TATE Astro mini with Batrider, Batsugun, Outzone and more!

[Buffi]

Should be here on Tuesday for me as well.
Already have the Hori version and look forward to fucking around with this one too.

For me these are mainly fun toys to play the games on, and not hook up to external devices. There's already mame if I wanted to do that. It's fun to mess around with the games on the mini though, and honestly, it's surprisingly playable (on the hori).

Really liked that one, so should enjoy this one too.

[DenimDemon]

Mine arrives on 5th. Can’t wait

[cawley1]

Pretty scathing review has appeared on YouTube - not looking good from a lag point of view.

Funny thing is, I didn't really notice it on the first Astro City Mini, but I guess it's more obvious on a SHMUP based mini console. The comparason between Truxton on both this unit and the Taito Egret Mini is pretty damning.

Anyway, I bought it for what it was, mainly, a cool little novelty - just a shame it couldn't have been a bit more accurate.

[Jonpachi]

Pretty scathing review has appeared on YouTube - not looking good from a lag point of view.

Funny thing is, I didn't really notice it on the first Astro City Mini, but I guess it's more obvious on a SHMUP based mini console. The comparason between Truxton on both this unit and the Taito Egret Mini is pretty damning.

Anyway, I bought it for what it was, mainly, a cool little novelty - just a shame it couldn't have been a bit more accurate.

Link?

[Jonpachi]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8VrGvAhDSk

If this is the one, this is a bit sketch. I don't doubt there's lag, but this isn't really a test. Just some dude wiggling a joystick and saying it's worse than the Egret.

[andymcc]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8VrGvAhDSk

If this is the one, this is a bit sketch. I don't doubt there's lag, but this isn't really a test. Just some dude wiggling a joystick and saying it's worse than the Egret.

it is the same guy that made the tier list people were dunking on earlier in the thread lol

[DoomsDave]

yes it is. dude's videos are really bad

[Steven]

Funny thing is, I didn't really notice it on the first Astro City Mini, but I guess it's more obvious on a SHMUP based mini console.

Same, honestly; I thought the original Astro City Mini was quite playable, but I'm also not exceptionally familiar with most of the games on there aside from Thunder Force AC.

I feel rather uncomfortable making precise movements in Tatsujin Ou on this thing, unfortunately. I don't want to blame the lag because maybe it's just me being bad, and it probably is, but I've gotten killed a few times after hearing the click of the arcade stick (the big external one, not the built-in controls on the system) and then my ship just sat there and got hit. Is it me being terrible? Is it the lag? Maybe it's both. I don't know. It probably is. I'll let someone do an actual lag test on it with a high speed camera and some LEDs or something. I don't have any lag testing stuff, so while I could compare it to the M2 ShotTriggers Same! Same! Same!, I wouldn't be able to say anything beyond "M2's is better", but everyone already knows that anyway, so it's not especially helpful.

Anyway, has anyone else's style kit not shipped? Mine says it's going to ship in September or something, which is really weird. I never bought the style kit for the previous one and I kind of regret that, but at the same time there are not a whole lot of games on there that I am super ultra interested in playing. This new Astro City Mini V probably has the best game selection of any of these mini consoles or mini arcade machines released so far.

Someone needs to mod this with a jamma edge: Yo dawg, I heard you like Astro City, so we put a jamma edge on your Astro City so you can play your Astro City in your Astro City.

BTW I'm half-seriously considering doing this because I'm getting a real New Astro City on Monday.

[cawley1]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8VrGvAhDSk

If this is the one, this is a bit sketch. I don't doubt there's lag, but this isn't really a test. Just some dude wiggling a joystick and saying it's worse than the Egret.

That was the one I had seen yesterday, as it was the only one up at the time. A second got added a bit later which made no reference to lag (I thought this one was worse than the first in terms of going over the unit), and all the comments asked about was lag - probably because of the first video!

I guess it's a matter of wait and see until a few people on here have their units.

[cawley1]

Funny thing is, I didn't really notice it on the first Astro City Mini, but I guess it's more obvious on a SHMUP based mini console.

Same, honestly; I thought the original Astro City Mini was quite playable, but I'm also not exceptionally familiar with most of the games on there aside from Thunder Force AC.

I feel rather uncomfortable making precise movements in Tatsujin Ou on this thing, unfortunately. I don't want to blame the lag because maybe it's just me being bad, and it probably is, but I've gotten killed a few times after hearing the click of the arcade stick (the big external one, not the built-in controls on the system) and then my ship just sat there and got hit. Is it me being terrible? Is it the lag? Maybe it's both. I don't know. It probably is. I'll let someone do an actual lag test on it with a high speed camera and some LEDs or something. I don't have any lag testing stuff, so while I could compare it to the M2 ShotTriggers Same! Same! Same!, I wouldn't be able to say anything beyond "M2's is better", but everyone already knows that anyway, so it's not especially helpful.

