This Week in Games

Is the Third Time the Charm?

Welcome back, folks! It's been... a week. Tragedy struck: some Path to Nowhere merch I had tried importing from China was unfortunately routed back to the Netherlands because my address was misspelled. And unfortunately, they destroyed the merch because of it. So much for me having merchandise of Eleven... One of these days, I'll have to poll folks to see how much struggle they've gone through getting merch of their faves, because there must be some serious horror stories out there.

Arc System Works, best known for their slew of beloved 2D fighting games (not the least of which are Guilty Gear and Dragon Ball FighterZ), made quite a bit of news last week with their streamed showcase. The showcase streamed a bit too late for us to incorporate it into last week's column, but it's probably for the best; there was a lot of grief over it. Long story short, Arc System Works has built up a reputation for making many high-action fighting games... but they didn't announce anything like that last week. Many long-time Arc System Works fans walk away disappointed. It's hard to blame them. I'd be disappointed if I went to a John Denver concert and he started playing house music. Still, I don't know how many fighting games people expect Arc System Works to make and release. At some point, they had to diversify their output. Learn to appreciate stuff from other genres; you'll live happier when you do.

First part of the reveal was Bubble Bobble: Sugar Dungeons, a return to Bubble Bobble's origins as single-screen puzzlers. Players will control Bub (or maybe Bob?) as he wanders through caves to track down treasures. Along the way, you can trap enemies in bubbles, popping to dispatch them. It's the original NES Bubble Bobble (not to be confused with the match-three puzzler, Puzzle Bobble, also known as Bust-A-Move). A few wrinkles to the formula include bubbles with special effects, like summoning pillars of fire that can take out columns of enemies, or waves of water that flow their way down stages. Players can also use collected treasure to improve Bub's abilities.

Now, here's what has me worried: the game promises randomized stages. I don't like that! A good Bubble Bobble still needs some curated level designs, or else the whole thing might fall flat. The original Bubble Bobble boasted 100 stages; certainly labor-intensive to produce, but those stages are still incredibly fun. There's also the concern over how those stages might be made. Still, I'm always happy to see more Bubble Bobble. There's always room for some good old-fashioned arcedey fun.

The formerly announced Double Dragon: Revive announced a new port on the Switch, in addition to its planned releases on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam. They also released a "Showcase" trailer that breaks down how Double Dragon: Revive plays. It feels like every new Double Dragon game that comes out is an attempt at rebooting the series by remaking the first game. The recent Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons did this well enough, adding rogue-like elements between stages. You could even play as Marian (though she didn't have the awesome redesign from the River City Girls games, with the killer abs). It might have been a while since Double Dragon: Neon, WayForward's phenomenal reimagining of the first game, but I find it hard to work up enthusiasm for another Double Dragon. Maybe this one will kick the series in gear. Look forward to it this October 23.

It seems that things aren't too hot over at Nippon Ichi Software. Their former president, Shohei Niikawa, is leaving to form a new studio, SuperNiche. Their first title was also revealed during Arc System Works' showcase: Demons' Night Fever, with Niikawa serving as Producer. The story is about what you'd expect from the guy who created the Disgaea series. The story centers around the misfit Kyoshiro as he's enlisted by a deposed demon to become a villain. You're encouraged to lie, cheat, steal, and kill as you become Villain #1. Niikawa mentions wanting to surpass "a game [he] made in the past" while you embrace your dark side. Which means that there are going to be some hysterical amounts of skullduggery culminating in a heart-wrenching plot twist. Demons' Night Fever wasn't ready to be revealed, but I'm interested... Look forward to it in 2026.

DotEmu's Absolum, another action/roguelike combination, was also revealed; Arc System Works will be releasing the title in Asian regions. It's due out in America later this year. A new character, Izumi, was revealed for Under-Night In-Birth II Sys: Celes; more will be revealed about her during Anime Expo. And Hunter × Hunter: Nen Impact is still due out this July 13th. That leaves the really big reveal from the Arc System Works showcase...

