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

[BIL]

I've no idea where some of the rights lie these days (UPL / Jaleco for starters, but I'm sure someone on here does ), but the Konami / Taito / SNK stuff still needs licencing properly surely?

If I recall right, UPL's is one of the catalogues Hamster bought the rights to, along with Nichibutsu, Video System, NMK, Athena, Warashi, and Allumer's.

In practice, this means Sonic Wings will arrive on ACA at some point before the heat death of the universe, possibly. :3

Totally offhand, I always had the impression Jaleco was owned by City Connection. At any rate, I wish they'd get VALTRIC on here! ala the UPL-published Task Force Harrier, it's actually an NMK game. Just like Makai Densetsu (aka Japanese Wizards n' Warriors for arcade), and Argus (the Real Landing Sequence Simulator). Everyone says it's a rad and balls-hardcore topdown tanker. This must be the universe telling me to get back to Grobda.

[AGermanArtist]

Another here for Valtric. Love that.

[Lemnear]

If I recall right, UPL's is one of the catalogues Hamster bought the rights to, along with Nichibutsu, Video System, NMK, Athena, Warashi, and Allumer's.

Hamster owns Allumer, Athena, Nichibutsu, NMK, UPL and Video System, but not Warashi.

In practice, this means Sonic Wings will arrive on ACA at some point before the heat death of the universe, possibly. :3

When it comes out i will get it along with 3 to have the complete trilogy.

Totally offhand, I always had the impression Jaleco was owned by City Connection.

Yes if i remember correctly, but only for games developed by Jaleco, and not games published, right?
[Example: the rights of P47 belong to Hamster, even thought the publisher was Jaleco]

This must be the universe telling me to get back to Grobda.

Is not the universe. You know what it is.

Spoiler

I want NebulasRay, collecting all the Namco Arcades without it would be useless...
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

What are the MUST HAVE A.A./ACA games ???

[BIL]

That's right, I remember now... they applied for the rights to Shienryu earlier this year.

Those Ridge Racer decals mean so much more nowadays. Before they were just cool names, now Grobda and Baraduke are 110% high performance

What are the MUST HAVE A.A./ACA games ???

Here's my older ACA rec posts, for others (I think you may have seen them already). As for now, a top ten strictly off the top of my head, in my usual STGs / Everything Else format:

Cybattler Wild 8-way mecha strafe/slasher with rollicking pace and suave cinematic prowess.
Daioh Smoothly refined Tatsujinesque; includes straitlaced JP, and super-entertaining 6button US ver.
Gun Frontier Garegga's hardass grandpa has even cooler setpieces!
Kaitei Daisensou or Metal Sub, a triumph of hardcore chassis and show-stopping chrome polish.
Metal Black Stalwart, finessed close-quarters battle amidst a belovedly offbeat air. Read my ST, it's a friendly game, honest ;3
Metal Hawk Astonishing visuals, outstanding nonlinear time attack. The vaulting, divebombing vertical movement is thoroughly invigorating.
Omega Fighter Futuristic! 80s immediacy meets 90s firepower and scoreplay in immensely cool HUGE BATTLESHIP GAME
Thunder Dragon 2 Buzzsaw-paced waveshredder ala Recca and Dangun; bomb-happy, yet has a quietly ingenious riff on capacity bonus.
X-Multiply IREM masterclass in accessible yet still fiendishly tricky STG design.
XEXEX Konami masterclass in accessible yet still fiendishly tricky STG design.

Assault Ground campaign of Metal Hawk; a technically snazzy yet balls-hardcore seek/destroy.
Crime Fighters 2 Seamless hybrid of raw 80s brutality and deft 90s polish. Funny game, too!
Grobda Intense, deceptively technical arena tanker; will last forever, if you dig into it.
Metal Slug X Can't go wrong with MS1/X/3, this is likely the best balance of nonstop action and titanic scale.
New Zealand Story Quintessential hardcore action/platformer in immortally charming disguise. Cute, kill-crazed, likes stealing vehicles.
Rygar Masterpiece action/platformer. Famicom design nous, PCB horsepower.
Saigo no Nindou Amongst hardcore sidescrolling action, only fellow 1988 masterpiece Daimakaimura rivals its controlled chaos.
Shock Troopers Ultra-smooth topdown run/gun rampage, even better in Team Battle mode.
Tetris The Grand Master 2 Epitome of deadly block-drop technique. One of the ultimate desert island arcade games.
Zero Team Masterfully refined, uproariously destructive beltscroller from Seibu; frequently hilarious, just like CF2.

Bound to be things I've forgotten, or would include with more than a few minutes' thought (see older posts); it's a big selection at this point. Sticking to just ten is tough, too; Ninja Gaiden and Wild Fang could easily sub in for Crime Fighters 2 and Zero Team, on much the same criteria of expert refinement and life-affirming ultraviolence.

