Retro Re-release Roundup, week of July 9, 2026
A long-awaited Game Boy classic reaches Nintendo Switch Online.
...we're in agreeance about Sword of Hope II classic status, yeah?
ARCADE ARCHIVES / ARCADE ARCHIVES 2
Hyper Crash
- 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 / Konami
What's this? An ultra-aggressive pseudo-3D racing game, originally developed and distributed in arcades by Konami in 1987 and reissued as part of the Xbox 360 Game Room service. Players are tasked with racing to each checkpoint, and ultimately completing the entire course, without running out of fuel or being destroyed by obstacles or the many vehicles that share the road; destroying other vehicles replenishes a small amount of fuel, and can be achieved by either forcefully ramming 'em or via a very silly flip move that may also be employed against you by your would-be victims. (This game was broadly distributed with Pole Position or Pole Position-esque cabinet, and this reissue includes various controller configs to help one to adjust for their modern wheel setup or other driving game peripherals.)
Why should I care? You want to explore one of the scarcer entries in Konami's surprisingly plentiful history of driving games more concerned with smashing other cars than racing per se, and you think you'll be able to laugh, rather than cry, at one of the more obnoxious end-of-game scoring gimmicks of any arcade game.
Useless fact: This game was originally developed and even promoted as one of the very first games for Konami's Bubble System hardware and intended for release in 1984, but was ultimately shelved and dredged back up in 1987 as a conversion kit for boards that were essentially scavenged from Bubble System components.
CONSOLE ARCHIVES
.Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure (PlayStation)
- Platform: Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5 (worldwide)
- Price: $11.99 / €14.99 / £11.99
- Publisher: Hamster / Nippon Ichi Software
What's this? A tactical RPG with full-blown musical numbers, originally developed and published for the Sony PlayStation by Nippon Ichi Software in Japan in 1998 and localized for North America by Atlus in 2000, with a substantially different DS remake produced in 2008 and a more direct remaster released for Switch and PC a few years back; players control the puppet-wielding Cornet on a journey to resurrect her beloved prince from being turned to stone by a witch and rival crush, which is primarily experienced via compact, breezy isometric tactical battles and event scenes that are sung rather than conventionally acted.
Why should I care? You want to play a game that both set the direction for Nippon Ichi's stock-in-trade RPG style and is wholly distinct from what those games would very quickly become: it's very short and incredibly easy, for one, and there's an earnestness to the aesthetic that Disgaea has never even attempted to maintain. (The modern port is rather basic, so you wouldn't necessarily be missing a lot by playing this authentic PS reissue, either.)
Helpful tip: PS5 did receive internationally-released modern ports of later games in the series, dubbed Marl Kingdom Chronicles, but this CSA version's the only internationally-available version of the original on PS5 — the remaster is available in Japan, but I couldn't tell ya whether it retains the English script as an option.
EGG CONSOLE
Hydefos(MSX2)
- Platform: Nintendo Switch (worldwide)
- Price: $6.49 / ¥990
- Publisher: D4 Enterprise / Hertz
What's this? A horizontally-scrolling sci-fi shooting game, originally developed and distributed for MSX2 by Hertz in 1989; players blast across several stages in order to liberate their planet, with pit stops along the way that allow them to change ships and/or change or augment the "Hyde" options that adorn the ship and contribute additional defense or firepower, and performance-based branches in the basic story.
Why should I care? You're looking for a shooting game that demonstrates the highest level of performance seen on MSX2, rivalled only by Konami's output, as well as one that's fun in the conventional shoot-and-dodge fashion and isn't encumbered by half-baked RPG elements. (You might also want to hear the first commercial tunes by composer Keisho Yonao, who'd later find acclaim across a great many commercial and doujin games including Mad Stalker, the Asuka 120% series and Strania: The Stella Machina.)
Language barrier? The crucial real-time text is presented in English, but the story/event scenes are in Japanese.
NINTENDO SWITCH ONLINE & EXPANSION PASS
July '26 update: Fortified Zone, Sword of Hope II & Wario Land (Game Boy) and Dr. Mario & Puzzle Leage (Game Boy Advance) plus Tomato Adventure (Game Boy Advance)
What're these? The debut starring title for Mario's brutish rival, a co-operative and ever-so-slightly-exploratory overhead run-and-gun from Jaleco, the second of Kemco's adventure-interface RPGs and a two-pack of Game Boy Advance adaptations of Nintendo block-matching puzzle standbys. (The Japanese GBA app also received Tomato Adventure, an original minigame-heavy RPG by the recently-defunct AlphaDream, previously known for creating and developing the Mario & Luigi RPG subseries.)
Why should I care? You've been waiting for the original Wario Land — a watermark of the OG Game Boy action-platformer library, and one whose more conventional Mario-esque feel sets it apart from its more structurally adventurous sequels — or you're curious to put the NSO app's link cable emulation to the test with a game that just barely accommodated authentic co-op play on original hardware. On the GBA side, you're essentially getting very plain versions of games available in multiple other formats that may or may not also offer more convenient access to multiplayer and other modes, but those other versions don't boast Flip Grip-friendly vertical display modes, I suppose.
Useless fact: Tomato Adventure is a game that was owned by AlphaDream but seems to have been fully acquired by Nintendo upon their closing.
OTHER
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced
- Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox, PC via Steam (worldwide)
- Price: $59.99 or equivalent
- Publisher: Ubisoft
What's this? A remake of the 2013 pirate-themed entry in Ubisoft's empire-building action-adventure series Assassin's Creed, originally developed and published for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii U and shortly thereafter ported to PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, with a Switch port produced down the line; this version offers a significant visual overhaul, built upon Ubisoft's more modern Creed engine, and promises more in-depth stealth and parkour systems and significantly modernized combat, a dynamic weather system, a new and fully customizable UI, changes to make the tailing/eavesdropping sections less punitive, expanded underwater exploration and much more. (This remake does not include any of the original multiplayer functionality, and my understanding is they've basically cut all the modern-day sections, too.)
Why should I care? The original Black Flag was maybe the last Assassin's Creed game to capture peoples' hearts in a major way, and certainly the last real hurrah for the classic Creed format, and this remake is intended to not only celebrate that game but reorient the series in the X360-era "action-adventure" vein and away from the diet-Witcher format that the series adopted for the last several years, so if you have a fondness for this particular strain of game and want to steer Ubisoft back in the direction of games that, when adjusted for end-stage AAAAAAA inflation, feel downright quaint, this might be your last chance to make a difference. (You might also just want a taste of the game that spurred Ubisoft to piss away a cool billion dollars on Slull and Bones.)
Useless fact: It seemed this game launched with a lot, and I mean a lot, of DLC that was not announced beforehand...
