The developer Edia is partnering with Ratalaika Games and Shinyuden to reissue the Sega Game Gear shoot 'em up Griffin on PC (via Steam) later this year.
Developed initially by Telenet Japan back in 1991, Griffin was released exclusively in Japan and saw players controlling the granddaughter of a kidnapped weapon's designer, who must use one of his creations — a battle tank named The Griffin — to embark on a solo mission and bring him home.
In order to be successful, players would need to navigate their way through four vertically scrolling levels, including a forest, a desert, an aerial stage, and a secret high-tech base, using their arsenal of weapons, such as missiles and energy weapons, to take on anyone that stands in their way.
Today, given the rising interest in retro gaming, import copies of the game have become fairly sought after by collectors, with loose carts typically being listed for over £100, while complete in box editions have been seen to fetch three or four times that amount. As a result, this rerelease will likely represent a breath of fresh air, giving people the opportunity to pick it up legally, without having to break the bank.
Here are some screenshots:
Interestingly, it seems that the Steam page for the new title initially went up late last year, but was temporarily scrubbed due to some miscommunication between the licensor and Ratalaika Games. Now, though, everything seems to have been sorted, with the page listing a Q3 2025 release date for the title.
As stated on the Steam page, this new release will feature several modern conveniences that weren't in the original title. This includes rewind and fast forward options, the ability to save anywhere, screen filters (Retro, Black-White, etc), and an optional art gallery, as well as an additional cheat mode (to enable options like infinite lives, invincibility), and an interactive jukebox.
If this sounds like something you'd want to check out, you can wishlist the game now.