StarTopic Retro Gaming on Switch |ST| True Preservation

[tolkir]

Why does this thread exist?
With the increase of digital sales worldwide, a lot of publishers are trying to resurrect old titles so people can play them in modern consoles.
Arcade Archives, Sega Ages, Konami collections, Capcom collections and so on.
Like most of things nowadays, many of them are overlooked, so I have made this thread to list and discuss them. There are many people waiting that publishers release again the favorite games from their childhood.

What years are considered Retro?
Everyone have a diferent opinion from post-2005, so I'll look case by case. PSP, DS or Wii are a thin line.
Maybe there will be a game that it's considered retro for people who visit the thread in 2025 and not now.

How are companies releasing their games?
Publishers and developers are bringing the old classics in many ways:

• Port: Releasing the original game with minimal changes
• Remaster: Improving the original game, sometimes including new features
• Remake: Creating a new version of the original game since zero
• Revival: Forgotten games are released many years later for the first time or games coming back after >10 years keeping the old formula.

I'll try to make different tables by months. So, we don't have a huge table that takes up half of the thread.

Great games already available
Sunset Riders
Collection of Mana
Phantasy Star
Moon: Remix RPG Adventure
Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle
Castlevania Advance Collection
Turok
Mega Man Zero / ZX Legacy Collection
Virtua Racing
Doom 64


Latest Releases

GAME	TYPE	O.PLATFORM	DATE	O.YEAR	COLLECTION
Gleylancer	Port	Sega Genesis	10/15/21	1992
Earth Defense Force 2017	Port	Xbox 360	10/14/21 (Japan)	2006
Momoko 1200%	Port	Mobile	10/14/21 (Japan)	2006	G-Mode Archives
rRootage Reloaded	Remaster	PC	10/14/21	2003
Rally-X	Port	Arcade	10/14/21	1980	Arcade Archives
Tantei Kibukawa Ryousuke Jikentan Vol. 7: Otonari Keiji no Sousa Memo	Port	Mobile	10/07/21 (Japan)	2005	G-Mode Archives
The Genji and the Heiken	Port	Arcade	10/07/21	1986	Arcade Archives
Super Monkey Ball	Remaster	Gamecube	10/05/21	2001	Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania
Super Monkey Ball 2	Remaster	Gamecube	10/05/21	2002	Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania
Super Monkey Ball Deluxe	Remaster	PS2	10/05/21	2005	Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania

