Retro Gaming News Roundup (June 10–17, 2025)

Retro gaming news between 10 and 17 June 2025 covered considerably more than discounted remasters and modern games borrowing familiar visual styles.

Retroid opened pre-orders for a second-screen accessory designed around existing Android handhelds. A Texas museum recovered graphics from an unknown Atari 2600 project, while developers revealed plans to revive a completed but unreleased Game Boy Advance RPG.

The Mega Drive received two very different pieces of news. A crowdfunding campaign opened for a cartridge conversion of Heavy Recoil, while Ancient confirmed a digital release date for Earthion, a new shooter developed around Sega’s original 16-bit hardware.

The week ended with major progress in software preservation and reverse engineering. Mario Builder 64 received a substantial update, an obscure Final Fantasy computer game moved closer to an English release and the GameCube version of Animal Crossing reached a major matching-decompilation milestone.

The Week At A Glance

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Retroid Dual Screen Add-On Opens For Pre-Order

Retroid opened pre-orders for its Dual Screen Add-On during the week, offering owners of selected Android handhelds a way to attach a second display without replacing the main console.

The accessory was initially announced for the Retroid Pocket 4 Pro, Retroid Pocket Mini, Retroid Pocket Mini V2 and Retroid Pocket 5.

Rather than containing its own Android processor, storage or emulation software, the add-on acts as an external display connected through USB-C.

5.5-Inch AMOLED Display

The specifications published during the pre-order period included:

• A 5.5-inch AMOLED panel.
• 107% sRGB colour coverage.
• A stated 100,000:1 contrast ratio.
• Up to 500 nits peak brightness.
• Dedicated brightness controls.
• Pass-through charging.
• A hinge with 120°, 150° and 180° click-stop positions.

The price was listed as $69, with black, translucent white and GameCube-inspired colour options shown during the original announcement period.

Compatibility Depends On USB-C Video

Third-party handhelds could also work with the add-on, but Retroid specified several physical and technical requirements.

A compatible third-party device needed:

• A display measuring approximately six to seven inches.
• DisplayPort video output over USB-C.
• A body no taller than the accessory’s stated 115 mm mounting limit.

Retroid specifically stated that the design was not compatible with Steam Deck.

It Does Not Automatically Create A Nintendo DS Setup

The second screen is useful for Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U and other software designed around multiple displays, but the accessory does not configure an emulator automatically.

The Android application must support outputting or arranging its screens across the handheld and external display. Touch input, screen order and controller mapping still need to be configured inside the emulator being used.

Why The Accessory Was Unusual

Most dual-screen emulation handhelds use a permanently attached second panel. Retroid’s approach allowed an existing single-screen device to be converted temporarily and then returned to its normal form.

It also reduced the need for customers to buy another complete Android handheld solely for dual-screen systems.

Sources: Retroid Dual Screen Add-On and Contemporary Pre-Order Report .

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Lost Atari 2600 Graphics Recovered From An Artist’s Disks

The National Videogame Museum in Frisco, Texas reported that it had recovered artwork from a previously unknown Atari 2600 project apparently titled Earthquake.

The files were found among floppy disks that had belonged to former Atari artist Jerome Domurat.

Who Was Jerome Domurat?

Domurat worked at Atari during the first half of the 1980s and contributed artwork to several projects across the company’s home-console and computer hardware.

His best-known work includes collaborations with programmer Howard Scott Warshaw on Raiders of the Lost Ark and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial for Atari 2600.

He also worked on Atari 5200 and Atari ST material before later becoming a creative director at Sega Multimedia.

What The Museum Actually Found

The recovered disk was labelled “Earthquake” and contained graphical elements that appeared to belong to an earthquake-themed Atari 2600 game.

The images reportedly included:

• Buildings.
• Debris.
• A firefighter.
• Other environmental elements consistent with a disaster setting.

Why Incomplete Material Still Matters

Artwork can establish that a project existed even when its programme code, design documents and business records have disappeared.

