Retro Re-release Roundup, week of October 1, 2026
Pork and popcorn.
Another not-old-but-oldhead-tuned game for y'all this week: the Switch 1 & 2 release of Viractal, the newest RPG-infused multiplayer boardgame from the folk behind the notorious friendship-fracturing Dokapon series: not only is it noteworthy for being more sincerely cooperative and less openly adversarial than Dokapon (save for the "take a secret contract with the devil to covertly sabotage your party" mechanic) and for drawing obvious influence from the current landscape of roguelite deckbuilders, but it's also worth acknowledging as yet another globally-released game featuring Baroque-adjacent content that isn't just an authentic localized version of Baroque.
ARCADE ARCHIVES / ARCADE ARCHIVES 2
Balloon Bomber
- 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 / Taito
What's this? A fixed-screen shooting game, originally developed and distributed in arcades by Taito in 1980, with emulated reissues via the Japan-only Taito Memories compilation series of the mid-'00s. Players control an anti-aircraft gun which must fire at the balloons and/or biplanes flying overhead; the bombs being carried and/or dropped by the approaching aircraft will crater the ground if not shot, impeding the player-gun's movement, so the player must not only dodge but intercept incoming shots in order to succeed.
Why should I care? You want to experience one of Taito's more inspired "quick, make something new for all these overstocked Space Invaders boards" games, and one designed by Tomohiro Nishikado himself.
Useless fact: While there's some debate about the actual firsts in this field, Balloon Bomber does represent some audio firsts for Taito, at the very least, by being their first game with continuous BGM, and the first to speed up the BGM in a pinch.
Crazy Balloon
- Platform: Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox, PC via Xbox Play Anywhere (worldwide, ACA2)
- Price: $9.99 / €8.99 / £7.39 (ACA2), $2.99 / €2.99 / £2.49 (ACA-to-ACA2 upgrade)
- Publisher: Hamster / Taito
What's this? A dexterity-challenge maze game, originally developed and distributed in arcades by Taito in 1980 and converted both officially and unofficially for various Japanese and European microcomputers, with emulated reissues via the Taito Memories compilation series for PlayStation 2/PlayStation Portable and arranged adaptations for PlayStation, PlayStation Portable and feature phones; the player is tasked with guiding a swaying balloon through a spike-filled maze as quickly as possible, with additional variations and gimmicks added to each of the three core maze layouts with each loop.
Why should I care? You want to try the first great game Taito made post-Space Invaders, or you want to marvel at just how much precision is available to the player for a game powered by such rudimentary hardware. (You might also be curious to give it a try with the knowledge that it's a several-degrees-of-separation predecessor to The NewZealand Story.)
Useless fact: This is the first back-catalog ACA release from Taito to receive an ACA2 upgrade, so Xbox owners can look forward to catching up on the great many Taito bangers that have graced other platforms for years.
CONSOLE ARCHIVES
Chack'n Pop (Famicom)
- Platform: Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5 (worldwide)
- Price: $7.99 / €6.99 / £6.29
- Publisher: Hamster / Taito
What's this? The Famicom port of Taito's archetypal 1984 fixed-screen arcade action game, originally published in Japan by Taito in 1985 alongside complementary ports for Sega SG-1000, MSX and other Japanese computers; player-character Chack'n is tasked with freeing hearts from cages in order to progress, which can be achieved by hurling bombs left and right and by using Chack'n's extendo-legs to transition from walking on floors to ceilings and vice-versa.
Why should I care? I honestly could not explain the appeal of this game nor the advantages or disadvantages of playing the Famicom version versus the arcade version, but perhaps its very loose visual adjacence to the likes of Bubble Bobble might be enough to get you to stick around long enough to, like, get it.
Useless fact: Between the Arcade Archives reissue and the production of the Egret II Mini, Taito's producers have been waging a debate of sorts about whether the Japanese notation for the title Chack'n Pop should be written with hiragana or katakana, with their ultimate non-conclusion being that, because the title was trademarked in English, either option is acceptable and one is free to be as opinionated in either direction as they feel is appropriate.
EGG CONSOLE
Nyanpi (MSX)
- Platform: Nintendo Switch (worldwide)
- Price: $7.34 / ¥880
- Publisher: D4 Enterprise / Compile
What's this? A puzzle-action game starring cute cats, originally produced by Compile for their Disk Station compilation series in 1990 and followed by a rapid succession of content packs, including the recently-reissued, Puyo Puyo-themed Carbuncle-pi; after selecting from one of eight cute cats, players are tasked with walking and jumping through side-scrolling stages in order to pop all the balloons in a stage before heading to the the trash cash, with balloons serving a double function as platforms required to fully traverse each stage.
