Syvalion, Taito’s 1988 Dragon Shooter From the Bubble Bobble Creator, Joins Arcade Archives

Hamster’s Arcade Archives line exists to drag obscure arcade history back into the light, and this week’s pick is a good one. Syvalion, Taito’s strange and lovely 1988 shooter, is available again as of July 16, its first re-release in around two decades.

Syvalion is worth knowing for its pedigree alone. It was designed by Fukio Mitsuji, the man behind Bubble Bobble, and it is nothing like it. You pilot a mechanical dragon of the same name through a burning maze, torching enemies with a stream of fire, and the arcade original was played with a trackball, which is part of why it never travelled far from the cabinet. It is also built to be replayed: the maps and story branch, with a reported hundred-plus different endings depending on how you go.

The Arcade Archives version landed across Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, PS5 and PS4, and Xbox Series consoles, with the usual Hamster treatment of save states, display options, and online leaderboards. This is exactly the kind of game that only ever comes back because someone at Hamster keeps deciding the weird ones deserve it too. If you have never met Syvalion, this is the easiest it has ever been.