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

[Yoshi]

In the Blade Runner 2019/Blade Runner 2049 films timeline/mythos/universe, Atari Inc. is still regarded as a huge American video game/arcade game developer/publisher powerhouse force/company to be reckoned with -- Apple is, of course, non-existent in that particular alternative universe indeed.

Where do we sign up for that trade?

It's in the Doc Brown alternate timeline of 1985 in which Atari made a deal with Nintendo and distributed the NES under the Atari brand.

Protect him from the Libyans at all costs!

[charlie chong]

juno first is rad and proper moreish . you have one credit and then next thing you know an hour has passed as you keep wantoing another credit .
only hitting 1.2 k at the moment but once i get a bit better on the homing bullet levels should improve.
now i'm thinking i should grab tutankham as well . as far as old school konami i always loved time pilot (even used to play the bbc version at school) but i think i prefer this one !

[BIL]

Oh shit, I knew I remembered BLING_LADEN from somewhere! Thought it was young BURINJU at first.

Those Seekers are some Gun.Smoke calibre zako duels. Can be handily outfoxed with a quick acceleration upscreen, but that's easier said than done with a screenload of hostiles waiting to intercept. Warp will nullify them outright, while forcing enemy guns silent, but it's not a commodity to waste. The two evolved UFOs are such a rush to take down, too, especially when a common varmint explodes into one at the worst damn time!

A classic early 80s gem; sprint-paced yet bristling with fine detail and thoroughly eccentric. "Dodge for 20secs" doesn't sound too exciting but ho ho hoooly fuck it gets intense fast, and the grim gear-slam into kill-crazed BONUS TIME is venomously cathartic. Nailing the shift with perfect timing is a game unto itself. Green Mode stops enemies from firing - but most definitely not ramming into you, the cheeky COONTS! RED MODE drops their movement speed, which is nice, until it runs out while you're going balls-out chaining, and some dozy bastard rockets into you. Lots to keep track of.

I particularly like the Action At A Distance effect on enemy fire. Accuracy and speed are inverse to proximity; lethal at distance, yet comfily delayed nearby. As with Warp and Green Mode's bullet-cancel properties, it's evocative of, yet intriguingly distinct from the industry-standard Bullet Sealing of Toaplan, a couple years hence. This mechanic affects Seekers too; they'll come screaming in at long/mid-range, before slamming to a menacing trundle nearby. Between this lethal push/pull spacing game, and the player's control of the playfield - don't like something, consider scrolling it offscreen - it's a deceptively complete DIV. (Defender In Vertical )

I made it to 216k / #5 on the PS4 board before calling it a week. KUROBUTA-sama - LORD OF BLACK HOG - being a consummate champion, he puts up all his caravan replays with notes, but I decided not to watch just yet. Amused to read the booster burn is apparently integral to maxing out Bonus Time! I'd noticed I could jump-start chains with it, burning nearby varmints before forging upscreen. I tentatively wonder if 300k is possible. It's one of ACA's great caravan finds, at any rate.

Looking forward to Gyruss. It's been forever since I played the NES rev, curious to see if the AC one fits with Juno and Tutankham's decidedly Western aesthetic. I'd file Time Pilot and Pooyan here too. All of 'em recall a time when STGs were less formalised; Scramble in its own right counts too, IMO. Just hard not to think of it as The Archetypal Hori leading to Gradius, Darius, R-Type et al. Even then, it and BOOTY-crazed Super Cobra hold their own mightily, with their combo of athletically steep terrain and crackshot accuracy rarely seen hence.

