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

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

Post by BIL »

Marc wrote:I'm certainly going to have to reappraise that, because this is brilliant. Lightening-sharp controls that actually allow you to wing the early stages a bit - it's the anti-Ikari, or during its maze-type bits, a non-boring Gauntlet (don't shoot me BiL - I never played the MD port :D ).
They'd probably shoot me and you both, considering I've played the MD cart's Quest Mode 1,000x more than I have its AC one. :lol: (really cool ARPG/puzzler groove... M2's pro debut, incidentally. dunno if they handled the Quest Mode, but the AC side began as their bedroom coder project for X68000. turned out so good Tengen bought it for the MD, rest is history)

Have you played Twinkle Tale (MD)? If you find SFC Kiki lacks the streamlined immediacy of the original, TT's a good middle ground. A simpler game than Natsume's SFC landmark, but notably higher pace.
Will be picking the new version up for sure.
Absolute day 1 for me, it's a miracle these Tengo Project releases even exist, and Wild Guns + TNWA's both prove Natsume's not only kept their SFC peak performance, but arguably improved on it.
DenimDemon wrote:Bio Ship is a great addition. ACA is love. Im holding on for now though... since im having so much fun with Crime Fighters 2. I might grab Zero Team before jumping into Paladin.
Zero Team's an uncommonly easy rec among arcade beltscrollers - it's an idiosyncratic, unforgiving genre even by AC standards, but Seibu nailed a balance of challenge to user-friendliness. Make sure to give the manual a quick once-over, there's a deceptively rich set of mechanics folded into the simple SOR1-style action. Holding [up] during PPP for the classic Final Fight combo-into-throw, or [forward] for a super combo ender, or tech rolling out of knockdowns, chucking weapons in eight directions, Z-axis jumping... more I'm forgetting offhand, too.

Only thing it's missing is BANGIN CHOONZ ala Crime Fighters or SOR, but with its knowingly campy Tokusatsu styling, even the sometimes cheesy BGM is easy to forgive. Hilarious game too, even the facial expressions in the stat bar when someone takes a battering are great. :mrgreen:
OldSkoolShmuper wrote:
DenimDemon wrote:Bio Ship is a great addition. ACA is love. Im holding on for now though... since im having so much fun with Crime Fighters 2. I might grab Zero Team before jumping into Paladin.

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Yup, sure is. Heh, and I posted a bunch of times about this game a few months ago, and how I'd be thrilled if Bio-ship Paladin got an ACA release. And here it is!

Already bought it on PS4. I am going double dip on this one, so I'll also get it on Switch.

Thanks Hamster! Please bring us USAAF Mustang, too :p
It's rad knowing they've got UPL and NMK on tap, that's some high-class esoteric hardcore. :cool: I'd nab Mustang without hesitation, the MD cart's been one of my go-to foot-to-floor horis since forever. Killer Hide-Kaz BGM too, the man is an inexhaustible well of dark post-punk furies.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by CRP »

Raiden got a update, anyone know what it did ?
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BIL
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by BIL »

Just a "fixed bugs" note. It's older stuff that tends to get updated features, to bring them more in line with the newer ones (autofire frequency config, Hi Score mode, sometimes extra regions ala Haunted Castle being added to Akumajou Dracula).
Last edited by BIL on Sat Aug 07, 2021 8:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
Fingolfin
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by Fingolfin »

Really enjoying Bioship Paladin/Space Battleship Gomorrah/Gomorra!!

Quirky controls but really fun pacing: as BIL reported player ship/hitbox is a Winnebago/enormous but the enemy onslaught and dodging required of players matches the size of player ship very nicely!

As I am working through the first couple stages/rounds, I am finding it would be most helpful if there was a third button or some means of locking the cursor for the cursor-based roving cannon fire: the fact your cursor for this cannon moves whenever you have the B button pressed can be tricky and it would be cool and helpful to be able to lock it in place while moving your ship, dodging, etc

Highly recommended!

Two of my newer favorite STGs in ACA Arcades are UPL works: Task Force Harrier & Bioship Paladin.

