I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

[BIL]

^ I did wonder about the fairness of PS4 vs MVS. I play Blazing Star sub-casually, and even my jaw dropped at just how X-TREEEM the flicker is on native hardware, once the screen is full of bouncing Angels and BONARS (GET IT MORE).

ACA ver is basically a "sprite limit off" mode, quite the leg up. I'm sure they noted it appropriately, knowing glorious Nihon.

As to ACA-NG at large, yeah, you have to approach them with hardware controller solutions already lined up. A batch update would be lovely, given the games run beautifully otherwise. (unless you demand hardware-brutal sprite flicker >_>)

I think they're also significantly rougher on Switch than PS4, which was ACA+ACA-NG's native platform. I'm always hearing odd things about ACA-NG stuff that I've never encountered on PS4... the usual Switch input lag, basically, but also odd game speeds, and other dings associated with lesser emulation houses.

There's also no way to map Button 3 and 4, which you need to press together to select the third ship colours, so you can only use P1 and P2 ship colours.

I may be wrong (can't even call myself a noob @ this game), but I think the PS4 version has a solution for this - you can map A/B/C/D individually, and there's also a handy C+D mapping. I'm getting three colours, one apiece for A, B, and C+D:

Muh Deetz ;3 ;3 ;3

Spoiler

This may have been added in an update; they do happen, rather sporadically, Hamster being the quintessential ad-hoc artisans. Although, checking the PS4 ver (JP)'s update history, it doesn't seem to have ever been patched.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Are you kidding me? They fixed the PS4 version and not the Switch version? The Switch version hilariously refers to buttons C and D during the boot sequence screen with the blue background and yellow boxes, but going into the game options only gives options for mapping A (normal and rapid) and B (you can map it twice for some reason). I hunted for a solid 5 minutes for a solution and definitely did not find a C+D mapping, nor could I find a button on the controller that did it when I kept restarting the game over and over to ship select.

(ง •̀ w •́)ง

[BIL]

Faaack, sorry bro. 3;

MFW reading about Switch antics

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Q: IS THE GAME TAUNTING ME?

Spoiler

A: YES, YES IT IS.

Spoiler

This is like that time I discovered the Switch allows custom remapping of controllers... but only if they're joycons or pro controllers. ;w;

[BurlyHeart]

Oh man, I hadn't considered that, but yeah, setting the autofire that fast means the game will actually register it as a hold input when there's slowdown right? Oof.

It's a shame they haven't gone back and patched it, I can't imagine it'd be difficult to do.

Oh interesting! This is could be the reason I have issues throwing grenades in ACA NeoGeo Metal Slug X.

[Steven]

Picked up Image Fight and X Multiply on PSN a few minutes ago. I think I have every Irem shooter on ACA now unless you want to count Moon Patrol. Time to go get annihilated by Irem again. Those guys made some stupidly hard games.

Also very close to Fighting Hawk clear as well. If I'm being honest, after so many hours with Hishouzame and fresh from the Kyuukyoku Tiger no-autofire 1CC last week or whenever it was, Fighting Hawk feels pretty sleepy. Nice little game, though.

BTW BIL, how is your Kyuukyoku Tiger going?

[BIL]

BTW BIL, how is your Kyuukyoku Tiger going?

I was all gung-ho on KT and Raystorm, regularly 1CCing to the penultimate stages of both - then TWO great cataclysms struck: 1) GNG Resurrection, which is a legitimate arcade thoroughbred in fiendishly noob-friendly Soulsesque clothing, and ate a month like it was nothing, and 2) moving house with a retarded dog and an annoying baby (those aren't euphemisms!). So basically I'll get back to you next month.

Fighting Hawk is the quintessential epigonal Toaplanesque; inoffensive, unexcelling, has some nice ideas (homing missile cluster is put to good use versus arse-biting backstabbers), decent diversion if you dig the real thing. Sometimes I prefer those to the more ambitious stuff like Raiden and Trigon which, while excellent overall, can really exasperate with the combination of wicked difficulty and occasional amateurish dings. How in God's name were serial bullet visibility offenders NMK the only guys to ever tweak their yellow bullets to purple for the desert stage?! (Task Force Harrier)

Moon Patrol is killer btw! It's probably nearer Wonder Boy (hop rocks / bust shots), but where that one's shooting is a luxury, MP outfits you with badass ground-to-air and nose-to-nose firepower as standard. Quite a looker too, the clean palette and deep parallax haven't aged a bit. The car's suspension is super-cute, too. Class act. While neither as arresting nor timeless, Youjyuden / Heroic Episode is quite good too, in its Commando x Xevious way.