EDIT: Yeah, definitely played it safe on the second list. Lots of staple brawlers/action-platformers/run-gunners. I stand by all of them, but pls see my older posts, for lots of more offbeat stuff that's just as good! Libble Rabble, Saboten Bombers, and Big Tournament Golf need love too

[Lemnear]

Weird that you avoided Raiden and Image Fight or Rastan.
And i always thought that those "lesser" shmups (Daioh,Metal Hawk) were usually bad, less refined and sometimes with important feature missing (flash-feedback, bullet/background colors, raw graphics etc.), i've tried Task Force Harrier, not as bad as it seems, better than Thunder Dragon for sure..but far from "unmissable".
The only one game i know well is The New Zeland Story, one of the first games that i inherited from my uncles.

Probably is because i have some games that i use as a point of reference for any period:
Image Fight (1988)
Raiden (1990)
Batsugun (1993)
Darius Gaiden/RayForce/NebulasRay (1994)
Battle Garegga (1996)(although i don't find it funny)
G-Darius (1997)
Blazing Star (1998) (dated for the time but i love it!).
And usually when i check some lesser knows games, they look like shit compared to these...BUT , i hate to be in the bigger group usually (the CAVE enjoyers for example) .

I also don't like to have a collection that doesn't have any common thread between the games in a way or another, that pass from Xevious untill Twinkle Star Sprites .

[BIL]

Weird that you avoided Raiden and Image Fight or Rastan.

I tend to balance towards accessibility; Raiden and ImageFight are beloved standards for good reason, but both can very quickly frighten away newbies.

Rastan ain't out yet sadly I've been waiting on that one since 2019.

And i always thought that those "lesser" shmups (Daioh,Metal Hawk) were usually bad, less refined and sometimes with important feature missing (flash-feedback, bullet/background colors, raw graphics etc.), i've tried Task Force Harrier, not as bad as it seems, better than Thunder Dragon for sure..but far from "unmissable".

It's always important to go case-by-case, imo (as with life itself!). Daioh I would call a particularly refined take on Tatsujin; a tough but sensibly generous game with tight fundamentals. As fine a Kyuukyoku Tiger epigone as Raiden is, it packs a minor visibility howler in stage 7's space dogfight setpiece (featuring lightning-quick divebomber zako - ok! - firing yellow bullets over white backgrounds - oof!)

Task Force Harrier, meanwhile, is one of the vanishingly few STGs to palette-swap its yellow bullets to purple for its desert stage; even Konami's generally excellent Trigon runs afoul of the ol' sand trap. You can find good ideas - and bad ones! - just about everywhere.

(things a half-blind man sees actually, a few STGs I used to give a pass on visibility bother me slightly, lately... Mad Shark's tiny yellow bullets over sand tire me out a bit)

And Metal Hawk is outright uncommonly well-refined; with its stunning graphical tech, and iconic deluxe hydraulic cab, it could've so easily been a mere tech demo. But as a nonlinear time attack, it's absolutely world-class; check out any high-level play, and you'll witness incredible precision and intensity.

I also don't like to have a collection that doesn't have any common thread between the games in a way or another, that pass from Xevious untill Twinkle Star Sprites .

I know the feel; but by the same token, I would say not to over-think it too much. ;3 I'd say more but I gotta run, later bud.

[Sumez]

Here's my own take at a "ACA releases to get if you like fun video games and down own the PCB":
Shootahs in bold

Big Tournament Golf (Neo Turf Masters)
Blue's Journey
Bonze Adventure
Bosconian
Bubble Bobble
Darius
Dragon Saber
Galaga '88
Gradius 2
Gun Frontier
GunNail
Halley's Comet
Image Fight
In The Hunt
Liquid Kids
Metal Slug X
Metal Slug 3
Money Puzzle Exchanger
The New Zealand Story
Ninja Spirit
Omega Fighter
Pulstar
Raiden
Rod Land
Rolling Thunder
Rygar
Shock Troopers
Solomon's Key
Spinmaster
Sunset Riders
Tecmo Knight
Tetris The Grand Master 2
Thunder Cross 2
Thunder Dragon 2
Toy Pop
Twinkle Star Sprites
X-Multiply
Zero Team
Zupapa!

[Sima Tuna]

Most of my Hamster recommendations would be beat em ups. Zero Team, Vendetta and Mutation Nation are important games in the genre. Vendetta is a masterclass in technos-style brawler design, Zero Team is a proper """hidden gem""" (a really good game that people don't praise enough) and Mutation Nation is probably the best beat em up on the neo-geo hardware. Well... Unless we count Final Vendetta.

For run and guns, you've got 'Nam 1975, Shock Troopers the GOAT, Sunset Riders and METAL SLUG.

Sports games, only one title springs to mind and that's the 10/10 best arcade sports game of all time, known as Neo Turf Masters.

Puzzle platformers, Bubble Bobble, Zupapa and Saboten Bomber are classics.

I forgot about Money Puzzle Exchanger. That's a pretty universal recommendation to anyone who enjoys puzzle games. Not my kind of title but I know people who love it.

When I think of the best shmups to recommend to people, hamster actually don't figure into my recommendations much. Gradius and R-Type have their own collections. The Gradius one was even made by M2 iirc. Sega Ages has thunder force 3 and 4, again made by M2. Cave games have their own individual ports. Shikigami no Shiro games are handled by their own people. Psikyo games are owned by Shitty Connection, so that's another way of saying just emulate them. There are some fun shmups on Hamster but I didn't connect to any of them, honestly. Thunder Dragon 1 and Raiden are probably my favorite shmups under the Hamster label. Along with Blazing Star. Blazing Star is a fucking cool game.

