This week we learned that the PlayStation 5 went on a diet and slimmed down for this holiday season. But we're not here to talk about any of that modern stuff, because this is a show all about retro news. I'm talking about remakes, remasters, re-releases and pretty much everything else that has to do old school games and classic consoles. So, get ready to blow into that cartridge, because this is Retro News with Cyril Lachel.


Atari Finally Releasing Save Mary ... 33 Years Later: We're going to kick things off with an announcement that is thirty-three years in the making. That's right, more than three decades after it was supposed to come out, the Atari 2600 action game Save Mary will FINALLY be getting a physical release later this year. Developed by Tod Frye, the man responsible for the Swordquest series and the rushed Pac-Man port, Save Mary was originally developed back in the late 1980s. Unfortunately, the game was scrapped before release when Atari dropped support for their long-running (and woefully out-of-date) 2600 console. Now, thirty-three years later, you will finally be able to get your hands on a copy, assuming you're willing to pay $60 for the silver collector's edition box, which comes with the game and a full-color instruction manual. But with only five-hundred copies available, you better hurry if you want it. Just don't expect Mary to be very understanding, because she's been waiting more than three-decades to be saved.

Berzerk Atari's Next Recharged Game: Speaking of old school Atari games, the company announced that Berzerk would be the next game to get the Recharged treatment. Coming later this year, this will be the tenth game in a series that has included updates of everything from Centipede to Missile Command to Yar's Revenge. We'll get the usual challenges, arcade mode and co-op fun, all of which make a lot of sense in this run ‘n gun action shooter. Atari has been killing it with their Recharged series recently, so I'm optimistic that Berzerk will continue the trend.

Wii U Sales Are Up: While the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Switch are out there selling millions of systems to happy gamers, there is one piece of sales data that is raising eyebrows. According to Mat Piscatella, the executive director at Circana, the group that used to be known as NPD that tracks individual store level sales data, one brand-new Wii U was sold in the United States in September. That's right, somebody bought a new Wii U. This was the first time the Nintendo system has sold since May of 2022. He also noted that the last new PlayStation Vita unit to sell was back in November of 2021, when three sold that month. No word on how much dust they had to wipe off of that Wii U box.

Snow Bros. Wonderland Coming to PS5, PS4 and Switch in 2024: Hey, did you hear that we're getting a Snow Bros. sequel in 2024? In case that name sounds familiar but you can't place it, Snow Bros. was a 1990 action game developed by Toaplan, the company best-known for their line of shoot ‘em ups, like Hellfire and Zero Wing. It is not to be confused with Nintendo's Ice Climbers. This brand-new sequel will feature a new adventure and will expand into a more modern 3D world. Look for Snow Bros. Wonderland to show up in 2024 on the Switch, as well as both the PlayStation 4 and 5.

A Boy and His Blob Classic Collection Coming: While we're on the topic of iconic duos, one of my favorite 8-bit friendships has to be A Boy and His Blob, the NES game developed by industry icons David Crane and Garry Kitchen. If you're also a fan of this quirky open-world puzzle/platformer, then you'll be happy to know that Ziggurat Interactive and Limited Run Games will be launching A Boy and His Blob: Retro Collection, featuring the aforementioned NES game, along with the Game Boy sequel. This collection will be powered by the Carbon Engine and will feature a number of quality of life improvements, including the ability to save your progress. Look for this compilation to hit PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Switch on October 17, with the PC version coming in the near future. We'll be back later this week with a Review Crew episode covering this exciting new collection.

New Sega Saturn Pro Controller: This week also brought the announcement of new hardware. No, not the slim-line PlayStation 5, but rather the Sega Saturn Pro Controller from Retro-Bit. This is a brand-new design that looks like a mash-up of a normal Saturn controller, only now with a pair of Hall Effect analog sticks. This is an officially-licensed wireless pad that will open up even more of the Saturn's vast and amazing library, including analog-enhanced games like NiGHTS into Dreams, Sonic 3D Blast and Burning Ranger. Best of all, you'll be able to use the controller on both the Saturn and pretty much any USB device. I own a couple of Retro-Bit's previous Saturn controllers and love them, so I'm excited to get my hands on this new model. The Sega Saturn Pro Controller is currently available through a pre-order campaign.

Assault Suits Valken Pre-Orders: While we're on the topic of Retro-Bit pre-order campaigns, don't forget that you can still get your hands on both a Collector's Cartridge and a Deluxe Edition box set of Assault Suits Valken on the Super NES. We covered this a couple weeks ago in a Review Crew episode, but Assault Suits Valken was originally called Cybernator in the West, and it kicks a whole lot of ass. This is a critically-acclaimed action game that is a mix of Contra and MechAssault, complete with an epic story full of memorable characters. This new Retro-Bit release will bring the unedited and uncensored version to America and Europe for the first time ever, and you still have a few weeks to get your pre-orders in. I'm so excited for this one.

Jurassic Park & Gargoyles Pre-Orders at Limited Run Games: And finally, let's turn our attention over to Limited Run Games, who have their own pre-order campaigns going on right now. They will be bringing a number of Jurassic Park games to modern consoles, including Jurassic Park on the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super NES, Game Boy and Genesis, Jurassic Park Part 2: The Chaos Continues on Super NES and the Genesis version of Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition. The company also has a pre-order campaign going for Disney's Gargoyles Remastered, which is an update to the critically-acclaimed Genesis game. Limited Run Games is currently selling physical copies of these games on a variety of modern consoles, but I have to imagine that both Jurassic Park and Gargoyles will get a digital release in the near future, similar to their Bill & Ted Collection. Thankfully, most of the games in these packages were better reviewed than Bill & Ted, as we'll see in a future episode of Limited Run Games Review Crew. But until then, I'm out of here.