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

[locoBro1196]

does anyone know whether ACA leaderboards (Hi-Score mode) are cross-platform? I've never double dipped to test that

[BIL]

does anyone know whether ACA leaderboards (Hi-Score mode) are cross-platform? I've never double dipped to test that

Nope, AFAIK they're closed-platform.

[Marc]

Thanks, will look into it. Unfortunately I don't have time right now. I can't remember the names but there was only one Swedish jet, I tried that one fist because spread shot plus laser. Then I thought the spread shot was not needed and I tried a jet with the UK flag and the narrow shot took things out faster. I have only played three credits so far, all three times it went well until the aircraft carrier killed me before I could take out its guns! lol. Looking forward to playing this game, hate how I got shit to do today.

Btw Prehistoric Isle 2 is 50% off atm For anybody who doesn't have it yet on ACA. Last Resort is reduced as well, but I would not recommend that one.

Edit:

Finally, I have no idea why the third boss got mad at me here.

OMG BIL are you already playing the loop?

You'd recommend PI2, but NOT LR?..... OK.......
I picked up PI2 due to the sale, first impressions are it's an awkward, ugly pile of crap.

[Jucksalbe]

There's a new set of ACA games on sale on the JP eShop (not yet live on the Western eShop):

NeoGeo (50% off)

• Metal Slug X
• The Super Spy
• World Heroes 2
• Robo Army
• Stakes Winner

Namco (30% off)

• Phelios
• Metal Hawk
• Tower of Druaga
• Galaga
• Pac-Land

Is Super Spy any good? Screenshots don't really help much.

[Arino]

Thanks, will look into it. Unfortunately I don't have time right now. I can't remember the names but there was only one Swedish jet, I tried that one fist because spread shot plus laser. Then I thought the spread shot was not needed and I tried a jet with the UK flag and the narrow shot took things out faster. I have only played three credits so far, all three times it went well until the aircraft carrier killed me before I could take out its guns! lol. Looking forward to playing this game, hate how I got shit to do today.

Btw Prehistoric Isle 2 is 50% off atm For anybody who doesn't have it yet on ACA. Last Resort is reduced as well, but I would not recommend that one.

Edit:

Finally, I have no idea why the third boss got mad at me here.

OMG BIL are you already playing the loop?

You'd recommend PI2, but NOT LR?..... OK.......
I picked up PI2 due to the sale, first impressions are it's an awkward, ugly pile of crap.

ok tbf my opinion on both games is merely based on a first impression, still don't know these two games very well

i just always thought PI2 was kinda cool because it's something different and LR is just too stiff and not much fun, that has always been my first impression, plus the ACA version has screen tearing apparently. thats how it looked like to me when i played it.

[BIL]

I did wonder about that Prehistoric Isle vs Last Resort matchup, haha. I like PI2, but Last Resort's a very solid IREMesque (by ex-IREMs). Doesn't get off to the most distinguished start, with a rather airy first stage, but picks up fast from there. Around Stage 3 it really hits its stride with a nice Huge Battleship naval setpiece (which can be terminated rather abruptly, with aggressive deployment of its smartly weaponised Bit Module ). Killer OST

plus the ACA version has screen tearing apparently. thats how it looked like to me when i played it.

On PS4? It's hard to tell with this stuff, given how buggered some of the Switch ACA NeoGeo stuff sounds, per Kiken (overclocked Metal Slug?). The PS4 one seems solid as usual on my monitor.

EDIT: ah, I think I know what you mean. Fired up PS4 Last Resort out of curiosity. That's ACA-NG's weird semi-emulation of the MVS's sprite flicker. Never played Last Resort on cart, but I've played tons of Metal Slug and Shock Troopers, and their ACA-NG versions do the same thing at certain points. Blowing up a large building in either game will typically trigger it (eg shelling the houses in MS1's first stage).

It looks like sprites are tearing, but it's more like they don't drop out as completely as they will on hardware. The frame itself isn't tearing or desyncing or anything, though. Arguably you lose less visibility, as odd as it looks. An easy way to see this is milking Blazing Star's first boss. On MVS it's a flicker nightmare, on PS4 you have to squint to notice anything amiss.

