Hamster showcases Taito's 1985 Elevator Action ahead of launch

Agent Otto is riding the cables down a 30-story building once again for the Console Archives release of Elevator Action, which launches on November 5, 2026, for Nintendo Switch 2 and PlayStation 5. Previously announced by Hamster Corporation as part of its home-system emulation line, the port brings Taito's 1985 8-bit espionage game to current hardware with modern display options and save states.

In an unusual move for the publisher, Hamster isn't just dropping the home version this week. The company is simultaneously launching Arcade Archives 2 Elevator Action on November 5 for Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows PC (with Xbox Play Anywhere support), pairing the 8-bit adaptation with the 1983 coin-op original on the exact same day.

Thirty floors of red doors and Micronics quirks

Designed by Akira Yokozawa and originally released by Taito on the Taito SJ System arcade hardware in June 1983, Elevator Action casts players as Agent 17, codenamed Otto. After zipping down a cable onto the roof of a 30-story building, Otto has to work his way to the basement, ducking into red doors to steal confidential documents while fending off rival agents with a pistol and a jump kick. Once every file is in hand, he makes his escape in a red getaway car waiting underground.

For the June 1985 Famicom conversion (which reached the North American NES in August 1987), Taito handed development duties to Micronics. It was the very first Famicom project for the subcontracting studio, which later became notorious among 8-bit players for choppy, flickering ports of Ghosts 'n Goblins, Ikari Warriors, and 1942. Micronics rebuilt the spy mechanics around slow, player-paced vertical scrolling, and though the physics feel stiffer than the coin-op version, the core loop of riding elevators and dodging gunfire across open shafts survived intact.

Before this Console Archives release, Nintendo's Virtual Console carried the 8-bit port on the Wii in 2007, followed by Japan-only releases on the Wii U and 3DS in 2014. Hamster's new package includes both the Japanese Famicom and English NES versions, though all in-game text was already in English from the start. Players also get customizable button layouts, screen settings, and the option to save and load at any point.

Two versions on the same day, at a price

Putting the console port and the arcade original out on the same day is a neat bit of scheduling that Hamster rarely attempts. It lets players directly compare how Taito's 1983 arcade board (which lets you shoot overhead lamps to fight in the dark and crush rival spies under descending elevator cars) was squeezed onto an 8-bit cartridge two years later.

The original Arcade Archives version has been out on PlayStation 4 since 2017 and Nintendo Switch since 2019 for $7.99. This week's Arcade Archives 2 upgrade bumps the price to $9.99 on newer platforms, though existing owners on PS4 or Switch can grab an upgrade on the same account for $2.99. Meanwhile, 8-bit entries in the Console Archives series (which debuted in February 2026 with Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos and Cool Boarders) retail for $7.99.

I love the work Hamster puts into both Arcade Archives and Console Archives, but these releases are just a bit too expensive for forty-year-old games that take twenty minutes to loop. Asking $18 total to pick up both the arcade board and the NES curio on launch day is a tough sell. If Hamster cut those prices in half, they'd probably quadruple their sales.