File names, disk labels, graphic formats and revision dates can also help researchers identify which hardware a project targeted and roughly when it was being developed.

In this case, the files added another project to the known body of work surrounding Atari’s internal artists, even though the final intended game remains uncertain.

Sources: Earthquake Graphics Discovery Report and National Videogame Museum .

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Unreleased Game Boy Advance RPG Navinosuke Returns

Kohachi Studio revealed Navinosuke: The YO-KAI Buster, a modern revival of an RPG originally created for Game Boy Advance in the early 2000s but never commercially released.

The original project was reportedly completed in 2003. More than two decades later, members of the former development team were rebuilding the idea for Nintendo Switch.

Former Arcade Developers Return To The Project

Kohachi Studio was founded by developers with backgrounds in Japanese arcade production.

The revived game is associated with artist Akio, whose previous work includes pixel art for the Metal Slug and R-Type series.

This history explains the game’s detailed sprite work and its close visual connection to handheld RPGs of the Game Boy Advance period.

A Yokai-Focused RPG

The game follows Navinosuke, an apprentice onmyoji travelling through a fictional version of historical Japan.

Players are expected to:

• Explore regions affected by supernatural incidents.
• Encounter wild yokai.
• Fight and seal creatures.
• Befriend selected yokai.
• Build a party around different attributes and skills.
• Resolve story events involving the people and spirits of each area.

Kohachi’s official information described more than 200 individual characters and five yokai attributes.

Not Simply A Dump Of The GBA Game

The Nintendo Switch version was being presented as a revival rather than a direct commercial release of the original Game Boy Advance ROM.

That means the developers could rebuild systems, rewrite content and adapt presentation for modern hardware while retaining the original characters, visual direction and central concept.

Release Information During The Week

Contemporary announcement coverage referred to a winter 2026 target. Kohachi’s official English page listed Nintendo Switch, one-player support and Japanese and English languages, while showing the final release date and price as undecided.

Sources: Official Navinosuke Website , BitSummit Project Information and Original Announcement Report .

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Heavy Recoil Launches Its Mega Drive Kickstarter

Developer Mikael Tillander launched the crowdfunding campaign for a Mega Drive and Genesis conversion of Heavy Recoil.

The action game was originally released in 2012 through Xbox Live Indie Games before later appearing on Ouya and Windows.

A Run-And-Gun Game Built Around Three Characters

Players choose between Matti, Max and Annika, each with different abilities, before entering a military compound to rescue prisoners.

Although the game has often been compared with Contra, Tillander identified Konami’s arcade game Green Beret, known as Rush’n Attack in North America, as a more direct influence.

Other inspirations associated with the project include:

• GunForce.
• Psycho-Nics Oscar.
• Missing in Action.
• Super Contra.

Cartridge-Based Campaign

The principal campaign rewards included:

• A cartridge-only edition priced at SEK 450.
• A complete boxed edition priced at SEK 650.
• An optional development-style demo cartridge supplied before the finished release.

The demo cartridge was expected to include four stages in a more linear form than the final game, with the possibility of an exclusive level.

Why Convert A 2012 Game To Mega Drive?

The original release already took inspiration from 1980s and 1990s arcade design. Rebuilding it for Mega Drive required that style to be expressed through the actual limitations of Sega’s 16-bit console.

The developer needed to adapt graphics, audio, level data and game logic to the Mega Drive’s Motorola 68000-based architecture, limited memory and cartridge format.

The finished result was intended to run on original unmodified consoles rather than only presenting a 16-bit visual style on modern hardware.

Sources: Heavy Recoil Kickstarter and Contemporary Campaign Report .

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Triggerheart Exelica Enhanced Announced For PC

Cosmo Machia announced that Triggerheart Exelica Enhanced would be released for Windows through Steam.

The original Triggerheart Exelica began as a 2006 vertical shooter for Sega’s NAOMI arcade hardware. A Dreamcast version followed in 2007, becoming one of the final officially licensed Japanese games for the console.

What Is The Enhanced Version?