(again, only talking PS4 here - heard weird stuff about Switch, but that's the Switch for you...)

Is Super Spy any good? Screenshots don't really help much.

It's kind of a meme game, even per its #1 superfan BBH.

> Great writeup! - man, I'd forgotten how good his site is. Super comfy ala early 00s.

> The Super Manful 1CC

Always looked like a novel time, at the very least. Nearest I've played is ADK's Crossed Swords, which is kinda hard to recommend, but definitely has its own coherent-if-elusive style.

Metal Slug X and Metal Hawk are the clear respective winners of those sales, imo. MSX has the Nazca trilogy's best balance of pacing and scale, titanic yet concise. Metal Hawk is a solid STG, but an outright fantastic nonlinear time attack.

[Some-Mist]

super spy is the only MVS cart I own because of how cheap it was, and when I used to have the cab in hori I'd throw it in for the buds who would all get a good laugh out of it.
I had this screen shot as a profile banner for awhile, and without context looks pretty bad lol

[BIL]

And it's not even the most exploitation-tastic frame of Pinku-chan! >:3 (I'm ashamed to know they gave her a range of different undergarments, I blame BBH )

[Arino]

Around Stage 3 it really hits its stride with a nice Huge Battleship naval setpiece

Thanks, will give it another chance at some point!

EDIT: ah, I think I know what you mean. Fire up PS4 Last Resort out of curiosity. That's ACA-NG's weird semi-emulation of the MVS's sprite flicker. Never played Last Resort on cart, but I've played tons of Metal Slug and Shock Troopers, and their ACA-NG versions do the same thing at certain points. Blowing up a large building in either game will typically trigger it (eg shelling the houses in MS1).

It looks like sprites are tearing, but it's more like they don't drop out as completely as they will on hardware. The frame itself isn't tearing or desyncing or anything, though. Arguably you lose less visibility, as odd as it looks. An easy way to see this is milking Blazing Star's first boss. On MVS it's a flicker nightmare, on PS4 you have to squint to notice anything amiss.

Yes, on PS4. Ok that's just great that you were able to clarify, thank you very much. I have some carts but not this one so I would never know what's right or wrong Yeah When I first saw that in Metal Slug with some explosions, I was worried that something was wrong with my mobo or cart but fortunately that's just how it is
Same with Pulstar when you see those orange small triangles when certain things explode if you know what I mean

Can you recommend any good brawlers/belt action games? I already have Zero Team, Robo Army and 64th Street. I don't know which ones from the Neo Geo ones are good or in general. I mean like on ps4.

i remember shmup junkie saying the quality of emulation varies quite a bit when Capcom Arcade Stadium 1 & 2 came out and the ones (brawlers) i'd want to play the most are not included anyway (punisher and cadi).

after hiring m2 to port their older games ("Capcom Arcade Cabinet" for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360), i cant believe they did not hire them again for their other games. this is such a waste. they dont even treat their own products with respect, the games that allowed them to gain the reputation they are still milking today. its just incredibly sad to me. just to save a small amount of money (by having someone else getting it done instead of m2).

how is the input lag of Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle? i have it on steam for some reason lol but i enjoy playing ps4 atm so i wonder if i should get it on ps4?

[Jucksalbe]

It's kind of a meme game, even per its #1 superfan BBH.

> Great writeup! - man, I'd forgotten how good his site is. Super comfy ala early 00s.

> The Super Manful 1CC

Always looked like a novel time, at the very least. Nearest I've played is ADK's Crossed Swords, which is kinda hard to recommend, but definitely has its own coherent-if-elusive style.

Haha, well, I might as well give it a try for €3.50. I didn't enjoy Crossed Swords all that much, but at least it's something different.

[cfx]

I always considered Prehistoric Isle 2 to be kusoge while Last Resort is my favorite Neo-Geo shooter.

I just got PS4 Last Resort in this sale and was puzzled that triangle isn't insert coin like on every other ACA game I own.

I guess I'm fortunate that I don't notice things like that mentioned screen tearing or whatever.

