Spica Adventure, originally released in Japanese arcades in 2005, is finally getting a western release for modern platforms.
Among its huge library of classic games, Taito made a string of cutesy platformers through the 1980s and 1990s: Bubble Bobble, Rainbow Islands, The NewZealand Story, and more besides. But have you ever heard of Spica Adventure? We certainly hadn’t – at least until ININ Games announced that it’s bringing this once-obscure release to modern consoles.
Originally released to Japanese arcades in 2005, Spica Adventure looks and feels like a mashup of Taito’s earlier platformers. It features the umbrella-based attack and defence abilities of Parasol Stars (which is, of course, the greatest game of all time). It has the side-scrolling levels of The NewZealand Story and Liquid Kids. it even contains references to earlier Taito arcade hits, including a cameo appearance from the Space Invaders aliens that appeared on the coin-op cabinet’s side art.
While we can’t yet say whether Spica Adventure is in the same league as Taito’s 80s and 90s titles, it certainly looks charming from the footage below, and with music by Taito’s Zuntata – the house band responsible for dozens of the company’s game soundtracks, including the arcade-only Bubble Memories – it also sounds the part.
It’s been a good few weeks when it comes to Taito game revivals. Parasol Stars (the greatest game of all time) is getting a modern release this year, also by ININ. Then there’s Crescent Tale, another obscure Taito platformer that was originally thought to be lost – but now its designer has found the game’s code and managed to get it running again. If ININ doesn’t give this one a release for modern systems at some point in the next couple of years, we’ll be rather disappointed.
Spica Adventure is due for release in spring 2024 for PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch and Xboxes. ININ’s sister company, Strictly Limited Games, will be handling a physical release, with pre-orders for those due to open on 14 November 2023.