Upcoming Releases

GAME	TYPE	O.PLATFORM	DATE	O.YEAR	COLLECTION
Corpse Party	Remake	NEC PC98	10/20/21	1996
Mappy	Port	Arcade	10/21/21	1983	Arcade Archives
Dr. Mario 64	Port	Nintendo 64	10/25/21	2001	Nintendo 64 - Nintendo Switch Online
Mario Kart 64	Port	Nintendo 64	10/25/21	1996	Nintendo 64 - Nintendo Switch Online
Mario Tennis 64	Port	Nintendo 64	10/25/21	2000	Nintendo 64 - Nintendo Switch Online
Sin & Punishment	Port	Nintendo 64	10/25/21	2000	Nintendo 64 - Nintendo Switch Online
Star Fox 64 (Lylat Wars)	Port	Nintendo 64	10/25/21	1997	Nintendo 64 - Nintendo Switch Online
Super Mario 64	Port	Nintendo 64	10/25/21	1996	Nintendo 64 - Nintendo Switch Online
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time	Port	Nintendo 64	10/25/21	1998	Nintendo 64 - Nintendo Switch Online
Winback (Operation Winback)	Port	Nintendo 64	10/25/21	1999	Nintendo 64 - Nintendo Switch Online
Yoshi's Story	Port	Nintendo 64	10/25/21	1997	Nintendo 64 - Nintendo Switch Online
Castlevania: Bloodlines	Port	Sega Genesis	10/25/21	1994	Sega Genesis - Nintendo Switch Online
Contra: Hard Corps	Port	Sega Genesis	10/25/21	1994	Sega Genesis - Nintendo Switch Online
Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine	Port	Sega Genesis	10/25/21	1993	Sega Genesis - Nintendo Switch Online
Ecco the Dolphin	Port	Sega Genesis	10/25/21	1993	Sega Genesis - Nintendo Switch Online
Golden Axe	Port	Sega Genesis	10/25/21	1989	Sega Genesis - Nintendo Switch Online
Gunstar Heroes	Port	Sega Genesis	10/25/21	1993	Sega Genesis - Nintendo Switch Online
M.U.S.H.A. (Musha Aleste)	Port	Sega Genesis	10/25/21	1990	Sega Genesis - Nintendo Switch Online
Phantasy Star IV	Port	Sega Genesis	10/25/21	1993	Sega Genesis - Nintendo Switch Online
Puyo Puyo	Port	Sega Genesis	10/25/21	1992	Mega Drive - Nintendo Switch Online
Ristar	Port	Sega Genesis	10/25/21	1995	Sega Genesis - Nintendo Switch Online
Shining Force	Port	Sega Genesis	10/25/21	1992	Sega Genesis - Nintendo Switch Online
Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master	Port	Sega Genesis	10/25/21	1993	Sega Genesis - Nintendo Switch Online
Sonic the Hedgehog 2	Port	Sega Genesis	10/25/21	1992	Sega Genesis - Nintendo Switch Online
Streets of Rage 2	Port	Sega Genesis	10/25/21	1992	Sega Genesis - Nintendo Switch Online
Strider	Port	Sega Genesis	10/25/21	1990	Sega Genesis - Nintendo Switch Online
Abarenbo Tengu & Zombie Nation	Port	NES	10/28/21	1990
Black Widow: Recharged	Remake	Arcade	10/28/21	1982
Tiger-Heli	Port	Arcade	10/28/21 (Japan)	1985	Toaplan Arcade Garage: Kyukyoku Tiger-Heli
Tiger-Heli	Port	NES	10/28/21 (Japan)	1986	Toaplan Arcade Garage: Kyukyoku Tiger-Heli
Twin Cobra (Kyukyoku Tiger)	Port	Arcade	10/28/21 (Japan)	1987	Toaplan Arcade Garage: Kyukyoku Tiger-Heli
Twin Cobra (Kyukyoku Tiger)	Port	NES	10/28/21 (Japan)	1989	Toaplan Arcade Garage: Kyukyoku Tiger-Heli
Twin Cobra (Kyukyoku Tiger)	Port	PC Engine	10/28/21 (Japan)	1989	Toaplan Arcade Garage: Kyukyoku Tiger-Heli
Twin Cobra (Kyukyoku Tiger)	Port	Sega Genesis	10/28/21 (Japan)	1991	Toaplan Arcade Garage: Kyukyoku Tiger-Heli
Guardian (Get Star)	Port	Arcade	10/28/21 (Japan)	1986	Toaplan Arcade Garage: Kyukyoku Tiger-Heli
Disney's Aladdin	Port	SNES	Fall 2021	1993	Disney Classic Games Collection
Disney's The Jungle Book	Port	SNES	Fall 2021	1994	Disney Classic Games Collection
Disney's The Jungle Book	Port	Sega Genesis	Fall 2021	1994	Disney Classic Games Collection
Disney's The Jungle Book	Port	Game Boy	Fall 2021	1994	Disney Classic Games Collection
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic	Port	PC	11/11/21	2003
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond	Remake	Nintendo DS	11/19/21	2006
Pokemon Shining Pearl	Remake	Nintendo DS	11/19/21	2006
Advance Wars	Remake	GBA	12/03/21	2001	Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re-Boot Camp
Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising	Remake	GBA	12/03/21	2003	Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re-Boot Camp
Monster Rancher	Port	PS1	12/03/21	1997	Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX
Monster Rancher 2	Port	PS1	12/03/21	1999	Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX
Valis: The Fantasm Soldier	Port	PC Engine CD	12/09/21 (Japan)	1992	Valis: The Fantasm Soldier Collection
Valis II	Port	PC Engine CD	12/09/21 (Japan)	1989	Valis: The Fantasm Soldier Collection
Valis III	Port	PC Engine CD	12/09/21 (Japan)	1990	Valis: The Fantasm Soldier Collection
Makai Kingdom: Reclaimed and Rebound	Port	PS2	Spring 2022	2005	Prinny Presents NIS Classics Vol. 2
Z.H.P. Unlosing Ranger vs Darkdeath Evilman	Port	PSP	Spring 2022	2010	Prinny Presents NIS Classics Vol. 2

