The Nintendo Switch 2 and PS5 get retro boost with Hamster’s new Console Archives line
For over a decade, Hamster Corporation has been working with Japanese game developers to bring back a wide range of arcade games to the gaming community. Adults today will remember the wide variety of games they were exposed to during the arcade gaming surge in the 80s and 90s.
While some of the more popular games are available as part of a larger pack or bundle, Hamster professionally re-released emulations offers these titles as individual virtual purchases. For over a decade, the company has brought out hundreds of games under its Arcade Archive collection, from the most famous titles to much rarer, obscure ones, and now they have announced their move into console territory.
On the 6th of Feb, Hamster announced the first two titles in their brand new category, the Console Archives, for the Nintendo Switch 2 and PlayStation 5. The first of the two titles is Coolboarders, a 1996 3D snowboarding game released for 32-bit home consoles. “Experience the thrill of navigating cliffside courses, show off your skills with jumps and tricks, and master your own unique style through a variety of runs!”
The second game they’ve chosen to release is the much more famous title. NINJA GAIDEN II: THE DARK SWORD OF CHAOS, released by Tecmo in 1990, for 8-bit home consoles, gained fame for “conquering demanding stages with ninja actions, combined with cinematic ‘Tecmo Theater' cutscenes that look just like a movie.” The franchise remains a fan favourite even today.
One of the games released under the Arcade Archives was a small fighting game, called Knuckle Heads, the first fighting game ever made, by Namco, years before Tekken. A 1-4 player fighting game, released in 1993, re-released for the Nintendo Switch and PS4.
This was way back when Street Fighter had become a huge hit, and the world saw a staggering number of 2D VS fighting games hitting the market, and Namco’s foray into the genre. The unique thing about this game is that its 4-player vs. fighting matchup would be complete chaos on-screen, comparable to Super Smash Bros, which came way after Knuckle Heads’ time.
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