Arcade Archives 2 Wiz hits current consoles tomorrow

Hamster Corporation is releasing Arcade Archives 2 Wiz on September 3 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2. The official announcement confirms the 1985 arcade platformer is the latest title to join the publisher's upgraded retro line. It costs $9.99 and launches digitally across all supported storefronts.

Seibu Kaihatsu before the shooters

Most arcade players know Seibu Kaihatsu for the Raiden series. Before they defined the vertical shoot 'em up genre, the studio experimented with side-scrolling action games. Wiz hit Japanese arcades in January 1985. Taito handled the domestic distribution, and Magic Electronics brought the coin-op cabinets to North America later that year.

The game puts you in control of a wizard navigating three main areas: the Depths, the Land Realm, and the Sky Realm. You fight through these stages to reach a final dragon boss. The combat relies on an arsenal of eight different spells. You start with basic energy projectiles and defensive barriers, and eventually unlock time manipulation and summoned allies. It is a surprisingly dense magic system for a mid-1980s arcade board.

An MSX home computer port followed in 1986 under the name Magical Kid Wiz. That version had to make severe compromises for the home computer hardware. The arcade original remains the definitive version of the game, featuring more detailed sprite work and smoother scrolling. The spell system in the arcade version requires quick thinking, as you have to cycle through your available magic while dodging enemies.

Ten dollars gets you variable refresh rate

Hamster already released this game once. The original Arcade Archives Wiz launched on PlayStation 4 and the first Nintendo Switch in June 2020 for $7.99. That version included the standard emulator wrapper with CRT scanline filters, adjustable difficulty, and online leaderboards for the Hi-Score and Caravan modes.

This new release falls under the Arcade Archives 2 banner. Hamster launched the original Arcade Archives initiative back in May 2014, and over the last decade, the company has preserved hundreds of coin-op titles. The transition to the Arcade Archives 2 label marks their shift to current hardware platforms. Bringing these games to PC alongside the consoles is a welcome move.

The extra two dollars on the price tag pays for native current-generation console support and a few technical upgrades. The biggest addition is variable refresh rate support. VRR actually solves a lot of the frame pacing issues that plague 60Hz displays trying to run weird 1980s arcade refresh rates. It makes the scrolling noticeably smoother.

The new version also adds a dedicated Time Attack Mode. Instead of chasing a high score, you race through checkpoints as fast as possible. I think this format fits older arcade platformers perfectly. It forces you to take risks you would normally avoid in a survival run.

If you missed the 2020 release, this is the version to get.