Announced Releases

GAME	TYPE	O.PLATFORM	O.YEAR	COLLECTION
Banjo-Kazooie	Port	Nintendo 64	1998	Nintendo 64 - Nintendo Switch Online
Clockwork Aquario	Revival	Arcade	Unreleased
Custom Robo 64	Port	Nintendo 64	1999	Nintendo 64 - Nintendo Switch Online
F-Zero X	Port	Nintendo 64	1998	Nintendo 64 - Nintendo Switch Online
Grand Theft Auto 3	Remaster	PS2	2001	Grand Theft Auto Trilogy
Grand Theft Auto San Andreas	Remaster	PS2	2004	Grand Theft Auto Trilogy
Grand Theft Auto Vice City	Remaster	PS2	2002	Grand Theft Auto Trilogy
House of the Dead	Remake	Arcade	1996
Joe & Mac: Caveman Ninja	Remake	Arcade	1991
Kingpin: Reloaded	Remaster	PC	1999
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards	Port	Nintendo 64	2000	Nintendo 64 - Nintendo Switch Online
Knights in the Nightmare	Remaster	PSP	2010
Mario Golf	Port	Nintendo 64	1999	Nintendo 64 - Nintendo Switch Online
Mega Turrican	Port	Mega Drive	1994	Turrican Anthology Vol. II
Mega Turrican Director's Cut	Revival	Mega Drive	Unreleased	Turrican Anthology Vol. II
Nightmare Busters: Rebirth	Revival	SNES	Unreleased
Panzer Dragoon II Zwei	Remake	Sega Saturn	1996
Paper Mario	Port	Nintendo 64	2000	Nintendo 64 - Nintendo Switch Online
Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties	Port	3DO	1994
Pocky & Rocky	Remaster	SNES	1992
Pokemon Snap	Port	Nintendo 64	1999	Nintendo 64 - Nintendo Switch Online
Rise of the Triad Remastered	Remaster	PC	1994
Shadow Man: Remastered	Remaster	PC	1999
Sonic & Knuckles	Port	Sega Genesis	1994	Sonic Origins
Sonic CD	Port	Sega CD	1993	Sonic Origins
Sonic the Hedgehog	Port	Sega Genesis	1991	Sonic Origins
Sonic the Hedgehog 2	Port	Sega Genesis	1992	Sonic Origins
Sonic the Hedgehog 3	Port	Sega Genesis	1994	Sonic Origins
Super Turrican	Port	SNES	1993	Turrican Anthology Vol. I
Super Turrican 2	Port	SNES	1995	Turrican Anthology Vol. II
Super Turrican Director's Cut	Revival	SNES	Unreleased	Turrican Anthology Vol. I
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask	Port	Nintendo 64	2000	Nintendo 64 - Nintendo Switch Online
Turrican	Port	Amiga	1990	Turrican Anthology Vol. I
Turrican II: The Final Fight	Port	Amiga	1991	Turrican Anthology Vol. I
Turrican III: Payment Day	Port	Amiga	1993	Turrican Anthology Vol. II
Xtreme Sports	Port	Game Boy Color	2000

 

[tolkir]

Release List
2021 - September


Other Retro STs
Nintendo 64 |ST| Appreciation & Collecting Thread

 

[randomengine]

Looks great. Hoping to follow this more in the future.

 

[MRC-OSF]

Awesome....always enjoyed and appreciated your eshop threads!

 

[Tendo]

Just want to chime in that if you like shmups or other arcade games there are some great ones on here. The psikyo collections, last resort, aerofighters, pulstar, cave games etc.

The ACA archive series are all fantastic. I own a ton of their neogeo and arcade games. Johnny's turbo arcade ports are great as well.

Tons of great options on the system if you like em!

 

[Josh5890]

Great thread. Will follow for sure!

 

[Leo]

I grabbed the Castlevania Anniversary Collection a while ago when it was really cheap, will be my first time playing most of those games, I've only played the Igavanias and IV.

I'm itching to get the GBA Collection too, but will wait until it's on sale since I wouldnt play them right now. Hope they will patch in some filters by the time I get to it.

 

[Ray00101]

Zombie Nation from City Connection was recently announced as well.

 

[Brofield]

Thank you for the distinction between port/remaster/remake. I can understand why they're often used interchangeably, but I hope that with enough course correction that line of thinking stops and makes it easier to differentiate between releases.

Sincerely hope more Gamecube games beyond Super Monkey Ball get announced/released soon.

 

[Ray00101]

Also, not sure if it belongs here but apparently a working Saturn Emulator was found in the code of the recent Guardian Force port for Switch.

Hidden Sega Saturn emulator found inside Cotton Guardian Force Saturn Tribute on Switch

Play Sega Saturn on the Go

realotakugamer.com

 

[Sailor Moon]

Heck yeah, watching

 

[tolkir]

Also, not sure if it belongs here but apparently a working Saturn Emulator was found in the code of the recent Guardian Force port for Switch.