Anyway, has anyone else's style kit not shipped? Mine says it's going to ship in September or something, which is really weird. I never bought the style kit for the previous one and I kind of regret that, but at the same time there are not a whole lot of games on there that I am super ultra interested in playing. This new Astro City Mini V probably has the best game selection of any of these mini consoles or mini arcade machines released so far.

It could be that Tatsujin Ou is just a difficult game! I have the FM Towns version (along with it emulated on Mame) and it can be punishing. Funily enough, I seem to be utterly shit at the original Tatsujin these days, was one of my go-to games on Mega Drive back in the 90's, and I have the PCB here somewhere, but these days I just get wiped out so easily, guess that is the joys of getting older.

The 'Style Kit' is that the stand and the stool? I think both the Astro City V and the kit were originally down for a release at the end of October, but then got brought forward. My Amazon Japan account was still showing it's release as October even though an amount had been taken out of my account that had to be the kit, and once I got shipping notification it confirmed this. I am annoyed with myself that as the kit was released after I had pre-ordered the Astro City, I now have two packages coming from Japan. I guess I should have cancelled the Astro City and re-ordered it at the same time as the kit. I have noticed recently trying to do multiple pre-orders with one shipping cost seems difficult on Amazon Japan, so maybe I wouldn't have been able to anyway.

[Steven]

It has some noticeable lag on at least some games; that much I can promise. Some people, like myself, are not sensitive to lag and have difficulty detecting it (I literally cannot tell if the Layer Section demo on Switch has input lag at all), so if my slow brain can detect it, others who are more sensitive to it will probably find this thing to be completely unplayable or whatever.

I have only played the Toaplan games and Batrider on this thing so far, though, and the only game I've played enough on PCB (not MiSTer) to compare this thing to is Tatsujin Ou, which I make sure to play every time I go to Mikado.

I'll be honest and say that the Toaplan games are why I bought this thing, especially now that Batrider and Bakraid are on MiSTer, but I'm pretty sure everyone knows how much I love Toaplan by now, so maybe that's not surprising. Yes, for me this is a Toaplan Mini + some other stuff in the form of what happens to look like a tiny version of my favourite arcade cabinet, and that's why I bought it. I am planning on playing a shitload of Batrider, Bakraid, and some other stuff, but on the MiSTer, not this. Once the M2 Toaplan collections are finished or I get the PCBs I want, I'll probably never play this thing ever again, but I'll spend some decent time with it until then, I think.

I suppose I should mention that V-V fortunately seems quite playable on here with the small amount of time I have spent with it. Need to check other games, though.

It could be that Tatsujin Ou is just a difficult game! I have the FM Towns version (along with it emulated on Mame) and it can be punishing. Funily enough, I seem to be utterly shit at the original Tatsujin these days, was one of my go-to games on Mega Drive back in the 90's, and I have the PCB here somewhere, but these days I just get wiped out so easily, guess that is the joys of getting older.

The 'Style Kit' is that the stand and the stool? I think both the Astro City V and the kit were originally down for a release at the end of October, but then got brought forward. My Amazon Japan account was still showing it's release as October even though an amount had been taken out of my account that had to be the kit, and once I got shipping notification it confirmed this. I am annoyed with myself that as the kit was released after I had pre-ordered the Astro City, I now have two packages coming from Japan. I guess I should have cancelled the Astro City and re-ordered it at the same time as the kit. I have noticed recently trying to do multiple pre-orders with one shipping cost seems difficult on Amazon Japan, so maybe I wouldn't have been able to anyway.

Tatsujin Ou is a very poorly designed game, which is part of why it's so difficult. The game is hard for the wrong reasons, so adding just enough lag to make it uncomfortable to play is enough to make playing it here somewhat more frustrating than it already is. That poor design won't stop me from giving it several hundred yen every time I go to the arcade, though I really shouldn't spend money playing it there. At least it doesn't have the lag that it does on the Astro City Mini V, I guess.

Anyway, yes, the style kit is that stand + stool + the stickers for the marquee. I wish it wasn't stickers so that I could change stuff out without having to sacrifice something, which is why I'll never use the stickers or the marquee, but yes, mine is shipping much later. I may get another one for the V to use with my original Astro City Mini, as although Sega Toys restocked the original style kit, the controller, and the arcade stick (don't get excited, it sold out quickly) yesterday, it seems that Sega Toys doesn't like my prepaid credit card from my shitty bank, so I can't buy the original style kit. I really need to get a not shitty bank...