Folks might remember Cing, a small studio that made several beloved puzzle games on the Nintendo DS: Another Code (known as Trace Memory in the United States and Hotel Dusk). Cing went under in 2010, but Arc System Works was able to work with a number of the older devs and artists to release Another Code: Recollection on the Nintendo Switch early last year. It's a lovely game about a young woman, Ashley Mizuki Robins, as she investigates mysteries at different points in her life in pursuit of unraveling the mystery of her mother's murder and her father's disappearance. They're mildly fantastical (ghosts exist in the world of Another Code), but Ashley's trials are emotional and bittersweet. Unfortunately, Another Code: Recollection seemingly underperformed last year, but it looks like Arc System Works was in it for the long haul! Hence, Dear me, I was....

Dear me, I was... not only comes from the same team that made Another Code, it has much of the same aesthetic, courtesy of series artist and director Taisuke Kanasaki. The game revolves around a currently unnamed woman, granting us glances into her life as a little girl with her mother and father and as a young woman with her classmates. She has an artistic streak, as the trailer promises interactive notebook doodling (likely courtesy of the Switch 2's mouse). Little else is known about the game, outside of it being a Switch 2 exclusive and apparently releasing later this summer. Considering they had me hooked with Another Code, you can count on me to be ready for Dear me, I was... once it drops. I know it's not a tag-team fighter, but I'm thrilled Arc System Works is willing to work with Cing's remnants to get stuff like this made. I am going to cry, so hard...!

A few months back, we covered how certain PAL regions were going to see price hikes for the PlayStation 5. The reasoning was completely puzzling, especially since the PS5 is getting on in years and it's for regions that already pay a bit of a premium for games and consoles. And it looks like Nintendo decided to join in on the fun; earlier this week, Nintendo of Canada announced that the Switch family would see price hikes in Canada. This includes the original Switch, the Switch Lite, and the Switch OLED--not the Switch 2, however. (As a secondary note, because people tend to take these stories and run, this is specifically for Canadian Switches--not American. The price hike is only for Canada. If someone tells you Nintendo Switches at large are becoming more expensive, now you know: it's only the ones in Canada, sold in Canada, for Canadians.)

This is rather galling. Canadians are already used to paying a bit more for games and consoles than us in the United States. Adding to that, an actual price hike for old consoles eight years into its lifespan is taking the mickey out of people. I'm extremely not an economist, but wouldn't dropping the price on Switch models entice more people to buy them? Especially if they're in comparison to the Switch 2? Even offering discounted Switches would be a fairly good way to encourage adoption of the Switch as a budget alternative to the Switch 2—especially since Donkey Kong Bananza's download co-op is cross-compatible with Switch models.

Much of the gaming world still revolves around the United States; for better or worse, the US is the biggest consumer of entertainment (gaming and otherwise) in the world. Which is part of why other regions can get stiffed with higher prices; the possible loss in sales in those regions is theoretically more than made up for by sales in the United States. If sales in the United States falter, some companies—like Sony and now Nintendo—make up the difference by hiking prices in these other regions. Hence Canada's sorry lot. I'm not saying I agree with this—I think this is bad pool, plain and simple. I can't imagine the Switch doing anywhere near as badly as to necessitate a price increase this late in the game, as it were.

Nintendo will announce the changed prices on August 1, so I guess enjoy the current prices on Switch consoles in Canada while they last for the rest of July. Provided, I'd also encourage Canadian gamers to—respectfully—voice any criticism of these changes. This sucks, man.

CAPCOM has been making waves lately with the casting calls for what is their third attempt at a live-action Street Fighter film. CAPCOM has teamed up with Legendary for the film, and has announced a rather star-studded cast for the World Warriors: Jason Momoa as Blanka, newcomer Callina Liang as Chun-Li, Noah Centineo as Ken, Bullet Train's Andrew Koji as Ryu, and uh... Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson as Balrog and wrestler Roman Reigns as Akuma. There are rumors that Cory Rhodes will also play Guile. The most recent news, as of this writing, is that David Dastmalchian has earned the role of the villainous M. Bison.

