Publisher Hamster has announced that Bonze Adventure is now available on Nintendo Switch and PS4 as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released by Taito in 1988 for arcades, Bonze Adventure (地獄めぐり) is a 2D arcade action platformer somewhat in the vein of Ghouls ‘N Ghosts. Here’s the quick story synopsis from Hamster: Enma, king of the underworld,
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“Ain’t no trees in Botswana. Nuh-uh. I know. I’m a Botswanian lumberjack and I ain’t never had a job.” Publisher Hamster has announced that Don Doku Don is now available on Nintendo Switch and PS4 as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released in Japanese arcades by Taito in 1989 and later ported to the Nintendo Famicom and
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Undoubtedly in celebration of “Metal Black History Month”, City Connection has announced that Metal Black S-Tribute is now available on Xbone and Steam. This version of Metal Black is based on the SEGA Saturn version of the game. An arcade port of Metal Black is already available for the PS4 and Nintendo Switch via Hamster’s Arcade Archives series. This S-Tribute
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“Who likes to rock the party?” Publisher Hamster has announced that The NewZealand Story (aka The New Zealand Story) is now available on Nintendo Switch and PS4 as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released in arcades by Taito in 1988, The New Zealand Story is a 2D action game where players take control of Tiki, the chief
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Publisher Hamster has announced that Metal Black (or Tokidensho Angel Eyes) is now available on Nintendo Switch and PS4 as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released in arcades by Taito in 1991, Metal Black is a 2D, horizontal space shooter – or a “shmup”, as you young whippersnappers call it. The game received a SEGA Saturn port
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This week at the Tokyo Game Show, publisher Microids announced that a revival of the classic arcade game Operation Wolf is coming soon to both PC and consoles. Originally released in 1987 by Taito, Operation Wolf is an arcade game shooter complete with a gun (an uzi, if I remember right) mounted to the cabinet. The 80s were awesome. You
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Publisher Hamster has announced that Champion Wrestler is now available on Nintendo Switch and PS4 as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released in arcades by Taito in 1989, Champion Wrestler is a one or two player game that puts players in the boots of a professional wrestler. You can choose from eight different wrestlers, each with their
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Publisher Hamster has announced that vertical shooter Gun & Frontier is now available on Nintendo Switch and PS4 as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released in arcades by Taito in 1990, Gun & Frontier puts one or two players behind the stick of the Desperado, “earth’s latest fighter plane.” Your mission: strike and destroy the vicious cabal
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Welcome back to 80s August, The Splintering’s month-long celebration of the greatest decade since the chicken laid the first egg… or, wait… Today we’re going to look at Chack’ N Pop, an arcade puzzle platformer released by Taito in 1983. A horde of monsters has stolen all of Mr. and Mrs. Pac-Man Chack’n’s hearts, so now they don’t love each other, or something
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Publisher ININ Games recently confirmed that both Ray’z Arcade Chronology and RayStorm x RayCrisis HD Collection will be receiving a western release on both Nintendo Switch and PS4. While Ray’z Arcade Chronology is planned to launch on 23 March 2023 in Japan, there is no set release date for the western versions. All of the games are being developed by
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Game publisher Hamster has announced that sci-fi shooter Space Seeker is now available on PS4 and Nintendo Switch as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released in arcades by Taito in 1981, Space Seeker is also available as part of the Taito Milestones collection, which we reviewed here. Space Seeker is a bizarre blend of three games in
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Game publisher Hamster has announced that arcade puzzler game FLIPULL is now available on PS4 and Nintendo Switch as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released in arcades by Taito in 1989, FLIPULL (aka Plotting) received multiple home releases including the Nintendo Game Boy, NES, Commodore 64, and others. FLIPULL is an “easy to learn, hard to master”
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Game publisher Hamster has announced that 2D vertical shoot ‘em up Fighting Hawk is now available on PS4 and Nintendo Switch as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released in arcades by Taito in 1988, this Arcade Archives release is the first home console port of Fighting Hawk outside of Japan. Fighting Hawk is a 2D, vertically scrolling
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ININ Games recently announced that Puzzle Bobble 3D: Vacation Odyssey will be receiving a physical release on PS5, PS4, and PlayStation VR thanks to Strictly Limited Games. Originally released digitally in 2021, Puzzle Bobble 3D is part of the 35th anniversary celebration of Taito’s action/puzzle Bubble Bobble series (and the Puzzle Bobble/Bust-A-Move spin-off series, of course), and it is the
