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

[Sturmvogel Prime]

https://www.timeextension.com/news/2024 ... s-a-secret

Secret Namco game for the 10th Anniversary on May 15th.

Again? Yeah, turns out Hamster has a real Namco problem.

More favoritism. Wish Hamster could give a chance to other companies, listen to the fans because all this "Namco, Namco, Namco" obssesion has gone way too far.
Why they don't consider to rebrand Arcade Archives and call it Namco Archives instead?

On a bright side, I hope we can get F/A as the surprise title.

[BIL]

Wait. Are you saying NAMCO MUSEUM ARCHIVES Vol 1 & 2 were done by M2? I see they are at least on Steam, Switch, and PS4. I might want to buy them just because they were handled by M2.

Yep! Same reason I got 'em, basically. I already had everything I'd want on cart, but as with their Contra & Castlevania sets (and CV Advance), it's always great to have current-gen options for older consoles.

Again? Yeah, turns out Hamster has a real Namco problem.

More favoritism. Wish Hamster could give a chance to other companies, listen to the fans because all this "Namco, Namco, Namco" obssesion has gone way too far.
Why they don't consider to rebrand Arcade Archives and call it Namco Archives instead?

On a bright side, I hope we can get F/A as the surprise title.

Assuming they truck along another decade - very possible imo, they've clearly mastered their niche - I think it'll be easy to look back at this last couple years as a catch-up. Namco's an absolutely massive asset, and they only appeared eight years into the project.

What I'm more hopeful for is the return of names like Technos, SNK, and IREM, and a proper DECO run. But Hamster will surely be in a better position for such things, after getting their Namco catalogue up to scratch with their other big hitters Taito and Konami.

Want to see more Tecmo, too, as always. But I'm pretty happy with the last few years. Slow n' steady. Similar for Technos/SNK/IREM would be fine by me.

I'm hopeful the mystery title might be F/A, too. STGs have been a bread and butter of theirs for a long time now (Pulstar, Gradius III, XEXEX, and Metal Hawk getting their years' Christmas spots, and ACA being easily the most prolific source of modern home releases). It'd make sense with the pace they've covered its hardware at, too.

Far from the most widely-known title, but neither was Metal Hawk, outside its iconic cab... maybe that balls-hard Hosoe soundtrack will raise its profile similarly. Was recently reading he was co-composer, actually... will have to chase that up.

EDIT: Aha! Takayuki Aihara is the guy I was thinking of. Hell of a CV.

[Arino]

Want to see more Tecmo, too, as always.

I'll take AGermanArtist's side and say: I want EVERYTHING. And I want it NOW!

[BIL]

Want to see more Tecmo, too, as always.

I'll take AGermanArtist's side and say: I want EVERYTHING. And I want it NOW!

AGA will be remembered as the civil rights pioneer of our time ;w;7 While most of us were conditioned to be content with glacial progress, this righteous nonger-man rose up for the long-suffering port beggars

[jehu]

You’d think at 10 years they might have some kind of release that serves as a vision of the next 10. As much as I pine for F/A, I don’t know if it would be a striking enough game for this purpose. A 3D game would be something else.

Spoiler

I say this, in part, because I’ve wrong about absolutely everything - and I’d be happy to be wrong about this, too. I’ll try to manipulate luck in any way I can.

[Arino]

Want to see more Tecmo, too, as always.

I'll take AGermanArtist's side and say: I want EVERYTHING. And I want it NOW!

AGA will be remembered as the civil rights pioneer of our time ;w;7 While most of us were conditioned to be content with glacial progress, this righteous nonger-man rose up for the long-suffering port beggars

[SeafoamGaming]

https://www.timeextension.com/news/2024 ... s-a-secret

Secret Namco game for the 10th Anniversary on May 15th.

Again? Yeah, turns out Hamster has a real Namco problem.

More favoritism. Wish Hamster could give a chance to other companies, listen to the fans because all this "Namco, Namco, Namco" obssesion has gone way too far.
Why they don't consider to rebrand Arcade Archives and call it Namco Archives instead?

On a bright side, I hope we can get F/A as the surprise title.