Hidden Sega Saturn emulator found inside Cotton Guardian Force Saturn Tribute on Switch

Play Sega Saturn on the Go

realotakugamer.com

Good to know. Supposedly, the Saturn Tribute games have +8 frames of input lag because of this. We'll see if they can fix it.

There's a new video of the Cotton sequel, Cotton Rock'n'Roll. It's not a retro game but it's a sequel of a retro IP keeping the old gameplay.

It'll release this Christmas in Japan, zero news about a Western launch for now.
Umihara Kawase character is playable in the game.

 

[tolkir]

Arcade Archives game of this week is Rally X.

One of the first arcade games of Namco. They released 4 Namco games on the last 4 weeks.
They must have gotten some kind of agreement.

More news: Microids just announced a new game of Joe & Mac. They're going to remake the arcade levels and make new ones.

Microids announces Joe & Mac: Caveman Ninja for consoles, PC - Gematsu

Publisher Microids and developer Mr. Nutz Studio have announced Joe & Mac: Caveman Ninja for consoles and PC. It will launch in 2022. Specific consoles were not announced. Here is an overview of the…

www.gematsu.com

I'm thinking to add a new type of games named Revival. A lot of games are coming back after >10 years keeping the old formula.
Cruis’n Blast, Street of Rage 4, Sonic Mania, New Pokemon Snap, Ghost 'n Goblins Resurrection, etc.

 

[Koren Lesthe]

Missing the Turrican Flashback (released 29th January 2021) & Turrican Anthology Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 (release date unknown).

Note :
The compilations are being done by Ratalaika Games, ININ Games and the Factor 5 team at Epic Games Cologne. The « unknown » release date for the both Anthology volumes is because the devs are adding a new function for all the games and Factor 5 -who is directly working on the Score Attack games- isn’t satisfied with the actual status of the games and restarted the Score Attack games from scratch.

Here’s the content :
Turrican Flashback :
Turrican I (Amiga, 1990)
Turrican II (Amiga, 1991)
Super Turrican (SNES, 1993)
Mega Turrican (Genesis, 1994)

Turrican Anthology Vol. 1 :
Turrican 1 (Amiga, 1990)
Turrican 2 (Amiga, 1991)
Super Turrican (SNES, 1993)
Super Turrican Director's Cut (Analogue SuperNT, 7th February 2018)
Mega Turrican Score Attack (Genesis/Mega Drive - 2021/2022)

Turrican Anthology Vol. 2 :
Turrican 3 (Amiga, 1993)
Mega Turrican (Genesis, 1994)
Mega Turrican Director's Cut (Genesis/Mega Drive, 2021/2022)
Super Turrican 2 (SNES, 1995)
Super Turrican 1 Score Attack (SNES, 2021/2022)


EDIT :
Awesome thread by the way, definitly watching it

 

[ITSMILNER]

Mentioned this elsewhere but I would love for Capcom to port the Gamecube versions of Resident Evil 2 & 3 to Switch, just update the assets and boom!

Also, I still need to pick up James Pond on Switch one day

 

[tolkir]

I'll do a table summary at the end of each month so I can remove rows on the OP. Last one was:

September 2021 releases

GAME	TYPE	O.PLATFORM	DATE	O.YEAR	COLLECTION
Usaaf Mustang	Port	Arcade	09/02/21	1990	Arcade Archives
Sonic Colors: Ultimate	Remaster	Wii	09/07/21	2010
Boulder Dash Deluxe	Remake	Arcade	09/09/21	1984
Pop Flamer	Port	Arcade	09/09/21	1982	Arcade Archives
Espgaluda II	Port	Arcade	09/09/21	2005
Soldam	Port	Arcade	09/16/21	1992	Arcade Archives
Mystia2	Port	Mobile	09/16/21 (Japan)	2005	G-Mode Archives
Diablo II: Resurrected	Remaster	PC	09/23/21	2000
Flyhight Cloudia 4	Port	Mobile	09/23/21 (Japan)	2009	G-Mode Archives
Pac-Man	Port	Arcade	09/24/21	1980	Arcade Archives
Xevious	Port	Arcade	09/24/21	1982	Arcade Archives
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon	Port	Game Boy Advance	09/24/21	2001	Castlevania Advance Collection
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance	Port	Game Boy Advance	09/24/21	2002	Castlevania Advance Collection
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow	Port	Game Boy Advance	09/24/21	2003	Castlevania Advance Collection
ActRaiser Renaissance	Remake	SNES	09/24/21	1990
G-Darius HD	Remaster	Arcade	09/28/21	1997
Centipede: Recharged	Remake	Arcade	09/29/21	1981
Typhoon Gal	Port	Arcade	09/30/21	1985	Arcade Archives
Cotton 2: Saturn Tribute	Port	Sega Saturn	09/30/21	1997
Cotton Boomerang: Saturn Tribute	Port	Sega Saturn	09/30/21	1998
Guardian Force: Saturn Tribute	Port	Sega Saturn	09/30/21	1998
ExZeus	Remaster	Arcade	09/30/21	2003	ExZeus: The Complete Collection
Ketsui: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi DX	Port	Mobile	09/30/21 (Japan)	2006	G-Mode Archives