Again, with video games currently being the cash crop for Hollywood, rife with recognizable IP waiting to be turned into potentially lucrative film franchises, it's no wonder CAPCOM would throw its hat into the ring (heh-heh) with Street Fighter. Ignoring that it's one of the biggest and most beloved fighting game series around, Street Fighter VI is doing gangbusters at the moment. This is far from the first time people have produced a Street Fighter movie, and the series has historically had a poor showing.

When it comes to animated films, Street Fighter has done pretty well; the 1994 Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie is a favorite for longtime fans for its great fights and phenomenal animation (and because people loved Chun-Li's shower scene). But 1994 also gave us the live-action Street Fighter film, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as Guile. Don't get me wrong: I love that movie. The casting is pretty phenomenal, even before you get to famed Puerto Rican actor Raul Julia completely dominating the scene as M. Bison. And—bear with me—the cinematography is impeccable. Academy Award-winning William A. Fraker does way better work composing shots for Street Fighter than the film would ever deserve, bringing the South-East Asian nation of Shadaloo to life as a seedy, crime-ridden place ruled by soldiers-for-hire. His shots of Bison towering over his minions do justice to Julia's performance, making him larger than life. There has been some buzz for the 1994 Street Fighter being watched in black-and-white, where the strength of the cinematography absolutely shines: Ken and Ryu's time in Shadaloo look like an artsy Hong Kong crime drama, and Bison's scenes look like a long-lost war epic. Street Fighter was never going to be a good movie, and in fact, production was reportedly hellish. But it's at least a fun movie, it leans into the incongruous nature of the game's setting, and nobody can be faulted for a lack of trying. Also, Kylie Minogue was in it. Also-also, Capcom still makes tens of millions of yen off of it each year.

And then there's The Legend of Chun Li.

In 2009, CAPCOM decided to try again with Street Fighter. They knew that any attempt at a film would live in the shadow of the Van Damme movie, so they did everything they could to distance themselves from it. They went for more of a concrete "Hong Kong crime drama" tone, and in service of that, they chose to star Chun Li. She's one of the foremost women in gaming, and she's canonically an Interpol agent, so that's smart. Kristin Kreuk, fresh from Smallville, was cast in the leading role. Michael Clarke Duncan was brought in as Balrog—RIP to a great man, he was taken from us too soon. Also, Robin Shou was cast as Gen, a mysterious mentor who teaches Chun Li to channel chi. You might recognize Shou for his phenomenal work as Liu Kang in the 1990s Mortal Kombat film (and as the put-upon Gobei from Beverly Hills Ninja). Shou's a cool guy, I think he was robbed of a successful career as a leading man in Hollywood. We have a decent set-up so far. Neal McDonough plays M. Bison and tries to crawl out from under Raul Julia's shadow by playing him as an Irish mob boss attempting an evil real estate scheme that serves as the crux of the film, and that's where you lose me.

Dan OIson (not Larson—he's the Toy Galaxy guy) has a pretty phenomenal breakdown of The Legend of Chun Li and its many problems. To wit: the film carries itself as a gritty, realistic Hong Kong crime drama, but then there's chi and M. Bison "putting all of his goodness into a baby" (note: she's supposed to be Rose) so he can do what he was already doing and be an evil real estate baron. His evil plot doesn't involve him using his evil powers; it's just scummy business practices. I'm not even sure he uses Psycho Power in the movie. Chun Li in the film isn't an Interpol agent, but a concert pianist who goes slumming in Bangkok to rescue her kidnapped father from Bison. The movie is simply at odds with itself in its attempts at being "a real movie" while trying to work within the framework of Street Fighter's story.