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Game publisher Hamster has announced that retro puzzler QIX is now available on PS4 and Nintendo Switch as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally developed by Taito America and released in arcades in 1981, QIX was ported to several platforms in the 80s and 90s, perhaps most famously for the Nintendo Game Boy. This Arcade Archives release is
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Game publisher Hamster has announced that 2D arcade platformer Liquid Kids is now available on PS4 and Nintendo Switch as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released in arcades by Taito in 1990, Liquid Kids was later ported to the Amiga, TurboGrafx-16, SEGA Saturn, and the original Nintendo Wii. Needless to say, copies of the game on these
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Bricks to right of them,Bricks to left of them,Bricks in front of themVolley’d and thunder’d;Storm’d at with shot and ball,Boldly they rode and well,Into the jaws of Death,Into the mouth of hellRode the Vaus. On Monday, game publisher Microids announced that a new Arkanoid game is in the works, and is currently scheduled for a 2022 release. Developed by French
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On Tuesday, Taito released Puzzle Bobble 3D: Vacation Odyssey on PS5, PS4, and PlayStation VR. The game is a cross-buy title, so every PS4 purchase will come with the PS5 version at no extra cost. Plus, you don’t need a PSVR headset to play, either. Originally released in May for Oculus Quest, Puzzle Bobble 3D is part of the 35th
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Game publisher Hamster has announced that Typhoon Gal, the 2D action arcade game, is now available on PS4 and Nintendo Switch as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released in arcades by Taito in 1985, Typhoon Gal has never received an official home release until now. In Typhoon Gal, players control a young martial artist named Yuki, who
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Taito’s original Darius game landed in arcades in 1987, making the series one of the oldest space shoot ’em up series out there. The game’s contemporaries include the likes of R-Type and Gradius, both of which seem to have more name recognition than Darius ever did. Is that because Gradius and R-Type received solid ports to 8-bit consoles of the
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To celebrate 40 years of the monumental Space Invaders franchise, Taito has partnered with ININ Games to release Space Invaders Invincible Collection, a compilation that features 11 sci-fi shooters from the Space Invaders series (or, in some cases, loosely tied to the series). Here’s the list of games included with Space Invaders Invincible Collection: Space Invaders (1978, Arcade) – original
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Game publisher Hamster has announced that Kurikenton, the side-scrolling, martial arts action arcade game, is now available on PS4 and Nintendo Switch as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released in arcades by Taito in 1988, Kurikenton (or sometimes “Kuri Kinton”) eventually saw a home release as part of the Taito Legends 2 compilation for PS2 and Xbox.
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Taito and ININ Games have partnered up to release G-Darius HD, a remastered port of 1997’s arcade title… G-Darius. Developed by M2, G-Darius HD will be available physically and digitally for Nintendo Switch and PS4 later in 2021 (that’s for both North American and European territories). While the Darius shoot ‘em up series dates back to the mid-80s (or as
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Game publisher Hamster has announced that Sea Fighter Poseidon, the classic underwater action arcade game, is now available on PS4 and Nintendo Switch as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released by Taito in 1984, Sea Fighter Poseidon has only previously been available to play at home via a Japan-only release on PS2. In Sea Fighter Poseidon, players
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Hamster has announced that lesser-known 80s arcade platformer Pirate Pete is now available on PS4 and Nintendo Switch as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released by Taito in 1982, Pirate Pete is described as a “thrilling, white knuckle adventure” that will take the titular Pete through caves, ship decks, and the ocean itself to save a lovely
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Game publisher Taito has announced that Puzzle Bobble VR: Vacation Odyssey will launch for Oculus Quest and Quest 2 on 20 May. Here’s what Taito president Tetsu Yamada had to say in the press release: “Virtual reality allows us to deliver a new approach to bubble-popping, allowing long-time fans and new players to experience Puzzle Bobble like never before and
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In the latest issue of Famitsu, publisher Taito and developer Natsume Atari announced that a new game in the KiKi KaiKai series is headed to the Nintendo Switch. The unique, vertical-scrolling shoot ’em up series is known as Pocky & Rocky in the West, and the new game is tentatively titled KiKi KaiKai: Kuro Mantle no Nazo (whatever that means).
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The Ninja Warriors: Once Again is set to launch on PSN and the Nintendo Switch eShop on 25 July, though when it arrives, it will be under the new title The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors. A limited physical release will follow on 30 August from ININ Games. The Ninja Saviors is an updated remake of Tengo Project’s The Ninja
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