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

Spoiler

CARRY AWAY BOOTY

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God DAMN (■｀W´■)

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[Rastan78]

Thanks for the write up BIL. Sounds like a bonafied classic

Spoiler

[BIL]

Crack shot, Agent Rastan! The bastard snuck right past me! (■｀w´■)

[charlie chong]

ah yes those enemies headbutting you is very annoying. or even worse they decide to turn into a flying saucer just as you are about to grab the spaceman to unleash kill everything mode . when that happens they usually spray the screen with a spread of bullets or ram right into you from sideways which is always annoying.
also sometimes a stray homing bullet just seem to be inhumanely fast and wants you to die

that second wave level can fire a stream of homing shots that is brutal if you don't clear them fast enough
anyways managed to rise up the ranks a bit . got 1.8 on caravan over the weekend and just mashed out a 2.4 on original mode this morning . was sweet getting that 2nd extend . everyone else above me is a marathoner now .

[BIL]

Something I didn't appreciate at first, the XTRA-violent explosions on Green n' Purple UFOs; so goddamn satisfying, poppin' em at range for a crunching popping fireworks display! BamBamBamBam! If they get on your flank where you can't hit 'em, and where you're relying on your ship's inertial up/down as opposed to instant left/right movement, it's rough. If you try to outrun them vertically there, they will without fail launch a deadly-accurate parting shot to your side. Trick is to bait that out, then drop speed slightly, so it'll overshoot; then floor it upscreen to loop 'em back up top for dispatch. Worst case, use a Warp to break their relentless firing.

This is the first STG in recent memory that takes me back to Gun.Smoke and Exed Exes, where you really duel with each enemy, developing a sort of grappler vocabulary of counter-movements... which is all well and good 1v1, but the bastards don't fight fair, so a real simmering fray develops.

[charlie chong]

agreed much like robotron you grow to hate certain enemies and their projectiles with a passion . spend so much time shooting down homing bullets and then colliding with the white normal bullets shot from the same ship.
also going backkwards for a bit on the homing levels can also help horde enemies as you focus on just shooting down the homing bullets and not hitting so many enemies. i also been experimenting with trying to jump in the middle of a load of enemies in red mode and kill a load with the backblast as well as killing the front ships but not having much luck. only seems to happen when i do it by lucky accident. just so many things to experiment with.

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Puzzled by the Negatives?
Arcade Archives drops the ball and overcome them all - Seibu Kaihatsu's Senkyu (Fabtek's Battle Balls) is this week's title.
https://www.famitsu.com/article/202503/36904

You might remember this as the unlockable Mezase! Senkyu Oh playable demo on the PlayStation port of Raiden DX.

So anyway, that's one more Seibu Kaihatsu title for the count. Who could be next? Seibu Cup Soccer, Stinger, Dynamite Duke, Air Raid or the fan requested Raiden II and Raiden DX?

[BIL]

Hell yeah, knew it. Will be nice to complement the ol' PS1 port after all these years. Another SPI title too, always of interest.

NB it's out on Friday. Maybe they're being extra-careful to avoid another PSN listing cockup after VP1.

You might remember this as the unlockable Mezase! Senkyu Oh playable demo on the PlayStation port of Raiden DX.

Ironically enough, Hamster's own Major Wave reprint of PS1 DX ditched the Senkyuu demo. ...come to think of it, their Arcade Hits reprint of PS1 Raiden omits its erstwhile other Project half, Raiden II. SURELY A SIGN OF UPCOMING ACA RAIDEN II ;3 The Ham-chan Wheel turns slowly but its output is exceedingly fine.

Always been curious about Air Raid. That whiny old Drum liked it. I wish he hadn't blowed himself up on the System11 godhead, I bet he'd like Juno First as well. 3;

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Puzzled by the Negatives?
Arcade Archives drops the ball and overcome them all - Seibu Kaihatsu's Senkyu (Fabtek's Battle Balls) is this week's title.
https://www.famitsu.com/article/202503/36904

You might remember this as the unlockable Mezase! Senkyu Oh playable demo on the PlayStation port of Raiden DX.

So anyway, that's one more Seibu Kaihatsu title for the count. Who could be next? Seibu Cup Soccer, Stinger, Dynamite Duke, Air Raid or the fan requested Raiden II and Raiden DX?

