Retro Re-release Roundup, week of June 22, 2023

I'm not confident that there's a non-zero overlap between Retronauts regulars and VR enthusiasts but just in case, here's one more game for this week's roundup: C-Smash VRS, a reimagining of Sega's y2k brick-breaking squash game as a multiplayer-centric virtual-reality racquet game, available exclusively for PlayStation VR2. 

ARCADE ARCHIVES

Splatterhouse

What's this? The first entry in Namco's series of infamously gruesome horror-themed side-scrolling action games, originally developed and distributed in arcades in 1988 and blessed with conversions for TurboGrafx-16 and FM Towns, a cutesy Famicom spinoff, a pair of Sega Genesis-exclusive sequels and an ill-fated Xbox 360/PS3 reboot in 2010, as well as the occasional reissue; players control Rick, wearer of the cursed Terror Mask, on a grisly quest to retrieve his girlfriend Jennifer from a haunted mansion, which invariably amounts to brutalizing a bunch of characters inspired, if not directly lifted, from all your favorite '80s-era horror movies.

Why should I care? You're looking for a pitch-perfect distillation of classic horror and slasher motifs, married to a game that doesn't act with nearly as much malice towards the player as it does its characters — many games renowned for their style and atmosphere are saddled with issues that make them difficult to appreciate, but this is a game most players can and will want to see all the way to the bitter, bitter end.

Namco Museum Switch watch: Yep, this one's on there, but this version's a little more responsive.

G-MODE ARCHIVES+

Psycho Mystery series vol.2: Angel Cry

What's this? The second entry in Genki/And-Joy's Psycho Mystery series of paranormal mystery adventure games, which spanned roughly a dozen volumes, as well as radio dramas and e-books, from 2005 to 2007; rookie detective Haruka Mishima, together with historian and childhood friend Mamoru Aida, investigate what seems to be a string of infant murders around Tokyo, but when Haruka attempts to use her unexplored powers of clairvoyance to illuminate the series, things take an unexpected turn...

Why should I care? This volume established the through-line for the rest of the series: the protagonists, settings and character relationships established here were all carried forward and developed across subsequent volumes, to the point where the will-they, won't-they relationship between the two protags became the calling card of the series, over the supernatural horror, so this is as good a place as any to jump in.

Heavy-handed cultural reference: Original Sin.

OTHER

Pikmin 1 & Pikmin 2

What're these? High-definition ports of the first two entries in Shigeru Miyamoto's pet exploratory strategy series, Pikmin, originally released for the Nintendo Gamecube in 2001 and 2003, respectively, and later ported to the Wii as part of the "New Play Control" label, which notably adapted the controls for the Wii Remote's IR pointer; these new ports are essentially upscaled versions of the Wii games, with the primary changes being a new gyro-optional control scheme based on that of Pikmin 3 Deluxe, as well as changes to certain items that were originally based on real-world products.

Why should I care? In case you hadn't heard, there's a new Pikmin game — the first in x years, as it happens — due out next month, so one might immediately assume these ports are intended as a primer or refresher for Pikmin 4... but I'd be much more inclined to suggest Pikmin 3 for those purposes, and I tend to think playing the previous three games back-to-back would leave one disinclined to jump right into a fourth game, but hey, you tell me. In and of themselves, Pikmin 1 and 2 attempt to simulate the tension of being stranded in a hostile land from two different angles: the first by way of an unflinching timer that forces the player to optimize every day of exploration, and the latter via an abundance of claustrophobic dungeons that demand the player maximise their momemt-to-moment tactics with as few errors as possible in order to survive; players tend to be divided over which approach works best, and neither Pikmin 3 nor Pikmin 4 are likely going to offer such focused experiences, so for those wanting something more straight-ahead and a little weirder and less didactic, these ports are for you.

Helpful tip: This double-pack is getting a physical release in September, so look sharp.

Sonic Origins Plus (June 23)

What's this? An expanded re-release/paid expansion for last year's anniversary collection of classic Sonic the Hedgehog remasters, which, as is typical of Sonic releases, launched with an abundance of technical issues and inaccuracies that caused some controversy. In addition to promising many bug fixes and corrections to the base content, Origins Plus makes Sonic's would-be love interest Amy playable across all four classic games, complete with new classic-style sprite, allows Sonic CD to be played as Knuckles, complete with new Knuckles-specific routes, and, for the hell of it, throws in twelve Game Gear Sonic games. (This version also includes all the extremely minor content additions from the prior, somewhat confusing "deluxe" upgrade path.)

Which games are included? Alongside the existing, touched-up Hedgehog Engine remasters of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog CD and Sonic 3 & Knuckles, this collection now features emulated versions of these twelve Game Gear games: Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic The Hedgehog Chaos, Sonic Triple Trouble, Sonic Blast, Tails Adventure, Tails Sky Patrol, Sonic Drift, Sonic Drift 2, Sonic Labyrinth, Sonic Spinball and Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine.

Why should I care? While it's a little galling that it took an additional round of monetization just to secure fixes for a collection that ought not have had so many issues to begin with, Amy's graduation to classic playable character is something the fanbase has demanded for decades, and I feel confident in saying that most people will play a handful of those Game Gear games more than once. Sonic 2's better than Sonic 3, by the way.

Helpful tip: This collection does not offer the Master System versions of relevant Game Gear games, which means you're being offered no choice but to play certain games (Sonic 2, primarily) in a compromised, screen-crunched form.

UPDATES & DLC

Wizardry Gaiden: The Five Ordeals - The Absence of Misericordia expansion ($14.99 or equivalent)

The latest paid expansion to this recently-remade entry in the Japan-exclusive Wizardry Gaiden sub-series offers a new way to play an even more obscure part of Japan-only Wizardry history: The Absence of Misericordia, a commercial expansion scenario for the PC version of Wizardry Gaiden: Prisoner of the Battles (itself released as paid DLC earlier this year), now refurbished for the latest iteration of its engine and playable to Wiz dorks the world over.

ROM HACKS & TRANSLATIONS

Alien Soldier (Sega Mega Drive) password SRAM and quick weapon switch patches

The six-button controller patch released for Alien Soldier earlier this month seems to have caused a deluge of modification patches from people trying to sand the edges off an action game long considered overly complex or intimidating, with two released over the last few days: a patch that allows players to save their Super Easy mode passwords to SRAM, and a patch allowing players to quickly cycle through weapons by tapping a button, rather than via the somewhat unwieldy weapon wheel. Note that you'll specifically need to patch the Japanese ROM, but all of these patches do stack, so you can install all of them at once.

LIMITED-EDITION PHYSICAL PRINT RUNS

Akai Ito & Aoi Shiro HD Remaster (Nintendo Switch) physical copies from Strictly Limited Games

Recently revived from the PS2 era and even more recently localized for the first time, this double-pack of Success' seminal horror-themed yuri novel adventure games is now being giving a limited physical release outside of Japan, which includes a collector's edition featuring a 4-track soundtrack set and a reversible slipcase and poster featuring a design they have gone to great pains to obscure in their promotional material. One might hope they might also give the localization a second pass, but I wouldn't hold my breath.