A PS1 exclusive game from the year 1998 has been stealth released via the PS5 and the Nintendo Switch through the PlayStation Store and the Nintendo eShop, respectively. The game in question was never released outside of Japan, which means most, if not essentially all, Western gamers on these platforms will have no idea about the original or recognize this re-release, but it is a re-release, one that is 28 years in the making. Unfortunately, while the game has been re-released and made available to those in North America and Europe for the first time, it has not been localized, which means all text is in Japanese.
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Ahead of a classic PS1 exclusive game and its remaster later this month, PS1 nostalgics who know Japanese have something new to hold them over. This hold is The Drug Store, originally developed by Human Entertainment, which went belly up in 2020, dispersing and creating new studios in the process, such as Grasshopper Manufacture, Spike, Nude Maker, and Sandlot. Meanwhile, this new release is being handled by Hamster Corporation, which specializes in releasing games from yesteryear on modern platforms. To this end, it also re-released two NES games this week. Most of its re-releases are more obscure titles, and this one is no exception.
For those unfamiliar with this title, it is a business simulation game and a spin-off from The Conveni series. And it was a pretty obscure game back in the day, which partially explains why it was never introduced to Western markets. Generally, it received a lukewarm critical and commercial reception.
Nostalgia For Some
Interestingly, fans of Hamster Corporation and its retro re-releases are excited for this one, as the trailer above doesn’t have a single dislike. Yet, most of the comments lambaste the lack of localization, something that is somewhat common with Hamster Corporation re-releases.
Of course, localization would require additional resources that would presumably make the endeavor not worthwhile, as these obscure re-releases don’t sell a ton of copies. Cheaply porting nostalgia, even obscure nostalgia, is a reliable business, but it has to stay cheap. To this end, when Hamster Corporation re-releases a game with a pre-existing English localization, the re-release has an English version. If it doesn’t have this pre-existing work done, this is never remedied. That said, it’s unclear who would be interested in this pre-release other than those who played it back in the day, and those who played it back in the day will know Japanese. The comments suggest otherwise, though.
Those interested in checking out the forgotten PS1 exclusive game will find it holds up pretty well, predominantly because, as a genre, simulation games age better than games from most other genres for obvious reasons.
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