Osman is something I want on the Eshop!

The concept of a lone man taking on the Federal Government is the product of conspiracy theorists and potentially every working man's dream. In the 1996 arcade game Osman, originally titled Canon Dancer, it's the goal of the master of the "Secret Style".

Osman was intended for all purposes, to be the sequel to Strider Hiryu, which was one of my favorite arcade games, growing up. So you'll understand why I find this game to be so intriguing.... As it turns out; Michell Corp, or better yet, the team that worked in Osman were in fact former Capcom employees and part of the orginal Strider production staff. Notable staff included in this was Strider Hiryu's director, Kouichi Yotsui who operated under the pseudonym "Iuske".

                                         

The controls feature an 8 direction setup and your typical jump attack and special layout.

You're probably wondering how close to the previous game this one was, and rest assured, the games were quite similar but the action seemed to be different enough to make a playthrough very worth it..

                        

The reason why I'm bringing up this game, is because Michell Corp is considering looking for backers to re-release it's back catalogue of arcade releases. Or at least this is what former Data East staffer, Roy Ozaki says via the Untold story of Video games Vol. 1. (Something, I'm interested in purchasing for my personal video game history collection, of course.)

Here is the official statement.

"Mitchell is currently looking for a licensee for our arcade titles. For use on mobile phones, computers, and other devices. The terms would be a limited-time license on ports and sales. We would want to receive royalties as well as advance payment. The following bolded Mitchell arcade games are currently available for licensing. For the titles listed, the arcade PCB, source code, and instruction manual are available. If anyone is interested, we would be happy to discuss matters further."

Nintendo Life had posted this in an article that surfaced, today, but Hardcore gaming 101 basically broke that the story is, in fact, several weeks old.via Kouichi Yotsui, himself on his Facebook page. If you read the interview on Hardcore Gaming 101, the reason why Osman/Canon Dancer didn't translate over to the home market is because the sales didn't warrant that from happening. However, if Mitchell were to use something like Kickstarter, or some sort of financial backer wants to help, this would definitely help bring awesome games like this to home consoles.
                                                                   
                                                                       

He really knows how to treat a lady....

There are plenty of decent games to be had if someone is willing to take up the opportunity. I want to see Funky Jet, Charlie Ninja and The Karate Tournament find homes on the virtual console or any other means of retro distribution. Anything that I can possibly use to get my hands on these games. So I think talking about this, here. would be a good start to a means of finding someone who has the backing to fund this endeavor. What do you say, reader? Would you be interested in playing Osman or any of those other great arcade classic titles?

-Game On!