On May 11th, Banpresto's 1994 arcade title Mazinger Z will join Hamter's Arcade Archives series in Japan – but there's a catch. The game will retail for ¥1500, almost twice the traditional ¥800 cost of games in the long-running series.
Why? Well, as Twitter account @gosokkyu notes, this is the first game in the Archive Archives series to boast a sizable media licence, so presumably, the cost to renew said licence is the reason for the higher price tag.
It might be prudent, then, to expect any future licenced titles to retail for the same amount.
According to the Mazinger Wiki, Banpresto's game is a vertically-scrolling shooter based on the anime and sees the player assume the role of either Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger, or Grendizer.
"As the robot flies through the level it attacks enemies with several attacks like beams and missiles," explains the Wiki. "Enemies can attack from several points: some stand still while throwing projectiles, some can fly while firing projectiles, some will attempt to ram into the robot, while others simply do nothing but just move."
There are eight stages in total, and the game was never ported to any home system. Mazinger Z will launch digitally on PS4 and Nintendo Switch.
Will you be picking this one up, despite the increased cost? Let us know with a comment.