Considering how quirky or idiosyncratic the options for 8ting/Raizing games are (at least till you get familiar and they begin to feel natural and ideally suited), Bioship Paladin’s controls are not that weird really.

The 3rd stage/round is causing problems for me due to the challenges of navigating of the Winnebago, but cursor based cannon is really well suited for tight spaces once you start getting used to joystick/dpad being used both for it and ship movement.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by DenimDemon »

Just noticed I've clocked 160 hours into Omega Fighter on Switch. Not bad to what just might be one of my favourite shooters in a long while. You guys! All this UPL tease makes me wanna dive into Bio Ship asap.

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

Post by Marc »

Ahh fuck Terra Force. So close so many times, but the backdrops toward the end are migrane-inducing.
Still never worked out if there's any benefit to going hori, it seems to do nothing but try and suck you into the vert levels anyway so what's the point Odd little thing, but I like.

Nothing this week? Rapidly becoming the highlight of my week a new ACA release, especially when they drop some unconverted / previously imperfectly converted gem.
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BIL
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

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This week is Taito's Kuri Kinton, supposed to be out tonight/tomorrow (at least in NTSCJ). I like it well enough - plays like a flashier Spartan X - but as always (cf Ninja Warriors and Vigilante), it makes one wish they'd liberate the real Spartan already. :wink: Hokuto no Ken and Dragon Ball fans will like the aesthetic, lots of nods to both. On one hand, I'm surprised they never gave the character further outings... on the other, maybe they didn't want to get sued, haha.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by BrianC »

CRP wrote:Raiden got a update, anyone know what it did ?
Not sure, but the sound seems to be much better in the switch version. Not sure what changed on ps4.
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Marc
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by Marc »

BIL wrote:This week is Taito's Kuri Kinton, supposed to be out tonight/tomorrow (at least in NTSCJ). I like it well enough - plays like a flashier Spartan X - but as always (cf Ninja Warriors and Vigilante), it makes one wish they'd liberate the real Spartan already. :wink: Hokuto no Ken and Dragon Ball fans will like the aesthetic, lots of nods to both. On one hand, I'm surprised they never gave the character further outings... on the other, maybe they didn't want to get sued, haha.
Yeah, picked this up last night. Fun, but as you say, just makes me want to play KFM. Something about that game that just feels 'right', this lacks its precision and 'snap' for want of a better word. Still, at these price points, even semi-decent titles are welcome.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by DenimDemon »

VANDYKE from UPL this week. Never played it... Any good?

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

Post by BIL »

I'm pretty happy with the short MAME preview. Topdown slashing/brawling is always an uneasy subgenre, imo, but this one seems to get it. Sharp, snappy attacks and agile character handling keep the drudge of Ikari III (AC) well away. Can't vouch for how well it'll hold up further in, but I get along with UPL, so I'll be taking a punt on it. Will report back. :mrgreen:

EDIT: oh nice, out now in Japan. :o Digging these late-Wednesday releases, I seem to recall waiting a bit longer in the past. Time to get BEEFEH Image
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DenimDemon
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by DenimDemon »

Looks like a fun 2 player game. Watched the stream earlier today.

Code: Select all

 https://youtu.be/i0dtiSPUG1o 
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BIL
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

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Yeah, was just thinking that the weapon balance would lend itself well to co-op. The flail's coverage is tempting, but its lack of oomph can bite you VS bosses with their HP. I like that they usually have a few alternative pickups to the side, there. I'm mostly stage/flail and boss/bomb. The boomerang seems like it might be a good middle ground. Apparently the sword cancels certain shots, but I don't seem to have encountered any.

Jumping over enemy fire a welcome option. Interested to see the jump is analogue - you get a lot more distance holding the button. You can also chuck bombs a lot further this way, useful VS bosses.

The delay on picking up weapons/food is going to enrage some. :lol: Gotta clear out the vicinity before nabbing the loot.

