Today’s PS Plus Extra/Premium reveal for September includes a couple of unexpected PS2 re-releases, both originally published by Sony themselves in Japan.
Both date to 2001, making them early releases for the console. Sky Gunner is a third-person aerial combat shooter with steampunk elements that Atlus picked up for the US market. A European release never occurred despite positive reviews. This PS Plus release marks its debut in this region.
The other title is Mister Mosquito, known as Mr Moskeeto in Europe and simply as Ka in Japan.
This was often referred to as one of the PS2’s oddest games, with said winged pest out to drain the blood of a Japanese family without being noticed. Every family member has a routine which players need to learn and exploit to target certain body parts, with each stage set in a different location. While not quite a classic, gaming magazines of the era loved bringing this one up to highlight how ‘zany’ Japanese video games can be.
As a side note, Mr Moskeeto was published under Eidos’ often forgotten Fresh Games label in Europe and the US. The house of Tomb Raider attempted to broaden their horizons in 2002 by localising a handful of Japanese titles, hoping to find a market for niche games. A noble pursuit, but after hitting it out the park with Mr Moskeeto and the classical music-based rhythm game Mad Maestro, Europe only saw one more release under this banner: Legaia 2: Duel Saga, one of the PS2’s more lacklustre RPGs. The US line-up also included Swingerz Golf (which made it to GameCube too) and R-Type Final before Eidos turned their attention back to Tomb Raider.
Sky Gunner and Mister Mosquito are set to join the PSP’s Secret Agent Clank on PlayStation Plus Premium next week. It’ll be interesting to see if Mister Mosquito is still considered an oddity by newcomers. The concept isn’t too outlandish by today’s standards, with stranger games appearing on the Switch eShop on an almost weekly basis.