Uchuu Senkan Yamato HD Remaster Taito LD Game Collection

Space Battleship Yamato is an action game, developed and published by Taito Corporation, which was originally released as an arcade LaserDisc game in Japan in 1985.

It is based on an influential sci-fi anime, and several scenes in the game actually re-use animation from the 1983 animated movie “Final Yamato”, a film so epic it was released in a nearly 3-hour long 70mm presentation. The rest of the scenes, particularly those that needed to be interactive, were completely new for the game, making this release a sought after curiosity for hardcore Yamato fans.

Since the star of the game is a giant submarine-like spaceship, rather than a person, there are a number of gameplay differences when compared to Time Gal and Ninja Hayate. Directional inputs are much less common in this game and, instead, you’re more likely to find yourself aiming a crosshair and shooting at enemy ships in first person. This gives Space Battleship Yamato the feel of a more traditional shoot-‘em-up arcade game, albeit with incredible animation.

Space Battleship Yamato is part of the Taito LD Game Collection on Nintendo Switch.