mega Drive war - was a critical success compared to the Mega Drive version, which didn't disappoint.

But Mega Drive owners can take some consolation over 30 years later! A group of developers has released a technical demo of a Mega Drive port of the SNES game, called Batman Returns MD.

This project, led by Pyron (graphics), TiagoSC (code), Inglebard and vectororbitex7866 (music), corrects one of the main faults of the SNES game developed by Konami: the absence of a multiplayer mode. The game will also benefit from a higher resolution and a 60 fps display, while having a larger number of enemies on screen (up to nine).

Our aim was to bring back the essence of the original, taking advantage of the graphics and processing power of the Mega Drive to deliver an arcade-like experience. This project is still in development, so bugs may occur’, explain the developers.

They add:

We made this technical demo to test different concepts and fulfil a teenage dream: to see Batman Returns ported to my favourite console. We have no intention of completing the game, but the results obtained here will be used for future projects.

Finally, the release concludes:

The demo was not created to ridicule the SNES version, but to show that the Mega Drive can handle a beat'em all with impressive technical and graphical qualities. While it has its limitations in some areas, it excels in others, making it an ideal platform for this type of game.

As you can see, the aim is not to develop a complete version of the game, but to test concepts for future projects. When you see the quality of the work, it looks very promising.

The demo is available free of charge in .bin format here.

You may already be familiar with Victor Alonso's Los Ultimos Game Center, a Spanish book that catalogues some 25 arcades in Japan (and their terminals) through more than 200 photographs carefully chosen by the author.

This first book was a huge success, both commercially and critically, to the point of being distributed all over the world even though it was only published in Spanish. Victor Alonso has therefore decided to go one step further by offering a new edition in English and Japanese.

This ‘Black Label’ edition is more than just a ‘simple translation’: the quality of the photos has been improved. It also includes a small ‘zine’ containing photos of a nocturnal videogame adventure in a drive-in that left its mark on the author.

To keep up to date, two rooms have been removed from the book (because they have unfortunately closed), but they have been replaced by two new locations that were not included in the first edition.

In 280 pages printed on high-quality paper, you can admire arcade rooms and machines. As the author is above all a photographer, his attention to detail allows him to capture the unique atmosphere of these spaces in the best possible way.

As Victor Alonso points out, this book is also a means of opening up a personal and collective reflection on the passage of time and the disappearance of these places that are part of Japan's heritage (despite the fact that arcades were a worldwide phenomenon in the 70s and 80s).

They were places for sharing, discovering, scoring and meeting new people, and were often the birthplace of many of today's legendary games (Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Street Fighter, Dragon's Lair, Bubble Bobble, Out Run, and dozens of others).

The crowdfunding will help finance the production of this ultimate version. A total of €30,000 is expected to be raised, with the campaign closing on 14 February.

If you would like to support the project, please visit this address. You can pledge as little as €8 for the e-book in PDF format or €50 for the physical book. Early Bird’ offers for the first entrants mean that you can obtain these rewards at a lower cost. Of course, premium entries are also available with personalised dedications.

Photos: Victor Alonso

There's no need to introduce Minecraft, the phenomenal game that appeals to young and old alike. A veritable sandbox with minimalist cubic graphics, the title was released 15 years ago and has sold over 300 million copies worldwide. In 2025, there will even be a film adaptation starring Jason Momoa and Jack Black, among others.

Beyond the ‘simple game’, several innovative projects revolve around this universe. These include a monumental virtual library, comprising 12.5 million blocks, put online by Reporters Sans Frontières. The aim of this project is to give players living in countries subject to censorship access to articles that are usually inaccessible.

A little more levity this time, with a surprising adaptation: Minecraft on Dreamcast! Entitled ClassiCube, this fan-developed project reproduces the Minecraft client as it was in 2009. SEGA's 128-bit console manages to run a ‘light’ version of the game.

ClassiCube lets you explore, build and modify environments in different biomes. The game is compatible with the Dreamcast keyboard and mouse, making it more ergonomic for this type of game.

To top it all off, the game can be played online. All you have to do is create an account on the official website and connect to the dedicated servers directly via the Dreamcast.

This project is a perfect illustration of the agility of ‘homebrew’ developers (unofficial home-made games), who are able to bypass hardware constraints using modern tools.

The game is available for free on the official ClassiCube website. It comes in .CDi format, which you'll need to burn onto a disc to run it on your original Dreamcast console.

The Recalbox team wishes you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We hope that this festive season will be an opportunity to enjoy your loved ones, to spoil them and to be spoiled!

For many of us, Christmas was the time when we entered the world of video games: when we received our first console, when we unwrapped our first games, sometimes unexpected, sometimes forbidden.

It's easy to remember the nostalgia of a simple time when you could switch on your new console in the evening while your parents continued to unwrap their presents. No updates, no accounts to create... the pleasure was immediate!

That's the kind of pleasure we're trying to bring you throughout the year with the Recalbox project. Our greatest gift is to see you on the networks, having fun, sharing your games and memories with your children, family and friends, and simply playing!