Edit: Ok ok, Cybattler is legit. Forgot about that one.

[Lemnear]

Weird that you avoided Raiden and Image Fight or Rastan.

I tend to balance towards accessibility; Raiden and ImageFight are beloved standards for good reason, but both can very quickly frighten away newbies.

Rastan ain't out yet sadly I've been waiting on that one since 2019.

And i always thought that those "lesser" shmups (Daioh,Metal Hawk) were usually bad, less refined and sometimes with important feature missing (flash-feedback, bullet/background colors, raw graphics etc.), i've tried Task Force Harrier, not as bad as it seems, better than Thunder Dragon for sure..but far from "unmissable".

It's always important to go case-by-case, imo (as with life itself!). Daioh I would call a particularly refined take on Tatsujin; a tough but sensibly generous game with tight fundamentals. As fine a Kyuukyoku Tiger epigone as Raiden is, it packs a minor visibility howler in stage 7's space dogfight setpiece (featuring lightning-quick divebomber zako - ok! - firing yellow bullets over white backgrounds - oof!)

Task Force Harrier, meanwhile, is one of the vanishingly few STGs to palette-swap its yellow bullets to purple for its desert stage; even Konami's generally excellent Trigon runs afoul of the ol' sand trap. You can find good ideas - and bad ones! - just about everywhere.

(things a half-blind man sees actually, a few STGs I used to give a pass on visibility bother me slightly, lately... Mad Shark's tiny yellow bullets over sand tire me out a bit)

And Metal Hawk is outright uncommonly well-refined; with its stunning graphical tech, and iconic deluxe hydraulic cab, it could've so easily been a mere tech demo. But as a nonlinear time attack, it's absolutely world-class; check out any high-level play, and you'll witness incredible precision and intensity.

I also don't like to have a collection that doesn't have any common thread between the games in a way or another, that pass from Xevious untill Twinkle Star Sprites .

I know the feel; but by the same token, I would say not to over-think it too much. ;3 I'd say more but I gotta run, later bud.

Raiden and Image Fight are not a problem for me, while for example Strike Gunner S.T.G. or Battle Garegga are too hard... and i still can't beat Fatty Glutton-G (Darius I). Just to say -_-

Essentially Hamster owns a big part of those games with "hard to spot bullets" .
I don't know i feel like i have "the duty" to save, help and preserve who deserves, like Hamster, or M2 (i would be more inclined if they released worldwide).
Games that are nearly lost, forgotten...always gives me a feeling that is unsettling and wellbeing, together.

I'm complex for this, sometimes ONE single detail in a game can change my personal vote for it.
A specific color palette, the ship/plane/character sprites, music, backgrounds.
But sometimes i can't find coherence in what i like and it drives me crazy.

:O thanks everyone, now i just have to skim in a cross search.

Most of my Hamster recommendations would be beat em ups. Zero Team, Vendetta and Mutation Nation are important games in the genre. Vendetta is a masterclass in technos-style brawler design, Zero Team is a proper """hidden gem""" (a really good game that people don't praise enough) and Mutation Nation is probably the best beat em up on the neo-geo hardware. Well... Unless we count Final Vendetta.

Not a fan of Beat'Em Up, i've liked only 2, and once again they are the total opposite of each other (and this drives me crazy...again), Vendetta and Battle Circuit.

When I think of the best shmups to recommend to people, hamster actually don't figure into my recommendations much. Gradius and R-Type have their own collections. The Gradius one was even made by M2 iirc. Sega Ages has thunder force 3 and 4, again made by M2. Cave games have their own individual ports. Shikigami no Shiro games are handled by their own people. Psikyo games are owned by Shitty Connection, so that's another way of saying just emulate them. There are some fun shmups on Hamster but I didn't connect to any of them, honestly. Thunder Dragon 1 and Raiden are probably my favorite shmups under the Hamster label. Along with Blazing Star. Blazing Star is a fucking cool game.

Edit: Ok ok, Cybattler is legit. Forgot about that one.

An Hamster Xman this time .
No really the problem is that sometimes i can't "feel" the goodness of some games (like Thunder Dragon 1).
It's as if the controls aren't "calibrated" as i'm used to, and there are other games where i feel like they fit me like a glove.

By the way, only because City Connection or ININ aren't the best, doesn't mean that i want them to shutdown...also if in their releases there's always something off.

EDIT: wtf is Metal Hawk .

