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

[AGermanArtist]

So, after having a sudden knack that led me to buying Psycho Soldier of all things, I was booting up some old Arcade Archives games. I distinctly remember that around Burning Force and Numan Athletics, the ACA games no longer saved high scores (I'm not referring to the online leaderboards, I mean the high score tables within the game itself). I remember that was the case as well with the Konami Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection, leading me to have to create and load save states just to keep my scores. However, I'm checking now and not only are they saving scores, but also all my previous scores are displaying as well? Am I misremembering things? Or am I just losing my memory as I'm not getting any younger? Anyway, not that I'm complaining, but I'm just confused.

EDIT: I am on PS4, not Switch, if that makes a difference.

I've noticed that too. It's not holding scores. They did, until fairly recently.

[Carmen]

If you mean that your newer releases weren't holding scores, definitely give them a check again. It's great to see that we've managed to finally get back to being able to save high scores in-game... which neither M2 was able to figure out for the Ray'z and Darius packs, nor Capcom for Capcom Arcade Stadium (I get that leaderboards make it redundant).

Looking at Burning Force and the Konami Arcade Classics, I'm seeing version 1.02 in the update history. Though I don't see anything for Numan Athletics, even though that was totally not saving when I was playing the game last year when it came out.

The ACA Ridge Racer (also on 1.02) and Rave Racer ports may still not saving best times, at least I haven't seen my previous times pop up like my scores did for the aforementioned games.

[BIL]

namco sale 30% off 15 games till 27th may
Vs. Battle City
Splatterhouse
Phelios
Galaga
Metal Hawk
Galaxian
Baraduke
The Tower of Druaga
Rolling Thunder
Dragon Spirit
New Rally-
Super Pac-Man
Mappy
The Genji & The Heike Clans
Pac-Man

https://www.arcadearchives.com/en/topics/19401/
probably going to grab baraduke for definite maybe dragon spirit and phelios but not really big fan of those.

Super solid selection. Already got all of 'em. Just missing Bosconian, Grobda, and Toy Pop for that oldschool PS1 Museum vibe. Balanced out by Splatterhouse, Phelios, and especially Metal Hawk, the PS1 Museum wants that never were. (re: PS1 set, could go for Pole Position and Gaplus too... balanced by the lack of Wonder Momo, that's what I'm sayin. I dislike Wonder Momo, nobody has ever convinced me otherwise 3;)

Must say Baraduke is legit superb, and Metal Hawk is AMAZIN. A free-roaming Time Attack STG that's blood-simple n' immediate, yet technically dazzling to this day. And apparently still a beast to emulate, per MAME! Actually, it might be a bit too technically dazzling; some report motion sickness. I can't relate! That's balls-out heli combat for you. Slipping and sliding, your ass those zako will be riding! But don't have a fuckin cry about it, son! Use Z-AXIS OPERATION to PWN those cheeky COONTS!

WITNESS AN ARDENT SHUMPMAN REDISCOVERIN HE *~KYUUKYOKU BONER~* (｀w´メ) (■｀w´■)

(he were later heard to exclaim ITS JUST LIKE BEIN BACK IN NAM )

ACA Druaga, like its sequel Return of Ishtar, comes with a bonafide oldschool CERTAIN VICTORY GUIDE onboard. Floor-by-floor guidance, enemy and item deets, arcane secret triggers, the whole nine. All totally opt-in, if you wanna go for the oldschool GE-SEN study buddy experience! Then again those poor kids were probably shellin' out for the guides, too! Probably makes it worth a pickup for fans who have earlier releases, like the ol' PS1 Namco Museum port, or even the PCB its very self. Although board owners probably got the OG graphin' paper notes too!

[charlie chong]

Super solid selection. Already got all of 'em. Just missing Bosconian, Grobda, and Toy Pop for that oldschool PS1 Museum vibe. Balanced out by Splatterhouse, Phelios, and especially Metal Hawk, the PS1 Museum wants that never were. (re: PS1 set, could go for Pole Position and Gaplus too... balanced by the lack of Wonder Momo, that's what I'm sayin. I dislike Wonder Momo, nobody has ever convinced me otherwise 3;)

i was hoping bosconian would be on there as well as that was another old school one i wanted to try but never played. got the heavy hitters i.e metal hawk, rolling thunder and splatterhouse which are all must haves.i enjoy galaga but i think there's no point when i will always pick galaga 88 between the two. will simmer on phelios and dragon spirit as i already have too much on my ps4 that i've not put enough time into. hard to say no when they have realeased so much good stuff.
played a few credits of baraduke and it's everything i like about 80s old school. manic and claustrophobic but easy to grasp the basics even on the first credit.it can destroy you very quickly which can be a bit much sometimes .
hamster really have been spoiling us lately , i really enjoyed bomb jack twin and devastators plus grails like rave racer and outfoxies have been very welcome.

