Hamster & Nintendo Team Up To Bring Arcade Classics To Nintendo Switch
OK, so we didn’t get any news on a traditional Virtual Console for the Nintendo Switch during today’s Nintendo Direct. However, we did get an announcement of something really cool: Arcade Archives. Nintendo has teamed up with Hamster, the company that’s been porting over NEO GEO games to the Switch since launch, to bring some of Nintendo’s classic arcade games to the Switch! This is awesome because so frequently we don’t get to play the actual arcade versions of Nintendo’s games – having to make due with the NES conversions.
The first one on the release schedule is the arcade version of Mario Bros. This is the classic two player co-op game where players must flip the enemies over and knock them off the screen. This one releases on September 27.
Other games in the works include: VS. Super Mario Bros., VS. Balloon Fight, VS. Ice Climber, VS. Pinball, and VS. Clu Clu Land. Now, we’re not surprised if some of you aren’t familiar with the VS. series of arcade games. Basically they were the NES games, but with two player simultaneous functionality built in. Check out our Warp Zone special feature we did on some of the arcade machines awhile back for some more insight.
Eagle-eyed watchers of the below video may have caught Punch-Out!! being shown as well. This would mark the first time we’re getting the arcade version of the game on a home console. Hopefully this is just the beginning and we get a full-fledged Virtual Console service in the near future.
Craig has been covering the video game industry since 1995. His work has been published across a wide spectrum of media sites. He’s currently the Editor-In-Chief of Nintendo Times and contributes to Gaming Age.
