Game steadfast Sunsoft, champion known successful the West for 8-bit epoch games similar Blaster Master, Batman, and Fester’s Quest, is attempting a instrumentality to publishing and processing video games. On Thursday, the caller Sunsoft — which, technically, ne'er went distant — outlined its program to rerelease and revive its classical crippled catalog, starting with the Vampire Survivors-inspired Ikki Unite and releases of beloved retro games Gimmick! and Ufouria (known arsenic Hebereke successful Japan) for modern platforms.

Sunsoft is adjacent hinting astatine bringing backmost Aero the Acro-Bat, the anthropomorphic bat who appeared successful a brace of Sega Genesis and Super NES games adjacent the highest of the console mascot platformer.

The publisher’s archetypal crippled nether the caller plan, Ikki Unite, is simply a sequel of sorts to Ikki, an arcade crippled (that was aboriginal ported to Nintendo’s Famicom) astir a medieval Japanese farming village’s uprising against its feudal overlord. Ikki Unite volition grow upon the archetypal single-player crippled with online multiplayer, and is unmistakably inspired — if not outright copying — 2021’s smash deed Vampire Survivors.

Yuichi Ochi, wide manager of Sunsoft, told Polygon successful an interrogation Wednesday that Ikki Unite is being built upon Vampire Survivors’ crippled plan and viral occurrence to assistance find an assemblage for the Ikki brand, which helium admitted does not person planetary awareness. (The Famicom larboard of Ikki is infamous for its shoddy quality, and reportedly the ground for the derogatory operation “kusoge,” oregon “shitty game,” successful Japan.)

Only somewhat amended known than Ikki are Gimmick! (which saw a Scandinavian release) and Hebereke (which features Metroid-like mechanics and was released successful North America for the NES nether the sanction Ufouria: The Saga). But Sunsoft hopes to springiness those underdog games caller levels of vulnerability by bringing them to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows PC via Steam, and Xbox One.

Beyond that, determination are plentifulness of Sunsoft-developed and published games that were cult hits successful Japan, but ne'er made their mode to the West. Ochi hopes to revive those arsenic well. While Ikki Unite is being developed by Sunsoft internally, different titles are being developed with the assistance of extracurricular studios. Sunsoft is consenting to enactment with smaller indie studios connected games based connected its IP, Ochi said: “Our strategy is precise open.”

So wherefore bring backmost Sunsoft now, years aft its past effort to people games? Quite simply, concern is bully for Sunsoft’s genitor Sun Corporation and the electronics institution is looking to reinvest successful making games, Ochi said. Ochi himself is comparatively caller to the company, having joined Sunsoft successful July 2021, aft stints astatine Capcom and different gaming companies successful Japan and Taiwan.

But with a recognizable vintage name, a backmost catalog of underexploited brands, and present an authoritative VTuber named Sunsoft Nosuke to present the bully quality astir games similar Gimmick! to a planetary audience, Sunsoft is proudly claiming it’s back.