 

[Abzeronow]

Mappy is also going to be coming to Arcade Archives.

 

[Celine]

This promise to be a very useful thread for me.

tolkir I didn't had the chance to thank you for all your great efforts on the eshop threads due to me leaving Era after the whole Media Create fiasco so I take the chance to do so now:

Thank you!

 

[Koren Lesthe]

Hoshi Wo Miru Hito (1987, Hot-B), aka StarGazer on the Famicom, has been re-released on the Japanese Switch eShop.
It is also known as one of the worst, if not THE worst JRPG of all time. The studio preferred to outsource the game to a single developper, who had zero experience in JRPGs and had to rush everything with an almost impossible deadline. The studio wanted to surf on the Dragon Quest ride and… well, it didn’t end well (keep in mind that JRPGs were a new thing back then)

It is also known as the « Legendary shit game » in Japan (Densetsu no Kusoge). It is amazing how bad it is, on every single point. You should give a watch to the Games Done Quick speedrun of the game ^^

An article on Hardcore Gaming 101 :

Hoshi wo Miru Hito – Hardcore Gaming 101

www.hardcoregaming101.net

 

[Krvavi Abadas]

Hoshi Wo Miru Hito (1987, Hot-B), aka StarGazer on the Famicom, has been re-released on the Japanese Switch eShop.
It is also known as one of the worst, if not THE worst JRPG of all time. The studio preferred to outsource the game to a single developper, who had zero experience in JRPGs and had to rush everything with an almost impossible deadline. The studio wanted to surf on the Dragon Quest ride and… well, it didn’t end well (keep in mind that JRPGs were a new thing back then)

It is also known as the « Legendary shit game » in Japan (Densetsu no Kusoge). It is amazing how bad it is, on every single point. You should give a watch to the Games Done Quick speedrun of the game ^^

An article on Hardcore Gaming 101 :

Hoshi wo Miru Hito – Hardcore Gaming 101

www.hardcoregaming101.net

Fun Fact: The team working on that port did an actual fan-art competition (Last option on the top menu) for creating border art.
I even made a joke submission for it, though it didn't make the finals.

You can at least see the devs considering it, though. (look beside the person holding their hand up towards one of the entries.)

 

[Koren Lesthe]

Fun Fact: The team working on that port did an actual fan-art competition (Last option on the top menu) for creating border art.
I even made a joke submission for it, though it didn't make the finals.

You can at least see the devs considering it, though. (look beside the person holding their hand up towards one of the entries.)

Amazing ! I wasn’t aware of this !
I really wished they did at least an english translation. From what I heard, the game was about to be released in all region eShops but at the very last moment, the website displayed a message that the game would be a Japan only exclusive.

 

[SlightlyMadGames]

Please don't forget the Street Fighter: 30th Anniversary Collection

 

[tolkir]

Please don't forget the Street Fighter: 30th Anniversary Collection

I thing that I don't forget anything, so the OP is already finished.
Maybe if people want, some random weeks, I could make some special tables of big publishers like Capcom, Square-Enix or Nintendo, or tables of an individual console to remind games already available.

 

[tolkir]

Looks like we're going to have a new Virtual Console by Hamster.

Square Enix trademarks The Divine Force in Japan, Hamster trademarks Console Archives - Gematsu

Square Enix filed a trademark for "The Divine Force" on October 5 in Japan, which was made public today. Additionally, Hamster Corporation, which regularly re-releases old arcade games for PlayStation…

www.gematsu.com

Are Enix SNES games getting re-released finally? We'll see.


In other news, two more Cotton games announced for the next week.

Cotton 100% SNES version

Panorama Cotton Mega Drive version.

Price is €14.99 each one.