Image: Nintendo / 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 from the past week in one place.

Anbernic's 3DS-Style RG DDS Lets You Vibe Code Games Using AI

Anbernic's forthcoming 3DS clone, the RG DDS, launches in December, and the company has been showing off its power in a series of videos.

We already know it can handle impressive emulation, but the latest video highlights the system's AI features, headlined by its ability to (sigh) vibe code games.

"Start by describing the game you want to create," says Anbernic. "AI Game Workshop uses AI models in the cloud and on the device itself to create HTML5 games that can run directly on the handheld device, with your written instructions defining the rules, controls, and gameplay style."

Looks like Limited Run's English Release of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood Has Been Cancelled

Back in the dim and distant past (well, 2021), Limited Run Games announced that it was bringing Konami's Dracula X: Rondo of Blood to North America for the first time in physical form.

The game – which launched exclusively in Japan in 1993 on the PC Engine CD – never got an English release at the time, and while it has been made available in the West in other ways, fans were excited at the prospect of getting to play it on the original hardware (in this case, the US version of the PC Engine Duo, the TurboDuo).

It's been so long since anybody heard about this release that most have assumed it's not happening, and that appears to be the case.

Castlevania-Style NES Platformer '8 Eyes' Could Be Getting An Enhanced Release For SNES, Sega Genesis, & GBA

Piko Interactive has revealed plans to release new, enhanced versions of Thinking Rabbit's Castlevania-style NES platformer, 8 Eyes, for Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, and Game Boy Advance, and it's turning to crowdfunding to make it happen.

PlayStation: The First 30 Years is a Lavish Coffee Table Book That Could Literally Be a Coffee Table

Read Only Memory's line of coffee table books has covered some of the most notable games and systems of the past few decades, but its latest venture puts even those fine tomes in the shade – quite literally, in fact, because it's absolutely massive.

I'm not joking, either – this book is so huge you'd genuinely struggle to read it on your sofa; a (sturdy) table is a must when flicking through its lavish pages.

Dimensions and epic weight aside, PlayStation: The First 30 Years is a truly remarkable insight into the creation of one of entertainment's most famous brands.

Nintendo Fan's Super Mario 64 Gaeilge Translation Project Seems Close to Completion

A new fan translation bringing the Gaeilge language to Nintendo 64 classic Super Mario 64 appears to be entering its final stages of development. Talented homebrewer Draoi Aisteach posted an image of their work-in-progress project, which will translate the 3D platformer's menu, HUD, and in-game text in the Celtic dialect.

Super Metroid X Castlevania Fangame Will Let Samus Play Her Own Symphony of the Night

A new fangame, well over a decade in the making, will see Nintendo's intergalactic hero Samus Aran brought back down to Earth, where she intends to take on no less than the Lord of Darkness himself.

Developed over the past 12 years by homebrewer "BigSharkZ", Metroidvania: Symphony of the Hunter casts the high-tech bounty hunter in the role of vampire killer, relocating them from the darkest corners of the galaxy to Dracula's castle, as depicted in Konami's highly renowned and much-loved PS1 release Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997).

Blaze Addresses Evercade Nexus Display Issues

Despite glowing reviews, the recently released Evercade Nexus has gotten off to a somewhat rocky start at retail, with a handful of owners complaining of issues with the handheld's display.

Some of the protective screens in certain Nexus models weren't seated correctly, causing them to stick out from the main body of the device. Other buyers, according to YouTuber Crazy Burger, have received units with dead pixels present.

Review: Nex Playground - a Wii and Kinect Successor That Wants to Get Families Active Again

I steadfastly refuse to believe the Wii was released 20 years ago. It certainly doesn't feel like that much time has elapsed since the motion-driven gaming revolution gripped living rooms all over the globe; I can still vividly recall seeing Nintendo's console in action at a friend's house and instantly knowing I needed one.

That's perhaps why so many people were sceptical of the Nex Playground when it was announced back in 2023. Like Microsoft's Kinect, this is a controller-free experience which is focused on families – so the comparisons with the Wii are inevitable and unavoidable. The question is: can Nex Playground make lightning strike twice, or does the motion-gaming trend belong in the past? Let's take a look...