When new Nintendo hardware comes out, it's inevitable that it'll get some form of retro emulation. There are so many NES and SNES classics dating back decades beyond their competition, so preserving that history makes sense on multiple levels. But for PlayStation and Xbox, it's not a given that we'll get a ton of old-school releases.
They're few and far between, but this new addition (via PlayStation Lifestyle) brings back a 1996 classic, and it's arriving out of nowhere.
Sonic Wings Special is now live on PlayStation 5 and Switch 2 as a Console Archives title. Originally debuting in 1996, this vertical shoot 'em up (shmup) re-imagines the original Sonic Wings trilogy, and enjoyed an arcade, Sega Saturn, and PlayStation release. It's a pretty massive game even for a shmup, as it features 14 pilots and 26 fighters, including unlockable characters.
Clocking in at 17 stages, it's a pretty fully-featured shmup and even has multiple endings. About those 17 stages: you won't be doing them all back-to-back. Instead, you'll embark upon a nine-stage run, then branch off, similar to the Star Fox series.
As someone who considers themselves a historian of vertical shmups, I'd...