So, what can we wish you this festive season? Well, even more retrogaming under the tree: Raspberry Pi, 8BitDo controllers, Retroflag cases, vinyl, the books Fabrice has been introducing you to all year, etc.

We won't hold it against you if you receive a PlayStation 5, Xbox Series or Switch... we promise...

As we look forward to 2025, a year full of surprises and new releases for Recalbox, we'd like to wish you all the very best for the festive season, and for sharing some quality time with your loved ones, as well as a great holiday for the lucky ones.

Title picture: Daze Before Christmas / Megarive / SNES

Back in November, we brought you the 8BitDo keyboard, a tribute to the SEGA Saturn to celebrate the console's 30th anniversary.

Today, a new brand has signed an official partnership with SEGA to offer an accessory in tribute to the 32-bit console.

Onkyo recently announced the availability of Bluetooth headphones in Saturn colours. Each headset features a sticker representing half of a SEGA Saturn controller. The headphones come with a charging case that offers three additional charges. The case is distinguished by a sticker featuring the console. Onkyo has even gone so far as to include the famous Saturn start-up sound, which plays when the headphones are switched on.

As an option, the brand offers a wireless induction charger inspired by the design of a Saturn game disc, an iconic format at the time, albeit launched simultaneously with Sony's PlayStation. Fans of detail will notice that the charger's typography is based on that of Virtua Fighter, a ‘system seller’ for the Saturn, despite its difficulties in competing with the PlayStation.

On the technical side, Onkyo claims a battery life of 5 hours per charge**, which can be extended to 20 hours thanks to the three recharges supplied with the case. The headphones are IPX4 certified, making them sweat-proof and suitable for sports use. They feature Bluetooth 5.3 technology and support AAC and SBC codecs for optimised sound quality.

The headphones are available for 15,500 yen (around €95), while the induction charging cradle is priced at 4,400 yen (around €27).

Finally, for fans outside Japan, Onkyo is offering the option of using the Buyee service for international delivery.

In an interview with The Guardian on Friday, Shuji Utsumi, the current CEO of Sega America and Europe, expressed his misgivings about retro and announced his intention to focus on the future.

Taking advantage of Nintendo's success with its NES Mini in November 2016 and its Super NES Mini in September 2017, SEGA quickly jumped on the mini-console bandwagon with the Mega Drive Mini in September 2019 (which is therefore SEGA's last official console born after the Dreamcast).

The Japanese firm then repeated the experiment with the Game Gear Mini in October 2020 (reserved for the Japanese market) and the Mega Drive Mini 2 in October 2022.

The strategy was simple: play on gamers' nostalgia by offering miniaturised replicas of the consoles of the time, with between 40 and 60 games pre-installed (depending on the model and the region of release).

Although the development of such devices seems inexpensive, SEGA does not (for the time being) seem to want to prolong the experiment. While sales figures for SEGA Minis are hard to come by (we do know, however, that Nintendo has been very satisfied with its sales), the company justifies this choice with a vision of SEGA's development that is more oriented towards the future than the past.

I have no intention of going down the Mini route. That's not who I am. I want to adapt to modern players, said Utsumi.

We are not a retro company. We really appreciate our heritage, we value it, but at the same time, we want to offer something new, otherwise we will become ancient history. That's not our goal, says the chairman, who joined SEGA in 1996.

This statement could not be clearer, at least as far as the hardware is concerned, as SEGA makes no secret of the reboot projects it is currently working on or has in the pipeline (Shinobi, Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, etc.).

Photos: SEGA

Accessory manufacturer Genki announced a partnership with 8BitDo earlier this year. The result of this collaboration will be available in early 2025.

If you're familiar with 8BitDo products, you'll be aware that this is just a small relifting of one of their flagship products.

The Genki PocketPro takes its shape and features from the SN30 Pro. It is largely inspired by the SNES controller, with a directional cross and action buttons similar to the good old controller from the 90s.

In addition, you'll find two Hall Effect joysticks (Hall Effect sensors detect the position of the stick using integrated magnets, with no direct physical contact between the mechanical parts and the sensor), a Turbo button, a Hotkey button, vibrations, a gyroscopic system (compatible only with Nintendo Switch), and a battery offering 18 hours of autonomy on a 2-hour USB-C charge.

The main addition of this collaboration is aesthetic: the controller is transparent, revealing the internal circuitry, and the pastel buttons add a discreet touch of colour.

A very welcome addition is the indication of the three connection modes on the top of the controller, so you don't have to rummage around in the manual or on the Internet to find out how to connect to a new device.

The controller is compatible with Windows, Apple (iOS and Mac), Android, Switch, and Steam. Although I don't have this controller in my hands, given that it is 8BitDo's firmware, it seems very likely that it is compatible with Recalbox, by switching on the controller with START + B (the green button on the controller in question).

As such, if you have an 8BitDo controller and are wondering about compatibility, please visit our dedicated wiki page.

The controller is currently out of stock, but should be restocked in January 2025, at a price of €53.95.

