Enhanced releases of The Lost Vikings®, Rock N
Roll Racing®, and Blackthorne® now available on Battle.net®,
Nintendo Switch™, PlayStation®4, and Xbox One
Thirty years ago, a newly formed game studio made up of a
handful of software developers set out to create the types of games
they themselves loved to play. Among their first creations were
The Lost Vikings®, Rock N Roll Racing®, and
Blackthorne®—each garnering critical acclaim and reflecting
the early design principles of the company that would soon become
Blizzard Entertainment. Today, Blizzard is proud to announce the
Blizzard® Arcade Collection, a
digital set of its original hits, updated and available now for
Windows® PC, Nintendo Switch™, PlayStation®4, and Xbox One (also
PlayStation®5 and Xbox Series X|S via backwards compatibility).
This press release features multimedia. View
the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210219005506/en/
On Windows PC, the Blizzard Arcade Collection is included as
part of The Celebration Collection, a
commemorative bundle of in-game items for Blizzard games that was
released earlier this month to mark the company’s 30-year
anniversary. (Players who have already made this purchase will
automatically receive the Blizzard Arcade Collection.) A version of
this bundle is also coming to consoles today as The Blizzard®
30-Year Celebration Collection.
“The Lost Vikings, Rock N Roll Racing, and Blackthorne
ultimately made it possible for us to go on to create Warcraft®,
Diablo®, and StarCraft®, so we thought the Blizzard Arcade
Collection would be a fun and fitting way to look back at our roots
as a company,” said J. Allen Brack, president of Blizzard
Entertainment. “Many Blizzard gamers around the world fondly
remember their time with these games and have often asked us to
bring them back for modern platforms, so we’re thrilled to not only
do so with this release, but to amp up the experience with new
features and functionality available for the first time in each
game.”
The games in the Blizzard Arcade Collection come in their
Original Editions and also upgraded Definitive
Editions (details below), with each version featuring custom
key mapping and the ability to rewind up to 10 seconds.
The Original Editions of The Lost Vikings and Blackthorne also
include “watch mode,” which lets players watch a playthrough
of the game and jump in to take control at any point. The ability
to save progress anywhere is also included in all versions
of each game, with the exception of the Definitive Edition of Rock
N Roll Racing. An array of bonus materials rounds out the
Blizzard Arcade Collection, including game art, development assets,
unused content, lore, interviews, and more.
Nostalgia, Refined
Each entry in the Blizzard Arcade Collection showcases the focus
on fun, personality, and detail at the heart of all Blizzard games.
The games are all compellingly challenging, offering an early look
at what would evolve into Blizzard’s signature approach to
satisfying gameplay, colorful design, and tongue-in-cheek
humor.
In The Lost Vikings, players assume the roles of Erik the
Swift, Olaf the Stout, and Baelog the Fierce, three intrepid
Vikings who must use their abilities cooperatively to solve
hundreds of puzzles, defeat their enemies, and navigate a
treacherous voyage back home. The Definitive Edition of The Lost
Vikings brings together the best aspects of the different original
console versions of the game, combining the superior audio and
visual experience of the first release with the extra stages and
cutscenes, and support for up to three players in local co-op, that
were added in a subsequent version.
Featuring a series of booby-trapped racetracks and an epic
rock-and-metal soundtrack, Rock N Roll Racing puts players
behind the wheel in an over-the-top demolition-racing experience.
Players choose from a selection of drivers with different talents
and take their pick from a set of customizable cars—each equipped
with an upgradeable arsenal designed to help them outmaneuver, and
literally destroy, the competition. The Definitive Edition adds
environmental effects, such as snow and rain, and lets up to four
players, compared to two in the Original Edition, compete in local
multiplayer. It also ups the racetrack count to 384 variations,
supports 16:9 resolution, and adds actual recordings of songs from
the game’s classic soundtrack—as well as new songs and new
“Loudmouth Larry” voiceover clips for players to tear up the tracks
to.
Blackthorne centers on the story of Kyle “Blackthorne”
Vlaros, a lethal commando equipped with brute strength, animal
cunning, a mysterious past—and an increasingly powerful shotgun. As
the eponymous lead character, players must fight to claim their
destiny, dodging and blasting their way through a futuristic 2D
alien world overrun by mutant monsters and goblin hordes, in a
fierce effort to liberate its people. The Definitive Edition of the
game includes an additional area to explore—previously only
available in the 32-bit version of Blackthorne—as well as a “fog of
war” map that uncovers as players explore each level.
The Definitive Editions also bring The Lost Vikings, Rock N Roll
Racing, and Blackthorne to a broader global audience than ever
before, providing the first-ever opportunity for players around the
world to play through these foundational Blizzard experiences in
Italian, Korean, Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese,
Polish, Russian, and simplified and traditional Chinese, in
addition to the French, German, Japanese, and European Spanish
versions that were previously available.
Now Available on Battle.net® and Console Digital
Shops
The Windows PC version of the Blizzard Arcade Collection is
currently available exclusively on Battle.net as part of
The Celebration Collection (standalone
purchase not available). On consoles, the Blizzard Arcade
Collection can be found on Nintendo eShop, the PlayStation®Store,
and the Xbox Store as part of The Blizzard 30-Year Celebration
Collection, or as a standalone purchase (SRP $19.99).*
To learn more about the Blizzard Arcade Collection, visit
https://news.blizzard.com/blizzard. For artwork and other assets,
visit https://blizzard.gamespress.com.
About Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
Best known for blockbuster hits including World of Warcraft,
Hearthstone®, Overwatch®, the Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo®
franchises, and the multifranchise Heroes of the Storm®, Blizzard
Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision
Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), is a premier developer and publisher of
entertainment software renowned for creating some of the industry’s
most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard Entertainment’s track
record includes twenty-three #1 games† and multiple Game of the
Year awards. The company's online gaming service, Battle.net®, is
one of the largest in the world, with millions of active
players.
* In Korea, the Blizzard Arcade Collection is only available for
Windows PC. In Japan, the Blizzard 30-Year Celebration Collection
is only available for Nintendo Switch † Sales and/or downloads
based on internal company records and reports from key
distributors
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210219005506/en/
Steven Khoo Senior Global PR Manager 949.955.1380 x12508
skhoo@blizzard.com
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