After announcing its return last month at E3, Hamster Corp will publish the long-dormant arcade game Sky Skipper this Friday, July 20th. Based on its advertisement in Weekly Famitsu, the 1981 coin-op will run the usual ¥823, or $7.99 USD. The date is Japan-specific, but based on past release history, it can be assumed to launch in the west at the same time.
Nintendo had kept Sky Skipper lying under utter obscurity until this year’s E3, when they reintroduced it to the world as a part of the Arcade Archives series. The original game had a limited run in Japan back in the day, while in North America, it only made it to select field tests before being recalled due to a lack of interest. Sky Skipper was developed using the same arcade hardware that birthed Radarscope, Donkey Kong, and eventually Popeye. The sole surviving arcade cabinet in the States is housed within Nintendo headquarters and was the source of the ROM file for the Switch port.