I've been trying to remember if Robo Army is one worth getting. I owned it many years ago on AES but don't remember it well nor don't know what I'd think of it now.

[m.sniffles.esq]

Is Super Spy any good? Screenshots don't really help much.

THE Super Spy, thank you very much..,

(oh yeah, it's fucking awesome)

[Udderdude]

Ten friggin' years. https://twitter.com/HAMSTER_Corp/status ... 6777480487

[BIL]

Can you recommend any good brawlers/belt action games? I already have Zero Team, Robo Army and 64th Street. I don't know which ones from the Neo Geo ones are good or in general. I mean like on ps4.

Ninja Gaiden and Wild Fang (aka Tecmo Knight) are both incredibly solid, especially by 80s standards. Even really good 80s beltscrollers tend to have a bit of jank; these two are full of ideas but also fundamentally airtight, easy recommends. Massive personalities, too! Tecmo's arcade team were funny dudes. Wild Fang was one of my longest-standing wants, huge highlight of 2023.

And Crime Fighters 2 (aka Vendetta) goes without saying; I know I already recommended it, but it's just that good. Seamless hybrid of Technos's raw violence and Capcom's streamlined mechanics.

Super Smooth! (｀w´メ)

Super Brutal! （＾w´ ）

And yeah, Zero Team rounds out my usual recs. Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun (localised as Renegade) is great too - it's aged shockingly well for the genre's progenitor, the distilled essence of gritty outnumbered valour - but you have to adjust a bit. It's totally playable, just more archaic than the typical post-FF.

> True Life Kunio Story

Less certain recs... Crime Fighters has immense personality - it's legit grimy in a way that still leaps out, almost GTAesque - but, while I enjoy working with it, it's jank as all hell. Well, jank's the wrong word... it's consistent, but harshly idiosyncratic, sometimes annoyingly so. Definitely roadtest in MAME first even if you like its style, and also, only the 3-button rev is worth playing (you really need the Back Kick's expanded palette; fortunately, the ACA release is good for it).

For a total outsider, I'm quite fond of Takeda Shingen, aka Samurai Fighter Shingen. Weapons-based beltscroller, where appropriately, each hit does murderous damage to player and enemies alike. Very touch-of-deathy and zoning-intensive, I like it. WTB this kinda game with Sam Sho/Last Blade aesthetics! Nearest to that is probably Sengoku 2 for Neo, a uniquely projectile-happy game (with some wonderfully strange necro-feudal setpieces) people tend to either vouch for or decry utterly. The original is similar, down to the batshit crazy fever dream style - just a bit less refined overall. I like both, but as I say, not absolute recs.

Sengoku 3 plays absolutely nothing like its predecessors, taking more of a latterday Capcom style. I dig it, and tbh it's probably a safer rec than the entire preceding paragraph. People tend to love or hate the emphasis on ridiculously lengthy, Guilty Gear-esque comboing. I just play as Kongoh the badass monk dude and clap fuckers up the head with his iron bat, though.

how is the input lag of Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle? i have it on steam for some reason lol but i enjoy playing ps4 atm so i wonder if i should get it on ps4?

I got it specifically for Final Fight; I think it feels pretty snappy, comparing directly with ShumpMAME (1f input lag).

I could believe a few of the later titles might have very subtle input delay - King Of Dragons comes to mind - but it's nothing that stops me from enjoying them. Solid set imo, a rare exception to my usual "ACA/ShotTriggers or nothing" rule.

I guess I'm fortunate that I don't notice things like that mentioned screen tearing or whatever.

It's nothing as extreme, thankfully. Basically a bit of scanline flicker when a ton of shots and explosions are going off at the same time. tbh, looking at it again, it could be authentic hardware behaviour, for all I know... Magician Lord has similar-looking artifacts in its ending sequence that are straight from the MVS cart, and Metal Slug's audio glitches during the stage 1 boss tally are likewise accurate.

