This week's Arcade Archives release has been revealed as VS. Mystery Tower (known in Japan as VS. Tower of Babel) — a port of the 1986 Famicom puzzle platformer that was originally created for Nintendo's VS. System (thanks Famitsu!).
Developed by Namco, the Famicom version of the game was exclusive to Japan for several decades, before getting an international release on the Nintendo Switch Online service in June 2023.
Before that, it had also previously been released multiple times in Japan, including on the 1997 Nintendo Game Boy Collection Namco Gallery 3, the PS1 CD compilation Namco Anthology 1 in 1998, and the Virtual Console for the Nintendo Wii U in Japan back in 2014.
In addition to this, it was also one of the titles added to the Japanese-exclusive Nintendo Switch collection Namcot Collection as DLC in 2020. However, it was later removed when this title was localized overseas as Namco Museum Archives Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 for Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.
There were also a couple of mobile ports for J-Sky and Vodafone Live in 2003 and 2006, which, again, never made it out West.
The game sees players take control of an explorer and archaeologist who must traverse various floors to unlock the mystery of an ancient tower. To do this, players have to pick up and stack blocks, with the aim being to create a pathway to the exit located somewhere within the level.
As far as we're aware, there are no huge differences between the VS. System version and the Famicom version. The Hamster rerelease, however, adds the ability to "change various game settings such as game difficulty" and introduces the option for players to compete against people "from all over the world with their high scores".
The game will be released digitally on March 6th across PS4 and Nintendo Switch.