E3 2019 has come and gone, and although the event is supposed to be all about the latest and greatest in video games, damn if there wasn’t a TON of retro gaming represented this year!

While reporting news is not necessarily the point of this blog, I do have a habit of trying to organize and summarize information, if for no other reason than to make sure I’m not missing anything. So in the interest of doing just that, I’m going to try to create a list of all the announcements and reveals coming out of this year’s E3 that is of particular interest to retro gaming enthusiasts.

To be honest, this is mostly for my own sanity. But maybe you’ll find it useful too!

Remakes/Reissues

Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening for the Switch is old news already, but we got a fresh look at it at E3. It looks great, and super cute, which probably infuriates anyone who’s still mad about Wind Waker because of its style.

Panzer Dragoon is also getting a gorgeous new remake on Switch. The on-rails shooter was amazing when it came out at the launch of the Sega Saturn in 1994, but it hasn’t necessarily aged well. This remake looks like it will pay the original game the respect it deserves, and if you read some fine print you’ll see that Panzer Dragoon Zwei will be following.

Retro-Bit showed off their insane collector’s edition reissue of Metal Storm for the NES.

And of course, Final Fantasy VII Remake is a real thing now, in case you hadn’t heard.

Collections

Contra Anniversary Collection is out now, hot on the heels of Konami’s recent Castlevania collection.

The Collection of Mana on Switch compiles the Seiken Densetsu trilogy: the Game Boy original aka Final Fantasy Adventure, the SNES classic Secret of Mana, and for the first time officially in English, Seiken Densetsu 3, which is being titled Trials of Mana!

New Games with Classic Roots

Contra Rogue Corps from Konami looks sort of like a successor to Neo Contra more than anything.

The tail end of Nintendo’s Direct presentation teased a Zelda Breath of the Wild sequel.

Smash Bros. Ultimate‘s new character is The Hero — the main character from Dragon Quest XI — but it looks like the Hero from EVERY Dragon Quest all the way back to the beginning is involved!

Hardware

Intellivision Amico was there, showing 5 colorways (including gold/woodgrain) and 22 games! It was only being shown to press though, on an invite-only basis.

TurboGrafx 16/PC Engine/CoreGrafx Mini from Konami. Nuff said.

Polymega is showing off their modular retro system which is getting some pretty positive reviews.

Arcade 1up is showing new cabinets: Marvel Super Heroes, TMNT, cocktail tables for Pac-Man and Street Fighter, and the biggest shocker: Atari’s arcade Star Wars, which includes Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi in a redesigned cabinet with a flight yoke!

Atari announces VCS preorders available directly from Atari, at Walmart, and at Gamestop, with each outlet getting one of the three colorways.

MyArcade had their new Space Invaders mini arcade, Retro Champ console, and two Jaleco pocket players. The Space Invaders is not the same as their usual Micro Player series, as it features a cabinet design closer to the Japanese arcade original, the real arcade ROM, and even a layered backdrop like the real original arcade upright!

Speaking of mini arcades, New Wave Toys had their whole line of Replicade games on display, including the latest prototypes of Missile Command, Asteroids, 1942, and the one I’m super excited for, Dragon’s Lair! They also had the USB hub shaped like a classic change machine, which I think is the most brilliant idea of the whole line.

Hyperkin continues churning out accessories, and also introduced an N64 clone console.

Retro-Bit, too, is making more controllers, introducing pieces for all the classic Sega consoles.

…Did I miss anything? Send me a message at retrogamesuperhyper@gmail.com if so! And if any companies want to toss me any of this my way for review…!