Seibu Kaihatsu's Senkyu was the second SPI game after the debut of Viper Phase 1 on the venerable arcade SPI based gaming platform to be released in 1995. It was the American arcade Seibu licensee of Fabtek whom sold Senkyu in the USA to arcades under the renamed "Battle Balls" namesake back in 1995 -- it never did get a proper PSX release stateside despite Seibu releasing Senkyu in Japan themselves for the PSX back in 1996. Both of PSX version of Senkyu's high scores & high score initials are saved to the PSX memory card itself for posterity -- how cool is that?

The 386-based SPI Senkyu/Battle Balls puzzler does save both high scores & high score initials via backup battery on-board the SPI motherboard itself. Since the PSX game of Senkyu wasn't released in the USA, the next best solution was this: I broke down & had to get a copy of the much beloved USA variant SPI Battle Balls cartridge just to sate my gaming love for it as it really is quite a fun game to begin with (especially if you have a multiple chain of balls lined up to boost your overall score indeed).

The local arcade hangout by the name of "The Electric Underground" had a a "Low Boy" cab (half the the size of a tyipcal full-sized Dynamo upright cab but still using a 19" Well Gardner RGB monitor) with Fabtek's Battle Balls up & running in October of 1995 -- so yes, I was quite familiar with it.

It's about damn time that Senkyu/Battle Balls made it's way on Hamster's ACA gaming series in 2025 -- better later than never, right?

It's cool to play the PSX version of Senkyu on the PSOne with official Sony 1st-party branded PSOne LCD monitor (with it's low-res RGB capability from the get-go with it's overall razor-sharp and colorful presentation).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Jeneki]

I'm sure I played this somewhere before. PS1 Raiden DX sounds about right.

Games like this are cool with a friend for the vs battles, but I've found it difficult to convince others to try them out. Seems like most people only ever learn one puzzle game (usually Tetris) and then never leave their comfort zone.

[Bassa-Bassa]

Would Hamster reach as far as to include Battle Balls, though? Likely it can't be done without Fabtek's licence.

[Randorama]

Oh well, this is surprising but good news. I remember that I had the PS1 import game and that it was really hard, in perfect Seibu style (i.e. rank goes through the roof). PC Engine Fan X, please correct me if I am wrong, but you 1-CC'ed this, right? Knowing your supernatural skills at single screen puzzles, I wouldn't be surprised ^_^;

[hamfighterx]

Would Hamster reach as far as to include Battle Balls, though? Likely it can't be done without Fabtek's licence.

Looks like that is a no. PS4 version on the US store is Arcade Archives SENKYU, and says this in the product description: "*This game uses the Japanese ROM for the main part of the game.
*The options menu and manual are available in Japanese, English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish." https://store.playstation.com/en-us/pro ... C000000001

Not on US Switch eShop yet... maybe Friday or next week.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Would Hamster reach as far as to include Battle Balls, though? Likely it can't be done without Fabtek's licence.

Looks like that is a no. PS4 version on the US store is Arcade Archives SENKYU, and says this in the product description: "*This game uses the Japanese ROM for the main part of the game.
*The options menu and manual are available in Japanese, English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish." https://store.playstation.com/en-us/pro ... C000000001

Not on US Switch eShop yet... maybe Friday or next week.

The Hamster ACA port of Senkyu finally showed up on the USA region Switch eShop today with a MSRP of $7.99 usd at 9:30am PST on Friday, 3/21/2025. It's a miniscule 261mb d/l at best. The Switch port of Senkyu does have online leaderboard support for the Top 100 Ranking listings.

Played Solo mode for the first time on an Oled Switch setup and managed to pull off an impressive "7 Chain" stint with an overall score of 423,840 points and ranked #83 on the Switch Senkyu Top 100 leaderboard as of today, 3/21/2025 with the supplied 1st-party Joy-cons on tap. With the A2 scanline filter applied (and Oled screen brightness turned up a bit to compensate for lowered screen dimness with the selected scanline filter), Senkyu looks awesome on the Oled Switch gaming platform.

