Retro Re-release Roundup, week of January 15, 2026
Telenet overload.
Allow me to add a notice for anyone who hasn't been paying attention or was otherwise not aware of the substantial Animal Crossing: New Horizons update that launched this week: it saw the long-awaited return of playable classic Nintendo consoles, spanning NES, Famicom, Famicom DIsk System, SNES, Super Famicom and Game Boy! Now, you're limited to one game apiece and an online subscription is required to access them, which not only makes them incredibly stingy but also redundant in the face of the more practical and fully-featured NSO apps, but if even one person becomes a Panel de Pon fan after this update, it'll all be worth it.
ARCADE ARCHIVES / ARCADE ARCHIVES 2
Bomb Jack Twin
- Platform: Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X (worldwide, ACA2) / Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 (worldwide, ACA)
- Price: $9.99 / €8.99 / £7.39 (ACA2), $7.99 / €6.99 / £6.29 (ACA), $2.99 / €2.99 / £2.49 (ACA-to-ACA2 upgrade)
- Publisher: Hamster / NMK / Tecmo
What's this? A redux of Tecmo's popular 1984 jumping dot-eater Bomb Jack, originally developed by NMK and distributed in arcades by Sigma in 1993 and never reissed until now; this new take adds a simultaneous two-player mode and an audiovisual overhaul while maintaining the basic mechanics and scoring system of the original, which challenge the player to dodge enemies and collect all the bombs in a given stage by utilizing the player-character's simple but nuanced floaty high jumps to deftly navigate hazards, collect score and power-up items and optionally collect lit bombs in sequence for score bonuses.
Why should I care? You're intimately familiar with the original arcade game (which has been available via Arcade Archives for several years now) and have steeled yourself for something that is, from the very first stage, significantly more challenging than the OG. (You might also be interested to know that this game was the commercial debut of one Manabu Namiki, a composer who'd quickly make their name as both a prodigious sound designer and a top-class composer, whose work can be heard across all your favorite arcade shooting game from the mid-'90s onward.)
Useless fact: The development and release of this game was rather fraught, up to and including the fact that Bomb Jack owners/creators Tecmo didn't end up publishing the game themselves; one particularly intriguing remnant of that tumultuous development is a prototype version that would've seen the game displaying saucy girl images after every bonus stage.
EGG CONSOLE
- Platform: Nintendo Switch (worldwide)
- Price: $6.49 / ¥880
- Publisher: D4 Enterprise / Carry Lab
What's this? A pseudo-3D racing game, originally developed and published by Carry Lab in 1987; players race through one of six environs, avoiding oncoming vehicles and the occasional obstacle positioned between them and the end of the course.
Why should I care? You require a reminder that the "simple" line-scrolling racing games found in quantity on platforms like the NES and Master System were not necessarily simple or easy to reproduce on the contemporary computer hardware of the day.
Language barrier? Not at all.
NINTENDO SWITCH ONLINE EXPANSION PASS
January '26 update: Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (GameCube)
What's this? The ninth entry in Intelligent Systems' and Nintendo's now-popular tactical RPG series Fire Emblem, originally developed and published for the Nintendo GameCube in 2005; in addition to being the first Fire Emblem game released for 3D-capable hardware, and therefore the first to sport 3D visuals, video cutscenes and voice acting, it was also the first home console Fire Emblem game released globally, which informed the game's somewhat grittier tone and rough-and-tumble mercenary protagonist, Ike. (As always, you can thank Nintendo dropping NSO updates mere hours after my posts for being a week late on this one.)
Why should I care? You want to experience a game that is, in all the best and worst ways, essentially another GBA Fire Emblem that happens to have (modest, even for the era) 3D visuals — put another way, fans continue to query precisely when and why this series peaked and waned outside of Japan, and I think a lot of people who've forgotten or simply weren't around for this game in its day might be taken aback by how no-frills it is.
Useless fact: This NSO reissue seems to have fixed or addressed a few glitches here and there, including a famous bug exclusive to the Japanese version that allowed one to craft weapons with 255 crit by forcibly crafting a weapon with critical values that push into negative digits.
OTHER
- Platform: Nintendo Switch (worldwide)
- Price: $6.28 or equivalent
- Publisher: Litmus
What's this? A remake of the 2014 PC first-person horror game Kyoufu no Mori, originally developed and released for free on PC by solo Japanese dev Kazz to viral acclaim that spiraled into a film series and other media, including the occasional sequel, that proliferated globally under the title Death Forest; in addition to redone visuals, this version offers double-speed and high-difficulty modes, and a new, alternate "ANOTHER" campaign starring a different player-character and promising multiple endings.
