Hamster has confirmed that Taito's 1990 arcade brawler Runark (also known as Growl) is coming to the Arcade Archives range for PS4 and Nintendo Switch. It arrives on the service on July 27th, 2023.
Released at a time when belt-scrolling fighters were arguably at their peak, Runark has a reputation for being a little oddball; you play a group of environmentally-conscious freedom fighters who, despite wanting to save endangered animals from harm, think nothing of blowing people up with rocket launchers (complete with flying limbs and the like) and slicing them to bits with razor-sharp katanas. Ouch.
Sporting an Indiana Jones theme, the game has some seriously wacky set-pieces, like an elephant headbutting a tank to destroy it (!!) and a final boss who (going as spoiler-light as possible here) is not all they seem to be.
Runark was ported to the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive in 1991 and is now something of a collector's item. Sadly, it's not a fantastic conversion, which makes the arrival of the arcade original on PS4 and Switch all the more welcome.
Runark was also previously available on Taito Legends 2 (PS2, Xbox, PC) and is included on the Taito Egret Mini II micro-console.