Image: Damien McFerran / Time Extension

Welcome to Retro Recap, a regular feature we run each and every weekend which rounds up all of the best retro gaming news and content of the past week in one place.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Fanmade Master System Project Still Alive, With A Demo Potentially On The Way

xfixium has provided an update on their project to bring Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade to the Sega Master System.

In a new video on their YouTube channel, xfixium mentioned in the description that they've been getting a lot of questions about whether the project is still alive because of another project by Gustavo Valenzuela that aims to bring the game to the 16-bit Mega Drive/Genesis.

In response, they've confirmed that work on the project is still ongoing and that a demo is also apparently coming "soon."

Blaze's C64 And ZX Spectrum Handhelds Have Been Delayed To April 2027

Blaze Entertainment announced it is delaying the release of both The C64 Handheld and The Spectrum Handheld. While both devices were originally scheduled to ship next month, the manufacturer has pushed the shipping date back to April 22, 2027.

Blaze notes that this delay does not affect the status of the Evercade Nexus, which is expected to begin shipping on October 30 2026.

James Pond Legacy GenAI Controversy "Has Damaged Confidence In System 3" Admits Studio Boss

System 3 boss Mark Cale has gone into more detail about the use of Generative AI in James Pond Legacy, adding to the comments made in an earlier interview with GameSpot.

Speaking in an update post for Last Ninja Collection, Cale says:

"I want to address the concerns about the artwork associated with James Pond Legacy and explain why we made the statements we did. The distinction I need to make is this: we were told that algorithms were involved in the production process, but we did not understand the explanations given to us as a clear disclosure that generative AI was being used to create artwork."

The Creator Of Mega Drive / Genesis Fan Port 'Mega Splatterhouse' Wants To Make Things Official

It's been over two years now since we last gave an update on Mega Splatterhouse, the fanmade Mega Drive / Genesis port of Namco's horror-themed arcade beat 'em up Splatterhouse, but it appears its developer, Monster Bath Games, has just issued an exciting update on the eagerly awaited project.

Writing on social media, the developer of the unofficial project has issued a statement saying that as of this week, the fan game will officially be "feature complete," with the developer having just two remaining levels to finish off.

As they state, the "next round" of tasks after that will be "clean up and tweaking," which essentially means changing some of the palettes and making sure the music and SFX are implemented and everything is as "close to perfect" as possible. Then, they say, they need to figure out how to release it.

Donkey Kong '94's Game Boy Color Fan Remaster Just Hit A Major Milestone, But Don't Go Bananas Just Yet

marc_max has just shared an update on his long-awaited DX colourisation ROM hack for the underrated Game Boy title Donkey Kong '94.

The update was published on marc_max's Patreon over the weekend, and reveals that the ROM hacker has finally "assembled the very first beta build of Donkey Kong DX that can be played from start to finish without seeing a single uncolored pixel." This, of course, represents a huge milestone for the project, which marc_max previously referred to as his "most ambitious project ever" back in 2024, when we first covered its development.

Sega's Classic Arcade Daytona USA Comes To PC In AI-Assisted Non-Emulator Fan Port

More news for fans of Sega's legendary arcade racers, as homebrewer alphanu1 has coded a PC port of crowd-pleasing IndyCar title Daytona USA, originally released in 1994.

As spotted by Matt Clawson on social media (as well as several commenters here on Time Extension), digging deep into the GitHub directory uncovers the following information, accessible via the Rules.md file.

The text would seem to suggest that an AI tool (likely Claude) has been used, but has also been instructed never to reveal itself, reference itself, or reference any form of tool-assisted coding.

Sega Is Resurrecting 'House Of The Dead' In Arcades Using VR

Sega's arcade division has teased a new entry in the House of the Dead series.

As spotted by Arcade Heroes, Sega Amusements posted a 30-second teaser for a new game to be announced at the upcoming IAAPA 2026, which takes place in November.

The gothic trailer showed two guns that, according to Arcade Heroes, were also used in the 2022 coin-op VR Agent, a collaboration between Sega and 3MindWave. The site also says it has confirmed the game will use VR tech.

After $1.8 Million Raised & Months Of Silence, EGM Updates Backers On Book Delays

EGM Media, the creator of the Electronic Gaming Monthly Compendium, has issued an update after growing concern from backers over the delivery of the physical book.

If you cast your mind back to 2024, you may remember hearing about The Electronic Gaming Monthly Compendium. Heck, you may have even heard about it from this very site.

Review: Anbernic RG DS Plus - My New Favourite Way To Play Nintendo DS Games

I know there's a running gag about emulation handhelds dropping almost weekly, but the Anbernic RG DS Plus ($95) feels like it's launching uncomfortably close the its predecessor, the RG DS, which only arrived in December of last year.

Nonetheless, this dual-screen device has reconnected me with a wealth of Nintendo DS classics in a way which is refreshingly delightful – and offers some genuine improvements (and drawbacks) when contrasted with original hardware.

Feature: Where's My Robot Jox Video Game, Dammit?

Robot Jox is one of the greatest mech movies of all time, and I won't hear otherwise. Regardless of your opinion on this VHS classic, I've been pondering an important question this week – why did we never get a video game based on it?