Triggerheart Exelica Enhanced was originally created for PlayStation 2 in 2009.

Compared with the earlier arcade and Dreamcast versions, it added:

• Faintear Original as an additional playable character.
• New story scenes.
• Gameplay adjustments.
• Additional presentation material.
• The theme song Gravity Error, performed by Ayane.

The Anchor System

The series is distinguished by a capture mechanic that lets the player seize selected enemies and use them as shields or weapons.

Captured objects can be held, positioned or thrown into other enemies, making crowd control and the angle of attack as important as conventional shooting.

English Interface & Subtitles

The announced Steam release was expected to include Japanese and English interface text and subtitles.

Cosmo Machia had already released the enhanced version for Nintendo Switch in Japan on 24 April and was also preparing an international Switch edition.

Why This Version Was Important

The standard arcade and Dreamcast-based version of Triggerheart Exelica had already returned on modern platforms.

Bringing back Enhanced preserved a distinct PlayStation 2 edition with characters and story material not contained in the original arcade release.

Sources: TriggerHeart Exelica Enhanced On Steam , Cosmo Machia and Contemporary PC Announcement .

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Earthion Gets A Digital Release Date

Ancient confirmed that Earthion would launch digitally on 31 July 2025.

The horizontal shooter was designed around Sega Mega Drive and Genesis hardware rather than being a modern game merely imitating the appearance of a 16-bit console.

A New Game Built For Sega’s 16-Bit Architecture

Earthion uses hardware and design principles associated with the Mega Drive, including tile-based graphics, sprites, parallax scrolling and FM audio.

Ancient developed the game so that a later physical cartridge could operate on original compatible Sega hardware.

The initial digital release was announced for:

• Nintendo Switch.
• PlayStation 4.
• PlayStation 5.
• Xbox One.
• Xbox Series X and Series S.
• Windows through Steam.

Yuzo Koshiro’s Genesis-Based Soundtrack

Yuzo Koshiro composed the soundtrack using actual Genesis sound hardware.

The Mega Drive’s Yamaha YM2612 FM synthesiser and SN76489-compatible programmable sound generator impose very different limits from a modern sample-based audio workstation.

Composing around those chips allowed the music to remain compatible with the planned cartridge version rather than requiring a simplified soundtrack later.

Digital Release First, Cartridge Later

The original Mega Drive and Genesis cartridge was moved into 2026 rather than launching alongside the digital editions.

Cartridge manufacturing involves additional production stages, including final ROM testing, board manufacture, shells, labels, printed packaging and regional distribution.

Physical standard and collector’s editions for modern platforms were also planned separately from the July digital launch.

Limited Edition Controller

Ancient, Limited Run Games and 8BitDo also revealed a special Earthion edition of the 8BitDo M30 Bluetooth controller.

Its six-button layout follows the shape associated with later Mega Drive and Saturn controllers, making it suitable for the game’s 16-bit control design.

Sources: Official Earthion Website and Release-Date Announcement .

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Mario Builder 64 Version 1.1 Expands Its N64 Level Editor

The creators of Mario Builder 64 released version 1.1 on 15 June.

The fan-made project turns Super Mario 64 into an in-game course-construction system, allowing players to assemble levels and share the resulting creations.

A Super Mario Maker-Style Tool For N64

Instead of requiring every creator to learn traditional Nintendo 64 ROM-hacking tools, Mario Builder 64 provides an editor that operates from inside the game.

Players can place and configure:

• Platforms and terrain.
• Enemies.
• Collectables.
• Stars.
• Interactive objects.
• Course hazards.
• Triggers and level objectives.

What Version 1.1 Added

The update expanded the editor while also correcting problems in the original release.

New and revised features included:

• On-and-off conveyor belts.
• New methods for triggering stars.
• The ability to place stars inside breakable objects.
• An imbuing system for assigning items to enemies and containers.
• Additional editor tools.
• Interface refinements.
• Quality-of-life improvements.
• General bug fixes and polishing.