[BrianC]

Looking at Burning Force and the Konami Arcade Classics, I'm seeing version 1.02 in the update history. Though I don't see anything for Numan Athletics, even though that was totally not saving when I was playing the game last year when it came out.

Numan Athletics rankings only keep track of how many events you beat, rather than dealing with separate rankings for each event. I understand dealing with separate scoring could be a hassle, but still disappointing.

I like how this version of Mr. Do has the early snowman version, as well as the old version with the 255 lives bug (which is also in the snowman version). Many of the early home ports like the Colecovision, Atari 2600, and MSX versions used elements from the early version.

[Carmen]

Yeah, but it has since been changed so it now shows the individual event high score rankings, which is what surprised me. (I'm not talking about the leaderboards, but rather waiting for the high scores to show up after the demo).

[Sturmvogel Prime]

The Big Pro-Wrestling/Tag Team Wrestling is this week's title.
https://www.famitsu.com/article/202605/75358

[BIL]

Not a personal want of mine - Virtual Pro Wrestling 2 is one of my all-time favourite games, but by that same token, it's about all I need from wrasslin. However, it's always wonderful to see Technos again! I'm still holding out for Xain'd Sleena. Wouldn't mind Double Dragon III and Combatribes, either, having put so much time on their respective FC and SFC incarnations. There's that oddball single-screen platform/brawler whose name I can never recall offhand, too. Aha, China Gate. Also holy balls I forgot all about Shadow Force! By Muneki "Kicking Geek" Ebinuma, one of my favourite peeps in beltscrolling lore. Produced the superlative Double Dragon Advance, good dude.

Speaking of Technos lore: rest in peace, Yoshihisa Kishimoto. Godfather of beltscrolling AKUSHON carked it just last month. Rest well and thanks for all the beatdowns, sir! Truly, our morale was improved by your epic tales, much in the style of Beowulf, and Donpachi's boss alert text.

This is quite the historic return to form, actually... its younger sibling Mat Mania / Exciting Hour being one of the earlier ACA releases, from late 2015. Technos, SNK, DECO, and Tecmo... I was so thrilled to see those names getting first-rate home translations, when I gave ACA a shot back in 2019. None of 'em enjoyed the PS1/SS coverage of Konami, Capcom, IREM or Taito, back in the day.

While Tecmo's lone persistence is what I'd have chosen, if asked to - so many killer games! - I'm really happy to see Technos and SNK aren't quite out of the picture. More DECO pls. :3

[professor ganson]

BIL, what do you think of Tecmo's Star Force, if you have an opinion? From what I can tell, it doesn't get a lot of love. Do you think it's underrated? I remember enjoying it pretty well, though my vague memory is that it's fairly minimal/lacking in variation.

[BIL]

Sup Prof! AFAIK, it's an eminently well-regarded STG in Japan. Hudson's Famicom port was a smash hit, kicking off the Star Soldier series, and by extension, the Caravan subgenre that was all the rage from the mid-80s through to the early 90s. Takahashi "16shot" Meijin is surely paying his physio from the royalty cheques to this day!

I'm actually a lot more familiar with the FC port, having only played the arcade version via ACA ca. 2019. Always loved the former's simple intensity, rip-roaring apropos a proto-Recca. And the AC one's much the same, though I can't pretend to know how its scoring works. Cleopatra Bonus rings a bell, I got a few of those one time. I note a lot of Hudson and their Gunhed collaborators Compile in its enemy formations, but in an innately tighter arcade venue.

Tecmo's 80s through early 90s AC team were great at riffing on established genres to scintillating effect. Guzzler (maze chaser), Rygar (sidescrolling action/platformer), Ninja Gaiden (beltscrolling brawler), Riot (carnival STG), more I forget offhand... all of 'em have clear debts to earlier works, yet acquit themselves with such creativity and fiery exuberance, they could never be termed merely derivative. EDIT: And of course, one of Tecmo's most iconic console productions, Ninja Gaiden, follows suit. A ROMhack of Dracula so transcendent as to become its essential companion.

