Toaplan releases thread

[TransatlanticFoe]

30 seconds is about right, mine takes a bit of time to hit the Evercade splash screen and then boot through to the main menu.

I guess it could be the CPU overheating and throttling momentarily, if it's consistent across all carts. But see if their support can help first, no point breaking warranty if they'll do you a freebie!

[AGermanArtist]

I was testing my EXP before getting rid of it and it took a strangely long time to get to the Blaze splash screen. Around a min total to get to the cart menu.

[Marc]

Has anyone dialed in the autofire using these settings? I don't feel like I'm seeing anything change. The only game that feels ok by default is Batsugun, but I can't find a setting that works for games like Outzone or K Tiger.

Having the on frames set to 8/9 seems to give me a slightly faster, steadier stream on some (Flying Shark, Slap Fight, Twin Hawk to name a few), I'm just a bit puzzled that they didn't go with hz values, other than that it's a decent front end.

[gbaplayer]

Any M2 news from this years Tokyo Game Show or maybe a stream?

[gbaplayer]

Any M2 news from this years Tokyo Game Show or maybe a stream?

[Sweatlord_STG]

Any M2 news from this years Tokyo Game Show or maybe a stream?

yeah its about time they announce their next stuff

[davyK]

On PC you choose 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 15, 20, or 30Hz and it just works. No need to mess around with on/off frames because that option doesn't exist on PC. You still need external autofire to get optimal auto for everything except Tatsujin Ou (just use the internal auto. You can't exceed its rate of fire anyway), Dogyuun!! (I think just use 30Hz?), Vimana (30Hz ruins the game), and Out Zone (30Hz + non-autofire button for Super Ball/Burner/maybe sometimes 16-way), of course, since only allowing a single autofire rate in the emulator is stupid, but that's how it is.

Batsugun only gives you a single extend, so you only have 3 extra lives + the one you start with = 4 total. It kind of makes sense because the whole game is like 15 minutes long and doesn't loop.

Did they ever fix the audio on Bitwave Tatsujin or is it still super broken? Same question for Out Zone. Bitwave Out Zone's 16-way shot sound is so, so incredibly wrong as of the last time I played it, and so were all of Tatsujin's sound effects and the boss music, which is somehow missing its bass part entirely. It is exceedingly frustrating to me that now shitloads of people can play these amazing games for the first time but the audio on almost all of them is totally ruined, so they will have no idea what these games are supposed to sound like.

The sound problem appears to be totally random - have experienced it across several of the games. Exiting the game, playing another and then returning to it will fix it. I have yet to experience sound issues in handheld mode. It's weird.

So is it like super super broken when it's broken or is it just kinda broken? Do the SFX actually work properly when the games are being good? It's so sad that they couldn't even get the SFX to be correct on PC, let alone some of the music. Speaking of the music, does Against The Attack still have a bunch of audio noise in it that shouldn't be there? It does on PC, unfortunately.

It's super super broken - horrible - you couldn't listen to it - spoils the gameplay. I have several of these ports on Steam and they are fine.

[Angry Hina]

I hate it, that this collection is "again" a STG rerelease without replay functionality. Its so much better if you dont have to connect your switch to your capture device an PC when trying to 1cc. It costs me much more time that way

[dmk1198]

Sorry guys lovin this collection!
Is there Tate mode for any of the games?
Can't see it on switch doggyuun

[Jonpachi]

Sorry guys lovin this collection!
Is there Tate mode for any of the games?
Can't see it on switch doggyuun

There's a screen settings menu. You can even set it to "apply to all" once you dial it in.

[dmk1198]

Sorry guys lovin this collection!
Is there Tate mode for any of the games?
Can't see it on switch doggyuun

There's a screen settings menu. You can even set it to "apply to all" once you dial it in.

