It's been a while since we last heard of the upcoming re-release of the first two Yakuza games, in HD, and for the Nintendo Wii U. Almost a year to be precise.
Well the package finally made itself known once again, during a recent Nintendo Direct, where a release date was given at long last: August 8th. And to mark the occasion, a brand new, featured rich trailer has also just been released, as seen above.
As one can see, it's the same classic Yakuza gameplay that longtime fans of the series have grown to love. Both games has you assuming the role of Kazuma Kiryu, a former Japanese gangster that keep getting dragged into Japan's criminal underworld.
Which not only means busting plenty of punks' skulls, but also gambling, going to the drive range, partaking in hostess clubs. The life of a yakuza, even a former member, is active to put it mildly.
Though one does not need to be a longtime aficionado to tell that the visuals looks somewhat dated. Sure it might sport a new HD coat of paint, but in the end, it's still sports PS2-grade visuals (which makes sense, since they were both originally for said console).
Still, this might be the first chance that many Nintendo loyalists will have at playing the game (it's been exclusively on Sony platforms till now). As well as PS2 owners who may have missed out on Yakuza 2, which came out rather late in the system’s life cycle in America (and which is arguably one of the finest releases for the platform, period).
Unfortunately, it’s only headed to Japan for the time being; hopefully a North American release of Yakuza 1 & 2 HD will be forthcoming.