[Lemnear]

Here's my own take at a "ACA releases to get if you like fun video games and down own the PCB":
Shootahs in bold

Spoiler

Big Tournament Golf (Neo Turf Masters) [the most recomended sports game of the site ]
Blue's Journey (this one cost 1€ more than ANY other ACA Games, wut/why)
Bonze Adventure
Bosconian
Bubble Bobble (A game inherited from my uncles! )
Darius (Fatty Glutton-G doesn't want me to enjoy the rest of the game )
Dragon Saber
Galaga '88
Gradius 2 (can't stand Gradius...maybe the V when someone would port it)
Gun Frontier (highly recommended by BIL...ah no is Gun.Smoke )
GunNail
Halley's Comet (highly recommended by BareKnuckleRoo)
Image Fight(the second stage thrills me always)
In The Hunt (i like how inspired the bosses are)
Liquid Kids
Metal Slug X (One of the few games i've already played in a real arcade)
Metal Slug 3 (same as X)
Money Puzzle Exchanger
The New Zealand Story (another game inherited from my uncles! )
Ninja Spirit
Omega Fighter (i read this title 1 million times and i never googled it lol)
Pulstar
Raiden
Rod Land (another game inherited from my uncles! )
Rolling Thunder (curious about this one)
Rygar
Shock Troopers (I think that i've tried the 2...or was the 1st? the BGM were all Liquid DnB).
Solomon's Key (i think that this one is on Switch with that Nintendo retro game service).
Spinmaster
Sunset Riders (i read this title 3 times in 2 days and i never searched it, mmh).
Tecmo Knight
Tetris The Grand Master 2 (A Classic)
Thunder Cross 2
Thunder Dragon 2 (is even in the honorable mention in this forum)
Toy Pop (is this another Namco game? there is a "sponsor" in ridge racer that's not a Namco game?)
Twinkle Star Sprites
X-Multiply (looks really fun to play, but unsettling to watch...)
Zero Team
Zupapa!

Notes added.

[BIL]

Toy Pop is most definitely Namco's own! Exactly the kind of gem that'd slip my mind (I own and second everything else Sumez listed, too - that's a rock solid list, as expected ). It looks cute, but is in fact a balls-hardcore topdown shooter with a very mild puzzle element (pick the right shot for the right target ). In a simpler mode, Tank Force is also excellent fun if you want something between Bomberman and a straight-up shootathon.

I recommend Gun Frontier and Gun.Smoke both, they're certified Old West classics.

X-Multiply is legit Satanic Panic demoni-biohorror Also try out Abadox: JIGOKU NO INNER WAR (FC) if you dig that style.

@ Sima, ditto for MPE! I'm only passingly familiar with the genre but it immediately jumped out at me, and ofc it has an impressive rep.

EDIT: wtf is Metal Hawk .

Nonlinear time attack STG with mild sim element. The first and final missions are set, but otherwise, you can roam about the branching map, doing missions with rad names like TANK BUSTER and CROSS FIRE and THE TASK FORCE. Difficulty ramps up after each, stylishly expressed by the day/night/day cycle. Within stages themselves, the HUD will point you towards nearby juicy ground targets, but you're completely free to plot your own routes.

Gameplay can be very broadly described as Bosconian's free-roaming seek/destroy, via Xevious's ground bombing... but in practice, it plays vanishingly little like either, or indeed most other STGs. The Z-axis altitude mechanic is transformative, without sacrificing the classic immediacy of 2D shooting. Ground enemies will relentlessly lock on to your vertical position, so it's important to divebomb aggressively; let 'em lock on, then plunge past their fire and smash 'em. Flying enemies, meanwhile, always seek out your altitude before attacking; this simplifies combat, vs the snipey red helis, but can also prove deadly, as their green comrades will aggressively ram into you from below, or flat-out dogpile onto you from above. Nothing a bit of chicanery can't solve, especially with the generous firepower.

Here's a quick and dirty survival 1LC to illustrate the above. You can play way the hell more aggressively than I do here! ;3 If you're on gamepad, I suggest putting [altitude] on the right thumbstick, and [bomb/shoot] on the shoulders buttons/triggers. Surprisingly comfy! It's a much easier adjust than its spiritual brethren Assault and its dual-stick tank controls. (Assault is just a harder game in general, imo, while Metal Hawk is easier to survive, but more compelling to score)

[Lemnear]

Spoiler

Toy Pop is most definitely Namco's own! Exactly the kind of title that'd slip my mind. It looks cute, but is in fact a balls-hardcore topdown shooter with a very mild puzzle element (pick the right shot for the right target ). In a simpler mode, Tank Force is also excellent fun if you want something between Bomberman and a straight-up shootathon.

I recommend Gun Frontier and Gun.Smoke both, they're certified Old West classics.

X-Multiply is legit Satanic Panic demoni-biohorror Also try out Abadox: JIGOKU NO INNER WAR (FC) if you dig that style.

@ Sima, ditto for MPE! I'm only passingly familiar with the genre but it immediately jumped out at me, and ofc it has an impressive rep.

EDIT: wtf is Metal Hawk .

Nonlinear time attack STG with mild sim element. The first and final missions are set, but otherwise, you can roam about the branching map, doing missions with rad names like TANK BUSTER and CROSS FIRE and THE TASK FORCE. Difficulty ramps up after each, stylishly expressed by the day/night/day cycle. Within stages themselves, the HUD will point you towards nearby juicy ground targets, but you're completely free to plot your own routes.