[Steven]

Yeah, I remembered that I had never played Moon Patrol somehow, so I bought it too and it's awesome. That parallax scrolling would have been mind-blowing in 1982. It still plays and looks very nice today, in the same way that Konami's Scramble does.

I don't have any Irem arcade clears somehow. For now, I've been thinking about going for Kaitei Daisensou, which I have credit fed through to the end, but that game gets extremely difficult in the second half, or R-Type. Saigo no Nindou is also an option, but I want to do R-Type II after R-Type and then probably do Leo or move to SFC for R-Type III. Still disappointed that no R-Type games are on ACA.

[Klatrymadon]

X-Multiply's first loop is very doable if you're after a quick Irem clear, and it'd put the ACA purchase to good use! (The last stage might seem a bit hairy at first but you can render it largely empty with some proactive dispatching of enemy-spawners.)

[Steven]

Cool, I might go for X Multiply. I can no miss the first half or so of R-Type no problem, but then if I mess up on stage 5 I usually can't recover. That's pretty much how those first few R-Types are, unfortunately; no miss or suffer miserably because recovery is difficult.

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Looks like we have another "Surprise" title: Ark Area which was released in the Japanese PS4 store its gonna get (by now) a Switch release.
https://twitter.com/famitsu/status/1658744241550663683

[BIL]

Ha, had to happen at some point. I think that just leaves Holy Warrior Amaterasu and perennial licensing bugbear Wonder Boy, of the PS4 (edit: not Switch) exclusives?

AA is quite cool. Seizure-paced topdown arena STG with UPL's usual madcap joie de vivre. People always asking if their PCBs are on the fritz, nah, that's how it's supposed to look. ;3 Amaterasu is neat too, if you can forgive a hint of the then-trendy aim lag (ala Contra/Top Gunner). Topdown run/gun with some inspired vehicle theft. Steal hovertank -> run a bunch of motherfuckers over with hovertank -> crash hovertank into boss's face. WB needs no introduction, legendary rock avoider, though I'd be very surprised to see them wangle a NSW release. Although Hamster have managed stranger things recently, so who knows.

The PS4 version of Ark Area should be in for an update, if past Switch retro-releases are any indication.

[Rastan78]

Apparently there's a missing enemy in stage 5 Xexex for the ACA version?

https://twitter.com/bonniexenon/status/ ... Hv-uA&s=19

To clarify there are two similar blue mid-sized enemies. The one that has a pointy nose and the orange brain looking thing on top is present on the ACA port. The enemy that is completely absent from the stage is similar but sort of warps into view when it spawns. It has a slightly more boxy shape and the brain is on the bottom. Stage 5 should be a fair bit easier without these enemies appearing.

[m.sniffles.esq]

This is as good a place to post this as any:

I'm at my job playing Switch, a co-worker comes along and excitedly asks:

"Ooh, are you playing Tears of the Kingdom?!?"
"Uh, no. Galaga '88"

Her brow furrows

"Galaga..."

...

"Yeah... '88"

She walks away saying to herself "I guess he's playing Galaga... '88"

[SavagePencil]

You might chase her down and remind her that some of us in the West got it as Galaga ‘90 in its TurboGrafx 16 incarnation.

That’ll clear it up.

[BIL]

Apparently there's a missing enemy in stage 5 Xexex for the ACA version?

https://twitter.com/bonniexenon/status/ ... Hv-uA&s=19

To clarify there are two similar blue mid-sized enemies. The one that has a pointy nose and the orange brain looking thing on top is present on the ACA port. The enemy that is completely absent from the stage is similar but sort of warps into view when it spawns. It has a slightly more boxy shape and the brain is on the bottom. Stage 5 should be a fair bit easier without these enemies appearing.

Well-spotted! I bet they'll get on that.

こんな素晴らしい移植で¥837とかほぼ無料なので是非購入しましょう！

It's almost free for ¥ 837 with such a wonderful port, so let's buy it!

That's how I approach ACA too.

