With the holiday season in full swing, retro publisher Hamster has added an adorable stocking filler to its Arcade Archives library. Taito platformer The Fairyland Story is now available to download on PS4 and Nintendo Switch - returning Ptolemy the witch to our screens.
Japanese publisher Hamster established Arcade Archives in 2014 for PS4, which compiled a catalog of emulated arcade classics from the ‘80s, ‘90s, and early 2000s. The Xbox One version launched in February 2017, followed by its Switch release the following month. The pick-and-mix of arcade showstoppers and early console hits included, Frogger, BurgerTime, Double Dragon, Excitebike, and many more. The sub-series ACA Neo Geo was created to focus more on Neo Geo titles in their original arcade format and is currently the only library on Xbox.
Platformer The Fairyland Story was released in 1985 by Taito and is one of the latest additions to the Archives. The game features Ptolemy the witch who uses her wand to cast enemies into cake (if only that applied to real life). To take full advantage of the game’s platform layout, Ptolemy can then push those cakes off of ledges and on to enemies below to award her with bonus points - which may be a waste of good cake to some. Built by The Ninja Warriors designer Hiroshi Tsujino, The Fairyland Story, unfortunately, received a mixed bag of reviews - targeting its simplistic level design and mechanics - but still resides in the arcade era memoirs.
Hamster’s Arcade Archives currently has around 15 games waiting to be released in the near future, including Guerrilla War, Raiden, and Thunder Dragon. The publisher usually announces any new releases on its Twitter account, and by the looks of it, everyone's favorite gem will be on the list at some point. Even Nintendo classics like Super Punch-Out!! and Mario Bros. are included in the current line-up, so you’ll never be lacking things to play.
Manufacturers iiRcade and Arcade1Up are recreating the nostalgia of arcades with library cabinets. The latter recently released its Ms. Pac-Man cabinet in the fall, in addition to a host of other new releases. Additionally, iiRcade has increased its catalog as well with RetroMania Wrestling and Dead Cells, and the company is currently taking pre-orders.
Source: Destructoid