Playing a bit further in, I think stage 4 might be a make/break point for many. Shifts from flatland slashing with a bit of projectile-jumping, to full-on Legend of Valkyrie topdown action/platforming. I dig this sort of stuff, at least in moderate doses, and it seems very fairly designed - but yeah, lots of classic red flags - moving platforms, chiefly. Feels kinda badass rushing it down at speed, but then I'm an FC Gremlins 2 fan. :mrgreen:

POSE OR DIE Image
Spoiler
Image


Hm, right back to hardcore topdown killing after. Feels good man.

EDIT: Oh rad. How 2 Deal w/ Boobytrapped Chests:

Spoiler
Image


Just hop over and hit 'em from the back. Any lurking fiend will miss you, ready for dispatching. Phew, glad that's sorted out. Really cool game, breakneck yet varied. Made it up to st5's boss on a credit, adorable mean buggers. st5+6 seem like 100% hardcore dungeon slashing, I'm hoping st4 was just the big platformer setpiece. It's fun, but not the game (or most topdown slashers') strongest suit.

st4 boss design is faaackin KVLT Image Aesthetic is pleasantly reminiscent of beloved MD topdown killas UNDEADLINE and Twinkle Tale. Image 1990 was a comfy year for 2D arcade tech.

EDIT2: Nice, the Flail's input is analogue too. Hold the button for a longer swing, that's a cinch to rotate 360' or even 720'. As always with UPL, there's a lot of consideration under the foot/floor pace and screen overload.

Liking the Boomerang a lot. Piercing, reasonably strong, fast, and the way it alternates between left/right arcs gives it excellent coverage.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by Fingolfin »

Gremlins, eh? Slaughter with the top down? :mrgreen:

(Brief side topic / diversionary tactic)

Warning notice: unless already deef, suggested turn down the volume before clicking below

Atari 5200 Gremlins
https://youtu.be/xdeHw62VMTU

Atari 5200 Space Dungeon Taito D&D TM
https://youtu.be/GdYo164qnCU

Atari 7800 Food Fight yet even still more off topic but whatta port!!
https://youtu.be/-YlY9PC3ybs

Atari 7800 Midnight Mutants Grandpa Munster :lol:
https://youtu.be/94-pWVgZNys

Perhaps one of better shooting experiences on console:
twin stick a) Robotron 2084 & b) Space Dungeon
* a) played w/ two CX-40s strapped together and via 8bit hack or 7800 same
* b) CX52s also bound side by side 5200
controllers 2x2s on original hardware
(400/800, etc has some cool FPGA options!!)

EDIT need to be Atari accurate
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BrianC
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by BrianC »

Vandyke looks interesting, but I'm disappointed that it doesn't have ottoman tripping or fake British accents.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by Creamy Goodness »

Looks fun. Like a homo-erotic mix of Commando and The Legend of Zelda.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by Fingolfin »

Not sure where best to post this observation/inquiry

Playing ACA Hacha Mecha Fighter on PS4, I repeatedly encountered a second stage graphical glitch where the killer whales and dolphins turn golden/yellow!

Google and searching here turned up nothing (though searching’s not what it once was re: logical operators aiding specificity). I have an image captured FWIW.

Is there a way to share a PS4 image capture here?

No change noted (gameplay or scoring) beyond the gold/yellow but looks kinda cool.
Especially the dolphins.

Will see if there’s some pattern/ logic to the glitch.

Anyone hear or see this afore?
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by Jonpachi »

Fingolfin wrote:Is there a way to share a PS4 image capture here?
Most popular method is to post it on Imgur, and then grab the BBS share links.

https://imgur.com/upload
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Fingolfin
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by Fingolfin »

Jonpachi wrote:
Fingolfin wrote:Is there a way to share a PS4 image capture here?
Most popular method is to post it on Imgur, and then grab the BBS share links.

https://imgur.com/upload
Thank you Jonpachi!

Here’s the image link for gold/yellow killer whale stage 2.

Spent a minute but couldn’t work out a direct post; will edit as able.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/mqQFz8HMv8iQ5DdX8
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by OldSkoolShmuper »

I thought Bio-ship Paladin would've been covered the previous week in this channel
but now here it is, Shoot'me Up Saturday episode with BSP.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PS2AwAJ6Scc
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by EmperorIng »

I kind of wish Hamster would update old ACA releases to some of the nice accoutrements of the later releases.