God damn it lol; i didn't want to jinx it since there was a post i made months ago getting annoyed at the heavy amount of namco/taito stuff, and then eventually taito slowed down and then we got a nice variety for a few months including konami/tecmo/hamster games. Now we have a namco month of mostly forgettable stuff (though the VS game makes me want more I have to admit, and Emeraldia was a want for a while), and the grand 10 year anniversary game is another fricking namco game lol; I was just about to post a few days ago "oh thank god no more namco for a while" but resisted in case i'd jinx myself

I can't think of anything notable they haven't released at this point that they're comfortable doing. Part of me would love if it was Tekken or Ridge Racer, or something else more modern, but Hamster seems to be allergic to 3D and I don't even know if we'll get Solvalou at this rate. (my most wanted Namco game, it's an obscure gem but after playing it at galloping ghost, I just HAVE to play it again with proper emulation.) Gonna expect it to be some random sports game I never heard of or Gee Bee (though I do want more 70s games...), and I expect this next week to just be a boring taito pick.

God, I love ACA and I have too many to count (I gotta count soon, it's over 200 on Switch at least) and this slow spot has been nice on my wallet but it feels the days of gigaton reveals are over. Mystic Warriors felt like the last one and before that it was TGM2. Just waiting for Console Archives or 3D era games at this point, along with maybe them hopefully getting back to Technos/DECO at some point.

...And maybe if SLG finally croaks we get a bunch of Irem gems on ACA again. Still miffed those bad compilations are the only place they plan to reissue their arcade gems and still no R-Type LEO...

[Sumez]

Slow spot??

Man people must really hate Namco for some reason.
For the past few years people have been complaining they were only doing the old 80s Namco games that have been ported a million times before while not even touching the mostly imported 90s library.
And now that they are finally starting to go through those games apparently that's also not sufficient.

Can't wait for them to eventually do Outfoxies only for people to realise it's not all that either and complain we aren't getting anything "big"

[Sumez]

Also Rainbow Islands is the biggest thing they've done in years. Stop sleeping on it.

[cfx]

Phelios, Burning Force, Rolling Thunder 2 and Cosmo Gang The Video were my most-wanted titles so I certainly don't hate the Namco stuff.

I used to own the arcade board for Outfoxies, and I really didn't care for it. I bought it thinking it was another Rolling Thunder-like game given how it looks, but found the one-versus-one type gameplay repetitive and boring.

[Arino]

Also Rainbow Islands is the biggest thing they've done in years. Stop sleeping on it.

how do you like the new music?

[Sumez]

I bought it thinking it was another Rolling Thunder-like game given how it looks, but found the one-versus-one type gameplay repetitive and boring.

It's definitely a game that doesn't quite live up to its potential.
It's pretty fun, but it's entirely relying on its gimmicks. Absolutely a "party game".

[BIL]

I wouldn't call the last six months slow at all. Daioh, Sonic Wings, Silkworm, Darius II, Master of Weapon, War of Aero, Mystic Warriors, Surprise Attack, Super Contra, Shaolin's Road, Rainbow Islands, Volfied, and Burning Force is a fuckin fat hardcore STG/action slate. As was the previous six months, and the one before that, and the one before that.

Also I'm retarded, but my gaymer instinct suggests Emeraldia, Cosmo Gang, and Guttang Gottong are comparably hardcore puzzle fare, too. Daioh and Volfied even had their counterstops removed, and the former gained a Rank gauge at staff request. And MoW has a bullet strobe fix, handy if you like to look at the screen.

Even in TEH GOOD OL DAYS, you were always going to drive yourself mental with week-by-week clockwatching. Particularly with their regularly going multiple weeks between games, pre-2021. >_>

Play your games, it's easier! EDIT: Actually, here's a cracking idea. Just ignore the stuff that makes your wiener soft, and pretend the FUKKEN H4RDC0R3 picks are the work of... Gerbil Corporation. They're just like Hamster, but EXCLUSIVELY do the most badass STG/Action content Shumps Farmers crave! Not every week, admittedly - but guaranteed, if you're slamming down killer ALLs n' scores one after the other in these certified hardcore hits, your Shumps Manhood will become massive once again!

Hamster seems to be allergic to 3D

I'm guessing they're not playing hooky, just ensuring they don't release some laggy frameskipping POS that irradiates the esteemed niche they've carved out for themselves over a very busy decade. \(´・ω・)/

Hell, they may even genuinely not want to put out shitty products. That's a distinct possibility! You know you're dealing with craftsmen when "Daioh" gets a bespoke "Oyaji meter" for its "Rank." 99.99% of humanity would look at you like you were having a stroke, if you informed them of that miraculous event - then call you a racist cracker asshole if you asked them to give you three fitty for it!