Many thnx

[hamfighterx]

yeah its about time they announce their next stuff

Looks like we're going to see some sort of M2 news quite soon, they put up a cryptic teaster 2 days ago with the number "3"...
https://x.com/m2_game/status/1980106704953164111

[Jonpachi]

yeah its about time they announce their next stuff

Looks like we're going to see some sort of M2 news quite soon, they put up a cryptic teaster 2 days ago with the number "3"...
https://x.com/m2_game/status/1980106704953164111

Wild Guess: Space Harrier 3. They're gonna take the work they did on Night Strikers Gear and apply that same engine to making a new Space Harrier.

[Sweatlord_STG]

yeah its about time they announce their next stuff

Looks like we're going to see some sort of M2 news quite soon, they put up a cryptic teaster 2 days ago with the number "3"...
https://x.com/m2_game/status/1980106704953164111

a bundle that includes all three toaplan arcade garage volumes they have made.



or it could mean they will announce the release dates of four new games: Zaleste, Aleste Branch, NIGHT STRIKER GEAR, and Ubusuna.

[aak]

They're counting down. Posted 2 yesterday and 1 15hrs ago. So it could be anything.

[CerealPT]

batrider and battle bakraider ports to finish their "trilogy" (one can dream)

[Sweatlord_STG]

They're counting down. Posted 2 yesterday and 1 15hrs ago. So it could be anything.

what about now? i cant see the post.

[Buzzy]

Glad it's not something Cave-related. Cave shills don't deserve to have any joy.

[Sweatlord_STG]

NIGHT STRIKER GEAR thats it i guess https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxoljIdjFtQ

Release Date:
22 Oct, 2025 according to their Steam page
2025.10.23 according to their YT video

lol

price: 2,800 JPY https://m2stg.com/night-striker-gear/

edit: wait, thats today

price on steam is £14.01 in the uk

[Johnpv]

I'm disappointed.

[hamfighterx]

Probably wise to temper any excitement about M2 announcements, they are quite good at being underwhelming!

[Sweatlord_STG]

not sure whats so disappointing about them actually releasing a game that we knew was in the making lol

[hamfighterx]

not sure whats so disappointing about them actually releasing a game that we knew was in the making lol

I just mean that people tend to get their hopes up for big new news out of M2 when they see a countdown and start thinking about what it might be. A new ShotTriggers announcement? A significant update on [Zaleste/Aleste Branch/Ubusuna]? Any mention at all of a Toaplan Arcade Garage Vol.4?

Nah, it was always going to be a date confirmation for NSG and that's it.

Naoki Horii did have an interview in 4Gamer this week to coincide with the stand-alone Night Striker Gear release, where he mentioned M2's various projects:

4Gamer: After developing GEAR, what are your plans for developing your company's original titles going forward?

Horii: After developing GEAR...? I believe there's demand for new titles along this line, so I'd like to continue to pursue them greedily, and I'm currently working on some. We have titles waiting for release, including Aleste Branch, which is nearing the end of development, and we're also working on unannounced projects. Iuchi's team has also returned to developing Ubusuna. I hope everyone looking forward to Ubusuna will look forward to it. You could say I live to ask the world about this.

Zaleste is conspicuously absent for a game that was announced as a 2025 release (lol OK, sure) and never formally delayed. But that may be due to Compile Heart handling all of the marketing and communications for that one, since they're the publisher.

I'm honestly not that thrilled to see Horii wanting to prioritize new titles like Night Striker Gear, since a focus on new original games means less resources and focus on high end ports of existing games (the classic ShotTriggers line). Likely takes a lot more development effort too. But I'm not quite sure whether to interpret Horii's comment as meaning they want to focus more specifically on stand-alone newly developed software, or do the classic+new model they've now tried several times:
- Aleste Collection including old games AND the brand new GG Aleste 3
- Castlevania DS collection including Haunted Castle Revisited
- Gradius Origins with Salamander 3
- Operation Night Strikers with Night Striker Gear

I guess if the approach is to use the new game to pair it WITH a classic release to make the package more enticing to people who are less interested in "old games", well... to some extent that's better, I guess? Still ties up a lot of development resources on the "new" entry, but old games get the M2 treatment too.

