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

[Jonpachi]

I'm just waiting for LiveWire to bring Futari's 360 port to PC at this point...

Pure speculation, but I suspect they can't do Futari because it has proprietary modes created by M2, such as Arrange and Novice. In other words, M2 likely have a claim to that version that would necessitate them being paid if a new version was printed, and that price might be a barrier. The previous releases were all done by Cave, so the rights ownership of work done was clear and simple.

[NeoStrayCat]

I'm just waiting for LiveWire to bring Futari's 360 port to PC at this point...

Pure speculation, but I suspect they can't do Futari because it has proprietary modes created by M2, such as Arrange and Novice. In other words, M2 likely have a claim to that version that would necessitate them being paid if a new version was printed, and that price might be a barrier. The previous releases were all done by Cave, so the rights ownership of work done was clear and simple.

Yeah, if LiveWire can't do a port of Futari for this reason, I'm probably hoping of a City Connection release with both games included (like they did DeathSmiles I/II and the Akai Katana port), along with multiple text translations.

[BIL]

Nice, been looking forward to this one. Got my GSM ImageFight disc ready to fire up if it's got Rezon-itis.

Checking a video of it, you should be fine. The music has actual loops. (Okay, the even-numbered boss theme might be repetitive anyway.)

Spot on! I'm impressed actually - very listenable, reminds me a bit of Gaiares' easy-going melancholy. Hasn't grabbed me like Masahiko Ishida's BGM, but then, precious little does. The man's straddle of booming, ballsack-brandishing swagger and skin-crawling menace is truly rare. But for the spiritual companion to Rezon, just having decently fleshed-out compositions is an absolutely massive leap in quality.

Honestly, I think Rezon would be a good deal less infamous without the psychosis-inducing BGM. Mute it and blast R-Type II's OST, that's what I say.

Game's good too! Concurred with Klatrymadon, it's like a stealth Image Fight II to make up for the slightly pedestrian PCE-CD game.

(I consider PCE Image Fight more of an Image Fight II than Deepstriker is, tbh - comical extremes of cruelty result from its tiny playfield and your ship's arcade-perfect BigBox You'll be just about pulling through, then a random sniper heli that's meant to appear upscreen will instead pop up at your flank all "ROOM SERVICE MOTHERFUCKER" doesn't have a second loop, doesn't fuckin need one either )

[zaphod]

For those who are wondering, switch usually lags more than ps4 for arcade archives.

[To Far Away Times]

I'm just waiting for LiveWire to bring Futari's 360 port to PC at this point...

Pure speculation, but I suspect they can't do Futari because it has proprietary modes created by M2, such as Arrange and Novice. In other words, M2 likely have a claim to that version that would necessitate them being paid if a new version was printed, and that price might be a barrier. The previous releases were all done by Cave, so the rights ownership of work done was clear and simple.

Yeah, if LiveWire can't do a port of Futari for this reason, I'm probably hoping of a City Connection release with both games included (like they did DeathSmiles I/II and the Akai Katana port), along with multiple text translations.

I find it ridiculous that arguably the best shmup ever made has only ever had a Japanese 360 port and an delisted telephone port.

We have modern ports of Telenet games. Where is our Futari port?

[Jonpachi]

It really hurts. The fact that we've gotten new ports of Mushihimesama on Steam and then Switch makes me feel like there's:
A) Clearly interest in the franchise.
B) Some annoying legal/financial problem with Futari specifically.

If the 360 version is somehow tangled up in ownership rights with M2 and Cave, then it would either fall to someone to outright buy the rights to the M2 version and re-publish it, or create a brand-new port from scratch. The former seems far more likely, and it seems like a matter of time before the well runs dry enough that someone comes to M2 begging to shake hands on a deal.

[Sumez]

At least the Futari port is region free, and still plays great. There's no reason to not just stick to that one.
Mushi 1 has been stuck on a mediocre PS2 port and then a region locked 360 port until recently. I'm very thankful it was one of the games they ended up porting to modern consoles.

