Retro Re-release Roundup, week of May 8, 2025
Shiori Fujisaki's high-definition glow-up, out now in Japan.
I wouldn't typically include a text-heavy Japan-only release on the roundup if I suspected it was a likely candidate for localization, but I have to say, I'm not especially confident that Tokimeki Memorial's coming over — if I recall correctly, an unwillingness on the part of certain parties within Konami to alter the ages of the characters outside of Japan is what kept the game off the Turbografx-16 Mini, and I've seen no indication that the company feels particularly motivated to make those changes now, or that they're particularly attuned to the current levels of interest in the series outside of Japan. Then again, they seem to finally be getting around to trying with Momotaro Densetsu, so maybe it'll get an unadvertised English release that'll be played by maybe twelve people, who knows.
ARCADE ARCHIVES
Punk Shot
- Platform: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 (worldwide)
- Price: $7.99 / €6.99 / £6.29
- Publisher: Hamster / Konami
What's this? A 2v2 "basket-brawler", originally developed and distributed in arcades by Konami in 1990 and never made available on home platforms until now; players compete in a lawless version of basketball where the courts are full of deadly hazards and the player can and must beat the snot out of each other in order to secure the ball. (As was typical of Konami arcade games of this era, the international version features an energy timer that kills your players if and when it's depleted.)
Why should I care? You're a fan of '90s American urban culture as filtered through the Japanese game developer lens, or you want to experience a game with legitimately more satisfying combat than most of the comparable "serious" free-roaming versus combat games of its day.
Helpful tip: Hamster's "Namco Month" resumes from next week, with Nebulasray — yes, the one-week detour's a little odd, but at least they did it in service of a worthwhile game.
EGG CONSOLE
Rune Worth (PC-9801)
- Platform: Nintendo Switch (worldwide)
- Price: $6.49 / ¥880
- Publisher: D4 Enterprise / T&E Soft
What's this? A grand fantasy action-RPG, originally developed and published by T&E Soft for various Japanese computers in 1989; their first big post-Hydlide action-RPG saw them experimenting with less opaque progression blockers, a much heavier focus on narrative and event scenes and, most notably, a leveling system centred on finding items rather than defeating enemies.
Why should I care? Many of the unnecessary attention-to-detail present in the Hydlide series is also present here, both numerically/systemically but also visually, and while I don't think anyone would necessarily cite this game as a definitive answer to the question of "what is an action-RPG without a traditional experience/leveling system and/or obligatory grind", ya gotta respect 'em for asking. (On another level, it's worth celebrating the further inclusion of PC98 games on EGG Console.)
Language barrier? Virtually all the text is written in Japanese, and there's quite a lot of it.
G-MODE ARCHIVES
Side Pocket
- Platform: Nintendo Switch (Japan)
- Price: ¥600
- Publisher: G-MODE
What's this? The 2005 feature phone entry in Data East's long-running billiards series Side Pocket, which originated in arcades in 1986 and spawned a multitude of contemporary ports and sequels/reskins; this version offers a few different modes on top of standard 9-ball play, including a story-esque mode and a mode that allows one to unlock additional playable characters.
Why should I care? The beauty of digital billiards is that it's virtually platform-proof: in other words, it's not going to feel compromised for being transplanted to a mid-00s phone in the same manner as other action-centric games, so there's no reason to dismiss it in favour of newer iterations, necessarily. Now, that jazz MIDI might drive you insane, but that just comes with the territory, I suppose.
Useless fact: Side Pocket is part of the same family line as Minnesota Fats: Pool Legend, the Sega Saturn pool game featuring infamously cheesy live-action cutscenes — that game was released in Japan as Side Pocket 2, in fact.
OTHER
Tokimeki Memorial ~forever with you~ Emotional
- Platform: Nintendo Switch (Japan)
- Price: ¥6600 (standard) / ¥9680 (deluxe)
- Publisher: Konami
What's this? A high-definition remaster of Konami's genre-defining romantic adventure game Tokimeki Memorial, originally released for the PC Engine Super CD in 1994 and subsequently converted and/or enhanced for PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Super Famicom, Game Boy Color and PlayStation Portable, with the most recent reissue coming via the PC Engine Mini. This new version comes equipped with the "Emotional Voice System" introduced in later entries, which allows the characters in the game to read and voice the player's name, and also allows the player to mix and match between combinations of classic or redrawn high-definition character art and/or high-resolution fonts. (The deluxe edition adds an extra gallery that includes music from previous versions, a large assortment of classic artwork and more.)
Why should I care? Given that this game went from unsung obscurity to endlessly-discussed "classic" a few years ago, it's nice that all the folk who've suddenly begun referencing the game as if they all grew up loving it now have a modern method to, y'know, play it.
Word of caution: Now, I haven't tried this release nor enquired with anyone who has, so this may well not be an issue, but the Emotional Voice System has traditionally had a lot of very silly conditions that require online registration and other factors straight from the bowels of '00s Japanese software registration, so I would not be at all surprised if one runs into insurmountable hurdles getting it to work from outside Japan.
