Word on the street (read: Twitter) is that there aren’t many NeoGeo games left for retro specialists Hamster to publish. KOF2002 marked their 100th re-release which leaves around 50 titles, many of which were either Japan-only quiz games or carry licenses no longer owned by SNK.
Looking through the list of what’s left, it’s believed as few as 11 (of the remaining 50) may make it out. This week we can tick another off that list – ACA NeoGeo Ragnagard, a brawler from 1996 with characters based on mythical beasts.
We imagine FTE Games still has quite a few Data East titles to re-release, as good old Johnny Turbo continues to present Switch owners with new arcade titles. Two have turned up this week, no less: wild west shooter Express Raider, and the six button beat’em up Fighter’s History, a game that Capcom once tried to yank from arcades due to glaring similarities with SFII.
As for new games, there’s the 2D pirate RPG Don’t Sink – influenced by FTL: Faster Than Light and Sid Meier’s Pirates – the rogue-like platformer Xenon Valkyrie+, and the visually attractive platformer Samsara: Deluxe Edition.
Nintendo World Report didn’t think much of Xenon Valkyrie, awarding it a middling 4.5/10. “Xenon Valkyrie is at odds with its own design. Exploring the stages is fun, but all that fun starts to melt away when you realize just how little freedom you have to experiment with different character builds,†they said.
The vanilla iteration of Samsara was better received upon release, gaining a 7/10 from God is Geek. “Samsara is a pleasant puzzle game that doesn’t quite challenge enough to give you the unique satisfaction of the “ah-ha†moment when you solve something particularly difficult,†was their verdict.
Here’s the full line-up of new releases, including one for 3DS. Next week looks a tad more exciting, with both New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe and Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition due. Battle Princess Madelyn is finally out too, which we reviewed in December.
New Switch eShop releases
ACA NEOGEO RAGNAGARD – £6.29
“RAGNAGARD†is a fighting game released by SNK in 1996.
Take control of unique characters based on gods and beasts of legend, and take down your enemies to gain power over Heaven. This game’s Element System allows for a variety of playing styles. Charge your Element Gauge to utilize destructive Disaster Arts and Miracle Arts!
99Seconds – £2.69
99Seconds, a fun, retro-style video game, where you can modify time to avoid all kinds of dangers.
Don’t Sink – £7.99
A casual but real challenge – While simple to pickup and understand, there are numerous events that only an experienced swashbuckler will be prepared for. This makes the game more satisfying for long term pirates.
Johnny Turbo’s Arcade: Express Raider – £7.10
Save the Old West, with your rifle and your horse, from thieving Train Robbers.
Guns of Mercy – Rangers Edition – £10.79 (Demo available)
All Rangers are required to help restoring the peace. Take your favorite hero, weapon and meka and start blowing them up!
Gnomes Garden 2 – £4.49
The wicked queen of the trolls has returned from banishment! Using her evil magic, she has kidnapped the princess of the gnomes and taken her to a distant kingdom. In those lands, none know of the power of the magical gardens! The gnomish people who live there have suffered long at the hands of the queen of the trolls and her subjects. The princess decides to help her brothers and sisters and return the power of the magic trees.
Johnny Turbo’s Arcade: Fighter’s History – £7.10
Practice your fighting skills and the special moves of each character, as you complete the rounds to win the brawling tournament!
Marble Power Blast – £2.69
Play Marble Power Blast, a Match-3 Bubble shooter game! Get beautiful HD backgrounds in 50 levels and 7 different locations/themes.
Number Place 10000 – £4.59
The objective is to fill a 9×9 grid with numbers without repeatedly in all row, column and 3×3 squares.
Overdriven Reloaded: Special Edition – £7.19
Let’s Destroy Huge Bosses and dodge thousand of bullets …
It’s time to save the universe one more time!
Pic-a-Pix Pieces – £6.99
Pic-a-Pix is a picture logic game, sometimes known as Picross, Nonogram or Hanjie, where whimsical pixel-art pictures are created by solving puzzles.
Xenon Valkyrie+ – £8.99
Xenon Valkyrie+ is a rogue-like platformer game in which you must fight to the deepest part of a moon and halt the plans of a wicked witch.
Unicornicopia – £3.79
Alone in the forest, a Unicorn wakes. Searching for its herd as a new dawn breaks. Where are my friends? Not to the west, to find them I must set out on a quest!
Samsara: Deluxe Edition – £7.99
While playing in the park, Zee follows a squirrel through a portal to a world of echoes, inhabited by a shadow child. Surrounded by the unknown and trapped in a series of realms both confusing and dangerous, the youngsters must avoid slipping into the pool between dimensions, embarking on a voyage of discovery and awakening they share with the player, up and down staircases, through light and dark, across the upside-down and the right side-up to their eventual freedom.
New on 3DS eShop
RTO 3 – £8.99
The lunar base, where you are stationed as part of the security forces, is under siege. Having just escaped from enemy captivity you are now on your own and must fight against overwhelming odds to survive.
Next week: New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition, Stellar Interface, Battle Princess Madelyn, Neko Navy – Daydream Edition, Caveblazers, HoPiKo, Left-Right: The Mansion, BQM -BlockQuest Maker-, Grab Lab, Knock ‘Em Down! Bowling, Everything, Clock Simulator, Bury me, my Love, Inside My Radio, Ethan: Meteor Hunter, A Ch’ti Bundle, and Double Cross.