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

[Sima Tuna]

D'oh!

It was foolish to think we could hold back the ravaging hordes of Namco forever.

[NightBeast]

Are there any more opinions about last week’s Castle Dragon?

[Lord British]

Are there any more opinions about last week’s Castle Dragon?

Sure, save your money. I've played this enough on MAME to know to pass, and I usually buy this type of game. It's mega janky and you can finish it in under 10 minutes.

You'll see in the end credits there's pic of the three developers flipping you off, and in this case I find that to be pretty appropriate.

[velo]

Heads up, Libble Rabble is on sale for Switch for the first time at the moment, for the next couple of weeks.

https://www.dekudeals.com/games?filter[ ... r]=HAMSTER

Thanks for the heads up! But nobody's going to put in a good word for Dragon Saber maybe (I've never played it)?

Any suggestion for a Yoko STG non Neo Geo on ACA?
I've got Gradius series, Darius, Mecha, Mustang, Bio Ship Paladin...to name a few.

X-Multiply if you don't have it already.

D'oh!

It was foolish to think we could hold back the ravaging hordes of Namco forever.

They're running out of Namco VS games... in fact depending on the rights situations, that might be the very last one they do.

[Sturmvogel Prime]

They're running out of Namco VS games... in fact depending on the rights situations, that might be the very last one they do.

Only Tower of Babel/Mystery Tower is left.
Now we can only wait for next week. Will be Taito, Nichibutsu or Konami?

[NightBeast]

Are there any more opinions about last week’s Castle Dragon?

Sure, save your money. I've played this enough on MAME to know to pass, and I usually buy this type of game. It's mega janky and you can finish it in under 10 minutes.

You'll see in the end credits there's pic of the three developers flipping you off, and in this case I find that to be pretty appropriate.

Wow. Thank you for that link. Money saved!

[BIL]

But nobody's going to put in a good word for Dragon Saber maybe (I've never played it)?

Stylish and rollicking 2P sequel with outstanding Hosoe BGM, and a killer Dragon Spirit AST on top of that. Shares its famous predecessor's caveats. Hitbox is rather big, stage design eventually gets rather tight. Stand down, Dick Stock agents! Belay that order, first boss has a massive dick. If you hate Spirit you'll not be keen on Saber, but the reverse is also true.

Very fond of it ever since Museum Encore. Bucket list 1LC. Pace is fast, firepower is rad, OSTs (both) are stellar. I seem to recall hearing it pulls some bullshit in the endgame, or maybe I misheard, and it was just as hard as it looked. Didn't want to spoil myself with 1337 tricks just yet. But there are enough no-misses around I want to believe something can be wangled, ala the Spirit-adjacent Phelios. Hell of a trip at any rate.

Any suggestion for a Yoko STG non Neo Geo on ACA?
I've got Gradius series, Darius, Mecha, Mustang, Bio Ship Paladin...to name a few.

X-Multiply if you don't have it already.

How'd I forget, and while mentioning its likely legacy XEXEX at that?

They're running out of Namco VS games... in fact depending on the rights situations, that might be the very last one they do.

Only Tower of Babel/Mystery Tower is left.
Now we can only wait for next week. Will be Taito, Nichibutsu or Konami?

Nice, looking forward to that one. Some of the VS ports have left me unmoved - still not sure how to approach Forrest Gump no Nazo - but a few like Battle City, Star Luster, Castlevania, and Quest of Ki are welcome additions to their FC originals. I'm not sure how Gradius differs but it's such a likeable port, I enjoy having it on the same platform as I, II, III and Salamander.

With Silkworm appearing early in 2023, I'm hoping we'll see Final Star Force before too long. My usual +1s to Pleiades and Phoenix, too, even if the latter might stand more chance as a Taito release. I'm so happy Tecmo didn't fall off like SNK, Technos and IREM.

[alex-terek]

I can't stand any of them because of the vaseline effect. I only want scanlines. A1 is the least blurry, so I recommend it, but it's better to just not use one, imo. Some old ACA releases have an option to switch on scanlines without the blur, but those are rare.

