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Six more import PS1 games slated for PSN release
Publisher GungHo Online America continues its campaign to bring under-the-radar, import-only classics to North America, announcing that six more Japanese-language PSOne games will hit the PlayStation Network soon. The company's upcoming re-releases include the Recettear-like item shop RPG Dungeon Shoutenkai: Densetsu no Ken Hajimemashita, pinball game Dragon Beat Legend of Pinball, terrain-shaping planetary simulation Neo Planet, oddball rock-paper-scissors action-RPG Tokyo 23ku Seifuku-Wars and idol-raising strategy games Heroine Dream and Heroine Dream 2. GungHo hopes to "bring over as many PSOne Classics as possible," and previously spearheaded North American releases for games like Zanac X Zanac and Makeruna Makendo 2. GungHo's PSOne import games are priced at $5.99 apiece. [Image: GungHo]
Tomba 2 caps off latest PSOne retro batch from MonkeyPaw
Niche-focused publisher MonkeyPaw Games has revealed a slate of six classic PSOne games set to launch digitally via the PlayStation Network through January and February. The studio's Retro Rush campaign will conclude on February 18 with the PSN re-release of Tomba 2: The Evil Swine Return, a cult-favorite platformer originally released in 1999. MonkeyPaw previously oversaw a PSN reissue of the original Tomba back in 2012. Building up to Tomba 2's return, MonkeyPaw will launch a new PSOne import game weekly, starting with tomorrow's release of Double Dragon. No, it's probably not the Double Dragon that you're thinking of – it's a port of a Neo Geo fighter loosely based on the 1994 film adaptation of Double Dragon, not the original 1987 arcade game. MonkeyPaw will finish out January with PSN releases for Toshiba EMI's beat-'em-up Lucifer Ring and Human's firefighting sim The Firemen 2: Pete and Danny. February will see the release of Nichibutsu's arcade revamp Hyper Crazy Climber and Data East's horizontally scrolling shoot-'em-up Wolf Fang before Tomba 2 hits on February 18.
PSOne Imports get extra challenging this week
Looking for a new challenge from an old game? Gungho Online Entertainment has a new batch of PSOne Imports this week, which includes Sentimental Graffiti, a dating game that is, as far as we know, untranslated. Do you dare attempt to scale the walls of Japanese text?You can also try your kanji dictionary skills with RPGs First Queen IV, Rung Rung: Oz no Mahou Tsukai, and Favorite Dear: Enkan no Monogatari. For a full-on language and culture shock, here's a mahjong game, Mahjong Uranai Fortuna: Tukino Megamitachi. Or a more familiar (but still Japanese) card game, Trump Shiyouyo!Somehow, the DICE-developed racing game, Motorhead, got mixed in with these imports, all coming Tuesday.
GungHo on its new PSOne import initiative
Welcome to Living in the Past, a weekly column about what's new in old games. Now get off our lawn. Last week, GungHo Online Entertainment America joined the ranks of PSOne Imports publishers with a bumper crop of six Japanese games, all available on the PlayStation Store for $5.99 each. Since it's so rare – an initiative only taken to heart by MonkeyPaw Games in the past, and one that requires extensive licensing work for a potentially niche product – I asked Gungho president and CEO Jun Iwasaki about the company's plans."We are hoping to bring over as many PSOne Classics as possible," Iwasaki, who previously ran XSEED, told me, "but oftentimes these releases require license deals." He explained that the somewhat unusual collection of games, ranging from shooter collection Zanac X Zanac to dekotora board game Art Camion Sugorokuden, wasn't curated according to some unifying theme. "We were able to secure the licenses for these particular PSOne Classics, so we went ahead and released them first."So far, Zanac x Zanac seems to be getting the most attention out of the six titles," Iwasaki added.
Gungho releases six PSOne imports
Joining the esteemed ranks of Capcom and MonkeyPaw Games and nobody else ever, publisher Gungho Online America has released a suite of weird, random Japanese games to the PSOne Imports Store on the PlayStation Network.The six simultaneous releases include shmup compilation Zanac X Zanac, Kendo Rage sequel Makeruna Makendo 2, mech vehicle combat game Vehicle Cavalier, Art Camion Sugorokuden – a board game about the garish "dekotora" trucks in Japan – and no fewer than two games with stars in their titles, the match-three puzzle game/platformer hybrid Lup★Salad and the action rock-paper-scissors game Finger★Flashing.All six will be available on PSN today when the store updates, for $5.99 each.%Gallery-172607%
