Retro Re-release Roundup, week of April 10, 2025

Before anyone mentions it: yes, I'm aware, and no, we needn't acknowledge it further.

ARCADE ARCHIVES

Gangbusters

What's this? A cartoony overhead run-and-gun shooting game for one or two players, originally developed and distributed in arcades by Konami in 1988 and never ported until now; players control officers Smith and/or Wessen on a mission to thwart a bank heist, which requires one to not only shoot and dodge various foes but to also capture gang members to use as ad-hoc powerups and/or deliver to police vans for a score bonus, all the while taking care to closely monitor your rather stingy shot count.

Why should I care? You enjoy the top-down sections of Super Contra, warts and all, and you want to stretch that experience into a full game, replete with a level of overt goofiness that was uncommon for Konami's vintage output.

Useless fact: Japanese fanatics might be most familiar with this game by way of one of arcade magazine Gamest's many infamous typos, which claimed the enemy gang had robbed the bank for the grand sum of $100.

EGG CONSOLE

Pyramid Warp (MSX)

What's this? An overhead maze action game, originally developed and published for MSX computers by T&E Soft in 1983, and later unofficially ported and cloned to countless bootlegs and multicarts for sister hardware including Sega's SG-1000 console. The player is tasked with obtaining three helpful items from each stage before departing for the exit; the placement of these items is not set in stone, so the player has to be proactive about routing enemies and making on-the-fly tactical decisions based on which item happens to be in the nearest chest.

Why should I care? You want to try one of the very earliest T&E joints — borne from a magazine contest entry, as so many formative computer games tend to be — and you can appreciate that the randomized item placement keeps the game from being immediately "solvable", making it ever-so-slightly more involved than might be immediately evident.

Language barrier? Nope!

OTHER

Time Gal HD Remaster & Ninja Hayate HD Remaster

What's this? HD-ready versions of Taito's animation-heavy reactive-event laserdisc arcade games Time Gal and Ninja Hayate, originally released in arcades in the mid-'80s and ported and/or converted to the Sega/Mega CD (with Hayate renamed Revenge of the Ninja), PlayStation, Sega Saturn and, in Time Gal's case, smartphones, as well as the recent Japan-only Taito LD Game Collection for Nintendo Switch. In addition to offering high-definition video and audio, these new versions allow players to adjust various game settings and arcade DIP switches (which include settings to adjust the level of randomness present in Ninja Hayate), adjust the language settings and toggle additional on-screen prompts, with Time Gal also offering the option to play with a brand-new dub by protag Reika's current voice actress.

Why should I care? Put simply, these games were Taito's stab at Japan-ifying the format popularized by the Don Bluth-animated Dragon's Lair and Space Ace... and, much like the games they're imitating, there isn't much to them beyond reacting to button prompts, but there's no denying they're fun to look at.

Helpful tip: The aforementioned Japan-only Switch collection contained two additional games that aren't being released globally: a first-ever port of Taito's Space Battleship Yamato LD game, for which the global license is prohibitive, and a brand new visual novel titled Time Gal Re:birth, which was initially exclusive to the physical LE but was just released for standalone purchase on the Japanese Switch eShop (entirely in Japanese, naturally).

Snow Bros. 2 Special 

What's this? A remake of Toaplan's final arcade game, 1994's fixed-screen snowball-rolling action game Snow Bros. 2; produced by the same Korean studio behind the recent remake of the original Snow Bros., this version offers a similar suite of features including modern audiovisuals, new stages and enemies, various alternate modes and the ability to play through the game as any of the enemy monsters (a feature gated behind paid DLC in the previous remake), and adds new enhancements including online multiplayer functionality with cross-play, as well as an authentic emulated version of the arcade original.

Why should I care? When the original remake dropped, I expected to be flooded with comments from people disappointed by a lackluster remake of a classic genre work, but was instead greeted with a barrage of "why would anyone bother remaking this mediocre game"-type takes that confound me to this day. Now, i'm not saying the sequel is as well-crafted as the original or that it deserved unqualified praise, but if any of y'all would like to make amends for blaspheming the original, checking this version out might be one way to do it. I will also say that these CRT Games projects are incrementally improving, so if they do disappoint, it's not for lack of effort.

Useless fact: The devs added a toggle that'll replace the character portraits of the four main player-characters with the infamously absurd digitized monster-baby portraits inexplicably featured in the international arcade version.

TONGTONG 

What's this? A digital recreation of a slot-based medal game, originally designed by Success and distributed across corner stores Japan over in 1987. It's a slot game. Yup.

Why should I care? TONGTONG is historically significant for being the first medal game designed with a video monitor component and for being an early Success hit that allowed them to corner this particular niche for a few years, so it's nice to see them tip their hat to their roots, albeit in perhaps the least exciting or informative manner possible.

Helpful tip: Medal games don't count as gambling due to [insert nonsense here].

X68000Z, STILL TRUCKIN'

X68000Z Game Collection vol.1 (¥7678), now available standalone

Originally distributed as an exclusive pack-in with the higher-priced black model of the X68000Z "mini" replica, this six game bundle — containing the mecha brawler Mad Stalker, the Telenet action-RPG  Arcus Odyssey, the adventure games Nostalgia 1907 and Murder Club DX, the action-puzzle game Keeper and the shooting game creation kit SHOOTING68K, via SD card — is now available for general purchase. Notably, some of these game feature enhancements over their original releases, with Mad Stalker offering remastered audio based on the recent Mega Drive release, and SHOOTING68K being able to run from and better utilize modern storage options. (Do note that most every game will require a software update of some kind, which in some cases means "you have to re/download the entire game again".)