We love it when classic NES / Famicom games just seem to prance onto the Switch eShop with no prior warning (though we just happened to miss the warning for this one - cheers, Time Extension). This time, two classic Jaleco games have made their way onto the hybrid console courtesy of publisher City Connection: Pinball Quest and Yokai Club, both developed by Tose.
For those unfamiliar, Jaleco was a prominent force in the days of the Famicom, putting out dozens of console and arcade titles as far back as 1982. It would eventually go on to file bankruptcy in 2014 and its assets subsequently transfered over to City Connection. And now here we are!
The first title, Pinball Quest, is a curious game that combines pinball gameplay with RPG mechanics. There are six stages in the 'RPG Mode', and this new release adds in modern quality-of-life additions such as rewind, achievements, subtitles, and quick save. You can also access a gallery feature to view scanned manuals and more.
The second, Yokai Club, is kind of similar to Castlevania in the sense that you explore 2D side-scrolling environments and take out creepy, gothic ghosts and ghouls. Again, this one boasts the same modern features as Pinball Quest, which should make the old-school challenge a bit more palatable.
We'll be honest, we're not really keen on the UI with some of the screenshots on these titles, but it sounds like you can customise the experience and get rid of some of the distracting clutter.
Both titles are available to download now at the slightly discounted price of $7.19 / £6.47 each.
Are you keen on checking out these Famicom titles on the Switch? Let us know your thoughts with a comment down below.
Comments 23
Oof, that price seems a bit steep for a single game. I hope they release a bundle or compilation at some point.
"We'll be honest, we'll not really keen on the UI with some of the screenshots on these titles, but it sounds like you can customise the experience and get rid of some of the distracting clutter."
If I can't make the borders black or at least a mostly solid dark color, I won't play. (looking at you, "Collection of Mana" 😔)
Having a static (or worse, moving!) image in the margins around a complete and self contained game makes zero sense to me and looks not good. It's juvenile design, and it adds nothing in any case I've ever seen.
Even in the case of arcade games, where some devs are tempted to put "banner" type artwork along the edges, it's just not right! The artwork on an arcade cab generally does not edge up right next to the first pixel of the display, 1, and 2, it certainly doesnt compete with the game content for brightness!
I'm very interested in this Pinball RPG, so I'm glad to hear about the options to customize the UI, though I'm hoping obv to get rid of ALL the distracting clutter! Thanks for preview. 👍
The princess-rescuing business is really booming, huh. Maybe I should invest some shares in it.
These should be free through NSO. Over seven bucks each lol
As the resident City Connection stalker, I will angrily say that there WAS plenty of warning. They've been hyping up these releases, first of two in a series of ten for months now on Twitter. You guys need to be following ClariseDisk.
@canaryfarmer @Waluigi451 These games are compilations. The series of 10 will be both Famicom/Disk System and NES versions, both with new localizations for the other version. Plus galleries in each release. There will be a combo pack release at some point, but it's yet to be seen how those will be split.
Ohh...Jaleco. 😐 The only game i liked of theres is Whomp Em. I'll pass.
@Lightsiyd haha!
Oof, those are some steep prices for old games... Gonna be a hard pass for me.
Interesting, will consider getting them myself at some point and even more so after hearing that the Japanese versions, galleries etc. are included (thanks @Zeebor15)!
Unless it's an expression I've never heard of, there's a typo @Olliemar28, "we'll not really keen".
@-wc- I bought Pinball Quest and you can have an all black border, and turn off the extras like the timer.
@PKDuckman
thank you! ♥️
@JohnnyMind
They will only kind of keen but not really.
Played thru Pinball Quest last week when it dropped and had a good time with it. Physics aren't great (like most NES era pinball games), but the RPG Mode progression was very fun and unique.
Uses the same wrapper as City Connection's other NES/Famicom re-releases like Zombie Nation and Hebereke, but it's quite feature complete and the borders are fully customizable (including multiple artwork options for people who are into that thing and you can choose which if any side widgets to add or remove). Bought Yokai Club yesterday, definitely gonna give it a look!
Possibly my favorite thing about the Switch is the absolute treasure trove of NES/Famicom games getting re-released, oftentimes for the first time officially in English. We got "Kid Dracula" in Castlevania Anniversary Collection, "Splatterhouse Wanpaku Graffiti" in Namco Museum Archives, SIX Ninja JaJaMaru games in the Ninja JaJaMaru: The Great Yokai Battle Deluxe Edition, and ELEVEN (?!) dang Kunio-Kun titles translated into English on the Double Dragon & Kunio-Kun Retro Brawler Bundle. Not to mention games like Devil World and Mysterious Murasame Castle on NSO. The list goes on and on and as an NES fanboy thru and thru I AM HERE FOR ALL OF IT.
Nice! I remember Pinball Quest and would like the chance to try the other one out.
I anticipated the Pinball Quest release and pre-ordered it with a bunch of Club Nintendo gold coins I'd been hoarding. I am really enjoying it! I'd say it's still worth the $8 U.S. if you like quirky video pinball games with unsophisticated physics.
Pinball Quest gets a lot of talk, so now I'll get my chance. Not so into Yokai, so I'm looking forward to the other 8 releases.
@whitespy12 Same here. There's also the upcoming Sunsoft Retro Selection with some brand new localisations. I also got the Namcot Collection off the Japanese eshop but not all games are translated unfortunately.
@whitespy12
Yup, loving all of old Japan-exclusives getting re-released!
I have everything you listed except I didn't get the Great Yokai Battle collection because I just wanted the old games, so I got the other collection without the new one.
But did you get the Ninja JaJaMaru: The Lost RPGs collection? I don't believe that is included in the Great Yokai Battle Deluxe collection.
Hmm...maybe I should give the new Great Yokai Battle game another look. It was just 80% off, that would be enough to entice me.
@MontyCircus You are correct, I completely misremembered that The Lost RPGs was a separate purchase (since I bought them all at the same time it felt like a complete package to me). Out of curiosity, when you buy the Retro Collection alone, is it still labeled as The Great Yokai Battle Bonus Content? The icon being essentially the same as Yokai Battle always bugged me.
Speaking of The Great Yokai Battle, I recommend it! It's a hyped up take on the original game and I had a ton of fun with it (still haven't beaten the last few stages in Hell mode though. It gets brutally intense). Definitely worth it at 80% off imo.
Personally would have loved to see Dragon Seeds brought on.
@canaryfarmer
It’s not free though. It costs $20 or $50 yearly so buying them is actually the better bargain.
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