[Some-Mist]

it'd be nice if we got metamorphic force. does it not meet the requirements of being added to the arcade* archive library or is it a possible option in the future?
I'd be pumped

[BIL]

it'd be nice if we got metamorphic force. does it not meet the requirements of being added to the archive archive library or is it a possible option in the future?
I'd be pumped

Would love that one! Can't see any reason it wouldn't be eligible, although it could definitely be mistaken for a licensed game at first glance with those action figure-ready character designs. (early 90s Konami were so good at that) IIRC, it runs on the same hardware as Mystic Warriors, which they nailed with flying colours.

I bet we'll see MF and Violent Storm before the year's out, maybe Gaiapolis too. I'm guessing VS might be the Christmas pick, ala Mystic getting the 2023 spot (and XEXEX 2021's).

[BEAMLORD]

Well, I've been looking forward to doing sweet F/A all day! Pretty cool. Funny thing as inferred further up the thread, though, in regard to zako being a little hardier than you might otherwise expect. In some cases, seems a better idea to just dodge certain waves. Even with 20hz autofire on a secondary button, I've found myself eating nose-cone a few times.

What's up with the extend/shield bonus? Can't see it explained in the manual. Guess it's related somewhat to picking up those comrade/salarymen icons?

As an aside, as I was playing, it got me thinking idly of Thunder Dragon 2 and Gunnail, games I didn't really give a fair shake first time around when they first came out on AA. Gotta get back around to those at some point.

[BIL]

What's up with the extend/shield bonus? Can't see it explained in the manual. Guess it's related somewhat to picking up those comrade/salarymen icons?

It's just the usual score extend, AFAIK; default has the second drop around 36k (EDIT: 360k rather!). I was getting it midway through stage 3, with the first during stage 1's POW tally bonus. (just like Metal Slug, survive to the end of the stage to cash in your humanitarian works )

Yeah, you definitely have to practice defensive flying here! Often better to sidestep an aggressive pest, finishing them off on the rebound if they're a persistent bugger, ala st3's helis.

I like to think the aerial stage POWs are just the enemy pilots appealing for a little mercy after you blow away their rides. The way they haplessly waggle about is so cute, especially if you finish the stage with a big slate of the daft little buggers. All they need's a King And Balloon-style "Herupu!"



Gotcha buddy! ;3

[BEAMLORD]

It's just the usual score extend, AFAIK; default has the second drop around 360k, if I remember right.

Noted, cheers BIL. Nothing special, then.

Man, this also has to be a candidate for MOST PUMPING-EST BGM on the AA roster thus far. I nearly took my shirt off.

[velo]

There's a new set of ACA games on sale on the JP eShop (not yet live on the Western eShop):

NeoGeo (50% off)

• Metal Slug X
• The Super Spy
• World Heroes 2
• Robo Army
• Stakes Winner

Namco (30% off)

• Phelios
• Metal Hawk
• Tower of Druaga
• Galaga
• Pac-Land

Is Super Spy any good? Screenshots don't really help much.

Well there you have it: a Namco celebration sale for the 10th anniversary! They don't usually (ever?) have two ACA sales back-to-back. It's not ACA Star Blade but it's something.

THE Super Spy does look like another dose of Crossed Swords. I had some initial buyer's regret about Crossed Swords but completely 180ed after checking some playthroughs and getting the knack for it. It's still prohibitively long and hard, imo.

About Prehistoric Isle 2 (belatedly): I like that it's pretty easy... fun enough for a short clear, not something I would put dozens of hours into. I only wish PI2 had some of PI1's atmosphere. And that PI1 would come to AA.

Can you recommend any good brawlers/belt action games? I already have Zero Team, Robo Army and 64th Street. I don't know which ones from the Neo Geo ones are good or in general. I mean like on ps4.

This has come up before in this thread, and it's a sadly short list to date. In addition to BIL's picks, you could maybe add Growl. For Neo Geo, depending on taste, Sengoku 2 or 3 and Mutation Nation, but those aren't as good as Zero Team or Crime Fighters 2 or any of Capcom's. I love Ninja Gaiden and Wild Fang but they might be an acquired taste.