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Considering that Senkyu is regarded as an old-school mid-1990s-based arcade puzzler, it's recommended that a good Switch-based arcade stick setup is used if you want to place higher on the Switch Senkyu Top 100 Ranking listings as the old-standby of using the on-hand available 1st-party Joy-con controllers (with it's well-known notorious Joy-con drift issues plaguing them and Nintendo doesn't give a damn about it -- will the upcoming Switch 2's 1st-party Joy-cons have built-in "Hall-Effect" setup to side-step that particular problem?) just doesn't cut it nowadays, especially if played competitively (as any high level Senkyu/Battle Balls pro player will tell you offhand/off-the-cuff).
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It's nice to finally have the rare opportunity/ability to play Senkyu "on the go" rather than being tethered to playing Senkyu on the PSX/PSOne/PS4 at home instead. Another fine and stellar job by Hamster in porting the Japan region Seibu Kaihatsu SPI Senkyu arcade puzzler at it's best to the Switch and PS4 gaming platforms.

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As usual, Hamster didn't include the USA region "Battle Balls" version with all-English text in-game from Seibu licensee Fabtek for completeness -- it would've been ace if they did so but alas, they, sadly, did not this time around. As of today, the USA region SPI cartridge of "Battle Balls" still remains as an exclusive arcade puzzler still without an official home gaming console port whatsoever -- why is that so?

And does Seibu Kaihatsu Inc. even own the valuable U.S. licensee rights to the "Battle Balls" arcade IP? -- that is the real "million dollar" question to be asked right there and answered by Seibu themselves.

Sure, Hamster could've included "Battle Balls" for completeness and that'd be the first time ever as a true home game console port indeed (to the tune of being almost 30 years later) based on just by brand name title recognition alone with the grizzled "Gen X" arcade veteran gamers like myself.
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I'm not even sure whom owns the complete arcade game back-catalog IPs to Fabtek's collection nowadays (could Fabtek's expired arcade title IPs have reverted back to Seibu Kaihatsu/Moss themselves? -- hmmm.....something to take into serious consideration with the legal status of obscure and murky expired old arcade game IPs in regards to Fabtek as a wholly business entity has been long gone for ages from the arcade game industry/scene) -- Hamster would be wise to acquire/buy them outright from Seibu/Moss and add them to the existing Switch and PS4 ACA STG titles such as Raiden & Viper Phase 1 for proper completeness (with the obvious glaring omission of Viper Phase 1 U.S.A. with it's exclusive 2-Loop feature -- it's well-known that both Japan region VP1 & VP1 New Version ports are strictly an 1-Loop affair at best).

As of right now, VP1 USA still remains as an "exclusive" American region Seibu Kaihatsu SPI game cartridge release in 2025 and beyond (despite it's September 1995 grand debut/premiere in the arcades stateside will soon celebrate it's upcoming 30th birthday/anniversary in September of 2025 -- it does "get better aging with grace just like with fine wine does" in this day of age).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[hamfighterx]

It's cool to play the PSX version of Senkyu on the PSOne with official Sony 1st-party branded PSOne LCD monitor (with it's low-res RGB capability from the get-go with it's overall razor-sharp and colorful presentation).

Well you've just alerted me to something I need to do now! At least the demo version, since I have the original Raiden DX disc and a trusty PSOne + monitor. Will give it a spin and compare to the Switch release that showed up fashionably late today.

Looks like Hamster is back to the usual 4 game formula after getting a little cRAaazZy and unpredictable in late 2024. They've settled back into a few consecutive cycles of Namco/Konami/Taito/"other" in some order, meaning that Taito is likely up next week to close out the current 4-pack. Place your bets on (probably pre-F3) Taito games now!

[Bassa-Bassa]

As usual, Hamster didn't include the USA region "Battle Balls" version with all-English text in-game from Seibu licensee Fabtek for completeness -- it would've been ace if they did so but alas, they, sadly, did not this time around. As of today, the USA region SPI cartridge of "Battle Balls" still remains as an exclusive arcade puzzler still without an official home gaming console port whatsoever -- why is that so?

