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 »

Ms. Tea wrote:
BIL wrote: Bubble Bobble With Friends, which AFAIK includes a version of the AC game - though I've no idea how well-regarded it is (Sumez gave the PS4 ACA one his blessing, that there is a man who will not tolerate substandard BB/RI :mrgreen:)
I haven't played it, but Gotch are credited for the emulation of the original Bubble Bobble in BB4F. Could very well be the same emulation as in the standalone ACA release.
Aha, that would definitely make sense. Should be airtight, in that case.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by trap15 »

BIL wrote:With all the NMK coverage lately, I hope we see Valtric. Perikles always raved about it as one of the best-ever topdown tank 'em ups.
For good reason, it really is. Absolutely brutal one though :shock: Might be simultaneously best ever and hardest ever.
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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 so glad these guys' catalogue is in safe hands. Image EDIT: Haha, now I think back, he considered its contemporary (and Jaleco stablemate) Argus to be one of the toughest 80s 1-ALLs, too. I gave the ACA version a quick go and had trouble putting away the first boss, it's pretty fierce (and, sadly, WOBBLEH LIKE A MUHFUCKA :shock:) even there.

By the by, for budding Argunauts: my gripping Argus landing minigame ST. :cool: AC and FC certified! Avoid tragic Toaplan Landing Sequence mishaps, today! It could happen to you! :o
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by To Far Away Times »

Rastan78 wrote:https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/ ... _to_switch

Looks like they're releasing a collection of Taito stuff by Hamster. Nothing to get too excited about since almost all of these are already available as regular ACA releases.

What I really want is to see M2/Taito announce a Ray series collection in the same vein as Darius Cozmic.

Also it's pretty rare to see new gameplay from T3-CYR-WIZ, but he's been posting Thunder Cross II caravan mode replays from the ACA version.

https://youtu.be/UrvngmHEpGY
I miss the days when you could get basically every worthwhile Taito shmup in one package with a bunch of other games for $20. Far too generous these days. G-Darius went from a pack in game to a standalone game that was more expensive than the entire Taito Legends 2.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by BrianC »

I have Bubble Bobble 4 Friends - The Baron is Back. I have mixed thoughts about the game itself (it feels short, even with the new content, hopping on bubbles is automatic, and the main game is somewhat more puzzle based than the original), but the Bubble Bobble emulation seems soild.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by Jonpachi »

To Far Away Times wrote:I miss the days when you could get basically every worthwhile Taito shmup in one package with a bunch of other games for $20. Far too generous these days. G-Darius went from a pack in game to a standalone game that was more expensive than the entire Taito Legends 2.
Yet, what you're paying for is an amazing remaster done by the best in the biz, vs a janky collection with questionable emulation and limited options. The Legends collections are pretty hard to go back to in this era of M2 and Hamster.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by Marc »

For those not 100% hardcore though, the M2 versions are a bit of a stretch to justify. The Capcom collection turned out decent after all, and the pricing of the AA series means I quite often try out stuff I only have the vaguest idea about. I realise some will sink 100's of hours into these ports, that's pretty much who the M2 versions are aimed at, but they are pricing themselves out of a broader user base.

In fact, just seeing the prices of the Switch CAVE ports - still with the screen widgets from the 360 versions for £15.99..... That's a proper sweet spot.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by Rastan78 »

Marc wrote:For those not 100% hardcore though, the M2 versions are a bit of a stretch to justify.
I'm totally in that category that would've given my left nut for G Darius HD. At the same time I see how this is a tough pill to swallow if you have a passing interest in the game.

Don't forget about the Sega Ages series on Switch. You get nearly the same features of the more expensive M2 releases for 8 USD. They could've charged 20 or more for Virtua Racing easy. They added a surprisingly full fledged and much needed tutorial mode for Herzog Zwei, new playable ships for Thunder Force AC and so on. The games are also very responsive. Even more so than the ACA stuff and way better than the laggier games like Giga Wing on the CAS. Playing Thunder Force IV or Shinobi feels near original hardware on these. 3 frames maybe?
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by OldSkoolShmuper »

I rate the quality of the Sega Ages releases on Switch very highly.
That goes for the arcade and the console games.

