Join the Cosmo Gang for this week’s Arcade Archives action

Silly shump returns

Something particularly fun and adorable from Hamster this week, as it bolsters its mammoth Arcade Archives range with the addition of Namco’s cutesy ’90s shmup Cosmo Gang the Video, now available to download on PS4 and Nintendo Switch.

Released to Japanese arcades in 1992, before receiving a home release on Super Famicom shortly thereafter, Cosmo Gang the Video is a spin-off shooter featuring characters that appeared in iconic redemption game Cosmo Gangs, a title which saw the player battling to prevent a squad of crazy-eyed creatures from stealing energy boxes to take back to their home planet. Cosmo Gang the Video adapts these characters and settings to a vertically scrolling shmup format, a genre in which Namco had proven itself a frontrunner.

One to two players pilot the “Hyper Beat” space vessels, on a mission to fend off the Cosmo Gang, who has returned to cause further mayhem across the galaxy. The player battles waves of formation-based enemies over the course of 30+ stages, picking up power-ups and new weapons in order to even the odds against the Cosmo Gang’s seemingly endless numbers. It should be noted that, despite its latter-day release date, the title is simplistic, even dated, when compared to the contemporary shmups of the day. Despite this, the arcade saw great success in its native Japan.

Cosmo Gang the Video is available to download now on PS4 and Nintendo Switch, priced at around $8. You Check out the very silly action in the video above, courtesy of YouTuber Insert Coin.