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Namco's returning to the Arcade Archives.

Tank Battalion is this week's release.
https://www.gamer.ne.jp/news/202403060014/

[AGermanArtist]

Couldn't be less enthused

[Marc]

Oh.
That looks a bit crap.

[Sumez]

It's not Battle City or Tank Force, but Tank Battalion is still pretty awesome

[BIL]

Always been curious about this one, as a fan of its FC+GB sequels. Around this time last year we got its superb 90s followup TANK FORCE, and FC Battle City is on M2's Namco Museum Archives, so it's nice to have three outta four on the same platform. Tank Force is almost certainly the one you want though; cranks the pace and variety way up, sporting an instantly lovable chibi-gunmetal look. Bosses are absolute whoppers, armoured trains and monster tanks and bristling battleships all over the shop. This understandably looks a lot more spartan, although that's not always a negative.

edit:

It's not Battle City or Tank Force, but Tank Battalion is still pretty awesome

Battle City + Tank Force representin

[Lemnear]

Namco's returning to the Arcade Archives.

Tank Battalion is this week's release.
https://www.gamer.ne.jp/news/202403060014/

Where is NebulasRay

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Where is NebulasRay

I also ask the same question for both NebulasRay and F/A. I hate when Namco does this random stuff.

[BIL]

It wouldn't surprise me at all to see NebulasRay and F/A this year. Maybe OutFoxies too, and certainly Numan Athletics.

But I'm likewise expecting the first companion game of Navarone, the crustiest old obscurity ever. And the remaining one in 2025. Games so punishingly ancient, Hamster simulated the transparent colour sheets you could put over their monochrome displays.

(whatever you think of Navarone, its logo is badass it's an interesting game imo... more finessed than its ultra-primitive format might suggest).

2023 was stacked with feted late 80s/early 90s favourites, plus a near-miracle in TGM2. It also had a bunch of less-celebrated stuff. It's just how they've rolled, for a decade now. They're never gonna blow their load with the face-murderingly rad STG/action setlists any of us could assemble on a napkin at an instant's notice.

It'd be a couple years of orgasmic release then *WHAM* child support up your ass with all your good shit gone

This year's also gonna have JJ Squawkers (holy fuck! JYEAAAA BOYEEE) and Dragon Unit (*a large dog with violently explosive diarrhoea joins you in the elevator*), I'm sure.

[AGermanArtist]

Not really into anything pre-83. Track n' Field is the first game that really grabbed my attention.
I kinda viewed early stuff the same as fruit/poker machines and tended to avoid, except for maybe Scramble/Frogger.
I just didn't care about videogames back then.

[Udderdude]

Tank Battalion is so baffling to me. It looks and plays like a PC-88 game. And it's from Namco. The Famicom sequel blew it's pants off. I'm not sure how this even happened. At least the concept was there, lol.

[Samildanach]

Not really into anything pre-83. Track n' Field is the first game that really grabbed my attention.
I kinda viewed early stuff the same as fruit/poker machines and tended to avoid, except for maybe Scramble/Frogger.
I just didn't care about videogames back then.

I personally set the bar even higher as I'm just not interested in anything pre-'85. It all is just too ancient when my limited gaming time could be better spent on the better games of the late 80s and onwards.
Really is there anything released in the early 80s and late 70s that haven't been massively superceded by everything that follows?
Having said that, I am glad that AA still releases these old games, as I am sure some will still enjoy them, whether for nostalgia or just curiosity.

[Ice Beam]

Tank Battalion looks like a 1-player version of Combat (Atari 2600).

[Jeneki]

Tank Batallion's scoring system is for suicidal maniacs . For the most points you need to get in their face and attack as their guns are pointed right at you. No reward for cowards! lol

[BIL]

Really is there anything released in the early 80s and late 70s that haven't been massively superceded by everything that follows?

