Time for our regular roundup of the handful of “new” games I’m aware of that might interest the retro gaming enthusiast for the upcoming month, and at the very least I hope you enjoy a few trailers and snippets of info where I have them… Rather slim pickings again this month though, but to be expected given the time of year. I reckon some of what we are getting does make up for that a bit, so let’s take a look…
Kicking us off on the 4th of August, QUByte Classics: Thunderbolt Collection by PIKO brings what I think are NES and Mega Drive versions of the same game, which I also think is Thunderbolt II, but I’m really hoping the promised first-time English localisation is better than the press materials I’ve tried to decipher! Anyway, it’s a vertically scrolling shoot ‘em up, and the Mega Drive one at least is pretty cool. It’s coming to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation and Xbox and seems to cost £6.99.
Arcade Paradise is a literal arcade adventure, seeing you trying to turn your family laundromat into the ultimate nineties-inspired video game arcade. There’s 35 games to build and play, spanning early vector games up to 32-bit. It’s out on Switch, PS4/5 and PC on the 11th of August.
On August 26th we’ve got Pac-Man World Re-PAC on Nintendo Switch. I’m not sure that modernised mechanics and remastered visuals are enough to elevate this old 3D platformer from its current position close to the bottom of my Pac-rankings, and while a price hasn’t been announced as I write this, if it’s true to normal Bandai-Namco form I bet it won’t be cheap either!
Destroy All Humans! 2 – Reprobed comes to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC on 30th August, and is another remaster, this time of the 2006 PS2 and Xbox game. It’s an open world and beyond adventure, with a clone of your playable space invader from the first game back on Earth in 1969 looking for revenge against the KGB. I’ve had the remaster of the original for at least two years now and still haven’t touched it, so I’m not holding out much hope for getting this day one!
Finally this month, also on the 30th, we’ve got a big one in TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection. It’s out on everything, and for the $39.99 or equivalent asking price you’re getting no less than thirteen classic Ninja Turtles games spanning arcade, console and handheld. Local and multiplayer co-op too! The full list is looking like this:
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Arcade)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time (Arcade)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game (NES)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project (NES)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (NES)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles In Time (SNES)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (SNES)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist (Sega Genesis)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (Sega Genesis)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of The Foot Clan (Game Boy)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back From The Sewers (Game Boy)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Radical Rescue (Game Boy)
While nothing’s been announced yet as I write, there’s also been rumours of a Nintendo 64 Goldeneye remaster for Xbox and Switch for a while now, and it just so happens that the 25th is the 25 anniversary of the game’s release, so let’s see what happens! Otherwise, I hope you’ve enjoyed having a look at a few trailers this time, and surely business will pick up in September!
Retro Arcadia 