Obscure card title Magical Speed presents its hand to the Arcade Archives

The rules are simple, yet frightening…

Having treated us to a couple of bonafide back-to-back classics in January, retro-loving publisher Hamster is kicking off the new month with something especially obscure for the Arcade Archives, with the arrival of Seta/Allumer’s digital card game Magical Speed, now available on PS4 and Nintendo Switch.

Hitting the Japanese coin-op scene in 1994, Magical Speed is an anime-infused version of the classical “Speed” card game, which sees two players go head-to-head in a race to shed their respective hands as quickly as possible. Players simultaneously attempt to match cards in their deck with the top card in a central pool — constantly pulling from a side deck in a bid to be the first to deplete all cards in hand. It’s simpler than yer boy is making it sound, but perhaps not so much when presented in Japanese by shouting anime characters

Deal yourself a hand in the video below, courtesy of YouTuber edzvision.

Magical Speed, which was generally presented in cocktail cabinet form, follows the rules of the tabletop classic but adds cutesy characters and a thin “adventure” storyline, as a hero makes their way through a fantasy kingdom, taking on a variety of opponents. As this Arcade Archives release represents the Japanese ROM, there is no English localization, although an English manual is included. While perhaps the nichest Arcade Archives release in some time, this obscure oddity is worth a look for traditional card game fans. Who knows, you might end up searching for cocktail cabinets on eBay.

Magical Speed is available to download now on PS4 and Nintendo Switch, priced at around $8.