And does Seibu Kaihatsu Inc. even own the valuable U.S. licensee rights to the "Battle Balls" arcade IP? -- that is the real "million dollar" question to be asked right there and answered by Seibu themselves.

I think this Arcade Archives release evidences it doesn't, whatever Seibu actually is these days. Doesn't look like Senkyu was conceived to be getting a version for the West from the get-go, and Battle Ball's naming, logo, and marketing materials look like an afterthought not coming from Seibu.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

As usual, Hamster didn't include the USA region "Battle Balls" version with all-English text in-game from Seibu licensee Fabtek for completeness -- it would've been ace if they did so but alas, they, sadly, did not this time around. As of today, the USA region SPI cartridge of "Battle Balls" still remains as an exclusive arcade puzzler still without an official home gaming console port whatsoever -- why is that so?

And does Seibu Kaihatsu Inc. even own the valuable U.S. licensee rights to the "Battle Balls" arcade IP? -- that is the real "million dollar" question to be asked right there and answered by Seibu themselves.

I think this Arcade Archives release evidences it doesn't, whatever Seibu actually is these days. Doesn't look like Senkyu was conceived to be getting a version for the West from the get-go, and Battle Ball's naming, logo, and marketing materials look like an afterthought not coming from Seibu.

The fact that the "old" Seibu Kaihatsu arcade game developer/publisher approved the Western/European release of "Battle Balls" for sale in both the USA and Europe back in 1995/1996 gives it proper "street credibility" -- otherwise, they wouldn't have been released overseas without Seibu's official blessing/approval in the first place (rather than just be limited to just solely the Japanese game centers audience / clientele at that particular point in time with the SPI release of Senkyu). It's still quite a popular arcade puzzler these days (aside from the usual Tetris and it's various spin-offs, American Technos' Blockout & Sega/Compile's Puyo Puyo series arcade puzzlers).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Land Sea Air Squad/L.S.A. Squad is this week's Arcade Archives title.
https://www.famitsu.com/article/202503/37701

What awaits us on April? We don't know, but one thing is certain for sure. It starts with a big red "n".

[BIL]

Longtime personal interest in this one. Seems very forgotten. Its predecessor Front Line is underrated as FUUUUUUCK in its field, popular memory tending to slam to a halt at Senjou no Okami and Ikari. Everyone knows DECO ripped off SNK but in fact, SNK ripped off Taito! Excellently, mind! I ain't complainin you fuckin lousy pricks

Perhaps this is another obscure scion that lost its identity, ala Blast Off to Bosconian, but I'm just happy to see it given reference treatment. While very Senjou-influenced at a glance, the pace seems comparably quick, and the hit ratio scoring might be Caravan dynamite. Barring any dreadful exploits, dohoho!

What awaits us on April? We don't know, but one thing is certain for sure. It starts with a red "n"

OH NO WAAAAAH I ONCE GOT A RED END FROM JACKIN IT

I'm still holding out for NEBULASRAY and BLASTER don't jinx me motherfucker (*'ω' *)

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YEEE THIS PWNS Exactly the Caravan fire I'd hoped. The ratio system is a bit merciless by nature, though by the same token, ensures a high performance ceiling. Not entirely unreasonable, either; while Great Bonus (10k) demands 100% hit rate, you can still get Nice Bonus (5k) for staying above 75% hit rate.

Non-shooting kills - flattening infantry with your boat or tank, and mass BOMBAAA wipeouts - add a further wrinkle. These can drive your ratio over 100%, not earning extra bonus, but creating a nice buffer for extra shots. Pretty nice overall; splattering poor bastards under your treads/stern is more tactical than the subgenre norm. PREFERENCE OPUSHON shot+ratio display is great! Very handy for keeping track of said bomba buffer. Love how it's directly incorporated into the game HUD, too.

