Retro Re-release Roundup, week of September 17, 2026

Castles, dungeons and trails.

GSK September 17, 2026 4:10 AM Read +

I almost feel compelled to lead off with a shout-out to Marvel's Wolverine, a game that feels like a retro (in the accurate sense, not the "we misused this term decades ago and are married to it" sense) throwback to the days of perfunctory licensed titles thrown together from the scraps of other, more interesting games. Now, I tend to think it probably wasn't worth spending hundreds of millions of dollars and centuries of manhours to bring this game to the world, but Sony clearly knows a few things we don't.

ARCADE ARCHIVES / ARCADE ARCHIVES 2

Mr Do.'s Castle

• Platform: Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X (worldwide, ACA2) / Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 (worldwide, ACA)
• Price: $9.99 / €8.99 / £7.39 (ACA2), $7.99 / €6.99 / £6.29 (ACA), $2.99 / €2.99 / £2.49 (ACA-to-ACA2 upgrade)
• Publisher: Hamster / Universal

What's this? A side-view maze action game starring Universal's breakout mascot Mr.Do!, originally developed and distributed in arcades by Universal in 1983, with home versions produced for MSX, Atari 2600 & 5200, Colecovision, Apple II and Sharp X68000 and an emulated reissue made available on the Japanese Wii Virtual Console. Players control the hammer-wielding Mr.Do across eight vertically-oriented stages, with the goal of either destroying all the cherry-adorned blocks places around a stage, eliminating the "unicorns" that stalk the stage, collecting the diamond or triggering and completing the E-X-T-R-A extend bonus; the player is able to create holes by hammering down the blocks that comprise each platform, and enemies can be defeated by dropping them down holes and/or crushing them with hammered blocks.

Why should I care? You want to play a game that encapsulates the two most defining traits of the Mr.Do! series — those being big genre/format shifts from title to title, as well as the retention of signature scoring mechanics across otherwise-disparate sequels — or you're a Space Panic fan that never knew that game has a once-removed sequel. (You might also want to honor Jeremy by celebrating yet another game that exists in the monumental shadow of Heiankyo Alien.)

Helpful tip: Much like the original Mr.Do!, this game received several marked and unmarked revisions spanning the Japanese and international builds, and the two versions present here offer significant differences, with the international version offered here containing several additional systems over the early Japanese version; accordingly, the caravan mode offers seperate entries for either version.

Dacholer

• Platform: Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox, PC via Xbox Play Anywhere (worldwide, ACA2)
• Price: $9.99 / €8.99 / £7.39 (ACA2), $2.99 / €2.99 / £2.49 (ACA-to-ACA2 upgrade)
• Publisher: Hamster / Nichibutsu

What's this? An overhead fixed-screen action game, originally developed and distributed in arcades by Nichibutsu in 1983 and quickly revised as Kick Boy soon after; the player is tasked with clearing each stage of its various roaming enemies by hitting them with a particular ball-esque enemy (Dacholer's turtle, or Kick Boy's plain ol' ball) which can be kicked in a cardinal direction when stationary.

Why should I care? You want a convenient way to A/B how a simple game can jump a letter grade in quality between revisions with just a few simple tweaks, but also just how important a charming aesthetic is to getting players to stick with a game.

Helpful tip: Just look at this flyer, dudes.

CONSOLE ARCHIVES

Crazy Climber (Famicom)

• Platform: Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5 (worldwide)
• Price: $11.99 / €10.99 / £9.89
• Publisher: Hamster / Nichibutsu

What's this? The Famicom version of Nichibutsu's flagship 1980 twin-stick skyscraper-climing arcade game, originally produced and published in 1985; in addition to augmenting the original experiences with additional music, extra stages and items, redone mechanics and a conventional side-scrolling stage, this port famously replicated the original twin-stick controls by requiring players to hold their two Famicom controllers vertically in each hand and manipulate each d-pad with the help of the included "Climber Stick" attachments, which this reissue simulates via dual-analog controls or the button mapping of your choice.

Why should I care? You want to stand a chance of enjoying a conversion that was very, very difficult to enjoy under the intended conditions.

EGG CONSOLE

Deep Dungeon II (MSX)

• Platform: Nintendo Switch (worldwide)
• Price: $7.34 / ¥880
• Publisher: D4 Enterprise / Humming Bird Soft

What's this? The 1988 MSX conversion of the 1987 sequel to Humming Bird Soft's 3D dungeon-crawling RPG Deep Dungeon, originally developed for the Famicom Disk System and published by Square label DOG; this game iterates on the relatively streamlined systems of its predecessor, with the most notable difference being the addition of above-ground areas in addition to the underground dungeons, and a central town that the MSX version exclusively rendered via top-down Dragon Quest-esque visuals.

Why should I care? You're looking for a simple-but-not-stupid Wizardry-esque dungeon crawler, and you want to spare yourself the disappointment of the later and much weaker console-exclusive entries by specifically sticking to the MSX games.

