This week's retro news, hand curated down to the stories worth your time
In this issueAmigaC64PCAtari 8-bitAtari 2600MacintoshMega DriveAmstrad PC1512ArcadeAtari Lynx
Biggest story of the week
This week's big one
Shadow Snare: Bard's Tale creator Michael Cranford's new C64 RPG
Michael Cranford is back after 34 years with a C64 cartridge RPG where you play one character and party members join through the story, aiming for summer 2027.
20:59 This Week in RetroHe codes in VS Code with KickAssembler and tests in VICE, and says he picked the C64 partly because Commodore is back with new hardware.
New games
New games for old machines
Castlevania NES to SNES: 16-Bit Graphics Added
Developer Rumbleminze has just updated his NES to SNES conversion of Castlevania with 16-bit graphics added by Fiuke Bnuy. The graphics and tiles now look better with the additional colour palette.
read RetroRGB 16:50 also: RetroRGB
Final Fight Mega Drive homebrew update, source release planned
A from-scratch Mega Drive version of arcade Final Fight, written without the original source, has been updated and the developer intends to release its source code.
9:04 Pixel Cherry Ninja
Super Mario Bros Master System port (updated)
The updated Super Mario Bros port for the Master System, warp zones and secrets added.
4:57 The New Retro Show 11:45 also: The Laird's Lair 6:13 also: RetroRGB
Pitfall II – Lost Caverns arrives on the Commodore VIC-20 + 35K by gekka
Pitfall II – Lost Caverns arrives on the Commodore VIC-20 + 35K by gekka
read Indie Retro News 14:26 also: Pixel Cherry Ninja
Dreamcast Sega Rally 2 Is Playable Online Once Again
Shuouma has successfully restored online connectivity to the Dreamcast Sega Rally Championship 2 . Originally ported to the Dreamcast in 1999, at the time only the Japanese edition of Sega Rally 2 took advantage of the console's online capabilities.
read Time Extension
Agents Alpha by bocianu
Wojciech Bociański's Atari 8-bit puzzle game, inspired by the browser game The Crow's Path, where you collect letter tiles in the required sequence and later control several agents that move together or in mirror image. Code, graphics, sound and music are all his.
48:19 ZeroPage Homebrew
Zelda-style game in development for the Atari ST
An early AI-assisted Zelda game is in development for the ST.
5:40 The Laird's LairThe Laird also points to the ST port of Command and Conquer and the Wonder Boy-inspired Monster Boy as recent ST homebrew.
Unlock with PatreonRebuilt
Old machines get a new life
New FPGA Model 1 Emulator Core Runs Sega's Virtua Racing With Remarkable Precision
Sega's Virtua Racing at 99% of original hardware speed. While emulation is constantly pushing forward from generation to generation, there remain some aged outliers yet to be completely conquered.
read Time Extension
NESd cycle-accurate NES emulator in Dart/Flutter 0.19.0
NESd adds compatibility fixes, multiple colour palettes and loading ROMs from 7z archives; the developer wants Android testers.
10:32 Mr. Sujano
MiSTer Macintosh LC core now supports MT-32 Pi, MIDI over serial and PPP
The Mac LC core now supports the MT32-Pi for external sound-module music (many LucasArts Mac games use it), MIDI over the serial controller on the modem port, and PPP over UART at 57,600
1:39 Lu's Retro Source
Atari 800/5200 MiSTer FPGA cores add full POKEY implementation and VBXE
Atari 800 and 5200 MiSTer FPGA cores now include a complete POKEY implementation from the PokeyMAX project and add VBXE graphics-board support for compatible XL/XE machines, alongside fixes.
0:54 Lu's Retro Extras
Amiga core adds CD32 and CDTV
The Amiga core now supports CD32 and CDTV, plus A2065 Ethernet, OSD tweaks, presets and quick CD32/CDTV game loading.
6:51 Lu's Retro SourceLost and found
Things that were lost but now are found
GOG Preservation Program Now Includes 'Big Box' PC Packaging You Can Print At Home
'A project for anyone who misses shelves of PC boxes'. As the latest initiative in its game preservation program , Good Old Games.com (GOG) has announced that select titles will now include 3D models of their original Big Box packaging , complete with full-size templates to print out and assemble at home. Working in collaboration with Benjamin Wimmer's Big Box Collection – a one-person project.
read Time Extension read also: Reddit RetroNew hardware
Boards, carts and kit you can build or buy
DS Pico “IR” Flash Cart for Nintendo DS
Tito from Macho Nacho Productions recently posting a video highlighting an upgraded version of the DS Pico, from Phenomods. This “IR” version includes an IR transceiver compatible with pokewalker, as well as upgraded RAM, a USB-C port and the ability to load NDS ROMS compressed to .ndz files.
read RetroRGB 19:20 also: RetroRGB
Spectrum Next issue 3 machines near shipping
The project expects all machines at the three destination ports, in the UK, the Netherlands and Greece, by the end of September. Quoted postage was 28 pounds to the UK, 55 elsewhere in Europe and 78.70 to the US.
read kickstarter.com 39:21 via This Week in RetroExcited for mine!
Tools
Things that help you make things
MD Engine: drag-and-drop Mega Drive game maker
An engine on Steam for making Mega Drive games without code, exporting ROMs for real hardware plus web, desktop, mobile and Linux handhelds.
10:50 Pixel Cherry NinjaChums of the Channel
Send some love to nice people
An A1200 in an ITC Easy Tower Z4, recapped and pushed to a 68060
A donated tower turns out to be an ITC Easy Tower Z4 built to house an A1200.
0:00 The Retro Collective
Quitting a program on the other Amiga by sending it the word end
He calls it hacky, and it is only a few lines, but it turns the link from message passing into remote control of the other machine, which is the door to anything else you fancy driving.
36:37 Yawning Angel Retro
Why the camera had to be global shutter, and the exclamation mark that bricked a Pico
The first camera, an ArduCAM OV2640 controlled over I2C with images pulled by SPI, proved the idea but managed only 10 frames a second at 640 by 480 with no exposure control. On the OV9281 captures a disc spinning at 70 RPM with no blur or tearing.
16:20 RobSmithDev