The third in a series of articles I’m planning on writing, looking at the output of a number of Vita-supporting developers from launch through to the present day. I’ll be examining what their history in the games industry is, what the games they released on Vita were, how these titles performed, what games they could have released on Vita as well as an overall conclusion about their level of Vita support.

In recent years, it seems the demand to bring retro games to modern consoles has grown exponentially and no company have done a better job of riding this wave than Code Mystics, a porting studio whose emulation work has been among the best in the industry. Working in partnership with numerous companies including Atari and LucasArts but most notably SNK, they’ve re-birthed numerous classics and Vita has always been an integral part of their plans, making them perfect for this series of articles.

History – developing a specialism

Interestingly, prior to Vita Code Mystics had no experience with Sony handhelds, instead developing for a variety of consoles but mainly focusing on Nintendo DS and mobile phones – showing they at least have a history with portable hardware.

Their specialism has always seemed to be bringing back classic games – on DS they ported things like Dragon’s Lair (something they later brought to iOS) before working on an assortment of classic Atari titles. After this, their output scattered all over the place – on things like Mortal Kombat Arcade Collection on PS3, a variety of plug-in-and-play TV titles and Killer Instinct on XB1, before finally landing their jackpot working on PS4 and Vita.

Vita – Code Mystics’ bread & butter

Code Mystics continued their specialism in updating older games through a very special partnership that would last throughout the Vita’s life. This was with SNK, the Japanese developer best known for their Neo Geo console and King of Fighters series – through a deal brokered by Sony’s Third Party Productions team led by Gio Corsi.

Their first release under this partnership was Metal Slug 3, a run ‘n’ gun scrolling shooter known for its tough difficulty and stunning pixel graphics. In updating it to bring to Sony’s handheld, Code Mystics added online multiplayer, local co-op (on a PSTV) and even leaderboards making it a much more social experience than before, but also allowing it to be more accessible in the current gaming landscape. It was also notable for being incredibly close to the original Neo Geo version in terms of emulation which made it a great way to replay a classic – something that would become a theme going forward.

For their next reworking, the team tackled a significantly more forgotten game – The Last Blade 2, a late-in-life Neo Geo weapons-based fighter set in the Bakumatsu era of Japanese history. Again, the team worked their magic to stay faithful to the original version while adding online play, art galleries and nice little features such as cross-save with PS4 that made it an enjoyable package. They followed this up with a port of Garou: Mark of the Wolves – arguably the best Neo Geo fighter of all time that made a fantastic addition to Vita’s library, not least thanks to its stable online modes using FOCAL technology.

Perhaps the most impressive thing they worked on in collaboration with SNK was Samurai Shodown V Special in 2017. The original game had been panned upon release so Special was an expanded version which made many fixes and was to be the final Neo Geo game released in the west – but its launch was completely butchered as the title was heavily censored, removing much of the impact. Code Mystics managed to retrieve the original code and emulate it on Vita marking the first time the game had been (officially) playable in the west and as usual, it was a high quality port feeling like the best way to play it on a modern system.

They capped off their SNK partnership by working on King of Fighters ’97: Global Match, somewhat of a surprising choice given that ’98 is usually seen as the franchise’s defining title. Still, their work was again flawless adding online matchmaking (with players across the whole world) and little extras like art galleries – it even received a physical release through Limited Run Games, the first (and so far only) SNK game to be available physically on Vita.

Indie porting masters

Before they’d even hashed out their deal with SNK, Code Mystics were already in demand as an external porting studio – working with multiple developers to bring their titles to Sony’s handheld in close partnership with the Third Party Productions team.

The first instance of this was with Messhof’s unique fencing-fighting game Nidhogg. The team went the full distance with the port – as well as adding online multiplayer plus cross-buy and cross-play with PS4, support was added for ad-hoc multiplayer on two handhelds or local multiplayer on one PSTV. The game itself formed part of the early indie initiative which Sony was pushing, helping cement the console as a great place to play smaller titles.

They went on to work with Hopoo Games on their PC smash Risk of Rain, bringing it to Vita in 2016. It had been a firm favourite on PC receiving solid reviews and selling over a million copies – on handheld, it was seen as even more enjoyable thanks to its pick-up-and play nature and led to yet another physical release through Limited Run Games. That said, there were a few issues with the port – when on-screen action got particularly heated the framerate could drop, but this was never enough to ruin the overall experience.

The team went on to work with Hopoo again in 2018 with their action-puzzler-stealth crossover Deadbolt that impressed reviewers all over again with its fast paced gameplay, although some noted that it was a little small on Vita’s screen.

Other bits & pieces

Given their vast wealth of experience on Vita, it was unsurprising to see other publishers contact them to produce ports – ensuring Code Mystics were still finding work right up to the handheld’s discontinuation in 2019.

Perhaps the most bizarre of these was Super Star Wars, an emulated version of the run ‘n’ gun SNES classic (based on the mega-popular film series) from 1992. Released in conjunction with EA’s Star Wars Battlefront (which only landed on PS4 and not Vita), it oddly didn’t lead to any kind of ongoing partnership to bring the sequels The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi to the console – although it was a fairly enjoyable, if slightly dated, time in its own right.

In another interesting turn, the company had been contracted by Atari to bring Atari Flashback Classics to PS4, XB1 and Switch but no port to Vita was ever discussed – however Code Mystics worked on it in downtime between other projects and pitched the final product to Atari who gave them the go ahead to release it. It included every title available on other platforms in one complete package and brought a sea of classic games to Vita which I’m incredibly grateful for, some with unique control methods making the most of the hardware.

Sadly in this section I can’t include the tactical RPG The Banner Saga which was handed to the studio after the original creators were unable to port it across – despite all of Code Mystics’ technical knowhow, they also had to abandon the project in 2017 due to technical difficulties. Even this developer has limits it seems, although given their successes with everything else I can’t half wonder if there was something else going on behind the scenes with this one.

Still, as a final parting gift for the handheld, Code Mystics released Dreamwalker, their first and only original title on the console which had initially been available for the Nintendo DS. It was quite a fitting final release – an updated version of a game first available in a previous generation and although its puzzle gameplay largely flew under the radar, it certainly found some fans.

Conclusion

By building a niche for themselves as emulation and porting experts, Code Mystics have managed to see an incredibly reliable workload that has lasted them from early in Vita’s life right through to the end of its production in 2019. There’s no other studio out there that has built up such a reputation either – few teams are able to deliver the consistent quality of output that this developer has (with just one unfortunate blip along the way).

The biggest highlight for me has been their reworkings of classic SNK titles (Garou being my favourite of all) which have all been stunning updates to legendary games, but their tenacity with bringing Atari Flashback Classics to Vita is equally impressive. One thing’s for sure though – without them, the handheld’s library would’ve been a hell of a lot more empty and I’m incredibly grateful for all they’ve worked on.