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

[ExitPlanetDust]

I know MAME runs Mystic Warriors in slow motion if 4 players are playing at the same time, hope to see someone play this AA game, with 4 players, and see if it truly does run slower with 4 players at one time, or that MAME just can't run it properly with everyone onscreen, with enemies around.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdEG0cq_qU4 4 players from a PCB, yikes, it does slow down.

There's this

Oh wow, I wish they would add this to some of their older releases.

[Bloodreign]

There's this

Ahhh the BIG fix, can't wait to see it with 4 players, to see how it was really meant to be.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

The Aero Fighters (aka Sonic Wings in Japan) jamma conversion kits that were sold/distributed in the USA by American arcade distributor Mc O'River back in 1992-1993 timeline came with a full-sized arcade marquee indeed. It was a common arcade tate stg title stocked in American arcades back in the early 1990s that would usually be hosted in an upright Dynamo cabinet setup. Of course, no auto-fire option/capability from the get-go (as that was typical/expected with most Japanese arcade stgs imported stateside during the '90s).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[hamfighterx]

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).

I presume Konami's next. If they want a release of full splendor for the last pre-Christmas 2023 Thursday, I'm going to suspect any one of Mystic Warriors, Violent Storm, Monster Maulers, or Metamorphic Force.

Oh hell yeah, it happened!!!!
BEAST WOOD!

[BIL]

Oh hell yeah, it happened!!!!
BEAST WOOD!

Ah man, I totally forgot the 31st anniversary thing - now that's kismet!

Obligatory post of Technouchi's own Arranged Soundtrack; it's so good to see gems like this finally given the painstaking home translations they deserve.

[velo]

Sales of the moment:

Arcade Archives HACHA MECHA FIGHTER
Arcade Archives XX MISSION
Arcade Archives RABIO LEPUS
Arcade Archives SABOTEN BOMBERS
Arcade Archives SEICROSS

ACA NEOGEO METAL SLUG 2
ACA NEOGEO AERO FIGHTERS 2
ACA NEOGEO REAL BOUT FATAL FURY
ACA NEOGEO SAMURAI SHODOWN III
ACA NEOGEO BLUE'S JOURNEY
ACA NEOGEO WORLD HEROES 2 JET

[ExitPlanetDust]

Hmm, does ACA MS2 have a slowdown fix?

[Sima Tuna]

Saboten Bombers is an easy recommend to anyone who can enjoy single-screen platformers or bomb-based puzzle games.

[BIL]

Rabio and Hachamecha are really cool, if you dig cute n' hard horis (balls-hard, in Hacha's case). Saboten, indeed, crazy batshit Snow Bros on crack - take this it's weird! Anyone who likes plumbing mysterious single-screener depths will find a lot to enjoy. At the same time, you can just enjoy it as a wild frenemy escapade, especially in 2P.

I don't get XX Mission tbh. Most of UPL's ACA titles are super charmingly weird. XX seems like a random Xeviousesque with standard-issue Top Gun machine designs. I return to it occasionally, seeking some revelation.

Seicross is neat, very early 80s with the simple concept and instant pace. Beltscrolling speeder-bike hori with some intense stage design and an interesting POW rescue mechanic.

Hmm, does ACA MS2 have a slowdown fix?

Nope, sadly. 3; Extreme slowdown tolerance required. I like MS2 but god damn, I'd punt it into traffic for MSX in a heartbeat. Raguy / Blue's Journey is cute n' fun.

[ExitPlanetDust]

.
Nope, sadly. 3; Extreme slowdown tolerance required. I like MS2 but god damn, I'd punt it into traffic for MSX in a heartbeat. Raguy / Blue's Journey is cute n' fun.

Nawwwwwwwwwww

[NeoStrayCat]

Yeah, sadly, the only official port of Metal Slug 2 that's ever got a slowdown fix (rather, a toggle to turn on or off the slowdown) was the NEOGEO Station PS3 version. (Which that, and all other NEOGEO Station games has since been delisted a long while back.)

[ExitPlanetDust]

I actually own that version. Lot of good it does me being stranded on the PS3 though.

