Since 2014, the HAMSTER Corporation (who, I was very disappointed to discover, are not purveyors of adorable, miniature burrowing rodents) have been bringing a variety of arcade classics to modern systems via the Arcade Archives series. Titles from such names as Nintendo, Namco and SNK have popped up in the range over the years, and they’re all presented in a way which preserves the authentic original experience while tarting them up slightly to suit us contemporary, mollycoddled gamers. Save states and other assorted emulation niceties? You got it, all courtesy of Arcade Archives. You dirty cheaters, you. We all had to empty our pockets of pennies back in the day.
A little background
As NintendoLife reports, the latest addition to the AA lineup has been announced, and it’s a good ‘un. Namco’s Dragon Buster, a groundbreaking title which fused proper RPG elements with the arcade format, is being given the spruce-up treatment for the service. “Notable for being one of the first arcade games to [give you] the ability to select your level based on a world map, Dragon Buster followed in the footsteps of Namco’s similarly influential coin-op Tower of Druaga and includes many other innovations, such as the ability to dash and double-jump,” outlines the report.
This release is especially notable as the game never made it to the West on its initial debut, leaving folks outside Japan largely unaware of its historical significance as a milestone in the arcade world. “In its homeland, it got conversions to the NEC PC-8801, Sharp MSX2 and Nintendo Famicom – it didn’t arrive in the West officially until it was included in Namco Museum Volume 2 for the original PlayStation.” It’s not clear whether HAMSTER’s port is based on the original version or that PS1 compilation. Time will tell.
When does Dragon Buster come out?
That time, incidentally, will be very short: the game is out now, for $7.99, on the Switch. Gamers interested in having a little delve into days gone by, or just busting some dragons, can hop onto the terribly janky eShop immediately and give it a whirl. Feel free to leave all quarters safely in their piggy banks.
Will you be picking up this arcade classic? Are you a fan of the Arcade Archives format? Let us know!
Via, NintendoLife.