Photos: Genki

In the run-up to the theatrical release of Mufasa: The Lion King, a news item should delight fans of The Lion King (which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year), as well as enthusiasts of video game heritage preservation.

The game preservation group Codebound has announced that it has archived a previously unreleased prototype of the famous Super Nintendo platform game The Lion King.

Released simultaneously on Super Nintendo and Mega Drive in November 1994, this game offered the chance to play as Simba, first as a lion cub and then as an adult, as he relives the adventures of the film of the same name.

The prototype in question dates back to 22 March 1994, eight months before the game's official release. Codebound has shared some interesting images showing that the developers were already working on the project before they even had the sprites and backgrounds supplied by Disney, which are to be found in the final version.

The screenshots show a crudely drawn Simba in the famous wildebeest chasm scene. Other images show a lion cub with rudimentary, even comical features, so unrecognisable.

Meanwhile, Codebound has taken the opportunity to reveal images of the game's prototype on Game Gear, dated 25 May 1994. It's an incomplete prototype on which several levels are missing, sending you back to the selection screen when you try to launch them.

Almost all such finds are listed on the Hidden Palace website, which is "a community dedicated to preserving video game development media (such as prototypes, hardware, source code, artwork, and more) ’. A real goldmine for fans of the (often) well-hidden history of video games.

SEGA's Shinobi saga, launched in 1987 on arcade terminals, is a classic of the action/platform genre of the 80s and 90s. You may be familiar with Shinobi Game Gear (GG), released in 1991, which was the first title in the franchise to be ported to a handheld console.

The Game Gear, with its backlit colour LCD screen, had everything to showcase the series. However, the technical constraints of the 90s handheld console meant that it could not match the level of detail of the Mega Drive, which had been released a few months earlier.

However, a developer known as Pigsy decided to pay tribute to Shinobi GG by adapting it for the Mega Drive, in order to take advantage of the 16-bit console's performance.

To do this, Pigsy used the Mega Drive Development Kit (SGDK), which allowed him to start the project from scratch. Although this involves more work, it allows him to create a port specifically designed for the Mega Drive, without being limited by the features of the Game Gear.

New graphics, an enriched soundtrack and adjusted playing mechanics (particularly in terms of collision and scrolling) are all planned to offer improved gameplay.

While these changes are designed to take full advantage of the Mega Drive's capabilities, the developer is keen to preserve the essence of Shinobi GG, without altering it in any way.

Although development is still far from complete, it is receiving a great deal of support from the retrogaming community and fans of the franchise.

On the Recalbox side, if you own the game, Shinobi GG is perfectly playable on Game Gear, and SEGA is even offering a sequel, Shinobi II The Silent Fury on its handheld console. If you're more of a home console gamer, you'll find different instalments in the series on the Master System, Mega Drive and Saturn.

Connecting a console used to seem so simple, but nowadays it can quickly become a real headache. Video and audio inputs and outputs have multiplied over the years and, despite well-known standards, can make certain screens incompatible with our machines.

Many gamers now use upscalers such as Retrotink 4K or OSSC, which allow images from our old consoles to be transmitted via HDMI to modern screens. Nevertheless, purists will always prefer an unprocessed source to obtain a ‘pure’ image.

The main problem in this case is finding a compatible combination of video inputs and outputs. If you dig a little deeper, you'll quickly realise that consoles and screens (CRT and PC) have exploited numerous formats: SCART, Composite/S-Video RCA, VGA, YUV...

What's more, depending on the manufacturer, model, generation or region, input and output types vary. So you end up with a multitude of non-standardised possibilities, which become even more complex when you have several consoles or several screens.

Of course, there are adapters on the market that often do the job, but Scalable Video Switch has taken the concept a step further by offering a fully customisable and scalable analogue video switching solution.

Prototype

In its most advanced (and therefore most expensive) configuration, this adapter can accommodate up to 32 input modules and 6 output modules, in any combination of Peritel, Component, VGA and Composite/S-Video. Far too many for standard use by the average retrogaming gamer, but this solution means you can adapt the components to suit your needs.

To get started, you'll need to buy the control module ($40) and the remote control ($10). You can then add the various input/output modules, available for between $25 and $35, which you clip together to form a single block tailored to your needs.

If you've been following the Recalbox project, you probably know that an in-house solution exists for equipping your Raspberry Pi4 with a Peritel and VGA output: the RGB Dual. This essential accessory for playing on your CRT screens is plug and play. The solution remains compatible with Pi5, subject to specific installation to ensure sound compatibility (as Fabrice explains here).

Finally, if you'd like to know more about analogue signals, Kid has a comprehensive and very accessible article that you can find on this page.

Released on arcade terminals in 1987, Double Dragon is a cult beat'em all, considered to be the precursor of a multitude of games in the genre that have been largely inspired by it. The series includes around ten titles, mostly beat'em all, with a few forays into fighting games.

Until 2002, the franchise enjoyed regular and often successful releases. Since 2012, however, there have been a succession of attempts to revive the licence, with mixed results. While some of the games are not without interest, none has really