Welcome to .1%, shit takes time but it's usually worth it. M2 do FX1B and Type X (EDIT: fuck! I meant G-Net!). M2's release rate is a tiny fraction of Hamster's, even if you apply my Gerbil Principle for Greater Hardcore Productivity. M2 have likewise maintained cautious distance from certain ambitious projects! I think it'll all work out eventually.

[Fingolfin]

Personally— and it needs must be said on the regular — come rain or shine…

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

Criticism’s one thing but way way too much griping and negativity in this here thread as of late: let’s celebrate the bounty of arcade games joy that Arcade Archives delivers — with all of the randomness inherent in our weekly AA gems and oddities arcade games lottery — and let us not dwell too much on what we don’t got!

10th Anniversary on May 15th!!!
Whooo-hooo!

Makes me think of another grand birthday celebration of yore…

First of all, to tell you that I am immensely fond of you all, and that eleventy-one years is too short a time to live among such excellent and admirable hobbits.

I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.

https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Bilbo%2 ... day_speech

Thanks to all who share the love for Hamster’s Arcade Archives and thanks much to cave hermit for kicking it off and getting this thread of arcade wonders and magic started!

Thanks good peeps of shmups.system11 — here’s to another 10 years of Arcade Archives!

[SeafoamGaming]

Slow spot??

Man people must really hate Namco for some reason.
For the past few years people have been complaining they were only doing the old 80s Namco games that have been ported a million times before while not even touching the mostly imported 90s library.
And now that they are finally starting to go through those games apparently that's also not sufficient.

Can't wait for them to eventually do Outfoxies only for people to realise it's not all that either and complain we aren't getting anything "big"

Ah, don't take it as me not liking any of the namco games, I was thrilled with Cosmo Gang the Puzzle and Warp & Warp this year! (And still have plenty on the "to buy when i get money" list) I just wish for some of the long dormant companies to get a spotlight or put out as many games, aha; I'd go nuts for a Tecmo month for instance.

Outfoxies is a game I'd love to try ala Emeraldia (which did finally show up), but IIRC someone at hamster or namco was worried about CERO putting a stop on that game getting reissued without content edits so I don't know if they'd be willing to make what they'd have to make to get a game like it out again. If it was on Wii VC it'd be a no brainer, but it didn't hit the equally-packed Wii VC Namco library, so I'm unsure... I'd love to be surprised though.

Then again I wrote off TGM2 as an absolute impossibility due to the more modern hardware of that game and that showed up all of a sudden so hey, Hamster could pull a surprise like they did when konami came back all of a sudden last year.

But man when you see Namco and Taito getting like over 50 games to their name while other companies don't play ball and offer nearly as many, it kinda stings lol.

I wouldn't call the last six months slow at all. Daioh, Sonic Wings, Silkworm, Darius II, Master of Weapon, War of Aero, Mystic Warriors, Surprise Attack, Super Contra, Shaolin's Road, Rainbow Islands, Volfied, and Burning Force is a fuckin fat hardcore STG/action slate. As was the previous six months, and the one before that, and the one before that.

I keep going back and forth on War of Aero; it seems like a cool Image fight like, but I got burned very hard by Rezon being utter shit once I blind bought that lol. But then Mad Shark was an absolute hidden gem, and Athena's Daioh was a fun time too. Is it worth a shot if I enjoy the IF duology?

[Arino]

Tons of highlights by Namco for me personally, everything else I find at least interesting and would buy them all if there was not so much to catch up with (got the PS4 way after its initial release)

[BIL]

I keep going back and forth on War of Aero; it seems like a cool Image fight like, but I got burned very hard by Rezon being utter shit once I blind bought that lol. But then Mad Shark was an absolute hidden gem, and Athena's Daioh was a fun time too. Is it worth a shot if I enjoy the IF duology?

I like it a lot - my favourite of the three, distinctly nearer austere Mad Shark than dastardly Rezon in Allumer's covers band trio. Suitably finessed ship mechanics, fiendish puzzlebox stages, the classic sense of devious pressure... less an iterative copycat than a well-observed tribute. I actually think it'd have done IREM proud as an ImageFight Leo.

Even looks great, and while nobody can match Masahiko Ishida's straddle of booming brass balls and simmering menace, it's got credible space-rock melancholy. I actually looked up the composer, doesn't seem to be well-known, but they were giving me happy recollections of Gaiares.

Being a fan of ImageFight II as well, and particularly at ACA price, I'd recommend it for sure. It's especially nice returning to glorious 3:4!

