Arcade Archives Wish List: 13 Games Hamster Needs to Rerelease
There are well over 400 games available through Hamster’s Arcade Archives service, and you know what? It’s not enough. That’s not to say that Hamster hasn’t done their job filling up the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 (and 5) with loads of enjoyable, popular, famous, obscure, niche, or “what even is that?” games, because they certainly have. Across those 400-plus games are a whole lot of winners and weirdos, and there should be room in your heart for a whole lot of both of those at $8 a pop.
No, the only problem is that there are still so many arcade games out there, ones that haven’t seen a re-release through Arcade Archives, or maybe anywhere at all, since their initial launch in arcades in the ‘80s or ‘90s. So, let’s do what we always do in this situation: make a list. How about 13 arcade games that fit Arcade Archives’ usual modus operandi, i.e., their usual early ‘80s through mid ‘90s time period. And we’ll avoid games that are available in a relatively inexpensive form on modern platforms, as well, such as through Capcom Arcade Stadium.
The Outfoxies
Developer: Namco
Publisher: Namco
1995
The Outfoxies is maybe just out of the non-Neo Geo Arcade Archives’ purview, as it released in 1995, but it’s also something we should all be clamoring for regardless. It’s an arena fighter that predates Super Smash Bros. and Power Stone, and has probably received more attention in the years since it left arcades than when it was actually in them. That’s because it’s very likely that The Outfoxies influenced the likes of Smash Bros., given it’s 1. an arena fighter where 2. people pick up items and weapons and 3. battle in and on wild environmental locations like a cargo plane in mid-flight. While 3D fighters were becoming the thing by The Outfoxies’ release, we know better now. We don’t have to choose, as there’s room in our hearts once again for 2D fighters, especially ones as odd as this one.
Atomic Runner Chelnov
Developer: Data East
Publisher: Data East
1988
Sure, the definitive edition of Chelnov might actually be its Sega Genesis port with revamped graphics and some tweaked gameplay, but it’s not like that’s available anywhere these days, either, besides the Sega Genesis Mini 2 that you have to import from Japan. Hamster should secure the rights to a standalone arcade release to this pseudo runner-style, forced-scrolling platformer where you’re basically always moving forward, trying not to get swarmed by enemies or crushed by a wall in the process. And hey, we’re decades past its initial controversy, where Data East, for some reason, decided to try to capitalize on the name recognition of the Chernobyl incident with a parody, of sorts, where a coal miner survives the explosion of a nuclear power plant and then gains superpowers from the event.
Night Striker
Developer: Taito
Publisher: Taito
1989
For whatever reason, Night Striker hasn’t been released on Arcade Archives, nor has its Saturn edition received an S-Tribute re-release like a number of other arcade ports to that platform have in the present. It’s a shame, too, because Night Striker is, in short, Taito’s fantastic impression of a Sega super-scaler game, a la Space Harrier. Think pseudo 3D from the ’80s, with sprite scaling and the appearance of flying into the background to create the illusion of a 3D space. Unlike with Sega’s classic, Night Striker has branching pathways after levels in the vein of another arcade series of theirs, Darius. There are 21 stages in total, and while backgrounds are reused regularly, enemy attack patterns and waves aren’t, and the difficulty escalates in a noticeable way as you make your way through the six you’re required to play to complete a run. You could play the inferior Sega CD release on the Genesis Mini 2, sure, or buy an Egret II Mini and one of its expansion cards to get ahold of Night Striker, or we could let Taito and Hamster know they forgot a platform everyone already owns.
Raiden II
Developer: Seibu Kahaitsu
Publisher: Fabtek
1993/1994
The original Raiden is a classic, and has been available on Arcade Archives for over three years now. Its sequel is nowhere to be found, however, which would stick out anyway to anyone who knows it exists, but the whole situation is made much worse given that remasters of Raiden III and Raiden IV are both sitting there on modern platforms where Arcade Archives titles are available, as is Raiden V. Raiden II made it onto the PlayStation in 1995 as part of the compilation The Raiden Project, and in 1997 in its Raiden DX form, but it hasn’t shown up anywhere since. Even stranger because Hamster re-released Raiden DX in Japan in 2000! It was, like its predecessor, a notably popular arcade game back in its day, and yet, it’s the lone mainline Raiden that’s been left in the past.
The Cliffhanger: Edward Randy
Developer: Data East
Publisher: Data East
1990
An important thing to know about Data East is that they would make a licensed game when the opportunity presented itself, like it did with their series of Robocop titles, but sometimes they’d also just go the “similar to but legally distinct from” route. For instance, Edward Randy definitely isn’t Indiana Jones. Just because he fights soldiers who are a lot like Nazis, and does so in the 1930s, and wears a brown leather jacket while wielding a whip as a weapon, doesn’t mean he’s Indy. Edward Randy doesn’t even have a hat on! Checkmate, lawyers. The game does wear its influences on its sleeve—we see you, too, Lupin— but it all adds up to a fun arcade action game where you can even play co-op. Since Edward Randy wasn’t part of the Johnny Turbo slate of Data East arcade re-releases, we’ll just have to hope this is one of their titles that makes its way to Arcade Archives, like a few others from their library have already.
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