Today, a collection of people and words was published on the PlayStation Blog that had me totally stunned. In collaboration with Arcade Archives publisher Hamster Corporation, Platinum Games has fully unveiled Sol Cresta, an official third entry in an arcade series that hasn’t seen a sequel in 36 years.
Related: Project GG Revealed With First Teaser Trailer, “A 100% PlatinumGames Title” Says Hideki Kamiya
Sol Cresta is an arcade-style vertical shooting game with a distinct gimmick. The player can “dock” multiple ships together, then reconfigure the way those ships are docked to create different kinds of weapons. This hook looks absolutely unhinged in action, and luckily there’s a trailer you can watch:
Hideki Kamiya of Bayonetta, Viewtiful Joe, Wonderful 101 and Twitter fame is serving as creative director on the project, with legendary composer Yuzo Koshiro who you’ll recognize from series like Streets of Rage or Etrian Odyssey. Platinum’s Takanori Sato (Wonderful 101 Remastered) will serve as director. The story of how Kamiya pitched Sol Cresta, not just to Platinum Games but then to Hamster Corporation, is worth reading over at the PlayStation Blog.
The series started with Nichibutsu’s Moon Cresta in 1980, and continues with Terra Cresta. The latter saw some follow-ups on various platforms, but it seems like Sol Cresta is being presented as the true sequel. Nichibutsu closed its doors in 2015, but not before selling its library to Hamster Corporation, which continues its popular Arcade Archives series to this day. Platinum originally introduced Sol Cresta as an April Fools’ joke in 2020, then legitimately confirming it on April 1, 2021.
In addition to the story on the PS Blog, Platinum has its own post diving into the details on the finer points of Sol Cresta. It’s also worth noting Sol Cresta is branded with “NEO-CLASSIC ARCADE Series Vol. 1,” seeming to imply intent to create more modern iterations of arcade classics.
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