I tend to a sympathetic view with primordials, provided their fundamentals - input response, collision, refresh etc - are sound; but Super Cobra genuinely has its own little niche, imo. The steep terrain and air-to-ground battling remain bitingly sharp. With terrain such a major element of later 80s STGs, and protracted air/ground battle a signature of horis, its completeness really leapt out, when I revisited its ACA release.

Jacques Cousteau could never get this low (｀w´メ)

Spoiler

CARRY AWAY BOOTY

Spoiler

God DAMN (■｀W´■)

Spoiler

Just edges out Scramble with its BOOTY mechanic and cooler aesthetic (a heli on a canyon raid makes more sense than a rocketship screaming along, although now I've typed that, maybe not? ). The nearest I've seen from later years is P47 Thunderbolt. Very solid game, but it eases back a bit on the wicked topography, and sadly also runs into some visibility issues; flat black BG ain't fancy, but boy does it make the bullets pop.

Tank Batallion's scoring system is for suicidal maniacs . For the most points you need to get in their face and attack as their guns are pointed right at you. No reward for cowards! lol

Ah man, that's the sort of death-dicing spark I love seeing in these oldies.

[JJHLH]

I personally love early 1980’s video games. They are some of my favorites. There is something about the simplicity of the graphics, sounds, and gameplay that I find very appealing. And the bright colors. I’m grateful we can buy such high quality releases from Hamster.

Developers were feeling out the market back them since everything was relatively new, and they weren't afraid to try out the wackiest ideas, which led to a lot of innovation.

[Sima Tuna]

I love vector graphics.

[AGermanArtist]

Track and Field, Hyper Sports, Circus Charlie, Mikie, 1942 and Road Fighter are my earliest memory of really enjoying video games - 83/84/85
Then stuff like Commando, Ghosts n'Goblins, Legend of Kage, Gunsmoke, Bombjack, Wonderboy, Super Mario Bros, Green Beret, Choplifter, Skykid, Star Force, Pac Land, Bank Panic, Mag Max, Cop 01, Paper Boy, Gradius/Nemesis, Knuckle Joe and Tiger Heli came out in 85 and that was it. Hooked. I got an MSX that year for Xmas and became a Konami fan boy.

[Fingolfin]

I love vector graphics.

“What’s our vector Victor?”

https://youtu.be/fVq4_HhBK8Y?si=X-SSqotXg-MqSJJ8
— from a pretty funny movie back when vector graphics were new to arcade games…when arcade games themselves were still new….

to name just a few…
Star Castle
Omega Race
Battlezone
Tempest

[Marc]

Not really into anything pre-83. Track n' Field is the first game that really grabbed my attention.
I kinda viewed early stuff the same as fruit/poker machines and tended to avoid, except for maybe Scramble/Frogger.
I just didn't care about videogames back then.

Scramble and Super Cibra rule though.

[Fingolfin]

I personally love early 1980’s video games. They are some of my favorites. There is something about the simplicity of the graphics, sounds, and gameplay that I find very appealing. And the bright colors. I’m grateful we can buy such high quality releases from Hamster.

Developers were feeling out the market back them since everything was relatively new, and they weren't afraid to try out the wackiest ideas, which led to a lot of innovation.

also this +1

forgive the double double please

[Samildanach]

Despite my rather limited interest in the pre-'85 games, I really enjoy this thread and the open minded joyful enthusiasm that many of you show here.

I don't doubt that Hamster have had quite a few extra sales from the many folks who visit here, both regular posters and silent watchers. Hamster should especially pay BIL a monthly wage for the rambunctious and endlessly entertaining posts he makes.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Despite my rather limited interest in the pre-'85 games, I really enjoy this thread and the open minded joyful enthusiasm that many of you show here.

I'm in the same boat, I haven't found too many early 80s arcade games that have gripped me, but there are some that I find are really cool and have some unique mechanics such as Super Locomotive, or King and Balloon. Much as I love late 90s era stuff I always gotta remember to keep an open mind about any early 80s era games. ^^

[AGermanArtist]

The term Quarter Muncher is overused, but those early 80's games really are. I suppose that's why I thought of them akin to poker/fruit machines.