Gameplay can be very broadly described as Bosconian's free-roaming seek/destroy, via Xevious's ground bombing... but in practice, it plays vanishingly little like either, or indeed most other STGs. The Z-axis altitude mechanic is transformative, without sacrificing the classic immediacy of 2D shooting. Ground enemies will relentlessly lock on to your vertical position, so it's important to divebomb aggressively; let 'em lock on, then plunge past their fire and smash 'em. Flying enemies, meanwhile, always seek out your altitude before attacking; this simplifies combat, vs the snipey red helis, but can also prove deadly, as their green comrades will aggressively ram into you from below, or flat-out dogpile onto you from above. Nothing a bit of chicanery can't solve, especially with the generous firepower.

Here's a quick and dirty survival 1LC to illustrate the above. You can play way the hell more aggressively than I do here! ;3 If you're on gamepad, I suggest putting [altitude] on the right thumbstick, and [bomb/shoot] on the shoulders buttons/triggers. Surprisingly comfy! It's a much easier adjust than its spiritual brethren Assault and its dual-stick tank controls. (Assault is just a harder game in general, imo, while Metal Hawk is easier to survive, but more compelling to score)

Yes X-Multiply is an exorcism

Metal Hawk...is....a.....1988 game...W.T.F...and is much clearer than RayForce
Edit: Oh wait, i LOVE Bomberman!

[Sima Tuna]

An Hamster Xman this time .
No really the problem is that sometimes i can't "feel" the goodness of some games (like Thunder Dragon 1).
It's as if the controls aren't "calibrated" as i'm used to, and there are other games where i feel like they fit me like a glove.

Thunder Dragon 1 has been called a Raiden clone and I think that's not unfair. But there's something about the game. Shooting ships feels good (thunder dragon 2 has this as well.) Thunder Dragon 1 has all the same flaws as Raiden 1. Brutally hard, unfair, with a powerup grabbing system that can screw you over if you hit the wrong one. But the powerups are more overall useful than their Raiden counterparts, and the action remains furious. It's like somebody fine-tuned Raiden 1. I think your bomb even grants frame 1 invulnerability. Thunder Dragon 2 is a good shmup, but I didn't like most of the changes from TD1. I also had more issues with bullet visibility in Thunder Dragon 2 compared to 1. I don't know why that is, except that blue bullets might be really hard for me to see.

[BIL]

Yeah, the flashing light/dark bullets used by TD2, Gunnail, and Taito's Tokio are a real marmite design choice. I don't quite hate them outright. I can at least keep track of the prickly things, albeit extrapolating 50% of the time. By comparison, while Zing Zing Zip is imo not the garbage some call it, I find its tiny, quick, light colour-over-light BG bullets truly exhausting.

But I wish all these games would've just gotten some playtesting in. Not even by stricken fuckers with eye issues, like me. Just a little consideration, FFS. Assuming they weren't being deliberately difficult, which is worse.

On that note, I'm ok with Garegga's thin, often dark-over-dark BG bullets. They at least tend to be relatively slow, compared to the face-shredding velocity of Psikyo/Seibu, and relatively sparse, compared to the carpet-fire of CAVE/Takumi. Where I've got a slight problem is, they can look a lot like the shrapnel, aka BLAST CHIPS™, which is famously abundant. But even then, I prefer that to stuff like Tatsujin Ou and Gekirindan, whose monstrous orange explosions like to drown out bullets.

Now I'm trying to remember if Garegga Rev 2016 has a BLAST CHIP™ adjust, ala the Saturn port. I always thought that was lame, though. Red Balls I understand. Sure beats blue ones!

Bullet visibility was always right behind input latency, for me. Even moreso, now I'm down to one good peeper for the time being. Something I found interesting was revisiting Gun.Smoke, on the very subtly laggy Capcom Arcade Stadium (PS4). I expected its tiny, grey-over-brown bullets to be murder - but they didn't faze. I'm guessing that's because the unique strafing/zoning model is so ingrained in my hand/eye memory. If you're in range, you're being fired at, relentlessly; but there's a comforting predictability in that, especially with the deft strafing shot.

Still no excuse though. I'd have the Wingate Crew firing purple space beamz, if it meant newbies didn't have this to deal with, atop an already steep entry curve. One for my The Perfect Massacre dream hackz label.

Christ I could rabbit on about this all day. Just like input latency. These things matter! You, you... game dev cunts (■｀w´■) ;3

[Steven]

USAAF Mustang stage 4 bullets are really funny and make me laugh. I am pretty sure it's over at Taito Hey now; I can only imagine that playing on a CRT makes the bullets even more invisible.

Anyway, you need

Big Tournament Golf/Neo Turf Masters
Kaitei Daisensou
Thunder Dragon 2
Shock Troopers (it's no Out Zone, but nothing is and it's still really good. Second Squad is okay but skippable)
Halley's Comet
X Multiply
Image Fight
every Metal Slug except for possibly 2
Saigo no Nindou
Twinkle Star Sprites
Darius II (skip if you have Cozmic Collection and are not interested in playing the 3-screen version or if you just don't like the super wide screens of the old Darius games)
Xexex
Real Bout 1/Special/2 (pick which one you like the most)
Moon Patrol
Gradius 1/2/3
Akumajou Dracula/Haunted Castle if you hate yourself
Valkyrie no Densetsu

Metal Hawk is good, but I can't imagine how it is to play the game without the cool cabinet. Still probably worth getting here if you don't have access to a cabinet, though.

