M2's Flying Fire Shark collection is out now in the West

Clear River Games has released the Western edition of Toaplan Arcade Garage: Flying Fire Shark for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. The publisher confirmed the launch via its official Bluesky account, bringing M2's definitive ports of the classic arcade shooters to North America and Europe for $34.99.

As previously reported, the collection was announced for Western markets back in May. The Japanese release actually happened four years ago in April 2022 under the title Hishou Same! Same! Same!, so this localization has been a long time coming. Clear River Games has built a solid reputation for handling these niche physical editions in Western regions. They previously published the Kyukyoku Tiger-Heli collection and the Gimmick Special Edition, so Flying Fire Shark is in good hands.

Two foundational arcade shooters

The package centers on two of the most influential vertical shoot 'em ups of the late 1980s. Toaplan's Flying Shark hit arcades in 1987, and its sequel Fire Shark followed in 1989. These games defined the military aesthetic and tight bullet-dodging mechanics that eventually evolved into the modern bullet hell genre. The original arcade boards are notoriously difficult, designed specifically to extract quarters from teenagers as quickly as possible.

Toaplan went bankrupt in 1994. Its developers scattered to form studios like Cave and Raizing, taking the DNA of games like Fire Shark with them. Having these specific titles available on modern hardware is a massive win for game preservation, especially since original arcade boards are prone to failure and cost a small fortune. The Nintendo Switch version is particularly appealing for players who own a Flip Grip or a rotating monitor, since you can play the vertical arcade games in their original aspect ratio.

Telemetry on the borders

Because this is an M2 ShotTriggers release, you get much more than a bare ROM dump. The collection includes multiple regional arcade versions and home console ports of both games. It also features M2's signature Gadgets. These screen overlays display real-time internal game telemetry on the empty borders of your television. You can see hidden rank levels, incoming boss hit points, enemy spawn timers, and item drops.

The Gadgets turn opaque arcade difficulty into readable information, which makes learning a tough game much less frustrating. If the original arcade difficulty is still too much, M2 also included a Super Easy mode and a rewind function. You won't have to restart the entire loop just to practice a specific boss.

Puzzles and platformers

The collection also packs in a few unexpected extras. The 1991 arcade puzzle game Teki-Paki is included as a bonus title. Depending on whether you buy the physical edition or grab the downloadable content, the 1987 action-platformer Wardner (also known as Pyros) is also available. It's a strange mix of genres for a shoot 'em up compilation, but extra Toaplan history is a welcome addition.