Cosmo Gang | An unsung SNES classic is heading to Switch and PS4

Namco’s manic shoot-’em-up, Cosmo Gang The Video, was an overlooked classic on SNES. Now it’s coming to Switch and PS4.

Cosmo Gang The Video, a 2D shooter first released by Namco in 1992, is getting a much-deserved release on Switch and PlayStation 4. It’s the latest instalment in Hamster Corporation’s ongoing Arcade Archives series, which has continuously added classic 80s and 90s titles to its roster since it began in 2014.

For the uninitiated, Cosmo Gang The Video is a manic, cartoonlike riff on Namco’s own Galaxian, with the player taking out successive waves of enemies as they shuffle and weave their way down the screen. What sets the game apart from most other shooters of its period is its personality – the music’s upbeat and catchy, the invading aliens are wide-eyed and clumsy looking, and power-ups take the form of sticky spiders’ webs and deadly jack-in-the-boxes.

A faithful port of the arcade original, Cosmo Gang The Video was only released for the Super Famicom in Japan, meaning western gamers missed out on one of the system’s best shooters. Sure, it doesn’t have the depth or punishing difficulty of the more celebrated Axelay, Super Aleste or R-Type III, but it does feature rubber ducks, flying saucers, and an incredibly strange bonus stage that involves repeatedly shooting aliens before they can steal your belongings. It’s all magnificently odd.

【アケアカ】Switch・PS4『コズモギャング ザ ビデオ』4月20日より配信

1992年にナムコから発売されたシューティングゲーム。コズモポリスの戦闘機を操作して、盗賊団のコズモギャングズを撃退せよ！

#アーケードアーカイブス

https://t.co/OcYtWd3A6Q pic.twitter.com/5U6rSDLuWO

— ファミ通.com (@famitsu) April 19, 2023

Famitsu reports that Cosmo Gang The Video will be available on Arcade Archives from 20 April, costing 838 yen for Switch and (oddly) 837 yen for PlayStation 4. That’s about £5 or $6.21, which isn’t bad going for a thoroughly charming evening’s entertainment.

For almost a decade, the Arcade Archives series has provided an eclectic mix of well-known retro classics and lesser-known obscurities – for every 80s smash like Contra or Salamander, you’ll find at least as many curios like Halley’s Comet, Youkai Douchuki or Rabio Lepus. Time will tell whether its curators will eventually add Cosmo Gang The Puzzle – a similarly obscure tile-match puzzler also released in 1992.

A respectful hat-tip to Will Freeman for pointing out Famitsu’s story on Twitter.