Hamster Co. has announced that Arcade Archives Super Xevious will release today (May 1st) on Nintendo Switch.
Those of you who remember the halcyon days of the early 1980s will know that Namco's original Xevious made quite a splash when it hit arcades in 1982. However, this 'Super' variant from 1984 was, at the time of its release at least, considered a bit of a disappointment.
Yes, while this vertically side-scrolling shooter sequel, in which you control a starship known as the Solvalou, spiced up the visuals, made the gameplay harder — with more aggressive enemies and faster-moving projectiles — and also added new varieties of foe, it didn't quite hit the same with critics of the time.
However, we (or this writer at least) have to beg to differ. Having played both, the extra bosses and enemies presented in the sequel make for a much more interesting game overall. To each their own!
According to the official press release for Super Xevious:
"Players pilot the SOLVALOU and face off with the XEVIOUS forces.
Defeat airborne enemies with the zapper, and terrestrial enemies with the blaster.
This game has various changes from the previous game, including additional characters and different placement of hidden items."
As reported by our sister site Time Extension, this $7.99 re-release is the first in a lineup of Namco Month titles for both Switch and PS4, and it's a pretty decent way to kick things off, we say.
Finally, this version of the game shouldn't be confused with last year's Switch release, Archives Arcade Archives VS. SUPER XEVIOUS MYSTERY OF GUMP, which, as you'll all know, is a port of the unloved 1986 Famicom release that switched up the gameplay to feature more puzzles.
Have you played Xevious or Super Xevious? Got an opinion on which is best? Let's hear it in the comments.