Vertical 3p/4p arcade games.

[Battlesmurf]

I wasn't able to pull much up with search- and I'm sure there's a good way to find this out- so the topic will be two parts. What games exist- and which ones are your favorite?

Nitro Ball
Turbo Force
Mercs
Desert Breaker
Fixeight

There has to be more, right? Curious!

[BIL]

Came to post Mercs/Senjou no Okami II. Fond of the AC version, but tbh my favourite incarnation is the MD port's arrange mode. Badass army ARPG. ABC+START for the super-secret XTREEM mode, where you'll be up to your eyeballs in suicide BOMBAS.

How about Gain Ground? AFAIK, the arcade version is vert + 3P. Love that one too - don't think there's anything else quite like its methodical, deadly-intense topdown action. And although its MD port isn't quite the triumph of Senjou no Okami, its Hard difficulty is an interesting spin. You start off with the full set of characters, but there's absolutely no way to get anyone back if they die, giving it a very different sort of pressure.

[Stevens]

I'll add Ghostbusters from Data East, but I'm racking my brain and these are hard to come up with.

[BrianC]

John Elway's Team Quarterback is vertical and 4 players.

[TransatlanticFoe]

Gain Ground is vertical orientation but single screen, so not sure where that stands for this question. I'd say count it because a) it's fantastic b) as BIL says, there is nothing else like it

Very rarely see > 2 players outside of beat 'em ups and racers. Gauntlet it looks like is horizontally oriented as is Quartet, those were the two that immediately came to mind. Interesting to know what else is out there!

[Bratwurst]

A vertical monitor does inhibit how many players you can crowd around the cabinet and share the display, maybe that's why there weren't that many.

[GaijinPunch]

Gain Ground is vertical orientation but single screen, so not sure where that stands for this question. I'd say count it because a) it's fantastic b) as BIL says, there is nothing else like it

Worth noting that the 3P version of Gain Ground is only available outside of Japan.

[BIL]

^ Interesting, reminds me of Hellfire and Kyuukyoku Tiger's respective overseas versions getting 2P modes. I was trying to recall where I read that, turns out it was gamengai. It's usually either you or blackoak.

[Having Players Make Patterns Is Ideal For My Shooting Games]

VHS: For the games first put out by Taito, were there any requests by them to "make something like this?"

Uemura: For the overseas versions, yes. They're the ones that requested 2-player simultaneous play. Originally in the overseas versions you didn't return to a checkpoint when you died, and simultaneous play was a must. The players at that time in America were always playing in a somewhat drunken fashion, not making strategies or plans.

Ouch! Gotta get those strategies and plans even in 3P Gain Ground though. Actually especially in 3P GG, nothing worse than some daft fucker getting himself captured and bringing the whole squad down!

[GaijinPunch]

I probably need to pretty-ify those translations. I've got one other one that I started like... no joke 10 fucking years ago, and of course, never got anywhere. I'd need to start over now. Still interested in doing it. Just not a ton of time. Maybe I can make some.

Ironically I think I only played a couple of credits on the 3P GG. There's a super play of it (1 player) and it's fucking amazing. I actually get my tits kicked in on 1-10.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Toaplan's Fixeight had a dip switch setting for a 3P mode:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt6FduLSXQ4

[PC Engine Fan X!]

What was cool about Turbo Force (it was released under the name of Hyper Force as well), any one of the three players would get full auto-fire upon the start of a serious session of TF (or HF for that matter). I recall playing Turbo Force with another stranger at the Regency Game Palace arcade joint back in the early 1990s -- quite a fun STG in it's own right from Video System Co. (the same folks whom went on to form the beloved Psikyo arcade dev team).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~