No aim lag whatsoever, thankfully. Would really suck in such a system. Player shot is slightly offset to the gun's side, inverting depending on whether you're facing up or down ala Ikari. I've never been a fan of this, but it's by far the lesser of endemic 80s run/gunning evils.

Brutal Gradius syndrome will chew up respawners. Happily, the upgraded machinegun's piercing shot tears through everything, so it's one of them there buckin' bronco affairs. Keep your shit together and you'll go far. Rounds are blitzkrieg-quick, you can tell they knew their Senjou. OG Front Line's vehicle hijacking is proudly upheld and expanded on; some fiendishly tight, tide-turning steals under pressure. Round 3's battleship heist particularly white-knuckling / arse-clenching. Awesome steamrolling firepower and mobility across ~LAND N' SEA & AIIIR~ got me hollerin YO JOOOEEE MUHFUCKAAA like Roadblock's rudeboy cousin who never passed basic.

If you hate Senjou/KiKi's lack of strafing, you'll hate it here too; but aforesaid upgraded shot really takes the load off. Some nice concessions on enemies. Planes can only fire in the direction they're pointing. Tanks take a while to fire after trundling onscreen. Infantry are harmless to overlap with.

Seems like it could have real legs in Caravan mode. Cheat code for MO SCO is pretty goofy at first, but there's a couple others that award more firepower... so maybe it's more tactical than the minor bungle it first seems. (UDRL, UDRL, DDD at Round Clear screen for more points; haven't memo'd the others yet, all are in the ACA manual )

Includes JP/EN/US, not sure how much varies, manual says it's just the title. Love the EN's "STORMING PARTY"

[m.sniffles.esq]

Ah crap, I'm going to have to get this.

Front Line was definitely a 'thing' when it dropped, and one of those cabinets you couldn't just walk up to, but would have to 'get next'

Then it just sort of vaporized. I guess I figured shit like Commando replaced it, but now I discover the Front Line soul still burned.

[BIL]

Had a blast with the Caravan; not sure how well I did, was at #3 on PS4 earlier, but the regulars are beasts so might've gotten shunted down. EDIT: Ah! Kept #3, touching distance of CLOBTA-sama in second place. ^__^ South Korean badman RIO-K took the top spot this week, great international collaboration! Clob got #1 on Switch as usual, seems I'd have qualified for #2 there.

These early Caravans are great fun! I think I could get the 900k, plenty of deaths to trim out and places to improve. I wonder if it's possible to nail the entire slate of eight rounds in the 5min... would be rad @ 100k per PERFECT BOUNS. I think it loops endlessly otherwise, might be wrong. White-knuckle pace either way. Like Macross's Medal HUD, the Hit Ratio display is an absolute godsend; an ostensible cheat that genuinely makes the game more enjoyable and tactically intelligible. EDIT2: Yeah I think 1mil is my target for Caravan. Seems like Round 7 might be the theoretical furthest. Will stick with this a while, ala Juno First it's super-compulsive.

A champion wrinkle: nailing multiple targets with the piercing L2/L3 shot, as well as running over troops with tank/boat, or wiping out entire screenloads with BOMBA. This is a really cool touch; I'm amazed I've not seen it before, in similar systems! It maintains the icy pressure of one shot/one kill, while letting you artfully recapture a lost 100% Hit Rate... or create a nice fat safety buffer, and allow the occasional rapid-fire indulgence. (great for the hectic boss takedowns, where crowds can interfere) Blasting a round through three grunts, a heli, a tank, and a house to assert your PERFECT BOUNS be some KAGEROU/KIMOCHI

Even advancing at top speed, the enemy design really lends itself to this measured sniping, drilling multiple targets with each shot. There are generous cooldowns on most enemy units, with the balanced exception of stationary turrets, which can ofc be dodged around. The North By Northwest man vs plane action is especially hot-blooded; you can safely run under them, and while the overlappable infantry can fire in eight directions, making prolonged contact deadly, planes are strictly limited to firing wherever they're pointing. Rank does get vicious from Round 3, but in a nicely adaptable way; shorter windows on enemy attack and cooldown, it seems. These relentlessly-spawning motherfuckers will keep you in SELF DEFENSE SITUATION! As verification player SPT says, "Want to live? ADVANCE!"