[AGermanArtist]

Got a lot of time and nostalgia for Star Force. Sure it's of its time, but I love it and its instantly recognisable audio.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Sup Prof! AFAIK, it's an eminently well-regarded STG in Japan. Hudson's Famicom port was a smash hit, kicking off the Star Soldier series, and by extension, the Caravan subgenre that was all the rage from the mid-80s through to the early 90s. Takahashi "16shot" Meijin is surely paying his physio from the royalty cheques to this day!

I'm actually a lot more familiar with the FC port, having only played the arcade version via ACA ca. 2019. Always loved the former's simple intensity, rip-roaring apropos a proto-Recca. And the AC one's much the same, though I can't pretend to know how its scoring works. Cleopatra Bonus rings a bell, I got a few of those one time. I note a lot of Hudson and their Gunhed collaborators Compile in its enemy formations, but in an innately tighter arcade venue.

Tecmo's 80s through early 90s AC team were great at riffing on established genres to scintillating effect. Guzzler (maze chaser), Rygar (sidescrolling action/platformer), Ninja Gaiden (beltscrolling brawler), Riot (carnival STG), more I forget offhand... all of 'em have clear debts to earlier works, yet acquit themselves with such creativity and fiery exuberance, they could never be termed merely derivative. EDIT: And of course, one of Tecmo's most iconic console productions, Ninja Gaiden, follows suit. A ROMhack of Dracula so transcendent as to become its essential companion.

Yes, come to think of it, the TurboGrafx-16 stg title by the name Blazing Lazers (with a MSRP of $64.99 usd) was indeed a launch title available for purchase when the TG-16 console made it's grand debut in the USA back in the Summer of 1989.

----------
Even when NEC had commissioned United Amusements to make the famous TurboGrafx-16 arcade pcb from September of 1989 until March of 1990 (a mere scant seven months for being available to purchase for $1,599.99 usd for two TG-16 arcade pcbs to arcade operators/owners and eventually sold a single TG-16 arcade pcb conversion kit for a mere $749.99 usd as well) that even a special TG-16 Blazing Lazers arcade pcb was released for it as well. I had the rare chance to try out the United Amusements TG-16 arcade pcb running Blazers Lazers back in March of 1990 at a local arcade hangout and haven't seen it nor played it since then.

It's a given that the United Amusements TG-16 arcade pcb wasn't sold for very long within the American arcade pcb market and thus making it an uber-rare arcade pcb in it's own right in terms of overall sales and distribution before NEC ultimately decided by March of 1990 that the arcade TG-16 pcb project was done for/pulled the plug on it for good by parent company NEC of Japan.

It's been said that when NECHE USA (the American NEC subsidiary of parent company of NEC of Japan) still had it's Illinois based HQ, they had to deal with both the TG-16 home game console division and the TG-16 arcade pcb division together at the same time and not enough people to staff both -- so they were spread "quite thin" as it was back in March of 1990. If that was case in this particular circumstance, NECHE USA should've hired more staff to be able to deal with it's TG-16 arcade pcb division and not shut it down outright during that particular timeframe back in March of 1990. Oh well, talk about another missed golden opportunity with the TG-16 arcade pcb division as it was back in the day of TG-16 lore.

Fellow shmupper TigerCraneFist has said that he had a TG-16 arcade pcb that was able to play both JPN Hu-Cards and USA Turbo Chip games without the need for a dedicated Hu-Card convertor (thus making it a "Super" TG-16 arcade pcb in it's own right) -- how cool is that? With that lil' nugget/tidbit of info, it would seem that United Amusements had developed a TG-16 arcade pcb that was truly universal -- makes me wonder just how many of those "universal" TG-16 arcade pcbs were produced in their entirety though?

It's not known how many TG-16 arcade pcb conversion kits were actually manufactured and sold to arcade operators, stateside, by United Amusements during that seven month span of time. I'd have to assume not that many were sold/distributed in retrospect.
----------

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[professor ganson]

Sup Prof! AFAIK, it's an eminently well-regarded STG in Japan. Hudson's Famicom port was a smash hit, kicking off the Star Soldier series, and by extension, the Caravan subgenre that was all the rage from the mid-80s through to the early 90s. Takahashi "16shot" Meijin is surely paying his physio from the royalty cheques to this day!

