Scramble is the latest PS4 Arcade Archive to appear on the Australian PlayStation Store. The game debuted in 1981 in the arcades, and is arguably one of the first wave of side scrolling shooters to inspire the likes of Gradius. I say arguably because Defender could be seen as the first of its ilk, but still a very influential game that helped shape the genre.
By now I’m hoping that many of you readers know of the Umihara Kawase series of games. This is possibly even more likely with the recent release of Sayonara Umihara Kawase on both 3DS and PlayStation Vita. This particular game in the series resembles the original 1993 Super Famicom classic more closely. One bonus is if you have the Vita version you can play the 1993 release as well!
In addition to the releases listed above, Sayonara Umihara Kawase will also now be coming to Windows via Steam. It will feature various enhancements as seen on the Vita, such as 60fps gameplay, plus the addition of Steam integration like achievements and sharing videos. You can preorder Sayonara Umihara Kawase on Steam right now, with can be downloads of the game available from the 6th of October.
There are a helluva lot of video games out there, and it’s nigh on impossible to keep track of every game in existence. So many slip through the cracks and are thought to be long lost, or they are otherwise long forgotten. One recent example that came to light this week is Waku Waku Sonic Patrol Car. This obscure arcade game features Sonic the Hedgehog as a police officer, and the overarching aim is to simply drive around the city streets till you come across Eggman which then brings the game to a halt.
The game is extremely rare even in its native Japan. Thankfully, not only has a punter obtained an original arcade machine (as shown in the video above), but someone has secured and made a dump of the arcade board. Subsequently, there are plans afoot for a ROM to be released on the internet for free download. For more information on this game and the ROM, visit sonicretro.org.
If you’ve heard of or have seen Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs then you’ll know that it was a Saturday morning cartoon from the 1980s. The video above is from a campaign page on Kickstarter for an officially licensed game, with the aim for it to be developed on a plethora of modern systems including the Nintendo 3DS and Steam for OSX, Linux and Windows. The game will be a 16bit style 2D arcade shooter with twelve stages. It appears that it will resemble Sunset Riders, with 1st person levels thrown in as well.
The developers have thrown in numerous reward tiers as enticements. Currently targeted are feature ports of the game to be made for SEGA Dreamcast and PC Engine CD, so bully for you if you own either or both systems! Even more platforms will be added if they meet the stretch goals for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and even Super Nintendo! The forecast release date of Saber Rider, should the campaign succeed is 2016 for the initial systems, and 2017 for the PC Engine and Dreamcast ports.
Finally for this week, John Romero is a name all gamers know, for contributing to classic id Software games like Doom and Wolfenstein 3D as well as his previous involvement in developing games for the Apple II computers back in the 80s. One of his games that’s recently reappeared on the radar is the 1988 Puzzle/Platformer Dangerous Dave, a typical old school game which requires picking up various items to clear each stage.
According to Touch Arcade, a Tweet from John himself showcases a screenshot of the PC reboot of the game, with suggestion of an iOS port coming soon. The port has been in development since late 2014 and is shaping up to being a good looking modern interpretation of the game. No ETA on the game as of yet, but watch this space!