1997’s outlandish arcade oddity Armadillo Racing will make its console debut on PS5 and PS4 this week, on 23rd July, courtesy of industrious Japanese dev Hamster.

Part of its Arcade Archives offering, the trackball-controlled System Super 22 racer sees you guide a rolled up armadillo through a series of stages.

Intriguingly, the dev says you’ll be able to connect select trackball controllers to your console to play this as god intended – although it hasn’t specified which ones in particular will work just yet.

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In a statement, Ryoichi Kaku – a lead at Bandai Namco’s Research Institute – thanked Hamster for helping to preserve these rare arcade experiences.

He said:

“Being able to release Armadillo Racing as part of the Arcade Archives series for the first time in 30 years is deeply meaningful to me, both as a member of the original arcade game’s development team and as someone who has been involved in bringing it back. I would also like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to all the fans who have continued to enjoy the Arcade Archives series.”

In addition to the core game, Armadillo Racing has a secret bowling minigame, which you unlock upon finishing in first place. That will, of course, return in this port.

There’ll also be a variety of different modes, as with all Arcade Archives outings. These include Original, High Score, and Caravan – as well as Time Attack if you’re playing on the PS5.

The game will cost $16.99 on the PS5 and $14.99 on the PS4, but do be aware there’s a $2.99 upgrade fee if you plump up for the latter.

In other loosely related retro game news, the PS5 is also getting Human’s PS1 convenience store management sim The Conveni.

If you’re a fan of tycoon titles from the era, like Theme Park and Theme Hospital, this is one well worth paying attention to – although do keep in mind that it’s playable in Japanese only, so you may need Google Translate to help you.

A good week for rare retro re-releases, then – will you be buying either of these?

[source arcadearchives.com, via consolearchives.com]