M2 does outstanding work.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by velo »

BIL wrote:According to the ACA Wikipedia page (it's really well done, kudos to the maintainers), it's just six titles not on Switch. Some might conceivably make the jump (early NMK wobble 'em up Argus, characteristically bizarre UPL sidescroller Mutant Night, and Nichibutsu's interesting vehicle-jacking Commandoesque Holy Warrior Amaterasu), while Darius, Bubble Bobble and Wonder Boy I suspect won't, due to various releases post-ACA: M2's Darius/AGES collections, and Bubble Bobble With Friends, which AFAIK includes a version of the AC game - though I've no idea how well-regarded it is (Sumez gave the PS4 ACA one his blessing, that there is a man who will not tolerate substandard BB/RI :mrgreen:)
Wonder Boy 1's not in Sega Ages. Looks like the ACA version didn't make it out of Japan, either. Bubble Bobble 4 Friends did get a Japanese PS4 release. A few games already in collections have gotten ACA releases, like Gradius, Haunted Castle, etc. So to me there's not much of a pattern to it. I'm kinda miffed because I'd have picked up WB and BB.

I just don't get why the save state feature of these things is so crappy... one save slot is just lazy (better than zero at least), Hamster actually did extra work to make it suck even harder. And now I'm spoiled by rewind too.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by BIL »

I wonder if something's happened with Westone in the years since the PS2 Wonder Boy disc. Good job I kept hold of that one, I guess, not that I'm in the habit of selling off old ports/conversions.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by Marc »

velo wrote:
BIL wrote:According to the ACA Wikipedia page (it's really well done, kudos to the maintainers), it's just six titles not on Switch. Some might conceivably make the jump (early NMK wobble 'em up Argus, characteristically bizarre UPL sidescroller Mutant Night, and Nichibutsu's interesting vehicle-jacking Commandoesque Holy Warrior Amaterasu), while Darius, Bubble Bobble and Wonder Boy I suspect won't, due to various releases post-ACA: M2's Darius/AGES collections, and Bubble Bobble With Friends, which AFAIK includes a version of the AC game - though I've no idea how well-regarded it is (Sumez gave the PS4 ACA one his blessing, that there is a man who will not tolerate substandard BB/RI :mrgreen:)
Wonder Boy 1's not in Sega Ages. Looks like the ACA version didn't make it out of Japan, either. Bubble Bobble 4 Friends did get a Japanese PS4 release. A few games already in collections have gotten ACA releases, like Gradius, Haunted Castle, etc. So to me there's not much of a pattern to it. I'm kinda miffed because I'd have picked up WB and BB.

I just don't get why the save state feature of these things is so crappy... one save slot is just lazy (better than zero at least), Hamster actually did extra work to make it suck even harder. And now I'm spoiled by rewind too.
There's the Wonder Boy Returns Remix thing though, not sure how that ties in to it all..
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by mojilove »

Going back to Taito Milestones, this article (https://www.famitsu.com/news/202106/21224179.html) says that all the titles in Taito Milestones will be available as individual ACA releases, so Chack'n Pop will get its own ACA release in the future.

The same article also briefly mentions that Taito is in the process of putting shmup Sea Fighter Poseidon on ACA as well.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by Creamy Goodness »

mojilove wrote:Going back to Taito Milestones, this article (https://www.famitsu.com/news/202106/21224179.html) says that all the titles in Taito Milestones will be available as individual ACA releases, so Chack'n Pop will get its own ACA release in the future.

The same article also briefly mentions that Taito is in the process of putting shmup Sea Fighter Poseidon on ACA as well.
If only we could get Gun Frontier and Metal Black.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by BIL »

Yeah. Image TBH I'd swap in Gun Frontier for either Mizubaku or MB, with those having rock-solid Saturn ports. Saturn GF is fun for what it is, and in splendid form aesthetically, but the Rank's neutered (no longer raises per-shot, IIRC). One of that gen's classic "bagged the 1CC then tried the arcade version and got bodied" Death Discs. Image

Not interested in Milestones, at all. Seems like the Konami Anniversary Collection all over again. I hope it at least matches the individual ACA releases on features... I keep hearing bizarre shit about KAC that doesn't apply to the ACA stand-alones, like Thunder Cross not letting you enable extends, and Salamander/Life Force US/Life Force JP no longer being bundled together. Provided it matches individual ACA standards, I hope it does ok for them.

