Update []:
The Steam page for City Connection and Happy Meal's upcoming revival of the 1984 arcade game Formation Z is now live.
Final Formation is expected to be released in 2026 on PC, with the Nintendo Switch version of the title scheduled to launch earlier, on October 2025. The Steam version of the game comes with language support for both Japanese and English, with this apparently also applying to the in-game comics as well as the text found elsewhere.
As far as we know, it's not been specified yet whether this October release date for the Nintendo Switch version also applies to the Western version of the game, but Final Exerion (the last game in City Connection and Happy Meal's series of Jaleco revivals) ended up releasing pretty much at the exact same time both in Japan and overseas, so there's a reason to expect it might be the same case here.
The game, per the description on Steam, will put players behind the controls of a high-speed fighter aircraft that can fuse with other units on the battlefield to create a bunch of different combinations for "tactical flexibility". In addition to this, each level is said to contain "freely explorable horizontal maps", reportedly giving users a greater degree of freedom in selecting how they want to approach each of its stages.
Here's a description of the game's story, courtesy of its publisher:
"Unified Calendar year 3005, the gene-mutated beasts from space—known as "Gene Beasts"—have evolved through a prolonged battle with humanity into highly advanced mechanical lifeforms called "Termination Bots".
To face this new threat, the Earth Allied Forces deploy the transformable and combinable combat mecha EX-PELL to the frontlines. Join forces with the autonomous battle unit PELL, equipped with SUPER AI, and engage in fierce battles against the Termination Bots!"
You can visit the Steam page here, if you want to wishlist the game ahead of its launch.
A playable demo will also appear at Gamescom, which is an event set to take place later this month (Wednesday, August 20th to Sunday, August 24th), in Cologne, Germany. You'll be able to find it in the event's "Retro Area", alongside a bunch of other retro-themed titles.
Original Story: At this year's Shooters Fes, which took place in Japan over the weekend, Happymeal and City Connection announced Final Formation — the second entry into its "Final" series of Jaleco revivals, following last year's Final Exerion (thanks Gosokkyu!).
It is scheduled to be released for the Nintendo Switch & PC (via Steam), and, as the title suggests, is a revival of Jaleco's 1984 horizontal shooter Formation-Z, which saw players controlling a robot with the ability to transform into a jet fighter.
From the footage shown, the game looks to introduce new free-scrolling stages, similar to titles like Defender, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Attack of the Mutant Camels, and Fantasy Zone, allowing players to travel left or right to carry out objectives in each stage.
In addition to that, it will also feature cutscenes courtesy of the mangaka U-Watari (who previously provided art for Final Exerion) as well as music from the City Connection/former CAVE composer Daisuke Matsumoto.
You can catch some early footage of the game on Mikado Game Center's YouTube channel (at 1:31:15). It is currently slated to be released later this year.