Honorable mentions for KOF '98 (get UMFE and/or 2002UM instead if you can, as those are better than the Neo Geo versions. Not sure if those are on consoles, though), Garou: Mark of the Wolves, USAAF Mustang, I guess City Connection (the game, not the company that got their name from the game), Raiden (it's technically a poorly designed piece of shit, but it is definitely historically important and the overseas version is kind of playable), and maybe Salamander if you can't play the superior PC Engine version.

[BIL]

Ah, Moon Patrol - another criminally omitted from my list, and IIRC the previous ones too. That one's great. Wonder Boy and Kaitei Daisensou fans will be doubly pleased by the rock hopping and vertical shotting.

Super cool, as well; ala Defender and Robotron, it's an early 80s title of true aesthetic quintessence. The bold shading, deluxe parallax, and charming pulp style have all rendered it ageless.

[Steven]

Moon Patrol is a great game that doesn't care that it was released over 40 years ago; it's still as glorious now as it was then. Not that I was alive then, but you know what I mean.

Another good game from a year earlier that's worth mentioning is Scramble, which I really like for some reason.

[AGermanArtist]

Time Pilot 84 is something I only saw once in the wild, so that was especially welcome from Hamster.

[Lemnear]

USAAF Mustang stage 4 bullets are really funny and make me laugh. I am pretty sure it's over at Taito Hey now; I can only imagine that playing on a CRT makes the bullets even more invisible.

Anyway, you need

Big Tournament Golf/Neo Turf Masters
Kaitei Daisensou
Thunder Dragon 2
Shock Troopers (it's no Out Zone, but nothing is and it's still really good. Second Squad is okay but skippable)
Halley's Comet
X Multiply
Image Fight
every Metal Slug except for possibly 2
Saigo no Nindou
Twinkle Star Sprites
Darius II (skip if you have Cozmic Collection and are not interested in playing the 3-screen version or if you just don't like the super wide screens of the old Darius games)
Xexex
Real Bout 1/Special/2 (pick which one you like the most)
Moon Patrol
Gradius 1/2/3
Akumajou Dracula/Haunted Castle if you hate yourself
Valkyrie no Densetsu

Metal Hawk is good, but I can't imagine how it is to play the game without the cool cabinet. Still probably worth getting here if you don't have access to a cabinet, though.

Honorable mentions for KOF '98 (get UMFE and/or 2002UM instead if you can, as those are better than the Neo Geo versions. Not sure if those are on consoles, though), Garou: Mark of the Wolves, USAAF Mustang, I guess City Connection (the game, not the company that got their name from the game), Raiden (it's technically a poorly designed piece of shit, but it is definitely historically important and the overseas version is kind of playable), and maybe Salamander if you can't play the superior PC Engine version.

Missed the Fatal Fury collection when it was on sale for 2,99€ , but for the same price i have KoF 97 Global Match, KoF98UM and Samurai Shodown V Special. I like them all, especially SSVS.
Why not Metal Slug 2 ? is the most beloved (i prefer the 1st).
Moon Patrol looks fun, like River Raid.
Why Raiden "it's technically a poorly designed piece of shit" ?
Valkyrie no Densetsu, this one is interesting.
No really i can't stand any Gradius (maybe V), totally not for me...but for some reason i can play Parodius, despite it being just a re-skin and nothing else change.

And if was possible to vote for Big Tournament Golf/Neo Turf Masters in the annual TOP25, probably would be 2nd or 3rd based on its recommendation hahaha

[Steven]

Why not Metal Slug 2 ? is the most beloved (i prefer the 1st).

Really REALLY bad slowdown. Our own trap15 fixed it, but you can't play his ROM hack on ACA.

Moon Patrol looks fun, like River Raid.

It is. It's really cool, and for its time it was a revelation to those that had never seen parallax scrolling in a game before. There might have been something earlier that had parallax scrolling, but Moon Patrol is one of the earliest games to have it and seeing it for the first time was apparently quite mind-blowing. Fortunately the gameplay is also quite excellent. It's nowhere near as complex as things that would come later, but it's a fun game.

Why Raiden "it's technically a poorly designed piece of shit" ?

Raiden 1 is what you get when you attempt to fuse Kyuukyoku Tiger and Same! Same! Same! but don't understand what it is that makes those games masterpieces.

Same! Same! Same! is a stupidly hard game and Raiden 1 is just as difficult, but Same! Same! Same! is a well-designed game that the developers were forced by their bosses to sabotage against their will.

Raiden is hard because it has stupid mechanics like rank varying depending on the timing of you putting your coin in the machine (yeah, they apparently thought this was a good idea for some reason. The devs later stated that it was a method to make the player feel like their skills had improved by practicing and coming back later, which I think is really pushing it because it depends on the unknowing player putting in their coin at the right time by chance), playing on 1P side being borderline suicidal, and recovery being basically impossible in the Japanese version after the first few stages.

