by 
Six years after its release on the Nintendo Switch in Japan, the Medabots compilation Medabots Classics Plus, is getting a new release on Steam this December. But again, only in Japan, judging by the region-locked store pages (h/t: Gematsu!).
Developed by Success Corporation and published by Imagineer, Medabots Classics Plus is an expanded version of the 3DS title, Medabots Classics — with both of these titles collecting together a number of games launched as part of the Japanese multimedia franchise Medabots, encompassing video games, TV shows, and manga. This is a series that primarily focuses on a small boy named Ikki Tenryou, who lives in a far-flung future where humans battle custom robots named Medabots against one another in competition.
While the 3DS version featured five mainline entries, Classics Plus goes a few steps further, adding three bonus games originally released for the Game Boy Advance: the strategy RPG Medabots Navi, the 2D fighter Medabots G, and the top-down RPG Medabots Two: CORE.
Here's the full list:
- Medabots (Game Boy, 1997)
- Medabots 2 (Game Boy Color, 1999)
- Medabots 3 (Game Boy Color, 2000)
- Medabots 4 (Game Boy Color, 2001)
- Medabots 5: Susutake Mura no Tenkousei (Game Boy Color, 2001)
- Medabots Navi (Game Boy Advance, 2001)
- Medabots G (Game Boy Advance, 2002)
- Medabots Two: CORE (Game Boy Advance, 2002)
It was originally launched on Nintendo Switch on November 12th, 2020 (again exclusively in Japan), but will be coming to Steam this December, in two separate editions (the Kabuto Ver. and Kuwagata Ver.). In case you're unfamiliar with the main difference between these, essentially, depending on which version you buy, you will get different starting robots, typically based on either a Rhinoceros beetle or a Stag beetle, each with its own specific attack style (long-range shooting vs melee, respectively).
In the past, some Medabots games have been released in the West, including the Game Boy Advance version of Medabots, Medabots AX, and the GameCube title Medabots Infinity.
However, in recent years, localisations of titles like Medabots Classics Plus on Nintendo Switch have been non-existent, with most people chalking this up to a lengthy legal battle between Imagineer and an individual named Kevin Comadrán de Frutos, who filed a trademark for the Medabots name in 2018 and tried to hijack the IP for a failed Medabots IndieGoGo and a heavily criticised project based around a cryptocurrency named 'Medacoin'.
That lawsuit was reportedly settled in 2025, with Imagineer declaring total victory, but it remains to be seen what impact this will have, if any, on the future of the series overseas. Could Medabots Classics Plus finally be coming to the West? Time will tell, but for now, the answer seems to be a disappointing no.