Konami really has been stepping up with delving into their back catalog, winning back fans who seemingly have turned their backs on the company after several years of “missteps”. Today the company revealed a new re-release that came so out of left field that even I found myself smiling when I was made aware.
Ninja Five-0, a late Gameboy Advance title that holds a ridiculous back market value (A title which holds the distinction of my greatest sales regret…a title I let go of for a measly 200 dollars while the current “average” sealed copy goes for roughly 2000 dollars.) is getting a modern port thanks to Limited Run Games’ Carbon Engine. The multi-faceted platform has been vital in bringing older titles such as Shantae, River city Girls Zero, Trip World DX and Konami developed and published titles such as Rocket Knight Adventures and Felix the Cat!
Given Limited Run Games’ core business is physical copies of games, a physical edition of Ninja Five-O will be making its way to their storefront joining Rocket Knight Adventures: Re-Sparked! And Felix the Cat. The former being a compilation of the Rocket Knight Adventure games and the latter the NES and Gameboy adventures of the black cat with the magic bag! Regular and premium editions of these games are available for a limited time, Rocket Knight Adventures Re-Sparked! will be available until March 3rd and Felix the Cat can be purchased until March 10th. Ninja Five-O’s physical edition will be revealed sometime in March.
I think I’ll close out this news post to sing the praises of Limited Run Games’ founder/CEO Josh Fairhurst. He and his team have managed to land white whales after white whales and have made owning hard to find games possible! Here’s hoping that Limited Run Games and Konami’s relationship continues to strengthen to the point where a physical release of Snatcher will be possible. For the time being I know I’ll be picking up Rocket Knight Adventures: Re-Sparked!, Felix the Cat and Ninja Five-O when invariably arrive on PC, Switch and the PlayStation platform. I’ll certainly grab the physical edition of Ninja Five-O when pre-orders open on Limited Run Games..perhaps it’ll fill that Ninja Five-O hole I have in my heart…
Limited Run Games, in collaboration with Konami Digital Entertainment (KONAMI) and Universal Products & Experiences, shared gameplay footage and more information about Rocket Knight Adventures: Re-Sparked! and Felix the Cat at this year’s IGN Fan Fest event. To cap off the announcement, another Carbon Engine project was finally revealed: Ninja Five-O.
One of the most sought-after titles for the Game Boy Advance, Ninja Five-O is an action platformer game that tasks hero Joe Ostugi with eliminating a terrorist group corrupted by a set of mystical masks. Today, the first trailer for this Carbon Engine re-release was shared with the public and marks another entry in a catalog that includes games like Shantae, River City Girls Zero, Trip World DX, and their two latest KONAMI collaborations, Rocket Knight Adventures: Re-Sparked! and Felix the Cat.
The Limited Run Games physical edition of Ninja Five-O will be revealed and available to pre-order this March. Pre-orders for the physical editions of Rocket Knight Adventures: Re-Sparked! and Felix the Cat are open exclusively at limitedrungames.com and run through March 3rd and March 10th, respectively.
KONAMI’s digital editions of the three titles will also be available starting first with Felix the Cat available for pre-order now on PlayStation®5 and PlayStation®4. Pre-orders for the Nintendo Switch™ version will be available at a later date. Digital editions of Felix the Cat will release on PlayStation® and Nintendo Switch™ March 28.
Digital edition pre-orders of Rocket Knight Adventures: Re-Sparked for the Nintendo Switch™, PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, and PC via Steam® will be coming soon. Ninja Five-O, the latest title to join the Carbon Engine line-up, will release in 2024 as well – please stay tuned for future announcements.