I find Capcom Arcade Stadiums 1+2 totally satisfactory (I mostly dropped the Belt Action collection after those came out, for save slots alone) but I'm playing the Switch versions. If CAS is objectively laggier than Belt Action I can only say I'm not feeling it, personally.

[m.sniffles.esq]

THE Super Spy does look like another dose of Crossed Swords.

The big difference is, The Super Spy allows you to put a couple 9mm rounds into a ninja's face at point blank range, THEN punch him.
If that's not worth $4, I really don't know what is...

[Arino]

Thank you everybody for your input, much appreciated!

[BIL]

I only wish PI2 had some of PI1's atmosphere. And that PI1 would come to AA.

One of my biggest ACA wants, too. Prehistoric Isle / Genshitou 1930s is badass. I'll always fondly remember encountering the cab in attract mode as a little kid, and the t-rex's roar making me jump - despite the deafening arcade environment. Fatal attraction! I wonder if its PCB packs the same beefed-up amplifier Obada mentions giving Ikari, to drown out the competition's cabs.

The transforming 8way Option mechanic is genuinely wild stuff. A convincing and practical STG Swiss Army Knife. Outstanding BGM, too. ala your tooled-up biplane, it's quaintly charming, yet packs a cutting-edge metal loadout for certain occasions.

There's a bunch of other first-rate STGs marooned on SNK40th, currently. Vanguard, Bermuda Triangle, Battle Field, Chopper One, and most of all, mahfuckin Search And Rescue A topdown blaster so profound, it's worth tolerating SNK40th for. But god damn, wtb a beautiful ACA port, ala TANK/Ikari/Dogo/Guevara. It's the best topdown rotary run/gun SNK ever did, imo, and a strong contender for best overall, even after DECO stole and eventually earned the crown via Heavy Barrel. (sneaky bastards! )

SNK/Technos/IREM, and more DECO. If you listening, SantaJebus, get those in the bag pls.

[Lord British]

One of my big wants is Up'n Down (1983), but Sega isn't a part of this unfortunately.

[BurlyHeart]

Fantastic insights and write ups. Much obliged gentlemen.

I am definitely picking up The Super Spy.

[Arino]

One of my big wants is Up'n Down (1983), but Sega isn't a part of this unfortunately.

This game is incredibly cute. I still want the Saturn version.

https://www.youtube.com/live/Kb0rE9Yt8b ... 8Z_rkUBAa1

In 40 hours ... they might say something interesting! At the big special celebration.

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Looks like F/A has become a Japan exclusive since there's nowhere to be found on the US/Mexico PS Store.

[SeafoamGaming]

Looks like F/A has become a Japan exclusive since there's nowhere to be found on the US/Mexico PS Store.

Lol brilliant

10th anniversary special game and it cant even hit the us because of, lemme guess, stupid trademark worries

What random american game uses F/A to block this one, i wonder

And Hamster still never comments on this fact…? That’s what is the most perplexing imo. F/A wasn’t exactly a game I was thrilled for (as a 10 year title, it is incredibly random) but still one that seemed like an interesting to-buy game.

[BIL]

Looks like F/A has become a Japan exclusive since there's nowhere to be found on the US/Mexico PS Store.

I've heard similar. A shame... I wonder if it's the jet names, or maybe the OST, which Victor seem oddly possessive of. (got a copyright ding even on my silly stage 3 demo, haha - assuming it wasn't Namco/Hamster annoyed at my bad playing ).

I notice it's titled "Fighter & Attacker" in my English system settings, which made me hopeful it was due a worldwide release.

[Arino]

Looks like F/A has become a Japan exclusive since there's nowhere to be found on the US/Mexico PS Store.

10th anniversary special game and it cant even hit the us

LOL that's just great so the special surprise was that you can only get it on the JP store

One of my big wants is Up'n Down (1983), but Sega isn't a part of this unfortunately.

This game is incredibly cute. I still want the Saturn version.

https://www.youtube.com/live/Kb0rE9Yt8b ... 8Z_rkUBAa1

In 40 hours ... they might say something interesting! At the big special celebration.

Steven-kun are you gonna watch it? Would you be able to tell us after the stream what they will have said?