It's a somewhat frustrating and miserable experience, especially the Japanese version, and especially compared to the extremely highly playable Kyuukyoku Tiger, where everything was checked specifically to make sure it was difficult but fair, and actually possible to recover from every single checkpoint in the game, and without weird mechanics. Raiden 1 is kind of saved by the overseas version removing the checkpoints and especially giving a max powerup when you die at full power, although I don't remember if you need the fairy for that max powerup or not.

And if was possible to vote for Big Tournament Golf/Neo Turf Masters in the annual TOP25, probably would be 2nd or 3rd based on its recommendation hahaha

You basically need it. It's the best sports game ever made, which is part of why the AES version sells for over $26,000 USD. The other part of that is because it's rare as fuck, but it's one of those exceedingly few hyper-expensive games that's actually extremely good to the point where it completely outclasses all other games in its entire genre without effort. Yes, the MVS version is super cheap for an arcade game, but that doesn't exactly fit with my narrative, so don't mention the cheap MVS version!

[Lemnear]

Really REALLY bad slowdown. Our own trap15 fixed it, but you can't play his ROM hack on ACA.

Aren't them "normal" ?

Why Raiden "it's technically a poorly designed piece of shit" ?

Raiden 1 is what you get when you attempt to fuse Kyuukyoku Tiger and Same! Same! Same! but don't understand what it is that makes those games masterpieces.

Same! Same! Same! is a stupidly hard game and Raiden 1 is just as difficult, but Same! Same! Same! is a well-designed game that the developers were forced by their bosses to sabotage against their will.
Raiden is hard because it has stupid mechanics like rank varying depending on the timing of you putting your coin in the machine (yeah, they apparently thought this was a good idea for some reason. The devs later stated that it was a method to make the player feel like their skills had improved by practicing and coming back later, which I think is really pushing it because it depends on the unknowing player putting in their coin at the right time by chance), playing on 1P side being borderline suicidal, and recovery being basically impossible in the Japanese version after the first few stages.

This is the greediest things i ever heard about an Arcade .
Still considered a "masterpiece" even just for having badly copied other masterpieces...idk why, for me at least it has a good graphic design. The chromatic palette is nice and unique.

And if was possible to vote for Big Tournament Golf/Neo Turf Masters in the annual TOP25, probably would be 2nd or 3rd based on its recommendation hahaha

You basically need it. It's the best sports game ever made, which is part of why the AES version sells for over $26,000 USD. The other part of that is because it's rare as fuck, but it's one of those exceedingly few hyper-expensive games that's actually extremely good to the point where it completely outclasses all other games in its entire genre without effort.

Nice that for 6,99€/$ i can feel like someone that spends 26K $$$ for this. I think that i can't play it without a good wine or a spritz

For now (until 21 December) with less than 11 bucks you can get Penguin Kun Wars, Task Force Harrier and Thunder Dragon 1...or Zed Blade, but damn it looks so cheap...horribly cheap! Is like "oh no, our graphic designer left us running away to Belize, just copy paste what we have".

Damn 2x for how many they are, is easy to exceed with the cart.

[Sima Tuna]

There's a reason Neo Turf Masters has a small community to this day. It's basically the superior arcade Mario Golf before Mario Golf existed. A fantastically simple-yet-complex, pick up and play title. It is to golf as F-Zero GX is to racing.

Shock Troopers is probably my favorite top-down run 'n' gun. Damn but we need a new name for that kind of game. Ikari likes? Anyway, Shock Troopers is a master class in controls and game feel.

Forgot about fighting games. KoF '98 is my favorite KoF behind XI, but you should go for the UM port version because that one has all the single player modes. If you aren't playing online or local against humans, fighting games have very little value... Unless they're jam-packed with single-player modes. The arcade versions of these fighting games won't have those modes. So, while I'll give Garou, Real Bout 2 and KoF 2002 props as fantastic fighting games in their own rights, they are hard to recommend outside of home console ports with added modes. '98 and 2002 have those home ports (I think Garou does as well, at least I used to have it on my Vita) so I recommend those versions.

For racing games generally, Hamster needs to port more of them! I think there's at least one neo-geo racer that they haven't ported (neo drift out? can't remember.) And of course, none of the sega racers have made the cut yet. Sega Ages Outrun is still the dominant racing game on my switch. Shame that Super Hang-On was never ported to switch. I have it on my 3ds and it's one of the only games I still play there.

I know Hamster will probably never get there, but I wish they'd port over Daytona or Sega Rally. Nobody makes an arcade racing game like Sega (which is also why F-Zero GX was so fucking good.)

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Nobody makes an arcade racing game like Sega (which is also why F-Zero GX was so fucking good.)

It's certainly rare to find any contenders. The only one I can think of is Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune, and that's not widely known outside of the fanbase due to a complete lack of any kind of official ports.

[Steven]

Shock Troopers is superb, but I absolutely cannot wait for M2 Out Zone because more people need to play it. That game is beyond words. Just looking at the title screen makes you think "damn, I am supremely privileged just to be able look at the glorious title screen!" and then when you play it you realize that it's just sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo fucking perfect. It's got everything: flawless gameplay, graphics that completely demolish modern pixel art games without trying at all, and a soundtrack with ultra-chuunibyou track titles that is guaranteed to cause both you and your house to spontaneously combust from how badass it is.