I'm actually a lot more familiar with the FC port, having only played the arcade version via ACA ca. 2019. Always loved the former's simple intensity, rip-roaring apropos a proto-Recca. And the AC one's much the same, though I can't pretend to know how its scoring works. Cleopatra Bonus rings a bell, I got a few of those one time. I note a lot of Hudson and their Gunhed collaborators Compile in its enemy formations, but in an innately tighter arcade venue.

Tecmo's 80s through early 90s AC team were great at riffing on established genres to scintillating effect. Guzzler (maze chaser), Rygar (sidescrolling action/platformer), Ninja Gaiden (beltscrolling brawler), Riot (carnival STG), more I forget offhand... all of 'em have clear debts to earlier works, yet acquit themselves with such creativity and fiery exuberance, they could never be termed merely derivative. EDIT: And of course, one of Tecmo's most iconic console productions, Ninja Gaiden, follows suit. A ROMhack of Dracula so transcendent as to become its essential companion.

Very interesting! I will have to revisit this one. Apologies for my ignorance, but by "ACA" do you mean Arcade Archives? And what does "AC" mean, by contrast? I'm asking because I want to play a more up-to-date port than the Tecmo Classic Arcade (2005) version, which I played 20 years ago.

[BIL]

Very interesting! I will have to revisit this one. Apologies for my ignorance, but by "ACA" do you mean Arcade Archives? And what does "AC" mean, by contrast? I'm asking because I want to play a more up-to-date port than the Tecmo Classic Arcade (2005) version, which I played 20 years ago.

Yep! Arcade Archives and arcade version, respectively.

[hamfighterx]

Very interesting! I will have to revisit this one. Apologies for my ignorance, but by "ACA" do you mean Arcade Archives? And what does "AC" mean, by contrast? I'm asking because I want to play a more up-to-date port than the Tecmo Classic Arcade (2005) version, which I played 20 years ago.

ACA = Arcade Archives (or sometimes AA), yes. I think a lot of people use "ACA" because Hamster had that as the official title for the "ACA Neogeo" rerelease series and got us all used to that Most of that line released before they shifted to the world of arcade games beyond the Neo Geo with the "Arcade Archives" branding. AA or ACA in that context is used pretty interchangeably around here though.

As opposed to AC = Arcade. Like Thunder Force AC!

[Sima Tuna]

ACA is the old acronym I think they used. Maybe it stands for Arcade Classics Archives? Perhaps I made that up.

If you want to find the Arcade Archives games on switch, ironically the best search term is "hamster."

[Bassa-Bassa]

It specifically stands for ArCade Archives. Japanese press popularized the abbreviation AC for arcade back when they liked it to be just two letters for their "labels" (SF for Super Famicom and PC for PC Engine were also usual). The R in "arcade" ends a syllable so it gets skipped and instead they pick the first letter in the next syllable.

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Incoming message from Shion Uzuki.
Ace Driver is this week's release!

[Sumez]

Thanks Shion Uzuki

[Marc]

Any good? More than one track?

[PC Engine Fan X!]

It's about damn time that Namco's polygonal-based F1 inspired arcade racer by the name of Ace Driver appears as a proper ACA title. It uses the same gaming engine as that both Ridge Racer & Rave Racer run on. I had the rare opportunity to play the sitdown cockpit cab of Ace Driver and it was absolutely awesome back in 1996 -- I was blown away by it, especially with the huge rear projection screen being used.

This is the first time that Ace Driver has received a home game console release ever since it's original 1994 arcade inception back in the day -- yes. Namco did sell/distribute such Ace Driver cabs in the USA. You might recall Sega's legendary arcade racer of "Indy 500" that was an 8-player linked-up Indycar racing experience not to be missed -- it was hosted at the Las Vegas based GameWorks venue located on the Las Vegas Strip back in August of 1998.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[AGermanArtist]

The first update
https://www.famitsu.com/article/202605/76097
I've bought a few of the recent games in their ACA2 format, but if PS6 is PS4 compatible, I don't think I'll continue.

