PIKO POWER

Here are our picks from the 20 games available on Piko’s Evercade cartridge

WATER MARGIN

PIKO COLLECTION 1, MEGA DRIVE, 1996

■ Based on the acclaimed Chinese novel, this Mega Drive gem was translated into English by Piko in 2015. It’s a rousing scrolling fighter that shares elements with Capcom CPS titles like Knights Of The Round – such as the option to smash money and food into smaller pieces for more points.

SWITCHBLADE

PIKO COLLECTION 1, MEGA DRIVE,2019

■ After creating a Jaguar port of Simon

Phipps’ popular platformer, Piko converted it to the Mega Drive. The end result is a faithful representation of the original Atari ST game, as you clamber around the mazelike levels in your quest to defeat Havoc. There’s a wonderful soundtrack by the late Ben Daglish, too.

IRON COMMANDO

PIKO COLLECTION 1, SNES, 1995

■ Arcade Zone’s explosive scrolling fighter never received a western release until Piko localised it in 2016 (a Japanese reissue followed in 2017). Iron Commando’s strengths are its extensive weapon selection (from knives to shotguns), huge sprites and the ability to traverse certain levels on various vehicles, including a mine cart and motorcycle.

BRAVE BATTLE SAGA

PIKO COLLECTION 1, MEGA DRIVE, 1996

■ Here is another Chinese game that’s been snapped up by Piko and localised for western gamers. While the combat feels a little unbalanced at times (magical attacks feel far too powerful) and the story is rather generic, we’ve still enjoyed Brave Battle Saga as it has some fantastic monster designs and brilliant summon attacks.

DRAGON VIEW

PIKO COLLECTION 1, SNES, 1994

■ This rather unique RPG takes the 3D open world exploring of its predecessor Drakkhen, but marries it to a rather robust combat engine that makes it feel like a Capcom brawler. Another nice touch is how the story is narrated, which gives Dragon View a very unique feel compared to other RPGS of the time.