Objects Can Carry Other Objects

The imbuing system allows creators to define what happens when an enemy is defeated or a container is opened.

A star can be placed inside a block, an enemy can drop a selected item and a box can contain an object chosen by the course designer.

These combinations make it possible to build objectives that go beyond reaching a fixed star placed visibly in the level.

$2,000 Level Competition

A community competition launched alongside the update with a $2,000 prize pool.

Entrants were required to build their course using version 1.1 or later, with submissions originally due by 15 July.

Original Game Data Is Still Required

Mario Builder 64 is distributed as a modification rather than a complete copy of Super Mario 64.

Users need a compatible dump of the original game to create the patched ROM used by an emulator, flash cartridge or suitable Nintendo 64 hardware setup.

Sources: Mario Builder 64 Version 1.1 Report and Version 1.1 Level Competition .

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The Bloop Museum Finds A Permanent Home

The Bloop Museum received wider attention on 16 June after securing a former municipal building in Penn Hills, Pennsylvania.

The organisation planned to convert the 40,000-square-foot property into a museum covering home computers, video games, televisions, arcade machines and other consumer electronics.

From A Shared Space To A Dedicated Building

The Bloop Museum had previously operated for seven years inside Maryland’s System Source Computer Museum.

Its collection eventually outgrew that arrangement, leading founder Brendan Becker and the museum’s supporters to search for a permanent location.

The selected property had formerly housed township staff, police and emergency services before being left vacant in 2018.

A 40,000-Square-Foot Technology Museum

The planned museum was expected to include:

• Playable home consoles.
• Vintage personal computers.
• CRT televisions and video equipment.
• Full-size arcade machines.
• Period-styled living-room displays.
• Educational exhibits covering the development of consumer electronics.
• Rare systems normally seen only in private collections.

The collection was reported to contain around 15,000 software titles alongside functional hardware displays.

Fundraising & Purchase Cost

Supporters raised nearly $245,000 towards buying the former municipal building, which county records valued at a $370,000 purchase price.

Further donations were still required for repairs, exhibits, events and educational programmes.

A Free Educational Hub

The museum was being developed as a free public educational resource rather than only a paid arcade or private collection.

Becker hoped to open limited displays during autumn 2025 while renovation and exhibit construction continued.

Sources: Axios Pittsburgh – Bloop Museum and Bloop Museum Fundraising Page .

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Animal Crossing Reaches A Major Decompilation Milestone

The community project reconstructing the GameCube version of Animal Crossing announced that it had reached “100% matching and linked game code”.

The milestone followed approximately two and a half years of work.

What Matching Decompilation Means

A matching-decompilation project examines the original game executable and reconstructs readable source code that produces the same machine code when compiled with the correct tools and settings.

The reconstructed source is written by the reverse-engineering team. It is not Nintendo’s original confidential development repository.

Matching the binary helps confirm that functions, data structures and compiler behaviour have been recreated accurately rather than merely producing code that appears to behave similarly.

Why It Was Not Completely Finished

Although the main game code was matching and linked, project creator Cuyler explained that supporting libraries still required work.

Remaining areas included:

• Parts of the original GameCube software-development environment.
• Supporting libraries.
• Additional documentation and clean-up.
• Work required for a completely finished project status.

Those incomplete areas did not prevent extensive game modification from beginning.

What The Milestone Makes Possible

The reconstructed code can support:

• Detailed documentation of the original game.
• Bug investigation.
• Gameplay modifications.
• New items and features.
• Regional-content comparisons.
• Experimental native ports.
• Research into GameCube development practices.

Animal Crossing Deluxe

Members of the wider project were also working on Animal Crossing Deluxe, which aimed to bring features and content from the Japanese-exclusive Dōbutsu no Mori e+ into the international GameCube release.

This included translation and backporting work rather than simply changing visual assets.

The Repository Does Not Contain The Game

The public repository states that it does not distribute Nintendo’s game assets or original assembly data.