Holy shit Out Zone, how and why are you even able to exist? The world and humanity do not deserve something of your unparalleled beauty and perfection.

Really REALLY bad slowdown. Our own trap15 fixed it, but you can't play his ROM hack on ACA.

Aren't them "normal" ?

The slowdown in 2 is normal behaviour for that game, but it's that way because they apparently made a mistake when they coded the game, not because it's intentional. trap's hack basically fixes the coding error... I think. He talked about it somewhere around here, but I don't remember the details of the fixes.

This is the greediest things i ever heard about an Arcade .
Still considered a "masterpiece" even just for having badly copied other masterpieces...idk why, for me at least it has a good graphic design. The chromatic palette is nice and unique.

Wait until you see Out Zone. Same year and only a few months apart. Out Zone is just... yeah. I am the last guy that will say that old games don't look right unless you play them on a CRT, but it doesn't look right unless you play it on a CRT. Even on a fixed pixel display it's still glorious, but once you play it on a big Astro City monitor you'll never want to play it any other way ever again.

Out Zone is essentially the anti-Raiden; Out Zone is what you get when one of the greatest game designers of all time is forced to make a game in a genre that he doesn't like with no experience making a game of that type, so he decides to make it in a way that even he can have a lot of fun with it.

Nice that for 6,99€/$ i can feel like someone that spends 26K $$$ for this. I think that i can't play it without a good wine or a spritz

Get it~ It's so good, I promise!

BIL always says Task Force Harrier is good, so that's guaranteed to be a good time. Need to try it myself too, and since it doesn't run properly in MAME, the only options are ACA or the PCB.

[BIL]

ACA Raiden includes a Coin RNG switch for standardised difficulty, which I thought was nice. But its manual also advises - in the event you ignore this feature - to "try inputting credits at different times," which I thought was hilarious. They always make the effort, bless.

Why not Metal Slug 2 ? is the most beloved (i prefer the 1st).

Metal Slug X is the official apology for Metal Slug 2. ;3 Same chassis with redone detailing.

MS2 is a total damage case. It actually has some interesting alternative layouts, but on the whole, MSX is the better-arranged and profoundly better-performing version.

I know MS2 apologists can get really violent, so if any are gonna jump in and duel me for Fio-chan's honour, keep in mind I did try. ;3

[Steven]

Yeah, X is in the state 2 should have released in. Still has some slowdown, but it is much better than it is in 2. Need to try 2 Turbo eventually, as I still have not played that hack yet somehow.

[Sumez]

Some interesting differences in the original version of MS2, it's still a great game. But you really don't need to get both games unless you're really deep diving into Metal Slug.
So if you're only getting one game like a normal person, X is the one to go with.

[Sturmvogel Prime]

I knew they will be bringing this one up!
Aero Fighters is this week's release!
https://www.famitsu.com/news/202312/13327676.html

[Lemnear]

graphics that completely demolish modern pixel art games without trying at all
This is true, looks like a modern pixel art game, and it have the physical limitation of its time! (while modern pixel art games doesn't).

Nice that for 6,99€/$ i can feel like someone that spends 26K $$$ for this. I think that i can't play it without a good wine or a spritz

Get it~ It's so good, I promise!

BIL always says Task Force Harrier is good, so that's guaranteed to be a good time. Need to try it myself too, and since it doesn't run properly in MAME, the only options are ACA or the PCB.

Check!
The last time i've follow your (of you all) suggestions, it ended with DariusBurst: AC/CS and Gleylancer, and never regretted it.
The only one i regretted was 1€ wasted for 1941 (no really i hate Raizing "gameplay").

I know MS2 apologists can get really violent, so if any are gonna jump in and duel me for Fio-chan's honour, keep in mind I did try. ;3

How do you know? my ex-best pal was one of them, totally ghosted me...Metal Slug was one of the few games that i played for its entirety in a real Arcade (1,2,3,X). The 4th is HORRIBLE, the 5 and 7 looks like spin-off, maybe the 6 is ok.

I knew they will be bringing this one up!
Aero Fighters is this week's release!
https://www.famitsu.com/news/202312/13327676.html

I said that if Aero Fighters 1 came out, i would also get the 3rd to complete the trilogy, so...i should

By the way, i would say thanks to whoever made this (from the SHMEME topic):

Spoiler

Without it i would never have met all these unknown and obscure developers. And some still obscure and unknown even if i know the names .

Spoiler

Who the hell is THERA ??? Sting??? No wait, i've played Baroque and Utawarerumono by Sting D:

[hamfighterx]

In practice, this means Sonic Wings will arrive on ACA at some point before the heat death of the universe, possibly. :3

Well, it's finally happening! I thought of you immediately when I read the news of pending Sonic Wings ACA release lol. I hope this doesn't mean we're also soon to experience the heat death of the universe.

As has become the usual, Hamster gracing us with a significant ACA shooter release for the holiday season. I wonder if they have anything else bigger than usual up their sleeve for the 21st...
Mystic Warriors? Come on, be Mystic Warriors! Oh hey, that would even commemorate its 31st birthday (originally released December 21, 1992). Or... Parodius?