[kemical]

I got the Mini V and piggy bank/style kit add on yesterday. Amazon said the style kit was shipping in October but it arrived in the same box as the Mini V.

Strangely there was no AC-DC charger plug in the box, just the USB & HDMI cable, not sure if that was a packaging mistake, but I just used one from a phone.

It would be perfection if there was zero input lag, everything else about it is perfect. It seems more noticeable on some games, less on others. It's not horrible but if you're really serious about a particular game (like I am with Raiden) it definitely feels a bit off.

I'm also bummed I can't start Raiden from the 2p side (unless there is a way to??)

The quick save/rewinding works great and all the control setups for each game are well thought out.

I mainly bought it to just support this kind of thing, so it's more of a novelty rather than hardcore... but damn would it be sweet if it was zero input latency, since it has the majority of my fav games.

Wonder what components cause the latency, and if it is moddable/fixable in any way. I did see people running other stuff on the prior Astro mini.

[Steven]

I'm also bummed I can't start Raiden from the 2p side (unless there is a way to??)

Hold D when selecting the game if playing on the system itself. If using a controller, plug it into 2P side controller port

[Ghegs]

Strangely there was no AC-DC charger plug in the box, just the USB & HDMI cable, not sure if that was a packaging mistake, but I just used one from a phone.

I don't think most products include the plug anymore, I'm not sure if any Mini console has. People tend to have extras of those laying around (because they came included in everything back then) and some power extension cords have USB slots in them nowadays, so for manufacturers they're a good option to leave out, and save a couple of bucks.

[Steven]

Amazon is now suddenly shipping my style kit that was supposed to ship in September~October. How strange that they didn't just ship it earlier.

[Unadan360]

I won't purchase this system unless it's released in the West and falls under $ 75.00 with free shipping.

[lovecraft]

I won't purchase this system unless it's released in the West and falls under $ 75.00 with free shipping.

Wouldn't you prefer it to be distributed for free instead ?

[lovecraft]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8VrGvAhDSk

If this is the one, this is a bit sketch. I don't doubt there's lag, but this isn't really a test. Just some dude wiggling a joystick and saying it's worse than the Egret.

it is the same guy that made the tier list people were dunking on earlier in the thread lol

The input lag seems quite significant as it is visually noticeable in his video when observing the responsiveness of the ship's movements to his joystick.
Despite that, it's a nice item for enthusiasts with a fantastic games list... Mine should arrive by DHL by Tuesday.

[kemical]

I'm also bummed I can't start Raiden from the 2p side (unless there is a way to??)

Hold D when selecting the game if playing on the system itself. If using a controller, plug it into 2P side controller port

YAAAASSS thank you

[fraggore]

Ran the video through a editor and i counted 6 to 7 frames on the unit hopefully the hdmi out is better.

[hamfighterx]

Amazon is now suddenly shipping my style kit that was supposed to ship in September~October. How strange that they didn't just ship it earlier.

Heh, yeah same thing for me. My mini should show up today, and the style kit shipped separately but is on the way to arrive mid-week next week (west coast US).

I got the original Astro City and initially didn't think I'd want to pay the extra money for some plastic, but saw it for sale for a decent deal a little later and bought it... and I *love* it, it's just adorable. Didn't hesitate this time to grab the kit for the Astro V. The only downside is that now I'll have two Astro mini cabs on display with the full cab design (alongside a couple of Wave's 1/12 scale New Astro City models with Cave games), and the Taito Egret II mini next to them doesn't match

[Steven]

Amazon is now suddenly shipping my style kit that was supposed to ship in September~October. How strange that they didn't just ship it earlier.

Heh, yeah same thing for me. My mini should show up today, and the style kit shipped separately but is on the way to arrive mid-week next week (west coast US).

I got the original Astro City and initially didn't think I'd want to pay the extra money for some plastic, but saw it for sale for a decent deal a little later and bought it... and I *love* it, it's just adorable. Didn't hesitate this time to grab the kit for the Astro V. The only downside is that now I'll have two Astro mini cabs on display with the full cab design (alongside a couple of Wave's 1/12 scale New Astro City models with Cave games), and the Taito Egret II mini next to them doesn't match

Yeah, I also ordered an extra Astro City Mini V style kit to use with the original Astro City Mini. Inappropriate stickers for the games that are on there, but I guess I could make my own if I really wanted to. I honestly greatly prefer the look of the Astro City without the marquee on top anyway (and I don't remember actually seeing any in town that have it attached), so it doesn't bother me that much. I will also admit that I really didn't want to have the V with the style kit and a real New Astro City and then NOT have the style kit for the original mini because that would be super weird or something.

