The original Shadow of the Ninja (Dark Operative Kage in Japan) is a cult classic NES game from Natsume. Released in 1990, it featured 2-player local co-op – a rarity for 8-bit platformers. Over 30 years later, Natsume Atari’s Tengo Project team and ININ Games have unleashed a full remake onto modern consoles and Steam called Shadow of ...
Back in 1990, Rainbow Arts released a well-liked shoot 'em up for Commodore 64, Amiga, and other computers called X-Out (pronounced "Crossout"). The game had an underwater theme, an R-Type-like visual style, and a robust in-game shop - but no co-op. That omission will finally be fixed in the upcoming remake, X-Out Resurfaced, from ININ Games, Ziggurat Interactive (which bought Rainbow Arts), and Kritzelkratz 3000. The new game will have 2-player local co-op, and it's coming to all platforms this winter.
The Bubble Bobble series wasn’t always just dragons blowing bubbles. Before Bubble Symphony and Bubble Memories came along, Rainbow Islands and Parasol Stars were the official Bubble Bobble sequels, and they starred Bub and Bob as humans instead of dragons. Parasol Stars: The Story of Bubble Bobble III was originally released on Turbografx-16...
It's always good news when a publisher brings its games to new platforms, especially when that publisher has lots of cool games to offer. German publisher ININ is known to publish a lot of great Japanese games on modern consoles, and they've just released a whopping six of their titles on Xbox. To celebrate, we're giving out four copies each of four of ININ's Xbox releases - that's 16 prizes in total! Update: The contest has ended! See winners at the bottom of this page.
Way back in January of 2022, German publisher ININ Games announced that it would be releasing Clockwork Aquario on Xbox. 23 months then passed with no release in sight, so we thought the game had been quietly canceled. Amazingly, though, Clockwork Aquario is actually coming out on December 7! What's more, ININ is also releasing Pocky & Rocky Reshrined (also co-op), Cotton 100%, Panorama Cotton, Ultracore, and Irem Collection Vol. 1 on Xbox on the same date!
The first Taito Milestones collection bundled 10 classic Taito arcade games in a low-frills package. One year later, Taito and ININ Games have returned with Taito Milestones 2. This installment once again bundles 10 Taito classics into one compilation, but the games lineup is slightly more modern and exciting this time around. We’re talking a...
Taito’s “Ray” series of vertically-scrolling shoot ‘em ups hasn’t seen nearly as many entries as their Darius series, but it retains a devoted following among fans of the genre. Comprised of RayForce, RayStorm, and RayCrisis, the Ray games are known for their lock-on mechanics that allow players to fire upon enemies in...
Few spin-off series have been as successful as Taito’s Puzzle Bobble. The 1994 arcade game successfully used characters from the Bubble Bobble series of platformers in a brand-new puzzle game. It would go on to spawn dozens of sequels and ports (not to mention clones), most recently with Puzzle Bobble 3D for PlayStation and Oculus/Meta Quest....
Welcome back to Beyond Co-Op Reviews, our critical look at games that don't feature co-op modes....
Things have been great for cooperative beat ‘em ups lately, with games like TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge, River City Girls 2, Final Vendetta, and Kung Fury: Street Rage – Ultimate Edition all entertaining audiences with their unique approaches to the genre. Jitsu Squad from Tanuki Creative Studio and ININ Games has its own distinct st...
The venerable Puzzle Bobble series (a puzzle game spin-off of Bubble Bobble) has seen many iterations over the years, including the pretty decent Puzzle Bobble 3D. That game wasn’t quite as refined as we'd prefer, but the newly announced Puzzle Bobble Everybubble looks like a return to form. It will feature traditional 2D Puzzle Bobble graphics and gameplay, plus four player local co-op! Everybubble is due out exclusively on Nintendo Switch in 2023.
In 1993, Natsume licensed the rights to create sequels to Taito’s single-player Kiki Kaikai arcade game. While the sequels retain the Kiki KaiKai name in Japan, they go by Pocky & Rocky in English markets. The first Pocky & Rocky for Super Nintendo added 2-player co-op, a feature retained in the recently released Pocky & Rocky Res...
