This Week in Retro

🛠 Check out PCBWay at https://pcbway.com/ for all your PCB needs! 🛠

The legacy of Lucasfilm Games looms large this week. We take on the controversial conclusions surrounding the global "Adventure Game Aptitude Test," which challenged gamers to complete the classic Maniac Mansion in four hours with no context, no documentation, and no hints. In other news we look at the improved access to Lucasarts classics thanks to a DREAMM emulator upgrade, and live vicariously through an outrageous hack to the infamous Sinclair C5. Plus your top picks in tiny software and an all-new Community Question of the Week.

00:00 - Show Opening

02:00 - You’re Not A Failure
Story Link: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/the-worlds-first-standardized-gaming-test-will-see-if-you-can-beat-an-80s-adventure-game-without-a-walkthrough-and-itll-even-monitor-you-over-a-webcam-to-make-sure-you-dont-cheat/

Additional links: https://www.polygon.com/agat-adventure-aptitude-test-pc-adventure-maniac-mansion-guide/
https://theagat.co/
https://www.twitch.tv/new2dinosourxl/video/2710199492

18:03 - Dreaming Of A Galaxy Far Far Away
Story Link: https://www.timeextension.com/news/2026/03/lucasarts-emulator-dreamm-adds-support-for-a-bunch-of-old-star-wars-in-major-update

26:18 - Housekeeping - News links found below

34:14 - Sinclair C6… Speed
Story Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQsPRrgfnPs 

44:19 - Community Question of the Week

🏆Your monthly support helps us keep the retro news flowing!
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Bluesky:
https://bsky.app/profile/davevelociraptor.bsky.social
https://bsky.app/profile/jasoncompton.bsky.social

Youtube:
Chris - https://www.youtube.com/@005AGIMA
Jason - https://www.youtube.com/@jpcompton

Audio Podcast:
https://retroadventurers.podbean.com/

Subscribe to the audio version of the show!
📻 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-retro/id1526487568?uo=4
📻 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2OPQ3cADaB92E9SpRdTe5y
📻 Podbean: https://twir.podbean.com
📻 Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/en/show/5734337
📻 RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/TWIR/feed.xml
📻 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWeekinRetro

This Week in Retro is a weekly roundup of the hottest stories from the world of retro gaming and computing, voted on by you, the listener! Hosted by Chris from 005 AGIMA, Jason from The Retro Adventurers and Dave. Edited by Duncan Styles.

News In Brief Links

The Crew Unlimited: https://thecrewunlimited.com

PS2 with DVD-RW: https://www.reddit.com/r/thisweekinretro/comments/1rlfdxi/just_wanted_to_share_something/

Development Machine Controversy: https://www.sonicstadium.org/articles/sega/sega-stole-my-consoles-collector-raided-after-buying-stock-from-office-clearout-r3301/

Matthew Lillard On Games: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhvMRw3OPjY

ZX Spectrum Street Fighter 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_HJvjzojZs

Ultima VIII Retrospective: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4h1GIw32UU

IBM Training Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNC0mLsaqz4

All the fun you can squeeze into 64k or less as we look at the international sensation that was Jet Set Willy and the explosion of open-world adventure gaming in 1984. There's even a fully-realised Quake-style FPS available for modern PCs that fits into just 64 kilobytes, or you can code up your own retro memory-resident marvels with the aid of the new Kwyll system or dozens of other open-source development environments. 

Visit https://www.addict.media/ for your copy of Pixel Addict magazine.

