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The Ys series gets around. Primarily a PC-based franchise, Falcom's action-RPG series is ported to everything that can play games in Japan. It appears on the PSP in the form of Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim, Ys I&II Chronicles, and (soon) Ys VII.

Yet another Ys game is migrating over to PSP, as Falcom announced that Oath in Felghana, a port of the PC game of the same name (pictured), will be released in Japan on April 22, with upgraded controls, voiced "events," and the ability to switch between versions of the soundtrack.

Oath in Felghana is a remake of Ys III: Wanderers from Ys, swapping out that game's unusual side-scrolling gameplay for the traditional Zelda-esque Ys style.

The Lufia series always had the stereotypical spiky-haired protagonists, but now that the Lufia II characters appear in 3D in Square Enix's DS remake, they look even more Square Enixy. Not that it's a bad thing: the cinematics in this debut trailer look really nice, with a somewhat cel-shaded effect, and the in-game action is also nice-looking, as far as DS 3D goes.

The game itself looks really different. Square Enix classifies this as an action RPG, but between the combos and the grappling, this looks like an action game. We suppose it's an RPG because when you hit something, numbers come out. Lufia II (or Estpolis) is out in Japan February 25.

Square Enix is planning to start 2010 off right in Japan: by selling a Dragon Quest game. The publisher announced that Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie, the last of the planned DS remakes, will be out in Japan on January 28, just over a month after another big RPG franchise release. We can now attempt a guess at when the North American release will take place, given the release dates of the last two games.

Dragon Quest IV came out in Japan in November 2007, and then in America in September 2008 -- ten months apart. Dragon Quest V was released in July 2008 in Japan, and February 2009 in North America, just seven months apart. Therefore, Dragon Quest VI will probably be released in America in ... spring 2010. That's when every game is coming out.

[Via Andriasang]

Golgoth recently dropped a press release to cut off conjecture about their next project at the pass, simply stating, "after our Toki remake release, we'll work on Joe and Mac license." That simple confirmation, as well as the concept art seen above, was really the only meat on the release's bones -- platforms for the remake, or a tentative launch window still remain unannounced.

We'd love to toot our own horn for correctly guessing the franchise Golgoth would work on next, but the studio's boss did say it would be a Data East-developed co-op platformer. One needn't be a world-renowned cryptographer to suss that one out.

Golgoth Studio, the French developer behind the extraordinarily unlikely HD remake of TAD Corporation's Toki, isn't planning to stop bringing back things you might not have even known existed. During the hunt for Toki rights, Golgoth got in touch with G-Mode, who owns most of Data East's IP, and who offered the developer the license for a Data East property.

"I can't really say the name of the game right now," Anthony De Sa Ferreira told Gamasutra. "We only have the new design of the principal characters. To give a little hint about this license, it's a co-op platformer game. But I can't say more yet." Our guess for that co-op Data East platformer: Joe & Mac: Caveman Ninja. A less likely guess: Spinmaster.

Finding the Toki license, De Sa Ferreira said, was "like an RPG," with most of the companies involved with Toki now gone and the rights to those companies' works spread among multiple buyers. We didn't even know that Data East had been involved with Toki, much less that it was among the properties purchased by G-Mode.

Wait! Come back! The motion controls sound okay! We know that you're already groaning about the potential ruin of an NES classic with unwarranted waggle, but according to 1UP's preview of Excitebike: World Rally, the limited Wiimote motion sensing added to the traditional Excitebike control scheme actually improves the game.

You still move with the D-pad and accelerate with a button, but you can now tilt the Wiimote to lean your rider and "affect the pitch of your bike." "Jumping was always the trickiest part of Excitebike," 1UP's Jeremy Parish notes, "and the analog smoothness of the motion controls makes it intuitive -- it became second nature before the end of the first track."

We're curious enough about this sensible-sounding innovation that we'll delay throwing our controllers down in disgust. For now.

Not the state -- we don't know how he feels about that, nor do we think he'd have the power to remake it. Michigan (the game) was a 2004 PS2 adventure developed by Suda's Grasshopper Manufacture and directed by Contact's Akira Ueda, in which the player controls a cameraman who follows, and indirectly influences, a reporter investigating mysterious phenomena.

"There's a Spanish horror film called REC," Suda told Gamasutra, "and when I watched it, I realized it was pretty much Michigan, right there. I still have a lot of ideas along those lines, and I'd love to work with Spike sometime to make a new Michigan or a remake." Interviewer Brandon Sheffield discussed talks he'd had with US publishers about the game, who told him Sony declined it due to a lack of gameplay. So a remake would probably include more direct gameplay or ... would be for another platform.

Suda also said that he never expected to become a superstar game designer as a kid. "I wanted to become a sushi chef or an astronaut."

The classic shoot 'em up platformer Toki is getting the HD treatment, with an upcoming enhanced version from French developer Golgoth Studio. The studio -- which currently consists of six members -- intends on bringing the adventure back to life in with a "full 2D remixed version" based on the 1989 arcade original. In Toki HD, players must rescue his princess Miho from the evil sorcerer Vokimeldo, and reclaim his human form.

Toki HD producer Anthony De Sa Ferreira told Joystiq via email that -- while the game has no official platform as of yet -- the game has been submitted for approval for Games for Windows Live and Xbox Live Arcade. If its goal of resurrecting a classic arcade title isn't enough to get you on its side, Golgoth's motto of "2D refuses to die" might rope you in. Way to tug at our nostalgic heartstrings, guys. Check out the first gameplay footage of Toki HD after the break.

[Via GameSetWatch]

Gameloft's iPhone remake of Shiny's classic Earthworm Jim has found its way to the App Store, at a price of $4.99. It's a great game, but trying the iPhone version means you're willing to punish yourself by attempting the already-difficult run-and-gun without the benefit of a D-pad or buttons. We're going to have nightmares if we think too long about playing the submarine level that way.

In addition to the download-anywhere convenience and painful controller substitution, the iPhone/iPod Touch release lets you play your own iPod music as you play. That should be a welcome addition to one intentionally annoying level.

After the break, see gameplay footage captured by Touch Arcade.

Earthworm Jim ($4.99)

[Via AppShopper]

We recently found out that when Gameloft announced intentions to make a new Earthworm Jim game, the company really meant it intended to remake the first one. And while the next-gen version has some cleaned-up graphics, the iPhone release, as seen in the new trailer (after the break) might as well be a port. If you ignore the total lack of buttons, it might as well be the Genesis or SNES game. And speaking of buttons, have fun playing that submarine level on a touchscreen.

If the graphical improvements aren't more obvious in the WiiWare release, then the only real difference between the game on Virtual Console and WiiWare will be one extra level and difficulty selection. Awkward!