[jehu]

This is as good a place to post this as any:

I'm at my job playing Switch, a co-worker comes along and excitedly asks:

"Ooh, are you playing Tears of the Kingdom?!?"
"Uh, no. Galaga '88"

Her brow furrows

"Galaga..."

...

"Yeah... '88"

She walks away saying to herself "I guess he's playing Galaga... '88"

[Skyknight]

Wait until she hears about those of us with such things as X-Multiply, Mercenaries Lament, Raiden, G-Darius…

[BrianC]

Ha, had to happen at some point. I think that just leaves Holy Warrior Amaterasu and perennial licensing bugbear Wonder Boy, of the PS4 (edit: not Switch) exclusives?

Is that the JP name of Soldier Girl Amazon? That one is on Switch

[BIL]

Ha, had to happen at some point. I think that just leaves Holy Warrior Amaterasu and perennial licensing bugbear Wonder Boy, of the PS4 (edit: not Switch) exclusives?

Is that the JP name of Soldier Girl Amazon? That one is on Switch

Oh nice. Indeed, that's the one. With Bubble Bobble and Darius having made the jump to Switch, I think WB may actually be the last straggler? Would be great to see it too, but WB being what it is, I'm not holding my breath.

I wish they'd give Ninja Emaki a spot. Some similarities with Amaterasu, but way cooler Kamui Den aesthetic. Topdown ninja run/gun feels like an under-repped style, compared to army and sci-fi. There's Ninja Princess and Ninja Commando, of course.

[hamfighterx]

You might chase her down and remind her that some of us in the West got it as Galaga ‘90 in its TurboGrafx 16 incarnation.

That’ll clear it up.

This is obviously the right advice XD (and the second time I've visited this thread and laughed out loud picturing that interaction, ty for that!)

Oh nice. Indeed, that's the one. With Bubble Bobble and Darius having made the jump to Switch, I think WB may actually be the last straggler? Would be great to see it too, but WB being what it is, I'm not holding my breath.

Wonder Boy is indeed the last remaining PS4-only Arcade Archives game. I'm the weirdo who has been looking forward to Ark Area just so they could cross that one off the list, glad to see it!

Agreed on not expecting Wonder Boy any time soon. Feels like a licensing matter, and with the relatively recent Inin/SLG/United Games release of their Wonder Boy compilation developed by Bliss Brain (which may be causing some of the licensing issues), the original arcade game IS available on Switch - just not via Arcade Archives. But like you said, we've seen Darius and Bubble Bobble and they've also been included on current gen releases... so maybe there's a chance? But eh, we know Hamster has a strong relationship with Taito these days so those came as a little less of a surprise (still a bit of a surprise though!) WB feels different and has historically been such a licensing mess with Westone/Sega and whoever else.

I don't think the Switch/PS4/PC remake Wonder Boy Returns (or its revised version, Returns Remix) includes the original, but I haven't tried those ones because I can't get past the awful looking flash-style art.

Wonder Boy was one of the very first Arcade Archives games on PS4 in Japan, back in July 2014. Can't believe that the Arcade Archives port is nearly 9 years old now, that's getting retro itself!

こんな素晴らしい移植で¥837とかほぼ無料なので是非購入しましょう！

It's almost free for ¥ 837 with such a wonderful port, so let's buy it!

That's how I approach ACA too.

Hahahahaha I've found a new personal motto.

[Sumez]

https://twitter.com/tgm_series/status/1 ... 0506877954

Looks like TGM2 could be incoming!
One of very few games I'd consider an all-time 10/10

EDIT: Oh wow, looks like it's already confirmed for june 1st

[BIL]

God damn, and with Rolling Thunder 2 inbound. At this point in the Greatest Arcade-to-Home Series GP, they're doing naked handstand victory laps.

[Steven]

20 ACA games are either 30% or 50% off on the Japanese eshop for whatever reason. Nothing on PSN, but I imagine that it will show up there eventually as well.

[BIL]

Seems it'll include a few Namco titles? Not bad at all. At any rate, RT2 up now. Just Splatterhouse remaining now, of my BIG 3 PLS picks. I bet that'll arrive within the year. Have to say, Namco joining has really made it apparent how goddamn consistent they were - not as adventurous as a Taito or DECO, but pretty much every week has been something worthwhile if not outright excellent.