00:00 - Show Opening

01:59 - Let’s Compare Our (Jet Set) Willys
Story Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idDsa-fTNPU

19:22 - Retro Coding Roundup
Story Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9hpGu1fKHM
Additional links: https://indigobeetle.itch.io/santas-lost-and-found

Tprrt's Blog: https://tprrt.tupi.fr/retro-console-game-engines.html

36:06 - Housekeeping - News links found below

42:00 - QUOD Damage!
Story Link: https://hackaday.com/2026/02/23/quod-is-a-quake-like-in-only-64kb/
Additional links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qht68vFaa1M

QUOD Download: https://daivuk.itch.io/quod

Quake Brutalist Jam III: https://www.reddit.com/r/thisweekinretro/comments/1r7pz1p/quake_brutalist_jam_iii_released_jan_3rd/

Free Unreal: https://www.reddit.com/r/thisweekinretro/comments/1r44enm/unreal_tournament_2004_is_now_free/

Chris' Unreal Maps: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1oaBzMgV9oFHFpuTDnk4cytHOSdw0vII3?usp=sharing

51:22 - Community Question of the Week

🏆Your monthly support helps us keep the retro news flowing!
https://www.patreon.com/thisweekinretro

🕸 TWiR Sub Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/thisweekinretro/

Follow your hosts!
Bluesky:
https://bsky.app/profile/davevelociraptor.bsky.social
https://bsky.app/profile/jasoncompton.bsky.social

Youtube:
Chris - https://www.youtube.com/@005AGIMA
Jason - https://www.youtube.com/@jpcompton

Audio Podcast:
https://retroadventurers.podbean.com/

Subscribe to the audio version of the show!
📻 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-retro/id1526487568?uo=4
📻 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2OPQ3cADaB92E9SpRdTe5y
📻 Podbean: https://twir.podbean.com
📻 Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/en/show/5734337
📻 RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/TWIR/feed.xml
📻 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWeekinRetro

This Week in Retro is a weekly roundup of the hottest stories from the world of retro gaming and computing, voted on by you, the listener! Hosted by Chris from 005 AGIMA, Jason from The Retro Adventurers and Dave. Edited by Duncan Styles.

News In Brief Links

TIE Fighter Total Conversion: https://youtu.be/IZtHOoMsrWs?si=X3S9v4aEJXPDZ03D

FreeDOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwLIgdRj5bI

MiSTer Floppy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN8TCz7Z0n8

eXoDemoscene: https://www.retro-exo.com/demoscene.html

GenZ and iPods: https://appleinsider.com/articles/26/02/23/why-gen-z-and-young-adults-are-embracing-ipods-again

Rob Grant obituary: https://www.ganymede.tv/2026/02/rob-grant-rip/

Floating Lemming: https://youtu.be/h-2KyTnxr5E?si=dZFkM8nKew3dyF9I

🛠 Check out PCBWay at https://pcbway.com/ for all your PCB needs! 🛠

"Keep a copy of what's important to you."
"Punish your children one day."

With these bullet points (provided by special guest  @RonsCompVids ) in mind, we take a critical look at a Philips CD-i retrospective, discuss a substantial update to the Stop Killing Games movement, and dig into the fundamental right of physical media ownership. We share your top tips to avoid doomscrolling and introduce a new Community Question of the Week: what retro technology would you resuscitate with a one BILLION dollar budget?

00:00 - Show Opening

05:18 - Was The CD-i Doomed From The Start?
Story Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNDm13SbX_Q

30:54 - Ross Has Saved Your Game
Story Link: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/stop-killing-games-is-launching-ngos-in-the-european-union-and-the-us-were-not-just-going-away-on-this/

48:53 - Housekeeping - News links found below

58:51 - Streaming Is So Last Year
Story Link: https://www.whathifi.com/streaming-entertainment/why-ill-never-give-up-my-dvd-collection

01:15:02 - Community Question of the Week

🏆Your monthly support helps us keep the retro news flowing!
https://www.patreon.com/thisweekinretro

🕸 TWiR Sub Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/thisweekinretro/

Follow your hosts!
Bluesky:
https://bsky.app/profile/davevelociraptor.bsky.social
https://bsky.app/profile/jasoncompton.bsky.social

Youtube:
Chris - https://www.youtube.com/@005AGIMA
Jason - https://www.youtube.com/@jpcompton

Audio Podcast:
https://retroadventurers.podbean.com/

Subscribe to the audio version of the show!
📻 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-retro/id1526487568?uo=4
📻 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2OPQ3cADaB92E9SpRdTe5y
📻 Podbean: https://twir.podbean.com
📻 Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/en/show/5734337
📻 RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/TWIR/feed.xml
📻 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWeekinRetro

This Week in Retro is a weekly roundup of the hottest stories from the world of retro gaming and computing, voted on by you, the listener! Hosted by Chris from 005 AGIMA, Jason from The Retro Adventurers and Dave. Edited by Duncan Styles.

