What in the blue hell is Ben Bero Beh?

Obscure Taito title returns on Nintendo Switch

Every week, I drop a short article letting you beautiful people know what Hamster has pulled out of its retro sack for the Arcade Archives range. Very rarely is it a game I haven’t played, but today it’s a game that has never even entered my frame of reference: Taito’s Ben Bero Beh.

Released in arcades in 1984, this early single-screen platformer sees players guide Ben – a self-styled superhero – through a burning building in a frantic effort to rescue his girlfriend Beh, who is trapped within the apartment complex. Armed with only a fire extinguisher and a goofy costume, Ben must bob-and-weave his way from floor to floor, putting out the flames and dodging other hazards such as rotting floorboards, loose electrical cables and… a giant face that attempts to eat Ben. Of course.

Check out the obscure title below, courtesy of YouTuber Old Classic Retro Gaming.

I did notice in the video above the appearance of characters from other classic Taito titles such as gangsters from Elevator Action and Chack’n from Chack’n Pop – kind of a “greatest hits” of Taito’s early years. Still, Ben Bero Beh is not an arcade game I’ve played myself, rare as that may be, but if you fancy a bit of classic arcade action, this forgotten game could spark that fire.

Ben Bero Beh is available to download now on Nintendo Switch, priced at around $8.