I'm not sure I have much hope for the new Street Fighter, is all I'm saying. The casting seems great, but that's an awful lot of big stars, and there's only so much screentime you can give each person. I'm sure you're not casting Jason Momoa so he can just stand in the background going "Would anybody like some pound cake?" because Blanka asking "Would anybody like some pound cake?" is a popular meme among the fans and they want people to clap because they recognize Blanka asking "Would anybody like some pound cake?". I get wanting to make a Street Fighter movie where you can see all of the World Warriors, but the thing is, you can't run into your big ensemble piece. You gotta work your way up. Start small: Ryu and Ken as lifelong friends who take different approaches to martial arts (Ken as an idle trust-fund kid who competes in tournaments for fame and riches, Ryu as a consummate martial artist pursuing mastery and enlightenment). Throw in a big-name tournament somewhere in Thailand, hosted by world-famous Muay Thai champion Sagat. Things go sideways when it turns out the tournament is a front for the criminal organization Shadaloo, hosted by a mysterious would-be dictator named M. Bison. Ken and Ryu team up with Interpol agent Chun Li to stop the plot, but things go sideways when Ryu fights Sagat and enters a legendary bloodlust known as the Satsui no Hadou, which turns out to be the dark secret of Ryu's Ansatsuken-style martial arts. Ken and Ryu have a heated match for the fate of Ryu's soul while Bison peaces out, only to reappear in the sequel. Toss in a mysterious tall guy in a trench coat and a metallic mask standing in the background as some deep-cut fanservice.

I might have accidentally re-created Street Fighter II V in some capacity, but that's why I write a gaming column and not film scripts.

At any rate, Lionsgate's Street Fighter film is scheduled for 2026. Who knows, it might even be good. More importantly: Internet Law™ dictates that whenever anyone discusses Street Fighter's live-action adaptations, they also mention Jackie Chan's City Hunter adaptation, which famously has the characters turn into the cast of Street Fighter during an extended fight sequence. Kudos for the scene, remembering that Dhalsim exists! Purportedly, Jackie Chan hates this movie.

It's summertime, so of course everyone's running major summer sales on their games. But what about running a sale because your 76-year-old CEO won a judo tournament? That's exactly what Success is doing! The sale is unfortunately only for the Japanese region, but it's across their entire libraries on the Switch, Steam, PlayStation, their browser games and an exclusive Japanese platform called Stove.

Otome game Yami-iro no Maju, which centers around the hapless Rika Starnis and her misadventures in a magical school, has been scheduled for a Switch release later this year in Japan. No word yet on an American release...

Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World (a remake of Monster World IV) has finally been released on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S! Pick it up, it's a really fun side-scrolling game.

Bandai Namco has announced a new fighting game based on the popular My Hero Academia series: My Hero Academia: All's Justice! Look forward to this 3-on-3 fighting game on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam! No release date yet. Also, bad news: it's an arena fighter...

This week saw the 25th anniversary of cult classic RPG, Koudelka! A predecessor to the Shadow Hearts series, the game was a survival-horror RPG that took place in Wales in the 1800s. You played as a Roma woman, a thief, and a priest investigating a haunted mansion, fending off the undead with breakable weapons. The game is also notable for featuring the work of a young, pre-Darker than Black Yuji Iwahara, who also penned the sequel manga for the game. The game performed poorly, but it's still beloved for its moody atmosphere and tragic characters. Over on Twitter, producer Hiroki Kikuta thanked fans for remembering the game after 25 years.

That'll do it for this week. With Anime Expo in full swing, we can expect some big news to crop up in the next few days. In the meantime, do be careful if you're going to be lighting anything explosive during your Fourth of July celebrations. I don't wanna hear about any of my readers losing fingers! And if you're the folks who can't handle the sounds of fireworks, or you have pets who get stressed out from the noise, my heart goes out to you. I hope you can find some peace this weekend. Nevertheless, try to have a hot dog or a burger this weekend. Be good to each other, I'll see you in seven.

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This Week In Games! is written from idyllic Portland by Jean-Karlo Lemus. When not collaborating with Anime News Network, Jean-Karlo can be found playing Japanese RPGs, eating popcorn, watching v-tubers, and tokusatsu. You can keep up with him at @ventcard.bsky.social.

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