It always warms the cockly, sinewy regions of this retro gamer’s heart when older, largely forgotten arcade classics are given sparks of new life on modern systems. We live in a world where an entire generation, if not generations, plural, have grown up without ever even clapping eyes on anything rendered in 8-bit pixels rather than 4K polygons. Hence, projects like Arcade Archives and its ilk deserve our love and support as a community. And trust me when I tell you that warming this frigid heart o’ mine can be a hard row to hoe anyway. Coincidentally, warmth is exactly what we’ll all be needing, as things are looking a little bit frosty on the Switch, considering which 1990s platformer is now making the leap to Nintendo’s golden goose courtesy of CRT Games: Snow Bros.
Snow Bros: A franchise de-iced
Initially released in Japan at the turn of everyone’s favorite neon-hued decade, this charming adventure placed you in the soggy, mushy shoes of Nick and Tom, two snowmen (snowmans? Snow.. mens? Eh, you know what I mean). Unlike real-life snowmen, which tend to disintegrate the day after you build them when the sun comes out or the dog pees on them, Nick and Tom are hardy blokes. No childhood tears here. You’ll steer them through over fifty stages of snowball chucking, snowball rolling, snowball stacking, and assorted other snowball-related activities. Think Bubble Bobble, but with a different state of H2O. When you consider what they’re doing from a snowman’s point of view, it’s probably pretty gruesome. Your ultimate goal is to rescue a pair of snow princesses; so at least they’ll both have an eye-candy trophy to flaunt when all is said and done. Ah, ’90s. Never change.
Snow Bros. quickly garnered praise for its tight gameplay, and was ported across the globe by various companies, going on to spawn a sequel, as successful things tend to do. It was titled Snow Bros. 2: With New Elves, incidentally, which is either the greatest or lamest name for a game ever. Currently undecided. Now, the original Snow Bros. is returning, in a spruced-up, resulted, rebooted (but not reheated, as that’d prove fatal) form: Snow Bros. Special. As Gematsu reports, this Switch revival is being developed by CRT Games, with a view to release later this year.
“As a retro game fan, I’m honored to be able to let old and new players rejoice,” said CRT Games founder and Snow Bros. Special executive producer Sung-Gil Yim in a press release. “Snow Bros. retro games are filled with childhood memories, and with Snow Bros. Special, fans of the original game can rekindle their love. The original game’s simple and intuitive controls are reflected in Snow Bros. Special, which makes it easy for new players to appreciate the game as they get to know Nick and Tom.”
New stuff and purchasing options
Buyers will be able to choose between a physical or a downloadable version; sadly, having an actual arcade cabinet posted to you doesn’t seem to be an option. According to the game’s official website, Snow Bros. Special has “inherited the cute design and the feeling from the original arcade version,” but has been upgraded to “make it even more fun”. Color me intrigued, if a bit wary about the vagueness of that.
New to Snow Bros. Special is “the ‘Monster Challenge’ mode in which you play as the monsters. Each monster has its own special moves and controls which will change how you play the game.” Always nice to have a bit of a role reversal in a game – where’s my Goomba solo adventure, Nintendo? Get with it.
The game will launch for Switch in 2022 worldwide. If you don’t own one… well, this is a bit of an odd jumping-on incentive, but whatever floats your boat.
Will you be picking up Snow. Bros Special? Have you any fond memories of the original? Let us know!
Via, Gematsu.