Why should I care? When Carbuncle-pi showed up on EGG Console, I postulated that EGG would probably follow it up with the complete Nyanpi cartridge version that compiled all the many level packs... and, well, I was wrong, but the 40 stages present here will probably sate most people, and you can make your own stages if you really demand more.
Language barrier? Nope, have at it.
OTHER
Dynasty Warriors 3 Complete Edition Remastered
- Platform: PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox, PC via Steam (worldwide)
- Price: $39.99 or equivalent
- Publisher:Koei-Tecmo
What's this? An Unreal 5-powered remake of the second game in Koei's now-legendary Shin Sangoku Musou series of one-versus-a-zillion historical military action games, originally developed and published for PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2001; this new version combines the original game and its Xtreme Legends expansion and offers all the modes and playable characters (plus the protagonist from the recent Dynasty Warriors Origins) from the originals alongside new story content, new mechanical and weapon-crafting systems, a wide variety of granular toggles broadly categorized as "new"/"classic" and redone visuals, audio and dual-language voice acting.
Why should I care? Koei's various Musou sub-series are often dismissed as formulaic but they have in fact evolved and shifted in accordance with popular trends, and I think anyone coming to this particular remaster expecting something broadly similar to the last new entry they played might be surprised by how different it feels to the Musou of today (when played with the more classic settings, at least) — like, there was a point where these games did feel in conversation with other modern action games, or put another way, clearing them required one to do a little more than tear through several zillion miles of digital bubble wrap.
Helpful tip: As of right now, all of the multiplayer features are limited to offline split-screen, but online support has been promised for a future post-launch update.
Muchi Muchi Pork & Pink Sweets Boosted
- Platform: PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox, PC via Steam (worldwide)
- Price: $39.99 or equivalent
- Publisher:City Connection / Cave
What's this? A double-pack containing ports of Cave's Japan-only arcade danmaku shooting games Pink Sweets: Ibare Sorekara and Muchi Muchi Pork, originally released in 2006 and 2007, respectively, and ported to Xbox 360 exclusively in Japan in 2011; produced by City Connection, these new versions bring the X360 versions — themselves enhanced with additional arrange modes and revision options — to modern platforms with a few touch-ups including retuned slowdown and the addition of off-screen readouts for hidden parameters like rank, with the biggest notable addition being brand-new optional arrange soundtracks for both games, composed by Daisuke Matsumoto, Yosuke Yasui (of "Yokai Disco" fame), Hagane and Sean Bialo. (The internation plysical version will be available later this month.)
Why should I care? You wouldn't be mistaken for feeling these games feel a little off-center or otherwise under-the-radar within the wider discussion of Cave's library: even putting aside Muchi Muchi Pork's very selective interpretation of "moe", these games were stewarded by Shinobu Yagawa, an immigrant from rival studio Raizing and creator of such games as Battle Garegga, and as such, these games have a distinct rhythm from other Cave games that inexperienced players may need to acclimatize to. That said, MMP in particular is a dark-horse favorite among Cave fans, and being that they're porting directly from existing and relatively modern Xbox 360 code (and not, say, emulating laggy games with laggier-still emulators), the quality of the modern ports is at least equivalent to that of the existing X360 versions, if not better due to the addition of some very basic options that should've been present fifteen years ago but weren't.
Helpful tip: The content of this release isn't strictly 1:1 with the previous X360 release: the first-print-exclusive Matsuri Mode DLC arrange for Muchi Muchi Pork, which adds Pink Sweets bosses to MMP, is not included with any version of this release.
UPDATES UPDATES UPDATES
Star Fox (Switch 2) battle mode update
The people yearned for more, new Star Fox and Nintendo delivered: new battle stages! That's what you wanted, yeah?
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
Ace Combat Zero (PC, PS5, Xbox), an exclusive early-purchase bonus tied to Ace Combat 8, due to disappear on October 2
Namco's maintaining their history of tying vintage Ace Combat reissues to the release of new games with the new Ace Combat 8: 2006's PS2 entry Ace Combat Zero is being made available exclusively with digital versions purchased before October 2, or via code distibuted with first-print physical copies. Due to the limitations of the original contracts that govern the inclusion of various real-world aircraft, Namco's serious when they say they will not and cannot release these games for general purpose, so if you're dead set on acquiring the new Zero port, act fast.
