One of the rarest games ever released for the Sega Mega Drive and Genesis, Eliminate Down is getting a physical re-release from Retro-Bit.
The Sega Mega Drive (or Genesis if you’re over there in the US) had a wealth of shoot-’em-ups to choose from, but few are more obscure than Eliminate Down.
Emerging in 1993, the side-scrolling blaster was the one and only release from developer Aprinet, the game was only ever released in Japan and Korea. As a result, buying a genuine copy will set you back a quite terrifying amount of money these days – asking prices on eBay are in the £1500 range for the Japanese version, while the Korean one, thought to have been produced in even tinier quantities, are nearer the £7,000 mark.
Fortunately, vintage gaming specialists Retro-Bit are here to those of us who’d love to have a physical version of the game, but don’t happen to have thousands lying around to splash out on one.
Due out in 2024, the Eliminate Down: Collectors Cartridge follows the company’s other reissues of classic Mega Drive games. It comes in a clamshell case with a reversible sleeve (a rejigged version of the original artwork on one side, a new design on the other), includes a colour manual and a handsome lenticular slipcase, while the cartridge itself is a pleasingly lurid shade of translucent green.
Previous releases of this type from Retro-Bit have included the Valis trilogy, Mega Man: The Wily Wars and Gaiares.
If you’ve never encountered Eliminate Down before, then you’re in for a bit of a treat. Although its developers were obscure, they clearly knew how to wring the most out of the Mega Drive’s 16-bit hardware, and the game’s positively stuffed with huge, grotesque and vaguely suggestion alien abominations to destroy. There are some cool weapons to help you with your invader murdering, and it all grooves along to a synth-metal soundtrack. It’s a legendarily tough game (even more so than Gaiares) though Retro-Bit says it’s added a secret easy mode to this new cartridge if you need to tone down the spiciness a little.
Eliminate Down: Collectors Cartridge is limited to 4,000 copies (which is probably more than the original game got, to be honest) and pre-orders are currently open from today (28th November) until the 2nd January 2024. The finished product is also expected to emerge in 2024. If you’re in the UK, you can place your pre-order on Retro-Bit’s partner website, Strictly Limited Games.
Can we have a second volume of the Toaplan Collector’s Edition next please, Retro-Bit? There’s still the likes of Musha Aleste, V-V, Slap Fight and Kyukyoku Tiger still without a modern re-release…
