Data East

The arcade manufacturing business as we knew it in the 80s and 90s might be a wasteland strewn with heavy hitters like Data East, but we are lucky that they aren’t totally forgotten.

Leading the revival of past classic arcade games is publisher FTEGames under their Johnny Turbo’s Arcade banner. We miss Data East quite a lot, their arcade and pinball output was nothing short of awesome and prolific, with their games proving popular with punters and always drawing a crowd.

For all of us with new consoles that are yearning for some Data East arcade gaming nostalgia, Johnny Turbo’s Arcade has delivered in spades! Starting with the classic side-scrolling beat’em up, Bad Dudes vs DragonNinja, the tough as nails platformer, Caveman Ninja (aka: Joe & Mac) and the run and gun Sly Spy, we were in for quite a trip down memory lane on our Nintendo Switch.

Johnny Turbo’s Arcade: Bad Dudes Vs DragonNinja (Nintendo Switch eShop)

Are you a bad enough dude? Of course you are! Smash some Ninjas to save President Ronnie and then have burgers and coke as your reward in this brilliant conversion of Bad Dudes vs DragonNinja. This 80s horizontal scrolling beat’em up will satisfy your fighting nostalgic nerve in abundance. Now go and save the Prez!

Johnny Turbo’s Arcade: Caveman Ninja (Nintendo Switch eShop)

Forget Mario and definitely forget Sonic, as they weren’t around in prehistoric days. Grab your club and get ready to go on a wild, prehistoric adventure with the Cavemen Ninjas – Joe & Mac! Help Joe and Mac fight against enemy cavemen and dinosaurs using prehistoric weapons. Battle your way through numerous prehistoric levels using weapons such as boomerangs, bones, fire, flints, electricity, stone wheels, and clubs. There is no Princess in a castle to be rescued, only kidnapped “Cave Babes”. This is one tough platformer, so co-op play is recommended!

Johnny Turbo’s Arcade: Sly Spy (Nintendo Switch eShop)

We have always wanted to be like James Bond – the awesome contraptions, gadgets, weapons and exotic locations had us hooked. Sly Spy satisfies our secret agent appetite, with contraptions like jet-packs to get around and golden gun weaponry to dispatch baddies to become a hero by saving the world from Evil. The premise of this game is pretty straight forward, you must protect the U.S. from a nuclear missile attack from the terrorist organisation CWD (Council for World Domination). This classic is arcade perfect on the Switch! Just like the other arcade games, it is tough as heck, so the challenge will keep you coming back.

Developer Flying Tiger Entertainment should be commended for their arcade perfect ports of these games on the Switch. There are plenty of tweaks for each title which will keep both retro gamers and contemporary players happy. Oh yeah, the level of detail is nothing short of awesome, our favourite being the curvature of the screen, just like on the old arcade monitors – a great nostalgic touch!

These classic Data East games are lovingly converted by the Flying Tiger Entertaining / Johnny Turbo’s Arcade team and are the perfect trifecta of nostalgic hits for your Nintendo Switch. Being perfect arcade conversions, these are just as difficult as their arcade counterparts, but trust us, that is a good thing – BUY THEM NOW!