An existing compatible copy of the United States Rev 0 GameCube release is required to build and compare the project.

Sources: Animal Crossing Decompilation Repository and Contemporary Milestone Report .

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Deus Ex: The Conspiracy Returns On PS4 & PS5

Deus Ex: The Conspiracy joined the PlayStation Plus Premium Classics catalogue on 17 June.

Sony described the release as an emulation of the PlayStation 2 game, playable on PS4 and PS5 for the first time.

The PlayStation 2 Version Is A Distinct Adaptation

Deus Ex: The Conspiracy is based on Ion Storm’s original computer game but was redesigned for PlayStation 2.

The console adaptation includes:

• A gamepad-focused interface.
• Reworked menus.
• Changes to level layouts and loading boundaries.
• Modified character models and presentation.
• Alterations designed around PlayStation 2 memory and control limits.

It remains an immersive action RPG in which combat, stealth, conversation, exploration and character upgrades can be combined in different ways.

PS2 Emulation Rather Than A New Remaster

The PS4 and PS5 release did not rebuild the game with new models, textures or level geometry.

It used Sony’s PlayStation 2 emulation programme, preserving the console edition while making it available on current PlayStation hardware.

Classics releases can include emulator-level functions such as save states, rewind, display filters and regional version choices, although the available tools can vary between titles and territories.

Subscription & Regional Availability

The game was added to the Premium or Deluxe tier depending on region.

Sony warned that PlayStation Plus line-ups can vary between territories, so availability needed to be confirmed through the relevant regional PlayStation Store.

Source: PlayStation Plus Game Catalog – June 2025 .

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Obscure Final Fantasy PC Game Gets An English Translation

Translator and ROM hacker Yuvi revealed work on an English patch for Final Fantasy: Unlimited – Labyrinth: Black Dream Memories.

The Japanese computer game was released in 2003 as part of the wider Final Fantasy: Unlimited multimedia project.

Based On The Final Fantasy: Unlimited Anime

The television series follows twins Ai and Yu after they travel into Wonderland while searching for their missing parents.

Their journey brings them together with Lisa Pacifist and the mysterious gun-wielding traveller Kaze.

The PC game retells material from the animated series through a visual-novel structure combined with card-based battles.

Translation & Modern Compatibility

The announced project aimed to provide:

• An English-language translation.
• A no-CD modification.
• Compatibility with Windows 11.
• Improved access to a game designed for early-2000s Japanese computers.

Updating operating-system compatibility is important because older Windows games can depend on obsolete installers, disc checks, video codecs and software libraries.

The Patch Was Not Yet Released

The June announcement showed that translation work was in progress, but no finished downloadable patch or final release date was provided.

Why Obscure Computer Games Are Vulnerable

Japanese computer releases can be harder to preserve and use than console cartridges because they may rely on a specific operating system, display mode, installer, font package or disc-authentication method.

Translation projects that also restore compatibility document those technical requirements while making the software accessible to a wider audience.

Source: Final Fantasy: Unlimited Translation Report .

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What This Week Showed About Retro Gaming

The strongest stories between 10 and 17 June were connected by the way old hardware and software continued to change long after their original commercial lives.

Existing Handhelds Can Gain New Functions

Retroid’s add-on turned selected single-screen handhelds into temporary dual-display systems.

It showed an alternative to releasing another complete Android console whenever a new form factor becomes popular.

Lost Games Can Survive In Different Forms

The Earthquake discovery consisted of artwork rather than a playable ROM, but those files still confirmed the existence of an undocumented Atari project.

Navinosuke represented another outcome. Its original Game Boy Advance version remained unreleased, but the surviving concept and development history were being used to create a new Nintendo Switch game.

Original Consoles Continue To Receive New Software

Heavy Recoil was being converted into a physical Mega Drive cartridge, while Earthion was developed around the same hardware from the beginning.

One project adapted an existing modern-era game. The other used the original Sega architecture as its primary creative platform.