Why should I care? I know this game only as one of the poster-children of a very specific era of streamer-bait horror games, and for the apparent difficulty in watching and/or acquiring the move in its day, but I'm feeling charitable so I'm going to co-sign the notion that it must be a good one of these because I really can't tell one from another.
Useless fact: The paid DLC expansion for this remake is a fully-fledged collab with Japanese content creator SEIKIN, who was and still is synonymous with the rise of this game.
- Platform: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PC via Steam (worldwide)
- Price: $19.99 or equivalent
- Publisher: Edia / Mighty Rabbit Studios
What's this? An emulated collection containing the three games in Wolf Team's cult action game series: the 1991 Sega Genesis/Mega Drive action-platformer El Viento, the 1991 sprite-puppet extravaganza Earnest Evans, released for Sega Mega CD in 1991 and converted for Genesis cartridge in 1992 (with both versions present here), and the Japan-only brawler Annet Futatabi, released solely for the Sega Mega CD in Japan and never reissued until now; as with previous Edia-produced collection, this one comes equipped with the likes of save states, rewind and screen settings, as well as galleries containing music and scanned materials like game manuals, and exclusive to the international version of the collection are newly-translated and dubbed versions of the CD games. (The LRG-published physical versions should be up to purchase next week; do not ask me about the status of the proposed physical MCD game reissues as I couldn't tell ya either way.)
Why should I care? Allow me to repeat myself from a few weeks ago: El Viento's not just the undisputed queen of the Mega Drive B-tier action category but also the actualized form of what people claim Valis to be — that is, a loosey-goosey anime girl action game that's designed by somebody who understands kinetics and panache and, like, level design; Earnest Evans is one programmer's misbegotten dream to build an action game hero entirely out of the tech that powers Simon Belmont's whip in Super Castlevania IV and needs to be played to be truly appreciated, and Annet Futatabi is happy to hitch a ride. I will also say that the little I've heard of the dub seems almost unfittingly high-quality — should a dub of an early-'90s CD-ROM anime game be at all listenable? — and I sincerely hope the overall technical implementation holds firm.
Helpful tip: The PlayStation versions were announced for release alongside the Switch and PC versions but their store pages aren't yet up and the Japanese versions have been pushed back to next month, so if it doesn't show up for you in the next day or so, blame...
Tenshi no Uta: The Angel's Verse & Tenshi no Uta II: The Fallen Angel
- Platform: Nintendo Switch (worldwide)
- Price: $22.50 or equivalent each
- Publisher: Edia
What're these? The two mainline games in Telenet's Celtic mythology-inspired RPG series Tenshi no Uta, originally released exclusively in Japan for the PC Engine Super CD in 1991 and 1993, respectively; these reissues have been fully translated and are presented via Edia's older emulation wrapper, which offers basic save state and button config options, as well as scanned manuals and other materials and galleries for art, music and video content including cutscenes and commercials. (As with Earnest Evans, LRG's putting out a physical collection, but unlike EE, LRG and/or associates weren't directly involved with the new translation, to my knowledge.)
Why should I care? Most Telenet reissues are recommended with a healthy spoonful of qualifying statements, but Tenshi no Uta is their one RPG series that I think I could confidently suggest to someone looking for something more conventional and, y'know, competently-constructed; the bulk of the team would go independent as Media Vision, and while these games aren't quite as rambunctious as Wild Arms or the others that followed, one can certainly draw some immediate parallels between audiovisuals, direction and even specific characters between those later games and Tenshi no Uta. (That said, Edia's self-produced translations for these reissues have suffered from some serious technical issues, so be warned.)
Helpful tips: Firstly, the crowdfunding campaign that spawned these reissues also funded the inclusion of Dark Left, a shooting minigame playable by those who tried to boot Tenshi no Uta II with the wrong system expansion card in their PC Engine — this game was unceremoniously tacked onto the main menu for Tenshi no Uta II, but I cannot currently confirm whether it made the jump to the global release. Secondly, the aforementioned crowdfunding campaign also financed a reissue of the third and final game in the series that was produced for Super Famicom, which they then chose to sell separately rather than as part of the collection; I've not heard confirmation that the SFC game's being localised, but I suppose it's just a matter of time.