News In Brief Links

SDF Public Access UNIX: https://connect.sdf.org/

Commercial Availability Of Pre-2010 Games: https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Frflir4u3odkg1.jpeg

THEA1200 Preorder: https://retrogames.biz/products/thea1200/

Dolphin Emulator: https://dolphin-emu.org/blog/2026/02/16/rise-of-the-triforce/

Lemmings 35th Anniversary: https://youtu.be/Ulx0WE8KnA4

ATABoy: https://youtu.be/XUmxxTCaCM4

Echo Aviation Controller: https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/pc-gaming/honeycomb-echo-aviation-controller-review 

Games You Missed: https://www.reddit.com/r/thisweekinretro/comments/1rbp5d2/new_column_from_itsmethyroid_games_you_missed/

Giant Macintosh: https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/case-mods/computer-history-museum-unveils-comically-large-scale-rendition-of-the-1986-apple-macintosh-plus-towering-all-in-ones-keyboard-looks-disproportionately-huge-today

DJ Slope of  @slopesgameroom  is our guest for this week's dive into the history of shoot 'em up games of all shapes and sizes. In other departments we examine the claim that 1996 changed computing history forever and explore whether handheld retro tech can defeat the modern scourge of doomscrolling. Plus news in classic tech ranging from the Nabu to the CIDCO Mailstation, on Episode 256 of This Week in Retro.

Visit https://www.addict.media/ for your copy of Pixel Addict magazine.

00:00 - Show Opening

02:23 - Shmups Away Story

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9GFX6lIbeE

20:59 - 1996 Really Was A Big Deal Story

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BM1gXDZsMO0

Additional link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OHkrQYSmtE

38:01 - Housekeeping - News links found below

44:07 - Doomscrolling Defeated

Story Link: https://www.theguardian.com/games/2026/feb/09/how-a-decades-old-video-game-has-helped-me-defeat-the-doomscroll

56:42 - Community Question of the Week

🏆Your monthly support helps us keep the retro news flowing!

https://www.patreon.com/thisweekinretro

🕸 TWiR Sub Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/thisweekinretro/

Follow your hosts!

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/davevelociraptor.bsky.social

https://bsky.app/profile/jasoncompton.bsky.social

Youtube: Chris - https://www.youtube.com/@005AGIMA

Jason - https://www.youtube.com/@jpcompton

Audio Podcast: https://retroadventurers.podbean.com/

Subscribe to the audio version of the show!

📻 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-retro/id1526487568?uo=4

📻 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2OPQ3cADaB92E9SpRdTe5y

📻 Podbean: https://twir.podbean.com

📻 Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/en/show/5734337

📻 RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/TWIR/feed.xml

📻 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWeekinRetro

This Week in Retro is a weekly roundup of the hottest stories from the world of retro gaming and computing, voted on by you, the listener! Hosted by Chris from 005 AGIMA, Jason from The Retro Adventurers and Dave. Edited by Duncan Styles.

News In Brief Links

Original GTA Working On PC: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/grand-theft-auto/a-gta-modder-has-got-the-1997-original-working-perfectly-on-modern-pcs-and-steam-deck-and-its-a-joy-to-behold-i-wanted-pick-up-and-play-gta-on-windows-with-the-best-possible-compatibility-without-classic-installation/

BBC WAP: https://youtu.be/CYW0LngZ7v8?si=YP7ne10BFTEEWMyJ

Unreal Tournament: https://www.oldunreal.com/downloads/ut2004/full-game-installers/