Hi all! I love arcade games, that's why the ACA is a great find for me.
I use a Nintendo Switch which has a native 480p output which is then downscaled to 240p and output to a 4:3 CRT BVM.
With the filters turned off, the picture looks great with real scan lines.

It's hard to focus on the scanning lines with a smartphone camera... so the photos are a bit blurry. In reality, everything is clear.
Click on the photo for full size.. there are a few more example photos under the spoiler.

Open

[velo]

Only Tower of Babel/Mystery Tower is left.

Ooh, I missed that one. But the Namco well is running a bit dry.

Stylish and rollicking 2P sequel with outstanding Hosoe BGM, and a killer Dragon Spirit AST on top of that. Shares its famous predecessor's caveats. Hitbox is rather big, stage design eventually gets rather tight. Stand down, Dick Stock agents! Belay that order, first boss has a massive dick. If you hate Spirit you'll not be keen on Saber, but the reverse is also true.

Very fond of it ever since Museum Encore. Bucket list 1LC. Pace is fast, firepower is rad, OSTs (both) are stellar. I seem to recall hearing it pulls some bullshit in the endgame, or maybe I misheard, and it was just as hard as it looked. Didn't want to spoil myself with 1337 tricks just yet. But there are enough no-misses around I want to believe something can be wangled, ala the Spirit-adjacent Phelios. Hell of a trip at any rate.

I really like Dragon Spirit and Phelios but... they are rough on a Poor Player like me

[BIL]

Saber's first four stages aren't too bad imo, Hosoe's BGM takes the edge off too. Gotta marshal your speed to macro the BigBox about, speedkilling varmints before they can wall your flying pong paddle in. Beefy guns help! Even the default shot's pretty generous, and the auto-charger is a great addition. (I wonder where the mechanic debuted? 1990 seems a little late, but I don't recall earlier examples) The charge shots are just ruinously satisfying to unleash, and even the austere Xevious ground bomb gets some good hits in. RAITONINGU DORAGON got that ground-carving A-10 vulcan later in F/A, great for stage 4's snail artillery corps.

Endgame is balls-hard IIRC, decidedly in Salamander/ImageFight country, just like Spirit and Phelios. Super cool to see unfold, though. I'm surprised the protagonists weren't in Namco x Capcom, now I think about it. Very likeable production overall. Actually, Spirit and Saber alike enjoyed some first-rate art & sound design. (ta @ VGMdb)

Spoiler

Spoiler

It's hard to focus on the scanning lines with a smartphone camera... so the photos are a bit blurry. In reality, everything is clear.
Click on the photo for full size.. there are a few more example photos under the spoiler.

Great shots! Especially loved Splatterhouse and Athena's logo pics. That Splatterhouse in-game scene really takes me back to the mystique of ol' magazine CRT shots.

[Augemitbutter]

I can't stand any of them because of the vaseline effect. I only want scanlines. A1 is the least blurry, so I recommend it, but it's better to just not use one, imo. Some old ACA releases have an option to switch on scanlines without the blur, but those are rare.

Hi all! I love arcade games, that's why the ACA is a great find for me.
I use a Nintendo Switch which has a native 480p output which is then downscaled to 240p and output to a 4:3 CRT BVM.
With the filters turned off, the picture looks great with real scan lines.

That looks real good. I would love to do this with a PS5.

[DenimDemon]

The ACA version plays really well; the twin-stick control scheme works nicely with the Switch's two analogue sticks. Definitely recommend picking it up.

I was surprised to learn it's also a great co-op game, if you use the Preference Option that divides Libble/Left and Rabble/Right's controls between a pair of devices. (ostensibly two arcade sticks, for solo twin-stick action, or maybe even rigging up something like this beauty, fan-made for Dempa's X68000 port)

Spoiler

I wonder if players ever tried co-op on the real cab back in the day, haha. (and if management bitched them out for it ) Obviously a far easier game with a person per anchor, compared to the solo coordination tester, but such good fun.