And if we're doing wishes here, I wouldn't mind another M2+Taito collection with Chase H.Q., SCI, and Super Chase. Then let M2 cook on a modern interpretation of Chase HQ to go with that.

[Sweatlord_STG]

not sure whats so disappointing about them actually releasing a game that we knew was in the making lol

I just mean that people tend to get their hopes up for big new news out of M2 when they see a countdown and start thinking about what it might be. A new ShotTriggers announcement? A significant update on [Zaleste/Aleste Branch/Ubusuna]? Any mention at all of a Toaplan Arcade Garage Vol.4?

Nah, it was always going to be a date confirmation for NSG and that's it.

Naoki Horii did have an interview in 4Gamer this week to coincide with the stand-alone Night Striker Gear release, where he mentioned M2's various projects:

4Gamer: After developing GEAR, what are your plans for developing your company's original titles going forward?

Horii: After developing GEAR...? I believe there's demand for new titles along this line, so I'd like to continue to pursue them greedily, and I'm currently working on some. We have titles waiting for release, including Aleste Branch, which is nearing the end of development, and we're also working on unannounced projects. Iuchi's team has also returned to developing Ubusuna. I hope everyone looking forward to Ubusuna will look forward to it. You could say I live to ask the world about this.

Zaleste is conspicuously absent for a game that was announced as a 2025 release (lol OK, sure) and never formally delayed. But that may be due to Compile Heart handling all of the marketing and communications for that one, since they're the publisher.

I'm honestly not that thrilled to see Horii wanting to prioritize new titles like Night Striker Gear, since a focus on new original games means less resources and focus on high end ports of existing games (the classic ShotTriggers line). Likely takes a lot more development effort too. But I'm not quite sure whether to interpret Horii's comment as meaning they want to focus more specifically on stand-alone newly developed software, or do the classic+new model they've now tried several times:
- Aleste Collection including old games AND the brand new GG Aleste 3
- Castlevania DS collection including Haunted Castle Revisited
- Gradius Origins with Salamander 3
- Operation Night Strikers with Night Striker Gear

I guess if the approach is to use the new game to pair it WITH a classic release to make the package more enticing to people who are less interested in "old games", well... to some extent that's better, I guess? Still ties up a lot of development resources on the "new" entry, but old games get the M2 treatment too.

And if we're doing wishes here, I wouldn't mind another M2+Taito collection with Chase H.Q., SCI, and Super Chase. Then let M2 cook on a modern interpretation of Chase HQ to go with that.

Ah thx! There has already been gameplay footage of Zaleste so I guess its release is just a matter of time. And in general the thing is that every year we only get very little M2, that won't change. But there will be more and we already know about some of that.
Also one of the unannounced things they work on should be another port of a popular game because they said something like their ShotTriggers team that did the Cave games (DOJ, etc) is already working on the next thing. Sorry no source.

They also leave some time between each release (if it isn't a contract job like Gradius 40 and Operation Night Strikers as both came out on the same day) so now we finally got Gear after those two things in August, which means, again, that it's just a matter of time until we get the next announcement. Either very soon or in January the latest, I can imagine, but that's just a guess of course.

[hamfighterx]

Also one of the unannounced things they work on should be another port of a popular game because they said something like their ShotTriggers team that did the Cave games (DOJ, etc) is already working on the next thing. Sorry no source.

You're probably thinking of M2's New Year 2025 video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USGD4vqbw-M, and summarized here: https://www.gematsu.com/2024/12/m2-shar ... nd-ubusuna. Kazuki Kubota, the ShotTriggers/Toaplan Arcade Garage series director since Esp.ra.de in 2019, said in that video that the ShotTriggers team was working on two projects. The next one from the DOJ team, and a separate project.