Language barrier? Most everything is rendered in simple kana, and while there is a little more choice-and-consequence to some of the dialog, you could probably still futz your way through most of the game by memorizing the menus.

G-MODE ARCHIVES+

Ridge Racer

• Platform: PC via Steam (worldwide)
• Price: $7.99 or equivalent
• Publisher: G-MODE / Bandai-Namco

What's this? The 2005 feature phone conversion of Namco's beloved 1993 arcade racing game Ridge Racer, known equally well by its launch-title port for the original PlayStation; this version retains the fully 3D underpinnings and camera-change options of the original and offers the four default vehicles from the PlayStation version alongside the requisite multi-opponent Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced courses as well as the 1v1 Time Trial mode.

Why should I care? You want to see what constituted a massive flex for the phone game devs of the era, and you're enchanted by the MIDI renditions of Ridge Racer's classic tunes.

Helpful tip: Beating the three difficulties will unlock all the extra cars.

PLAYSTATION PREMIUM

September '26 update: Mega Man X Command Mission (PlayStation 2)

What're these? The sole RPG in Capcom's Mega Man X subseries, originally developed and published by Capcom for the Nintendo Gamecube and PlayStation 2 across 2004/5; set long after the events of Mega Man X7, this game offers a story-driven experience that introduces a large handful of unique companions for X and co. and reimagines many of the X-series staple mechanics and conventions within the framework of a more-or-less-turn-based RPG.

Why should I care? Despite being obviously unfinished, Command Mission represents both a sensible adaptation of Mega Man X to the RPG format and a vessel for the type of more involved storytelling that quickly hit a very low ceiling in the mainline series; it's also one that doesn't immediately sideline X for Zero, which I'm sure many will appreciate. (One piece of advice: the faster you move, the higher the already-kinda-high encounter rate.)

Standalone availability? Keeping in line with recent trends, you can buy this one for the equivalent of $10, no PS+ required. (Also keeping with recent trends: no trophies, because Capcom doesn't care to offer them.)

OTHER

Trails in the Sky: 2nd Chapter

• Platform: PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PC via Steam (worldwide)
• Price: $64.99 or equivalent (Switch 20 / $59.99 or equivalent (PS/Switch/PC)
• Publisher:Nihon Falcom / Gung-ho

What's this? A full remake of Falcom's 2006 RPG The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC, originally released for PC in Japan and followed by ports to PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita, and smartphones, with the PSP and PC ports receiving a localized worldwide release via XSeed in 2015; this version recreates the game with full 3D visuals and adopts both the engine and a version of the combat system seen in 2022's Trials through Daybreak II (not to mention the prior 1st Chapter remake), additional side-chapters, minigames, recruitable party members, bonuses for completing the first remake and more. (There is a demo, and beating that will give you bonuses and save transfer, too.)

Why should I care? I absolutely did not play the prior remake for the same reasons I fell off the original series — these are excruciatingly long, text-dense and occasionally plodding games for which I only have so much appetite, and the idea of restarting a series I'd barely began seemed a bridge too far — but I feel secure in saying that if you played the first remake, you will be amply satisfied by this one, as the original SC felt like a game that made good on all the promise of the first one and, perhaps most importantly to some, closed off the story in a place where one could realistically stop playing and feel satisfied without every touching the others.

Upgrade path? You can pay $5 to upgrade from Switch to Switch 2, and they've taken the increasingly ccmmon and never-not-annoying tack of slapping an extra $5 onto the price of the raw Switch 2 version as well, just because.

UPDATES UPDATES UPDATES

Torneko Mystery Dungeon Classic HD improvement patch (PC now, consoles ASAP)

Last week's surprise-drop remaster of the first-ever Mystery Dungeon was greet with two responses: immediate cries of elation, and wails of disappointment soon thereafter, due to the remaster's many glaring and immediate technical deficiencies (which may or may not be the fault of AI, but let's not open that can of worms). A week and a million negative reviews later, Square-Enix has present the first of what will ideally be many patches, which attempts to address some of the most oft-cited issues including inconsistent and inaccurate diagonal movement options, processing issues and general slowness related to text box rendering and more.

LIMITED-WINDOW HARDWARE ORDER

HORI Arcade Classic Pro (Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PC); orders open until October 2, ¥39,980

After several years of hinting, teasing, canvassing and (mostly) silence, veteran peripheral manufacturers HORI have finally committed to a release of the Arcade Classic Pro, a modular arcade controller that allows one to swap and equip specialty input devices on either side of the panel, including a standard 8-way joystick with a 4-way locking option, a trackball, a spinner and a rotary "loop lever" joystick. This controller is being designed and promoted in conjunction with the Arcade Archives series, and will be compatible with all relevant ACA releases (Ikari Warriors! Arkanoid! Syvalion!), and you'll of course be able to utilize it elsewhere with whichever USB-A, XInput-compatible setups you might have access to. Orders are currently Japan-only and extremely limited, but depending on demand, one has to imagine an international release, not to mention a PlayStation-compatible option, is a distinct possibility.