Picked up Seicross, which I was surprised to learn goes by "Sector Zone" in Japan. Always been very fond of the Famicom version, which uses the Overseas title. Picked up 2015's ACA MagMax on a whim too, because I always mentally associate their FC carts. I like 'em even more now... the expected difficulty boost aside, the AC ones are instantly familiar. Clobbering enemies into walls should always be a basic ability in racing shumps. :cool:
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by Rastan78 »

I'm totally with you guys on both wishing we would get Metal Black and Gun Frontier and totally not giving a flying F about this Taito collection. Maybe these were low selling titles and they're just trying to re-release them in a cheaper package to get some more sales?

Also it's frustrating that meanwhile we will get excellent titles like Metal Black and Elevator Action Returns only on the upcoming Egret mini. Never bought a mini console and probably never will. The idea for me right now is to keep it simple and consolidate everything down to one console.

Didn't realize about Gun Frontier having been neutered on Saturn re: rank. Same thing happened with Darius Gaiden and it's an easier game on Saturn for sure.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by Marc »

I'll probably end up picking it up for the spinner games alone.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by Bassa-Bassa »

Hopefully the inherent lag to these low-spec devices doesn't affect too much the spinner/trackball games, but those are the most prone to suffer from it, I'm afraid.

Rastan78 wrote:Didn't realize about Gun Frontier having been neutered on Saturn re: rank. Same thing happened with Darius Gaiden and it's an easier game on Saturn for sure.
Do you mean the arcade bug where King Fossil's body parts increase the rank too much or that there's no rank adjustments at all on the SS?
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by Rastan78 »

Just head over to Prickly Angler's detailed post on Saturn differences:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=68121
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by Bassa-Bassa »

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

Post by Atariboy »

Rastan78 wrote:Also it's frustrating that meanwhile we will get excellent titles like Metal Black and Elevator Action Returns only on the upcoming Egret mini.
That's not what this other post says.
mojilove wrote:Going back to Taito Milestones, this article (https://www.famitsu.com/news/202106/21224179.html) says that all the titles in Taito Milestones will be available as individual ACA releases, so Chack'n Pop will get its own ACA release in the future.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by Rastan78 »

Egret mini and Taito Milestones aren't the same thing. The Egret mini console has some good titles coming that AFAIK aren't announced for anything else such as Metal Black.

I'm not totally clear on why the Taito Milestone collection exists other than to offer a bundled price point, which could mean they could be missing features from the standalone ACA releases. Also the selection of games isn't getting me too excited.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by EmperorIng »

I'm minorly embarrassed that I picked up City Connection on ACA and am actually kind of liking it, despite how jank it is. Nothing like making a jump that is instantly invalidated by a randomly spawning cat that you couldn't possibly avoid due to fixed trajectories.

What's more embarrassing is that I also picked up the G-Mode release of its sequel, City Connection Rocket, and I sometimes think that's even better than the arcade original, much to its shame...

Jaleco, why are you always like this?

re:Taito
I'm as big a Taito nut as anyone but I won't give these collections a second look unless I can just get the one or two games I want separately. Gun Frontier and Elevator Action Returns would be mighty fine indeed, but without decent training options for GF it might be not worth it (that fucking stage 5).
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by Rastan78 »

Don't be embarrassed until you find yourself picking up an old Nokia flip phone just so you can experience the G Mode City Connection in its native pixel aspect just be true to the developer's original vision. :lol:

Yeah idk what's up with the lack of save slots on ACA. I can only figure they conceived the save state system as a way to pick up your game where you got interrupted, not as a practice mode.

Hopefully they will do more like what they teased us with in Gradius III. Besides the training mode options, one touch full powerup button was so cool. Sometimes you don't want to practice tedious restarts after a miss, you just want to keep going so you can actually learn the rest of the stage.

