A JALECO CLASSIC FINALLY RELEASES IN NORTH AMERICA!

Originally released in arcades in 1990, Rod Land became a memorable single-screen platformer. Jaleco wanted to bring their new hit over to the West with their main publishing partner porting it to a series of home consoles and PCs all over Europe, such as the Amiga, ZX Spectrum, and Commodore 64. Soon after, they would also publish PAL NES® and Game Boy® ports for Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands in 1992. By this time, the SNES® and SEGA Genesis® were all the rage in North America, which wouldn't see a port on any console. We're happy to re-release this colorful classic for everyone.

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Rod Land - NES® Collector's Edition

The once calm and quiet Fairy Village has been attacked! Dark magic has turned the normally docile wildlife into hostile fiends and Tam and Mit have had their mother kidnapped! They will need to don the magic rods and rainbow shoes that their late father passed down to them and venture into Maboots Tower to rescue her. Venture through 40 scenes and more with up to two players in this classic arcade port for the home consoles.

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Rod Land - Game Boy® Collector's Edition

The once calm and quiet Fairy Village has been attacked! Dark magic has turned the normally docile wildlife into hostile fiends and Tam and Mit have had their mother kidnapped! They will need to don the magic rods and rainbow shoes that their late father passed down to them and venture into Maboots Tower to rescue her. Take this portable adventure on the road through 40 scenes and partner up with a friend in 2-player hotseat mode.

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3,230 Units of Total Shipped

1,670 NES® & 1,560 Game Boy®
ALL COPIES DELIVERED DECEMBER 2024

Release Timeline

April 1990

Yōsei Monogatari Rod Land (妖精物語ロッドランド), which translates to "Rod Land: A Fairy Tale", was released to Japanese arcades by Jaleco. Up to two players must control Rit and Tam through single screens without the ability to jump. Instead, they must use their ability to conjure ladders to clear each stage of enemies or collect all the flowers. A port for the Amstrad CPC was released later in the same year.

1991

Rod Land received ports on various PC consoles in Europe thanks to publisher The Sales Curve (later SCi Games). The Amiga version was developed by Random Access and released in March 1991 with some hidden features accessed via codes. Additionally, ports for the Commodore 64 and Atari ST appeared in the same year. These ports were widely praised for being faithful to the original arcade while also adding a bit more gameplay with some post-game stages.

December 1992

The Famicom port of Rod Land was released in Japan and is vastly different from the original arcade. The beautiful backgrounds are replaced by single-color backdrops, side-scrolling sequences are added before boss battles, and players have the option to gain the ability to jump. This version would also arrive at PAL NES® consoles but only in Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands. While it lacks the post-end game content from the original arcade and earlier PC ports, it was considered an enjoyable title by reviewers. These versions would become the rarest to own.

1993

Rod Land for the Game Boy® portable console releases. The team at Eurocom developed this port that manages to squeeze in the arcade action onto the tiny screen. The screen now scrolls, and you're able to attack while climbing ladders. The game is still quite challenging, and multiplayer works as a "hotseat" mode with players passing the console when it is their turn.

September 2011

Apple devices would receive ports of Rod Land, specifically for iPad and iPhone platforms. These ports were done by DotEmu.

January 2021

The arcade version was part of Hamster's Arcade Archives series for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 for North America and Europe.

December 2024

Retro-Bit Publishing releases both the Game Boy® and NES® versions of Rod Land to both North America and Europe. Pre-orders had closed in August 2024.