I've got Gradius series, Darius, Mecha, Mustang, Bio Ship Paladin...to name a few.

I think you have XEXEX, IIRC? My first rec otherwise.

A couple of yoko outsiders I think are worth a look: Namco's Pistol Daimyou no Bouken, and Sunsoft's Markham. Former's genuinely pretty weird, built around a lobbing charge shot with a couple different power levels. The ACA port, just like Phelios, has custom autofire rates which lets you blast off mid- and fully-charged shots, turning it into a three-button game. I think it plays pretty well; bit on the easy side but with plenty of finesse, would've probably made a great console original. Same colourful gag manga style as its parent game, Bravoman; reminds me a lot of the Keio Yuugekitai games and Hana Taka Daka, too.

Spoiler

Markham's a lot straighter-laced, kind of a horizontal Xevious if that makes sense with its formations and boss weakpoint sniping. It does have one strikingly original mechanic, a player-guided missile; hold the button to set its altitude, release to let it rocket off. Great for nailing those boss cores!

Spoiler

I really like this one, has a nice early 80s immediacy. Massive caveat to the Sky Kid-prefiguring nose up/down movement; I don't mind it at all, actually I kinda like nailing enemies from above and below with 45' attacks, very Metal Black. But it's a divisive mechanic that always merits advising.

Also, for a similarly little-feted borderliner, Sunsoft's Ikki. Topdown arena run-gun / treasure hunt. Grab all the ingots while blasting ninjas. The screen edge riding would normally send me running for the hills... but a couple things save its bacon imo. First is the radar, which points out ingots and makes it easy to plot efficient routes. Second is the neat auto-targeting shot; frees up reaction time. Maybe worth a tryout in MAME to see if you can get along with its idiosyncrasies - that goes for all of these really - but it's the kind of obscurity that I've seen click with people.

[BIL]

As if on cue, Lowter streaming ACA Dragon Saber - "Please be careful as the uploader's death throes may be very loud"

[DenimDemon]

As if on cue, Lowter streaming ACA Dragon Saber - "Please be careful as the uploader's death throes may be very loud"

Sorry Billy, don't know where my earlier reply went..
Thank you for your fantastic post, as always. Took note on Marham, seems my kinda stuf.
But since there was an ACA sale going on the JP Eshop, end up getting a few titles that I was still missing... Splatterhouse ( got it on Namco collection, but still), Dragon Saber and Galaxian ( is this game getting better and better with time?). Maybe it's just me but I find these early 80s titles to get better and better with time...and love how they look and sound.

[BIL]

Always a pleasure. Glad Markham has your interest! Seems genuinely little-mentioned even on here. I'm surprised it never got a Famicom port, seems it'd have been a natural fit for the hardware and era. IIRC they banked hard on Atlantis no Nazo ("It's beyond Super Mario!"), which nowadays is an infamous kusoge.

I'd love to see their Bay Route and Tough Turf at some point, now that Cotton has shown System 16 titles have a shot at ACA. TT has simply the best beltscroller character designs ever.

Galaxian's a true evergreen, the perfectly distilled gallery STG. Has some genuine aesthetic presence, too. The relentless doom-thrum and the neon-on-black palette have aged sublimely well; got that room-dominating presence also seen in Robotron and Defender. I hope Space Invaders shows up at some point, too; feels odd having one without the other.

[DenimDemon]

A Robotron ACA ...One can dream

[Sima Tuna]

I want Joust and NARC ACA.

[DenimDemon]

NARC M2 Shottrigers

[OldSkoolShmuper]

I just want Thunder Fox ACA

[Lord British]

I want Joust and NARC ACA.

It's frustrating that there's no 8th or 9th gen Midway compilations.

WB put out Arcade Origins a dozen years ago, but there's no NARC or Paperboy + some other good ones.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Always a pleasure. Glad Markham has your interest! Seems genuinely little-mentioned even on here. I'm surprised it never got a Famicom port, seems it'd have been a natural fit for the hardware and era. IIRC they banked hard on Atlantis no Nazo ("It's beyond Super Mario!"), which nowadays is an infamous kusoge.