Yes, full training options as well as a rank counter should practically be mandatory for a good port of Gun Frontier.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by BIL »

Did a little refreshing re: Saturn Gun Frontier - turns out the Rank is locked to minimum and will never budge. While I own and love this version - even defanged, it's an aesthetic STG masterpiece, the mild reverb lending a filmic, windswept air to the stoic War Against Lizard Overlords - I detest it when ostensibly arcade-accurate (Arcade Gears, even) ports/conversions do this. Saturn Game Tengoku is another - nerfed loop, user has no say - and that one even returned to haunt future console generations via Cruisin' Mix. 3;<
EmperorIng wrote:Jaleco, why are you always like this?
per trap's excellent NMK gameography, I think City Connection was developed by Hect. I only know them for their nice FC Prince of Persia-esque, Moon Crystal. Lameass bosses, but the mildly arcadified Real Platforming Simulator is sound - doublejumps help, but superior upper-body strength is required! - and tbh, some of the best action games ever have great stages and lame bosses. Image

Only played City Connection briefly some time back - thought the colours were lovely (the wheelie-turning animation is especially cute), though I did notice those punishing Catch-22 jumps. You make me want to revisit, it's not often I see a sidescrolling Volfiedesque. Well, not quite Volfiedesque, but similar tactical "fill in the blanks / don't get owned" concept.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by Rastan78 »

From what I've read the rank system increasing from autofire etc. in Gun Frontier was an attempt to balance the game both for general users and "maniacs" but the devs felt like they didn't get it right. That's not why it didn't show up in the Saturn port though. Here's some more info on the port:
The main programmer for the ported version is Toshiaki Fujino, who is currently the president and programmer of Triangle Service. When asked about this in an interview with INH's "Twelve Stag & Trizeal" strategy DVD attached booklet, Mr. Fujino said, "The cause was that I was impatient to get a job when my career and know-how were suspicious. I am very sorry to the fans, but my reflection and experience are alive. "
"Since Taito provided only graphic data, I had to buy a board on my own, record the play, and transplant by eye," he said. Since there is a similar story in the ported version of "Night Striker" released at the same time, it may not have been possible to completely port it under the Taito environment at that time.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by BIL »

Fascinating... I had no idea Fujino headed that port, nor that he was rebuilding it from an end-user's perspective. Understandable that it's an "alt ver" at best, and kind of admirable that it plays even as accurately as it does.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by Rastan78 »

Yeah given that info you almost have to feel bad for the guy. Especially if he had to go out and source an arcade board by himself. Gee thanks a lot, Taito!

Besides that even the original devs forgot all the details of how the rank system works!
The factors that change the rank are ambiguous, such as the rate of fire of shots, score, and survival time, but there are still many parts that are not clear even after many years have passed since the release. Even the programmers who worked on the development at that time later said, "(Regarding the conditions for raising the rank) there are too many to remember everything.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by trap15 »

Now that's some insane fuckin' lore, damn. Never would've guessed it was a copy-by-eye job, and never would've guessed it'd be done by Fujino. Pretty insane.
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Re: I'm so glad that Hamster's Arcade Archives are a thing.

Post by BIL »

Almost reminds me of the stories I'm used to hearing from European PC coders - taking Polaroids of R-Type and Salamander at the arcade, then going home and redrawing for C64, Amiga, etc. :mrgreen: (sometimes encountering IRL arcade violence in the interim :shock: - lovable goofball, that Amiga Final Fight dev, though I don't know if I'd say the same had I forked out for his shitty work only to discover his infamous .txt tirade BITD :lol:)

Makes me wonder about X-ING's other discs, like the further Arcade Gears (ImageFight & X-Multiply, PuLiRuLa), and Wolf Fang. I loved seeing the first two get ACA releases, and I hope the latter will follow (M2 and Hamster are both publishing DECO games, and G-Mode has the rights to Wolf Fang, so I'm fairly optimistic... also WTB THUNDER ZONE). There will always be a handmade charm to those SS/PS1-era conversions (Wolf Fang includes the PCB's secret, code-unlocked "Professional" mode, where you play all its branching routes in one herculean credit - unlocked via code on PS/SS, too!), but for console-loving fans of arcade stuff, it's great to have the option of straight emulations nowadays.
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