I never got the Egret II Mini, though; a bit too expensive for me considering what it has on it. I kind of regret not getting it, though. Maybe I'll pick it up eventually, but between the thing itself and the controllers, it's pretty expensive. Yeah, the V is expensive as well, but Sega + Toaplan + Astro City = insta-bought.

Here is something interesting: this dude is playing Tatsujin on both the Astro City Mini V and the Egret II Mini simultaneously. They desync, which is rather interesting, but perhaps not entirely unexpected: https://youtu.be/yt7L7EDFH80

[banjoted]

Having originally been told to expect delivery from Amazon Japan on August 2nd, mine just turned up! Looking forward to an afternoon of enjoyable retro shmups...

.. sorry, I mean scrutinising it for lag! Don't know what came over me. For a second I completely forgot what it is we do as a community. To think, I nearly just played the actual games rather than compile a database of per title lag to compare against the original PCB and other emulation methods. Such an idiot. Apologies.

[Tarma]

Slightly more heartend by the retrocore unboxing video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y17bVptI768

If my experience mirrors this, then I think I'll be happy, as I'm not a "hardcore" player.

I'd prefer M2 pull their finger out and deliver us ports of Tatsujin Oh, OutZone, Battle Bakraid and Batrider... but until then I'm hoping this will keep me happy.

[harborline765]

But that's where the positives end, the terrible image quality on the display and via the HDMI out is what killed it for me. The three biggest issues were:

* Lack of interpolation caused extremely obvious pixel crawl on every single game
* One of the worst scanlines filters I've seen, literally thick black lines across every other in-game 'line', but the image itself wasn't properly integer scaled so it's just one big mess.
* Even with the scanlines filter off you don't get a crisp image, since it's not integer scaled, instead of being pixel doubled to 640 x 448 the entire 800 x 480 display was filled, aspect ratio preserved.

If Sega improves upon the in-built screen resolution and output resolution, as well as the image quality, they'd be on to a winner.

Anyone with the system able to confirm if these above issues have been improved over the last Astro City Mini release?

Edit: it seems like it's been improved based on RetroCore's video: https://youtu.be/Y17bVptI768?t=1215

If anyone could take some close up photos of a game running on the built in display with all three filters that would be cool too.

[it290]

Here's a more extensive lag test. Not looking good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFCfXwAYuuk

[bigbadboaz]

Having originally been told to expect delivery from Amazon Japan on August 2nd, mine just turned up! Looking forward to an afternoon of enjoyable retro shmups...

.. sorry, I mean scrutinising it for lag! Don't know what came over me. For a second I completely forgot what it is we do as a community. To think, I nearly just played the actual games rather than compile a database of per title lag to compare against the original PCB and other emulation methods. Such an idiot. Apologies.

You've laid out a respectable sum of money for an imported specialty item. Why on Earth would it not matter to you whether said item's actually been produced in a manner respecting the specialty content it serves, and providing an optimally "enjoyable" experience when you sit down to use what your money has gone towards?

[Jonpachi]

Got mine last night, and so far it's been kinda rough going, though not a total dumpster fire. The lag is indeed quite noticeable on every title, but it does seem to vary quite a bit, at least in my early impressions. Outzone and Batsugun for example feel like I could get used to them, comparable thus far to Giga Wing on CAS, while Armed Police Batrider feels downright awful, bordering on a waste of time to even play. With further testing, I would not be surprised to see some titles coming in around 6-7 frames, with others pushing 8-10.

I was really hoping one of my existing joysticks would work, as my PS4 HRAP works great on my NewWaveToys 1942, but not here unfortunately. Luckily, I do have a Megadrive Mini pad, and it seems to be a better option than the official control pad. I bought two of those lime-green pads for the original Astro City Mini, but never got the chance to really put them through the paces like I would in a proper shmup. They're ok... The d-pad has a nice center pivot and some pop, but it has a weirdly slick texture/feel and just lacks the smooth feeling that the older Sega pad gives me.

[cawley1]

Here's a more extensive lag test. Not looking good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFCfXwAYuuk

This guy seems to hate on it, though! RetroCore seemed to have few issues with it. I am sure it will be good enough for my non-hardcore ways!

[cawley1]

Annoyingly, Amazon Japan has managed to deliver the base and stool to me today, but the actual unit is still showing as 'Clearance processing complete at Hong Kong' - I guess it will show up on Monday.
No idea why both items shipped at the same time became separated, the base tracking looks like it came straight from Japan while the unit has gone through Hong Kong...