Sorry to note there is in fact a tiny degree of aim lag when suddenly changing direction; it feels like a frame at most, I really have to try in order to trigger it, having a bullet fly one way while about-facing. Boat seems the slowest, though even it's very quick, followed by heli. On-foot seems nearly instantaneous. My current route never uses tank, not sure there. Decidedly Maju no Oukoku accent, rather than lagfest ala Super Contra, Jackal, or Holy Warrior Amaterasu. I wonder sometimes how much was mid-80s teething, and how much was deliberate.

A tip for the Round Clear cheats: let go of the directions as the boss dies. There's no need to dodge, and it's critical you not be moving around when the tally appears, as a perfect entry of the code is required. Felt dreadfully inconsistent at first, as I was still fidgeting about while the boss died; a snap, once I got used to letting off the dpad. A bit daft, but I headcanon it as bomb disposal / passcode hack. It's not that many points tbh, and perhaps there'll be a situation where the Power Up code is preferable. Weird but workable imo.

Altogether a very respectable release, and an easy rec for fans of its subgenre. (assuming tolerance/charity for its lack of strafe )

[BIL]

Oh shit son! I sit down for an afternoon of STORMIN Only to see none other than our hometown hero and Topdown Macho Maestro, BBH-SAMA, has taken the #1 spot AND the 1mil! Reaching Round 7. Quickly busted n' de-rusted my old 700k with a new 830k, then 898k; gotta shatter 900k to challenge BBH, RIO-K, and reigning Caravan MVP KUROBUTA. (currently a four nations top 4, haha) I can definitely see how, will be enjoying this for a while.



Superb Caravan game. The combination of icy sniping, offbeat tricks, and whopping Round Clear bonuses give it a relentless and enviably aesthetic pace. STORMING PARTY indeed!

PS4 Caravan tables generally ain't as crowded as Switch (50 vs 100+ for LSA), but the latter sees a lot of one n' dones. (a shameless overture to HOLY CONSOLE WAR ) Top scorers across platforms seem very even; it's a shame there's no global leaderboard. Maybe Ham-chan's tryna double-dip on the hardest of hardcores. Te clever COONTS!

This is one of those games with crafty digit tricks; I'm always bad at those! No mathematics aptitude whatsoever, and bad at paying attention to both score and screen. I can get the Angels (20k) consistently though, easy enough. You need to have a 7 thousands digit, then shoot an already-destroyed battleship / air control tower. They take two shots to destroy, initially. First just scuffs 'em; wait a bit, then deliver a second to swiss cheese the bastard. Don't waste Hit Ratio! You have to wait before landing the coup de grace. There's three I know of; the battleships in Rounds 1 and 4, and the Air Traffic tower right after the fence in Round 3.

Fuuuck manipulating those S/B spawns and variables, though! Ah, maybe I can do it. Numbers bro, how they work >w>

EDIT Ohshi I get it use the Infantry - generally not worth the time to stop and blast, outside of SELF DEFENSE SITUATION - as tick points to manipulate the 100s digit. I think! Getting that "0" in the thousands column for 10k on B seems doable, too. Super nice manual, as usual.

EDIT2: Oh yeah, also, getting the early [P]iercing Shot. Hold up/right - same direction your dude's running! - during the intro for the same spawn RNG every time. Run over those two motherfuckers who'll be all up your bidness (free Hit Ratio buffer!), and snipe the gunboat on your six. BLAOW! B is now P. I dunno if this is a good idea even. P's worth less, and finishing any Round with 100% Hit Rate will get you the maxed shot, anyway. (Piercing + Rapid + Long Range... that Ikari influence ) But! Clearing out that early battleship for the Angel is much easier, since Piercing will tear straight through turrets, towers, and planes alike, no need to muck about with grenades. Perhaps the time saved will pay off? That's an extra 100k if you can make it to Round 6's tally screen like BBH-sama.