I'd love to see their Bay Route and Tough Turf at some point, now that Cotton has shown System 16 titles have a shot at ACA. TT has simply the best beltscroller character designs ever.

Galaxian's a true evergreen, the perfectly distilled gallery STG. Has some genuine aesthetic presence, too. The relentless doom-thrum and the neon-on-black palette have aged sublimely well; got that room-dominating presence also seen in Robotron and Defender. I hope Space Invaders shows up at some point, too; feels odd having one without the other.

I do recall trying out the cocktail-table cab version of Galaxian that Namco had licensed to American arcade game manufacturer, Bally Midway MFG Co., back in 1980 at the local Pizza Hut joint (until the advent of Galaga taking over the reins of it's predecessor in 1981).

It was truly the era of "Golden Age of Arcades" where the almighty shiny quarter was considered "the gold standard" to credit up a game, indeed, back in those days of early '80s arcade gaming lore. Combine that with the fine art of "jamming" to let others know that "you got dibs on the next arcade gaming session coming up" with a quarter or two placed where they were easily seen -- usually a row of quarters placed on the arcade game marquee leading edge was sufficient enough as it was (arcade gamers knew all about this and honored it with the utmost care, respect and unwritten code of conduct -- basically distilled down to early '80s "polite arcade etiquette" in general as that was exactly what it was). By the early 1990s, jamming had fallen "out of favor" in the local American arcade gaming scene -- sad to say it but it's 100% true. Nowadays, jamming is considered "a lost art and a relic from a bygone era" never to be repeated ever again. The early '80s arcade gamers, like myself, will fondly recall about "jamming at the arcades" as it was a "real thing" to take into serious consideration and a part of '80s arcade lexicon/jargon/slang in retrospect. So be it.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Konami's Escape Kids is this week's game
https://www.famitsu.com/article/202501/30612

[Jeneki]

With all the "Let's Goooo!" and "Wahoo!" while dudes run around, my mind immediately thinks of a Mario Party minigame. But Mario didn't have those phrases in 1991 (or Mario Party) lol.

[mirkvid]

I used to work with one of the guys who developed Escape Kids! I should check it out.

[Bassa-Bassa]

Did it have some Westerner involved?

[mirkvid]

No, developed in Japan. I've worked with a few guys from the arcade division who came to the US.

[hamfighterx]

Looks like Ivan 'Ironman' Stewart's Super Off Road, but with goofy looking kids running around the track by hammering buttons. Strange! I'll check it out.

[nogden]

For you guys who have been keeping up with the ACA releases, what are some of the stand out titles released so far? I’m looking to get into some non cave games and I’m primarily using a ps4 so I figured this was a good place to start.

[Steven]

For you guys who have been keeping up with the ACA releases, what are some of the stand out titles released so far? I’m looking to get into some non cave games and I’m primarily using a ps4 so I figured this was a good place to start.

Big Tournament Golf (AKA Neo Turf Masters, AKA The Best Game on the Neo Geo)
Kaitei Daisensou
Thunder Dragon 2
Halley's Comet
Xexex (Japanese version only)
Shock Troopers
Twinkle Star Sprites
Saigo no Nindou
Image Fight
Moon Patrol
X Multiply

[nogden]

For you guys who have been keeping up with the ACA releases, what are some of the stand out titles released so far? I’m looking to get into some non cave games and I’m primarily using a ps4 so I figured this was a good place to start.

Big Tournament Golf (AKA Neo Turf Masters, AKA The Best Game on the Neo Geo)
Kaitei Daisensou
Thunder Dragon 2
Halley's Comet
Xexex (Japanese version only)
Shock Troopers
Twinkle Star Sprites
Saigo no Nindou
Image Fight
Moon Patrol
X Multiply

Thanks man! I’ll start looking at these now