Windjammers appeared to be a game that had been lost in the ether, with the Japanese sports arcade hit failing to find a decently-sized audience back in 1994 that put paid to any potential sequel. Until now. As part of the latest online Nintendo Switch Indie Event, Windjammers 2 was officially confirmed for the Japanese video game giant’s hybrid console along with a 2019 release date.
Retro video game developer Dotemu is behind the title’s revival, who also revealed their delight at developing it on their Twitter account. In further good news for Windjammers, Dotemu also revealed that the original game would be making its way to the Switch on October 23 thanks to a deal struck with Nintendo’s European division — a move that will allow gamers across the region to get their hands on the game for the very first time.
Windjammers was initially ported to the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita by the same studio in August 2017 and, thanks to the relative success that it achieved, opted to bring it to the Switch as well. Thanks to the portability of the Switch’s handheld component, Windjammers and its sequel could be surprise hits for Dotemu and Nintendo in the months to come. After all, the console has had a few successful local multiplayer games in the past.
Windjammers, which also saw the light of day on the Wii U back in 2010, let players take control of one of six playable characters to do battle across a tennis court-like arena with flying discs. The aim was to throw the discs into your opponent’s goal to score points, much like famous video game Pong or air hockey. Players score bonus points depending on how far back they were on the court or whether they were able to catch the discs before it landed in their net.