Different Editions Need To Be Preserved Separately

Triggerheart Exelica Enhanced and Deus Ex: The Conspiracy are not interchangeable with the first versions of their respective games.

Both contain console-specific changes, making their return valuable even when another edition remains available elsewhere.

Reverse Engineering Creates New Possibilities

Mario Builder 64 allows players to create new levels within a modified Nintendo 64 game.

The Animal Crossing project reconstructs the original GameCube executable as readable, matching source code.

These are different processes, but both expand what can be understood and changed within ageing console software.

Physical Institutions Still Matter

The Bloop Museum showed that preservation is not limited to online repositories.

Original computers, controllers, displays and arcade machines can communicate details that are difficult to reproduce through screenshots, videos or software emulation alone.

Compatibility Work Is Part Of Preservation

Translating Final Fantasy: Unlimited – Labyrinth would make its text understandable, but Windows 11 support and removal of its original disc dependency were also necessary to make the software practical to run.

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Sources & Further Reading

This article prioritises official product pages, developer information, project repositories and first-party announcements. Contemporary reporting is used where the original announcement appeared through social media or where additional historical context was required.

• Retroid Dual Screen Add-On
  Official display specifications, compatibility information, hinge positions and pass-through charging details.
• Retroid Pre-Order Report
  Contemporary pricing, supported devices and original shipping estimate.
• Earthquake Graphics Discovery
  Report covering the recovered floppy disk and its connection to Atari artist Jerome Domurat.
• National Videogame Museum
  The Frisco, Texas museum responsible for preserving the Jerome Domurat material.
• Navinosuke: The YO-KAI Buster
  Official game information, characters, yokai systems, platform and language support.
• Navinosuke At BitSummit
  Developer background and the history of the original completed but unreleased project.
• Heavy Recoil Kickstarter
  Original crowdfunding campaign for the Mega Drive and Genesis cartridge.
• TriggerHeart Exelica Enhanced
  Official Steam listing for Cosmo Machia’s PC release.
• Earthion Official Website
  Platform information, digital release date, Genesis cartridge plans, controller and soundtrack details.
• Mario Builder 64 Version 1.1
  Contemporary description of the new editor tools, imbuing system and level competition.
• Bloop Museum’s Penn Hills Building
  Building size, collection scope, fundraising, purchase price and initial opening plans.
• Animal Crossing Decompilation
  Public GameCube reverse-engineering repository, build requirements and supported game version.
• PlayStation Plus Game Catalog – June 2025
  Sony’s official announcement of Deus Ex: The Conspiracy for PS4 and PS5.
• Final Fantasy: Unlimited Translation
  Contemporary report confirming the English translation, no-CD modification and Windows 11 work.

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Final Thoughts

The retro gaming stories from 10–17 June 2025 covered several different periods of gaming history, from Atari 2600 development disks to modern Android handheld accessories.

Retroid showed how an existing console could be expanded physically. Heavy Recoil and Earthion showed that Mega Drive hardware could still receive genuinely new cartridge software.

The Earthquake material demonstrated why unfinished artwork and development files deserve preservation even when no playable game survives. Navinosuke showed how an unreleased project can return through a modern rebuild rather than a direct ROM release.

Triggerheart Exelica Enhanced and Deus Ex: The Conspiracy highlighted the importance of preserving individual console editions instead of assuming that one version can replace every other release.

Mario Builder 64 and the Animal Crossing decompilation represented increasingly advanced community work on Nintendo 64 and GameCube software. One provided an accessible creation tool inside the original game engine, while the other reconstructed the underlying GameCube code closely enough for major modification work to begin.

The Bloop Museum and the Final Fantasy: Unlimited translation covered two other parts of the same problem. Physical museums preserve the machines and environments in which games were used, while compatibility and translation projects prevent software from becoming inaccessible through language and obsolete computer requirements.

Taken together, the week showed that retro gaming is not a fixed catalogue of old releases. It is an active technical and historical field involving new hardware, new cartridges, recovered development material, software reconstruction and long-term access to games that might otherwise disappear.

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