The unfortunately named fighting game Blandia comes to the Switch and PS4 tomorrow

It's been a while since I've posted, hasn't it? Chalk it up to a lack of available retro gaming news and garden variety depression.

Annnyway! Blandia is coming to two major game consoles tomorrow, courtesy of Hamster. Try not to get too excited... the people who named the game certainly didn't. As dull as the title may be, the game itself is noteworthy for being the sequel to Taito and Allumer's Gladiator. That was the Roman-themed action game where players would fight through dangerous side-scrolling gauntlets of arrows and magic fire, on their way to duels with towering bosses.

The nifty thing about the boss fights in Gladiator is that you'd have to chip through the defenses of each combatant, knocking away bits of armor until your sword can find purchase in your opponent's bare flesh. Striking at enemy weak points and defending your own was pretty innovative for a game released in 1985. Blandia is more in the vein of a 1990s versus fighting game, but some of the characters from Gladiator make return appearances, including the hero Gurianos.

One more note: evidently, Hamster owns a whole buttload of IP from obscure Japanese companies, including not just Allumer, but Universal Playland, NMK, Video System, Athena, and Nihon Bussan. They're like the Far East's answer to Piko Interactive! Special thanks to Sarah Sowertty for that list of acquisitions, and Time Extension for the news of Blandia's impending release.