Also Gekioh https://www.famitsu.com/article/202605/76116

[TransatlanticFoe]

I loved Ace Driver as an 8 player linked, sit-down, rotating seat experience. It is better suited to being part of a compilation though, rather than a standalone

Once you remove the experience of being sat at an actual wheel, taking on 7 other randoms, it's a bit shallow with only one track. I recall the AI rubber banding was awful, a couple of cars would usually get ridiculously fast on the final lap - it was always one of the green cars that was much faster, like they modelled it on Michael Schumacher's Benetton. The only way I ever won vs. the CPU was when someone left a coin in the other green cab, so ol' Schumi didn't get to join the race

It's always nice to see a previously unreleased game, but one track vs. unfair AI is a hard sell for solo play. Shame they couldn't work online multiplayer in, but 4 player local makes for a nice retro party game

[Jeneki]

Shienryu (Gekioh) is cool! I forgot the PS1 version has remixed music until I watched the Hamster video.

[Ms. Tea]

How's Shienryu PS1 compare vs Saturn/ST-V anyway?

[PC Engine Fan X!]

How's Shienryu PS1 compare vs Saturn/ST-V anyway?

The Shienryu PS1 port (aka the USA PSX port of "Gekioh: Shooting King" released as a budget PSX stg title with an MSRP of $9.99 usd back in the day) doesn't have tate and only yoko + a cool FMV opening intro worth checking out whereas with the SS port, it does have both yoko & tate just like with the Sega ST-V cart version of the same name (which plays in tate only).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[SavagePencil]

How's Shienryu PS1 compare vs Saturn/ST-V anyway?

The Shienryu PS1 port (aka the USA PSX port of "Gekioh: Shooting King") doesn't have tate and only yoko + a cool FMV opening intro worth checking out whereas with the SS port, it does have both yoko & tate just like with the Sega ST-V cart version of the same name (which plays in tate only).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Any gameplay changes (besides some additional modes) from the arcade?

[PC Engine Fan X!]

How's Shienryu PS1 compare vs Saturn/ST-V anyway?

The Shienryu PS1 port (aka the USA PSX port of "Gekioh: Shooting King") doesn't have tate and only yoko + a cool FMV opening intro worth checking out whereas with the SS port, it does have both yoko & tate just like with the Sega ST-V cart version of the same name (which plays in tate only).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Any gameplay changes (besides some additional modes) from the arcade?

No gameplay changes with the PSX release of Gekioh: Shooting King in the USA.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Daytime Waitress]

I loved Ace Driver as an 8 player linked, sit-down, rotating seat experience. It is better suited to being part of a compilation though, rather than a standalone

Once you remove the experience of being sat at an actual wheel, taking on 7 other randoms, it's a bit shallow with only one track. I recall the AI rubber banding was awful, a couple of cars would usually get ridiculously fast on the final lap - it was always one of the green cars that was much faster, like they modelled it on Michael Schumacher's Benetton. The only way I ever won vs. the CPU was when someone left a coin in the other green cab, so ol' Schumi didn't get to join the race

It's always nice to see a previously unreleased game, but one track vs. unfair AI is a hard sell for solo play. Shame they couldn't work online multiplayer in, but 4 player local makes for a nice retro party game

Thanks for this write-up.

I was on the fence because the lack of music meant it didn't have the panache of Ridge Racer, and the driving model didn't seem to be as complex as RR's, either, so I figured it wouldn't have the same longevity.

And yet the sole track did look pretty neat and I was definitely curious because this is something I'd never played before - due in equal parts to it not having a home release and I'd never seen a cab in the wild.

But the one thing that stood out for me in Hamham's own trailer was that rubberbanding - I actually said out loud, "where the heck did that Benetton come from?!" and rewound the video to check if the player had had a particularly terrible last corner, but, no, the AI just gained an extra 100mph coming into the final straight...

[EmperorIng]

I was looking through the forum and online, and I was surprised to see that they have not ported the neo geo shooter, Viewpoint, to ACA yet. That's surprising; other Aicom games are there and I figure that they would have thrown this one on early enough.

I guess that means a future ACA port won't be total shite like the other Neo Geo ACA releases in terms of features, so that's a silver lining.

I've been using an 8bitdo m30 to have access to autofire while playing the High Score Mode of a few neo geo games, namely Pulstar and Blazing Star. Disabling them on the NG stuff, while other games allow them, has always been one of my most hated aspects of these ports... along with the total lack of autofire rates, and a dearth of rebinding options... Here I go again, singing the same old tune.

It's a bummer that it seems like the "Console Archives" and ACA2 stuff seems to be moving into the next gen. I guess this gen has been going on long enough but I am in no shape or mood to upgrade to a Soytendo Switch 2 just to play, uh, Battle City or whatever 3D namco game rolls my way.