...or perhaps you just gotta get good with the trusty ol' PINE. Hmm! >CURRENT METHODOLOGY< I'm sure Clob's got something rad uploaded, but as with Juno, I like going at it alone for a while. Enjoying the mystery and all that.

Happy to see my cheat code tech worked like a charm. First time back after three days' absence, nailed each round. You gotta drop the d-pad like a bad habit the instant the boss blows up. It's tempting to keep on scrapping for extra kills, and that's probably a skill unto itself at the absolute limits, but it's otherwise not worth blowing the 7k. I still maintain they shoulda flashed up a CODEC with a *MZZT MZZT* RESPOND NOW MUHFUCKA!! *BEEP* countdown.

Between Juno and LSA, March was a splendid month for hardcore Caravan shooting! (and Senkyu's no slouch either ) These two most definitely go on the shortlist with VP1 and Senjyo. (and Shao-Lin's Road!)

[Sturmvogel Prime]

This was going to happen...

As expected, the "Other Big N" is back, this time is Assault Plus which joins the Arcade Archives lineup
https://www.famitsu.com/article/202504/38585

[BIL]

Excellent. Can finally retire Namco Museum Volume 4, Assault Plus being a longtime straggler.

It's been forever since I tried out Vol. 4's Plus port, and I hadn't even 1CCd OG Assault back then, so I might not have appreciated any difference. While its topdown Time Attack sibling Metal Hawk is an easy NoMiss, OG Assault is quite brutal to merely survive, with later stages demanding strict routing to beat the timer. I'm curious to see if Plus is a smoother ride at all.]]

EDIT: Did you really post the MANKO BURB again? I'd have thought it could retire, too, now Namco releases are no more frequent than Taito's, Konami's, or anyone else's. Did Hamster recouping their investment over 2021/23 leave you that buttblasted? Thats rough bro

How about we petition Hamster to start de-listing previous Namco releases, would that help ;w; Maybe the loss of revenues from their highest-profile licensor will hasten the company's demise, ending the Manko Menace for good.

Well, pending that, let's brace ourselves for the next gruelling half-decade or so, and ACA NebulasRay, ACA Namco Classic Collection Vol. 1, ACA Super Xevious, ACA StarBlade, ACA Xevious 3D/G, and ACA Blaster. With a hearty MANKO BURB for each, of course.



No skin off my nose tbh, I adblocked it years ago.

EDIT2: OH WOW SHE CUTE LMAO

Spoiler

God damn, I'd forgotten how good Kunio Okawara's mech designs are. It's been a while.

[BEAMLORD]

Very interesting. I've had a good time with OG Assault. Anyone have any idea what Assault Plus brings to the table, bearing in mind that the OG has a New and Old version as it is?

(If it is easier than OG, I wouldn't mind! Still picking the shrapnel outta my arse since the last sortie )

[BIL]

I'm really curious now; offhand I'm guessing it'll be pretty subtle, but with games this utterly hardcore, sometimes little tweaks lead to big divergences. ^__^

Glancing at the Namco wiki, I'm reminded that Plus ditches the "zero time" bonus (or was it a glitch?), which sounds good. Should make for a straighter-ahead Time Attack (indeed TIME ASSAULT ), instead of having the player sit around running out the clock.

[Sumez]

Well, pending that, let's brace ourselves for the next gruelling half-decade or so, and ACA NebulasRay, ACA Namco Classic Collection Vol. 1, ACA Super Xevious, ACA StarBlade, ACA Xevious 3D/G, and ACA Blaster. With a hearty MANKO BURB for each, of course.

You need another "M" disc at least

[BIL]

Indeed (■｀w´■) That's what MANKO ARCHIVES ENCORE (the ® disc feat. DORAGONSABA and RORINGU_SANDA) is for