Hamster's Latest Retro Offering For Switch Is The Horizontal Shooter Magmax

Never heard of it but it looks fun

I had this WAY back in the day for the NES. Definitely not at the top of anyone's best lists, as there are essentially just two types of stages, and they are relatively short and simple. It's also a "hurry up and die so I can play" kind of two-player mode. I could see myself getting it for nostalgic reasons in a sale though.

I forgot I had this when I was a kid. I don't recognize those above g kind screens, in fact, this looks better than I remember. I definitely thought it was frustrating/not fun when I was little though...

I was a master of this game on Arcade Machine in late of the 80s... My personal record was about 300 000 points

And another one that was on PS4 but not on Switch until now. They want to keep increasing the Guinness record of consecutive weekly releases and the rating office in Japan is closed, so they'll keep releasing games already rated.

Really, it's a matter of time that the PS4 titles still unreleased on Switch end up coming. Except from Wonder Boy I think, because of a license nightmare, and maybe Super Dodge Ball for the same reason.

Wow! I remember playing the ZX Spectrum port of this back in the day.
It was fun, and collecting the parts to build your robot was a cool touch. The problem was that, since the game wasn't really in 3D, when you built the complete robot you presented a much bigger target to your enemies, so it was hard to keep the robot for long. Still, a fine shooter for its time.

Love all these arcade games coming, but wish we'd see some titles that are still missing like Arkanoid, Space Invaders and basically the entire Midway/Atari mid-late 80s lineup (Marble Madness, Robotron, Defender, Sinister, Paperboy, etc.)

That reminds me, Mad Max would be cool on switch

@Kochambra Mm, that's a potentially interesting risk-reward scenario, provided the developer builds the game around it. There's a retro indie from Argentina that plays around with that very mechanic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XgWLxxeeLw

@kingbk Oh, I would love Midway to get involved and bring their classics to Switch. And I'm waiting patiently for Namco Museum 2...

@GrailUK The amount of arcade ports coming to the Switch is very impressive, but these titles are glaring omissions. I know Warner Brothers now owns the rights to the Williams/Midway/post split Atari titles and they seem more interested in Lego games and Mortal Kombat. I think the last rerelease of their arcade titles was in 2012 with Midway Arcade Origins.

@Beaucine That's an interesting game! Shame it doesn't seem to be available on consoles or PC.
It reminds me of other classic shooters that played with that mechanic: Moon Cresta and Terra Cresta. And I just realized that both were also developed by Nichibutsu, same as Magmax. They used a similar mechanic in all of them: By collecting additional parts for your ship/robot, you get more firepower and a safeguard (if you're hit, you lose one of those parts instead of dying instantly), but you're easier to hit because you're bigger.

Well at least we got Wrecking Crew, now all I am really looking forward to is Sunset Riders. This is one of those okay looking classics, can't say it looks like the kind of game that I would really care to get into. I have a ton of old shoot-em-up style games and this has some interesting things going for it but ultimately it's an easy pass for me.

@kickyring The arcade version here has a line scrolling floor (think Street Fighter II, Ryu's or Zangief's stage), it really gives you a sense of 3D perspective as it moves. I played this in a newsstand that was no bigger than a bedroom back in the day, on one of those half height 13" screen cabinets. I was like, "Ooh, depth!" Then I rented the NES version and was severely disappointed. I don't think anyone was able to pull off the perspective floor effect on the NES until TMNT Tournament Fighters.

I'll probably still buy this since I love when old tech does cool next-gen effects. Well, next gen relative to when that hardware came out, that is. This an Tube Panic, definitely.

Wow...Takes me back. I remember playing this game.

Oh wow.... I think I remember this as being one of the very first games I ever rented.

@Moroboshi876 I seem to recall there being another PS4 Arcade Archives release that like Wonder Boy, never left Japan. So there may be another one that doesn't ever pop up on the Switch.

Edit: Judging by Wikipedia, there are three others that remain exclusive to Japan. Ark Area (UPL; 2017), Darius (Taito; 2016), and Mutant Night (UPL; 2017). I suspect Hamster's contracts might be restricting wider distribution of these as well. Particularly Darius.

Technically, Thunder Cross is one more that hasn't crossed the Pacific for a still Japanese exclusive PS4 Arcade Archives release, but the Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection has since included it. So I imagine that's more the cause than potential contractual limitations.

@masterLEON thanks for the info. Yeah I can see now that it's obviously not a NES port. Dare I say this actually looks like something I'd like to play?

@Atariboy Yes, you're right, but several releases were included the previously published SNK 40th Anniversary Collection, so you never know.

Anyway, I guess they'll release all the -for now- PS4 exclusives they can, because as I said they already have the rating approved since long ago, and that's what they seem they're doing anyway.

@kingbk I totally agree - I’ve been saying the only BIG gap we’re missing retro wise on Switch is that group of classics which we would need Warner Brothers to address being the owner of all those classic games and there’s a ton of them. Robotron 2084 is one of my favorites of all time!! Joust, Defender, Hydro Thunder, Paperboy, Gauntlet, Smash TV, San Francisco Rush and many others would be awesome on Switch! And just in case you didn’t know, all the “older” Atari Arcade classics can be had by grabbing a copy of the Atari Flashback Switch compilation which has such gems like Asteroids, Centipede, Millipede, Missle Command, Crystal Castles, warlords, Black Widow, Space Duel and Tempest to name a few!

@joey302 I picked up the Atari Flashback about a year or so ago. I could do without the 2600 ports, but love playing the arcade ports on it! Thanks for pointing that out.

@kingbk yea many 2600 games didn’t age well but I still do enjoy a few lol. I’d actually love to see the Activision 2600 Collection hit. A lot of those games are still great today like Pitfall, River Raid and Stampede was also a favorite of mine. 😊 was great on Playstation 2.

Would love a Mr. Do collection released for the Switch

@MikeManh : Hell yeah, that would be sick!

A minute of nothing in that video before showing gameplay? Who thought this video would be good?

@kingbk
If you want Space Invaders on Switch get the Space Invaders Invincible Collection, it has I, II, IV Majestic Twelve, Extreme, Gigamax and Arkanoid VS Space Invaders.
The Special Edition i have additionally has Space Invaders DX, Lunar Rescue Space and Cyclone, but that version has become more expensive.

@MatoFilipovic it's a classic for of Nintendo fans. I have it in my nes collection. Definitely worth it if you like old school nes games.

Had Mag Max and Mikie in the local leisure centr. Mag Mag was a overly difficult game, the bigger the robot became the harder it was to keep the power ups.

I recall there only being 2 levels 1 above ground and a horizontal 2d below ground in caves with stalagmites falling from the ceiling. I saw a few people reach a 3 headed dragon they never beat it

@Dirty0814 I do love me some retro games. I might give this one a shot