E.G., the big one for me is not having to have the damn game struggle to find a network every time it wants to use my 'account'. If I am on a transit commute, it has to wait a minute before it decides there is no wifi network available, THEN I can skip past that nonsense and go into the game... right after having to reconfigure my buttons/display settings... which are tied to my account? Why did they decide on this stupid system for the first 4 years of their existence?
OldSkoolShmuper wrote:I thought Bio-ship Paladin would've been covered the previous week in this channel
but now here it is, Shoot'me Up Saturday episode with BSP.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PS2AwAJ6Scc
Nice Overview!
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by Rastan78 »

Yeah it would be really nice if they went back and updated that janky front end among other things. Another pet peeve of mine is how you have to press start (pressing A like every other game in the world will not work) to begin but then A to select your account. Well Start button on Switch (+) takes you to create a new account. If you just keep mashing start then you have to back out of that new account menu and then hit A. Then finally wait for the sync process which sometimes takes awhile even if youre on wifi. I do it every time.:roll: At least they finally got that sorted with the newer releases.

In the meantime while on the train or wherever try toggling on airplane mode. This way you can just select your account without having it try to sync up online. This will also nix the score uploading wait time after a credit. That's another nice little feature in the newer ones. You can toggle off score uploading as well.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by BrianC »

They updated some of their older ones on PS4 (Gradius was one if I remember correctly), but not all of them. Last I checked, Rygar PS4 is still behind the JP version. AFAIK, they have yet to update twin stick games like Crazy Climber or Karate Champ to support digital controls or two controllers.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by Super Joe »

I wished they used the Original coin op artwork for their game avatars !
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by RadiantAnsel »

qmish wrote:which PC ports? i though hamster is ps4/x1/switch
Digital Eclipse
I buy their releases for great museum sections (i'm in smallest minority who CARES about saving the legacy of artwork, print design etc. unlike most gamers who just want rom of a game), but their emulation is often questionable, sadly. :|
You could still provide credits on where you got them, Samurai Spirits NeoGeo Collection literally steals sections of Mikado tournaments without even mentioning it, that's actually somewhat disgusting.
================
As for "M2" levels of emulation (which ain't perfect), my only problem with both companies is their ignorance of knowing the controllers have L3 and R3 as buttons, having to sacrifice a button in an arcade stick to set it as credits is simply something I find pretty awful and dumb, especially because if you buy any retail arcade stick, you are going to have it right there where you could press it, its not a totally bad thing, I know, but something that's merely pretty annoying to happen.
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Rastan78
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by Rastan78 »

You could probably get around that annoying lack of L3/R3 button mapping by having a profile where you remap the buttons via hardware system settings. Only catch is it will remap across all games so you would want to switch to a different profile for games where you need your default controls back.

Some ports even forget there are actually left and right triggers allowing you to map only to L1 and R1. That can be a pain if you're on a six button pad where ZR is now a face button you want to assign.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by Fingolfin »

This week Taito’s 1981 Space Cruiser!
https://mobile.twitter.com/hamster_corp
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Jeneki
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by Jeneki »

Fingolfin wrote:Space Cruiser
Are we supposed to be the villains in this game? I love how you detonate their home planet at the end of every sequence. There's no such thing as a war crime if they're aliens! :lol:
Typos caused by cat on keyboard.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by Fingolfin »

Jeneki wrote:Are we supposed to be the villains in this game? I love how you detonate their home planet at the end of every sequence. There's no such thing as a war crime if they're aliens! :lol:
Bombs Away, but we’re okay! :mrgreen:

https://youtu.be/DhkcFullCBQ

Don’t know Space Cruiser but looks fun and similar to Sega Astro Blaster and Nichibutsu Moon Cresta, as well as 8bit Megamania!

P.S. not meant to be political in the slightest: just riffing/mildly replying

But I do love a bit of the old ultra violence nows and again! :lol:
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BrianC
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by BrianC »

Fingolfin wrote:This week Taito’s 1981 Space Cruiser!
https://mobile.twitter.com/hamster_corp
Looks like it has Kamiya's seal of approval.
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