[Marc]

Saboten Bombers is fucking brilliant. If you don't own it already, you really, really should.
For me, SamSho 3 and World Heroes Jet are easy pickups at sale price.

[AGermanArtist]

With XX Mission it's almost as though UPL became aware of their place in the video game industry as the 'wacky' outsider and tried to produce something ultra conventional, and XX Mission was the result. It's not bad, it's not great - it's quite generic in its approach to STG. It treads an already well-worn path.
I have fond memories of it since it was in a grocery store near my aunt's house and I'd drop a few coins in it occasionally. It's good, it's just very 'standard'.

[BIL]

Haha, yeah - its speaks to UPL's marvelous character, that a straitlaced Xeviousesque has me waiting on some kind of Lynchian descent into madness.

Finally put some time on Guttang Guttong, seems rad. I was wondering how it controlled... it's surprisingly novel-feeling. Maybe it's because I've just not played a block-slider puzzle game, at least not recently. Very intuitive. The throttle control on the train is a super-cute touch. Only played a few credits, but ala Sunsoft's truly odd Pettan Pyuu, it seems exactly the kind of arcade/puzzler one-off I like having around.

Interesting contrast with Time Tunnel, which I've always liked from a distance, but keep putting off. They don't play much alike, at least that I recall, but the concept of arranging tracks around an unstoppable locomotive is such a unifying one.

No brakes on this motherfucker! (｀w´メ) (◎w◎;)

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Taito's Solitary Fighter is the last Arcade Archives title of 2023.
This release completes the titles released on Taito Milestones 2.
https://www.gamer.ne.jp/news/202312270050/

[Steven]

This game lets you kick a bear in the face. I have never heard of this game before, but I don't think there is much else that needs to be said about this game.

[Sumez]

I have never heard of this game before

It's Violence Fight.

[Steven]

I have never heard of this game before

It's Violence Fight.

Oh shit, really? Okay, then I do know of this game. Haven't played it, but I do know it exists.

[Mero]

I have never heard of this game before

It's Violence Fight.

Isn't it the sequel? I've played Violence Fight and that bear isn't in it.

[Sumez]

Oh crap you're right! I always thought they were the same game. Sorry.

[Jeneki]

Solitary Fighter, until a bunny girl joins the match and shanks ya.

[AGermanArtist]

Rainbow Islands! 1/25/24

https://twitter.com/EZ_takayoshi/status ... 65/photo/4

[Sumez]

[BIL]

Finally

[Marc]

The original? Not extra? I can't even bring myself to click.....

[BIL]

The original? Not extra? I can't even bring myself to click.....

Looks like OG. I hope they either bundle Special, or do a separate release, at some point... just because I'd like to retire my MD copy along with the OG's PCE-CD port.



EDIT:

With Mystic Warriors on the way, I'm now confident we will see the Konami beat 'em up trilogy (Crime Fighters) completed this coming year with Violent Storm at some point.

Hamster will get it eventually,
Everybody wanna knock Geldo down.

Underrated post

[Sumez]

The MD port's lack of an extended hitbox above rainbows while crushing them really changes the core gameplay entirely. It feels like a decent port, but I just couldn't play it!

[BIL]

That definitely explains why it always felt kinda off to me, compared to the PCE one - not a disaster like MD Thunder Fox (a pale shadow of the rollicking AC ver), but distinctly off-model.

PCE version seems to capture the arcade mechanics really well, even if it's better thought of as a home Arrange version. You can retry Islands for missed gems, and even save/quit mid-game. The difficulty is toned down, too; even on the Hard setting, enemies never get as fast or aggressive.

Still, I had a blast with it, a few years back. RI is so inherently good, it transitions seamlessly to a more consolised tenor. It's mainly the usual PCE port nemesis of sprite dropout (cf Gradius II and Forgotten Worlds) that I'm looking forward to going without.

[Marc]

Fuck yes!
Struggling with Mystic Warriors scrolling stages - there doesn't appear to be any animation indicating that a zako will fire, and the size of the sprites doesn't give much wiggle room. Particularly frustrating, as this is much more frantic than Sunset Riders from the off, is the lack of a lock button for firing direction.
Puzzled why this never saw a SNES port, wouldn't have taken much scaling back.