[Steven]

Yeah, Xevious is in the sale. I have that on 3DS (lol), but I have wanted to get it on ACA for a while now. Without Xevious we wouldn't have Slap Fight or RayForce or any of those games' descendants, and I kind of like Xevious, although I am bad at it.

Real Bout 1 is in the sale, too. I already have that on AES and Switch, so I don't really need it on PS4, but I might as well mention that it's there since it's the second best Garou game after Real Bout Special, which is sadly not in the sale. Also Metal Slug 3 and... uh, some other stuff, but I forgot lol.

[cfx]

As of about six hours ago when I looked, there were some ACA on the Japanese PSN on sale as well. Don't know if it was the same ones as I didn't remember Xevious, but I know I saw Gaplus and Dragon Spirit which I plan to get, along with non-shooters NAM-1975 and Legend of Valkyrie.

I was pleasantly surprised as I never see any ACA on sale other than those few Neo-Geo titles that seem to repeat like King of the Monsters, and I haven't even seen those in a long while.

I'll get things as soon as Rolling Thunder 2 shows up.

[SPM]

I love Xevious, gonna grab it when I get home. I usually don't buy TATE games from ACA anymore since there's no TATE in Hi-Score mode (and I play these on Switch undocked), but this time I'll make an exception. This game doesn't require a large screen to be enjoyed anyway!

[BIL]

Man I gotta say, I forgot how good RT2's opening stage looks, to the point I almost wonder if Ridge Racer was influenced at all. Uncannily similar tropical opulence, down to those unmistakably sun-baked shades of platinum white and pale emerald.



Also must say, the stalwart ol' MD port of Rolling Thunder 2 did daaamn well for its time. I actually kinda prefer the AC version's tighter stage layouts, at least early on. Where MD expands st2's mansion with a courtyard full of panthers, and a frickin mecha boss battle, AC has an elegant transition from Opulent Baddie Mansion to RetroFuturistic Baddie Seabase. Love how they swap out the BG layer while you're busy battling your way up the railings, only to have you drop down and BOOM! The MANSION was actually UNDERWATER BASE!

So cute how they crammed that trademark hardware scaling in from bootup, with the satellite getting taken out. Again, the MD fills out nicely with some first-rate character art of Alabtross and Leila, plus the greatest password menu known to man, and lots more anime-quality interstage cutscenes. Here it's almost eerily terse, with a fleeting glimpse of a tastefully appointed study, before busting out the flyer's piece de resistance: HELL WORLD 199X



AIEEE! That's right, agent BigDick McKillaMahfucka! Iron them slacks, comb in some Dapper Man and get the fuck strap, or dis whole place gon be FUCC! Wait. What you say! The broad is P1 now? Excuse me miss! Look, a big box of shoes! Why yes, I do believe they are in your size, ha ha! *slam* This is a fucking disaster. Get BigDick on the telex. No I don't care how many broads he's currently fucking at the same time. Pretty sure he just makes that shit up, the cheeky prick. Probably not even his real name now I think about it. (■｀w´■)



AHA! Player side switch option! TY Ham-chan, I am far too chauvinist to be shooting motherfuckers in the head neck and chest as toots over there. Gonna give me a goddamn complex ffs.

Biggest gain feels like Ayako Saso's BGM. MD one did great, as always - but the added richness and clarity on each and every note really puts these absurdly jazzy tunes over the top, from "catchy" to "preposterously jaunty for shooting chumps in the face to"



Wonderful to see this on ACA for we non-Switch plebes who've made do with the MD cart for so long. ;3 I remember Randorama mentioning a later checkpoint getting insanely, improbably difficult to one-life, something I can rather readily believe after dallying with ACA Phelios earlier this year. Times like this I'm more... not forgiving, but at least more apathetic towards the antics of Dicksuckin Lips and Shitty Connection. With just two star performers in Hamster and M2, this is already an era of Too Many Games.



^ As always with ACA manuals, you can tell they're written from enthusiast standpoint; love all the nods to RT1, which RT2 is not so much softer than, as it is a knowing leavening of. I'd not even thought of RT1 being a four-way game until now, I always thought it was just riding the player's ass for the hell of it. Like FC Dracula III!

[Sima Tuna]

I will probably buy rolling thunder 2 when it drops on switch. Some other ACA titles are on sale, so I might grab metal slug 3 (least favorite MS game, but it's still a Slug game) and RB Fatal Fury.