The DOJ team one ended up being Gradius Origins, which was not yet announced at that time and released in August 2025. That one was directed by Kubota with much of the same staff who worked on DOJ.
https://www.mobygames.com/game/213441/d ... ne-tensei/
https://www.mobygames.com/game/246070/g ... s/windows/

The second project doesn't appear to have been announced yet. It's not:
Ubusuna - that's Hirochi Iuchi's team (Iuchi also directed Night Striker Gear, so presumably now moved to focusing on Ubusuna)
Aleste Branch - directed by Masato Yamanaka
Zaleste - directed by Hiroshi Aoki of Compile Heart (and Taito before that)

[Sweatlord_STG]

Also one of the unannounced things they work on should be another port of a popular game because they said something like their ShotTriggers team that did the Cave games (DOJ, etc) is already working on the next thing. Sorry no source.

You're probably thinking of M2's New Year 2025 video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USGD4vqbw-M, and summarized here: https://www.gematsu.com/2024/12/m2-shar ... nd-ubusuna. Kazuki Kubota, the ShotTriggers/Toaplan Arcade Garage series director since Esp.ra.de in 2019, said in that video that the ShotTriggers team was working on two projects. The next one from the DOJ team, and a separate project.

The DOJ team one ended up being Gradius Origins, which was not yet announced at that time and released in August 2025. That one was directed by Kubota with much of the same staff who worked on DOJ.
https://www.mobygames.com/game/213441/d ... ne-tensei/
https://www.mobygames.com/game/246070/g ... s/windows/

The second project doesn't appear to have been announced yet. It's not:
Ubusuna - that's Hirochi Iuchi's team (Iuchi also directed Night Striker Gear, so presumably now moved to focusing on Ubusuna)
Aleste Branch - directed by Masato Yamanaka
Zaleste - directed by Hiroshi Aoki of Compile Heart (and Taito before that)

Ah nice thx again

[valziman]

Has anyone checked up on the Toaplan Arcade Collections after the updates? Also, which is better now that updates have happened, PC or console? They're pretty damn different.

Looks like they didn't address local high score issues or allow switching arcade original slowdown back on. They might have fixed some/all sound issues though.

https://www.perfectly-nintendo.com/toap ... e-updates/
https://city-connection.co.jp/toaplan-a ... tml#251205

Toaplan Arcade Collection – Ver. 1.0.11 (Vol .1) / Ver. 1.0.12 (Vol. 2)
Release date: December 5th 2025
Patch notes:
Fixed issues with sound playback.
Fixed an issue in “V-Five” causing abnormal scores to be recorded in the leaderboards.
Fixed an bug in “Hellfire” causing the “1P” version and the “1P BETA” version to launch in reverse order.
Fixed a bug preventing scores to be added to online leaderboards for some titles.
Fixed other minor bugs.
Additional notes: none


Toaplan Arcade Collection – Ver. ???
Release date: August 28th 2025
Patch notes:
Improved sound reproduction.
Added option to set rapid-fire shots to any desired frame count via the Options.
Added option to directly launch specific versions of games from the Select screen for certain games with mostly overseas versions.
Added an option to V-Five to allow players to directly launch the Bomber Version from the Select screen; in the original arcade version, this version was originally unlocked by inputting a secret code.
In “BATSUGUN” and “BATSUGUN Special Version”, a function was added to start the game with a Player 2 by holding down the fire button while pressing Start on the title screen.

[Steven]

switching arcade original slowdown back on.

Why would you even want that though? No slowdown is way better. They told me during the beta test for the PC versions that the removal of slowdown was a deliberate decision anyway and that they are not going to put it in, so don't bother hoping for it anyway.

They might have fixed some/all sound issues though.

Will gladly check console against PCB for those games that I do have if someone posts audio samples from the patched console versions. PC didn't get any updates as far as I have seen, and Tatsujin's SFX are still broken as of 30 seconds ago.

[Angry Hina]

My recording of today (Tatsujin) sounds the same.

[valziman]

Thanks for the sound update, Angry Hina.

Steven, it's pretty normative to prefer accurate emulation over slowdown removal. I personally want both options. Removing slowdown is a pretty cool difficulty parameter to have access to, but I don't want that until after I get at least my first 1cc. Anyway, there's a setting for that now in both PC and Switch versions, so I'm happy about that bit.

I don't think I want to buy anything now though, except maybe to support (bad) porting + personally legitimize my own emulation.