Barn Find Nabu: https://glassalmanac.com/2200-vintage-computers-sat-in-a-barn-for-23-years-sold-on-ebay-for-under-e100-each/

Outrun On Apple Watch: https://youtu.be/fAXkovTMOvY?si=JAL8F0wD8y6wrseS

The Last Z80 Mass Market Machine: https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/11/last_z80_machine/

 

 

Episode Credits

"File:Amstrad CPC464.jpg" by Bill Bertram is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5

Parts of "How the Shoot ’Em Up Genre Was Born" courtesy of Pixel Playback

See the full video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9GFX6lIbeE

Parts of "This rare BeBox still works!" courtesy of PCWorld and The Retro Roadshow

See the full video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OHkrQYSmtE

🛠 Check out PCBWay at https://pcbway.com/ for all your PCB needs! 🛠

We're gonna need a bigger byte to hold future episodes of This Week in Retro, but the end of the 8-bit era leads off with an exploration of the innovative SCUMM adventure game engine. Originally created by Lucasarts Games for Maniac Mansion, the system went on to be used in major franchises including Sam and Max and Indiana Jones, and is the topic of an upcoming crowdfunded documentary. We also report on some major achievements for retro users of PowerPC Macs and ancient accounting packages, and sift through the 30 year legacy of Duke Nukem 3D and the origins of John Romero's Catacombs 3D.

00:00 - Show Opening

02:15 - Passport To Adventure
Story Link: https://adventuregamehotspot.com/announcement/5936/sign-up-available-for-passport-to-adventure-the-scumm-story

DevsQuest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq-am862uRg

15:11 - Herculean Efforts In Retro
Story Link: https://lowendmac.com/2026/finally-a-properly-modern-browser-for-powerpc-macs/

Additional Links: 
https://dmitrybrant.com/2026/02/01/defeating-a-40-year-old-copy-protection-dongle
https://github.com/HarryR/z80ai
https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/ATARI_ST_MV16_Sound_Audio_Card_Cartridge_BAT_e1c2ad3a.html

34:03 - Housekeeping - News links found below

42:24 - Hail To The Catacombs Baby
Story Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70mZq8bUStw

Catacombs 3D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcUqwMf01pI

52:42 - Community Question of the Week

🏆Your monthly support helps us keep the retro news flowing!
https://www.patreon.com/thisweekinretro

🕸 TWiR Sub Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/thisweekinretro/

Follow your hosts!
Bluesky:
https://bsky.app/profile/davevelociraptor.bsky.social
https://bsky.app/profile/jasoncompton.bsky.social

Youtube:
Chris - https://www.youtube.com/@005AGIMA
Jason - https://www.youtube.com/@jpcompton

Audio Podcast:
https://retroadventurers.podbean.com/

Subscribe to the audio version of the show!
📻 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-retro/id1526487568?uo=4
📻 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2OPQ3cADaB92E9SpRdTe5y
📻 Podbean: https://twir.podbean.com
📻 Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/en/show/5734337
📻 RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/TWIR/feed.xml
📻 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWeekinRetro

This Week in Retro is a weekly roundup of the hottest stories from the world of retro gaming and computing, voted on by you, the listener! Hosted by Chris from 005 AGIMA, Jason from The Retro Adventurers and Dave. Edited by Duncan Styles.

News In Brief Links

https://www.timeextension.com/news/2026/02/taitos-1987-outrun-clone-top-speed-makes-its-debut-on-modern-consoles-later-this-week

https://www.bcs.org/articles-opinion-and-research/sir-clive-sinclair-views-on-ai-and-super-intelligence/

https://www.gog.com/redeem/WELCOMEGIFT

https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/you-can-now-view-the-computer-history-museums-collection-from-the-comfort-of-your-own-home-and-its-full-of-retro-blasts-from-the-past/

https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/beige-is-back-remembering-the-bbc-micro-with-raspberry-pi-500-plus/

https://www.ukag.org.uk/index.php/2026/01/08/more-info-on-the-june-uk-amstrad-group-meet/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxuvEtgfbPU