Taito is teaming up with emulation expert M2 to create a 'porting project' surrounding its scaler-based arcade title, Night Striker.
Originally released in 1989 and based on Taito's Z System arcade hardware, Night Striker followed in the footsteps of Sega's Space Harrier and After Burner, using powerful 2D scaling to create the impression of 3D movement.
The game sees the player controlling the titular vehicle – capable of driving on the road and taking to the air – in order to take down a group of terrorists.
Night Striker was ported to the Sega Mega CD in 1993, but the console was unable to accurately replicate the coin-op's stunning visuals. A more faithful home port arrived on the PlayStation in 1995, with a Saturn port coming the following year; all three home conversions were exclusive to Japan, as was the version included on the PlayStation 2 title Taito Memories II Gekan in 2007.
The Mega CD version of the game was included on the Sega Mega Drive Mini 2 console and is compatible with the Japan-only Cyber Stick for additional authenticity.
Taito has already announced the first phase of this new Night Striker project; the arcade game will be included in Taito Arcade Memories Vol. 2 for the Egret II Mini micro-console. Further ports will be announced in due course.