...I must add a massive asterisk here, by saying I don't despise Rezon; I quite dig the attempt at stripped-down, Forceless R-Type. But ONLY on the strict proviso R-Type II BGM is blasted over it! Its own BGM is overwhelmingly frowzy. 3; A good buddy unironically loves it, and I get its abrasive loops in isolation, but they're not what I want in my IREMesque. I must have that macabre sense of the hyperarticulated biomechanique!

EVIL GRIP in UNSACRED NIGHT (■｀w´■)

[BrianC]

Interesting that ACA took on System 2 early on with Namco. That hardware is no slouch. Dual 68000 CPU!

[BIL]

Interesting that ACA took on System 2 early on with Namco. That hardware is no slouch. Dual 68000 CPU!

I hear Metal Hawk in particular is quite the beast; I wonder if it'd have been as perfect as Assault on PS1, back in the OG Namco Museum days. Still has issues in MAME, from what I hear. I wonder similar about Galaxy Force II and Power Drift on Saturn, capped to 30fps, by Appaloosa, iirc... would Rutubo have nailed 'em like they did Space Harrier/AfterBurner II/OutRun (the latter ofc gaining a 60fps mode)? Or did they rule out the attempt?

At any rate, getting dual perfect Assault and Metal Hawk was my #1 want when Namco got onboard with ACA. Just need Assault Plus for true completism.

I'm looking forward to the same hardware's Final Lap trilogy, too. And of course grandma-approved Lucky & Wild! I think all of us who recall when scaling was the preserve of arcades share a certain satisfaction, seeing bitmaps shunted at mach speed.

[Bassa-Bassa]

Galaxy Force on SAT was by Appaloosa for reasons still unknown to this day, but Power Drift was by the Japanese from Phant. Sadly being 30fps was only one of its problems? I at least recall the graphics not being properly displayed when the background rotates.

[BIL]

Ah yes, that's right! It's been a while since I was actively following those ports. Yeah, I never bothered picking it (or GFII) up, bitd. Definitely recall hearing about display woes.

[OldSkoolShmuper]

I never had Saturn Power Drift but I did have Galaxy Force II. Aside from being half the framerate, there was also slowdown.

The 3DS version is wonderful with some of the best 3D on the system. You've got original and Neo modes for graphics, based on the PS2 port.

[BIL]

Yeah I used to play the 3DS one on the bus home, shit was like an improvised deluxe cabinet Crazy how well it ported over from the PS2 disc.

[hamfighterx]

I never had Saturn Power Drift but I did have Galaxy Force II. Aside from being half the framerate, there was also slowdown.

The 3DS version is wonderful with some of the best 3D on the system. You've got original and Neo modes for graphics, based on the PS2 port.

Maybe also worth noting that Rad Mobile got a Saturn port early in the system's life as "Gale Racer", and it's terrible. From System Sacom, the same devs that made the surprisingly solid Resident Evil clone Deep Fear.

Saturn Power Drift was one of my first Japanese import games, and it was not great. The 3DS Power Drift and Galaxy Force II are both awesome though! I first got into Galaxy Force II with the PS2 Sega Ages 2500 port (directed by Naoki Horii for M2!) - 480p mode was pretty impressive!

You’d think at 10 years they might have some kind of release that serves as a vision of the next 10. As much as I pine for F/A, I don’t know if it would be a striking enough game for this purpose. A 3D game would be something else.

For some reason I kinda feel like they might be holding onto the big 3D game reveal to make a splash alongside the Switch 2 release. Kind of similar to how they really kicked it into another gear with ACA Neo Geo on Switch accompanying that system's launch. I could see them doing like... Ridge Racer and Tekken for that launch.

[BrianC]

Manx TT was outsourced to Tantalus and turned out very well. Unfortunately, House of the Dead was too much for them, and the Saturn, to handle. That's one game I would love to see ported with a new lightgun made for HD TVs, but it's unlikely. However, Time Crisis (or Point Blank) and a new light gun would be a nice surprise for the next Namco game.

[Arino]

When are they revealing the next game?

[BIL]

Any time around now, usually. (Weds morning GMT) F5ing furiously at me desk

[Arino]

Any time around now, usually. (Weds morning GMT) F5ing furiously at me desk

I'm in the same time zone. We should hang!

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Taito's Rastan Saga is this week's game.
https://www.famitsu.com/article/202405/4106

Now we have the first Rastan game (and the last if we count Dino Rex).

[Sima Tuna]

Rastan is a pretty big release, at least for me. I've been hoping we'd get it eventually. Legally-distinct Conan is always a fun time.