Update #2 (Thu 11th Apr, 2024 09:30 BST): Sunsoft has announced the Japanese release date for the Sunsoft is Back! - Retro Game Selection, and has also revealed that the collection is set to get an English translation after all.
As part of a recent press release, Sunsoft revealed that Japanese fans will be able to get their hands on the collection — which includes enhanced versions of the Famicom titles The Wings of Madoola, Tokaido Gojūsan-tsugi, and Ripple Island — on PC & Nintendo Switch on April 18th. More exciting, however, is the news that "English will be available soon".
Previously, it was believed that the game was only going to be released with Japanese language options, but this seems to indicate that an English translation will also be distributed for the games sometime in the future.
Update #1 (Thu 29th Feb, 2024 15:15 GMT): A Steam page has recently appeared for a new retro collection from Sunsoft called Sunsoft Is Back! - Retro Game Selection (as spotted by @Gosokkyu).
The compilation will include slightly enhanced emulation-based reissues of the Famicom titles The Wings of Madoola, Tokaido Gojūsan-tsugi, and Ripple Island, which were successfully crowdfunded last year on the Japanese website Camp-Fire for both PC & Nintendo Switch.
The games will include the added ability to create save states, as well as rewind time, and unfortunately, don't seem to be getting English localisations according to the description.
You can take a look at the Steam page here for further details on each of the games. We'll let you know once it has been released in case you want to power through regardless.
Original article (Fri 23rd Jun, 2023 11:30 GMT): Sunsoft has announced a new crowdfunding campaign on the Japanese website Camp-Fire to try and revive three more games from its classic library for Nintendo Switch and PC (as spotted by @Gosokkyu). These include the Famicom games The Wings of Madoola (1986), Tokaido Gojūsan-tsugi (1986), and Ripple Island (1988).
Over the last year, Sunsoft has been busy reviving many of its classic properties, including the Famicom games Ikki, Gimmick!, and Ufouria: The Saga, as well as the Game Boy title Trip World. But, as stated in the latest crowdfunding campaign, it's been a long and difficult road up to this point, with a corporate shake-up a few years back at its owners Sun Corporation putting the video game company at risk, while many of its attempts to create original games for VR and modern platforms failed to make a stir.
It hopes with this current campaign that it can continue to show that there's a large interest in Sunsoft's classic library and that it can produce a bunch of new revival projects that aren't just for nostalgic fans but are also great games in the modern-day.
Sunsoft is hoping to raise ¥6,000,000, with the campaign being all or nothing (in other words, if it doesn't reach its target, these new releases won't happen). The money will go towards:
・Game development costs
・Production costs (design, printing, painting, manufacturing)
・Shipping costs (shipping fee, packing materials, labour costs)
・Project operation costs (labor costs)
・Crowdfunding fee
Some of the rewards include Sunsoft T-Shirts, soundtracks, commemorative pins, a supporter card, a book about the history of Sunsoft, as well as some reproduced art and original illustrations. Some backers will also get the chance to visit the Sunsoft offices and take a look at several items from its archive.
There's obviously no word yet on whether these games will ever come to the West (should they eventually be funded), but we'll try our best to keep you updated on the campaign's progress. It ends on the 31st of August.