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

[Jonpachi]

Oh man, stoked for Sky Kid! The NES version rotates in and out of my retro time at least once a year. Ready to dig into the arcade rom.

[BIL]

The original Sky Kid has been on ACA for a while, but I honestly couldn't say how different it and Deluxe are (I know the latter's PCB is quite a bit pricier, at least). Looks cool though, I'm down. I wonder if they'll release Assault Plus at some point. New Rally X sounds like a good precedent for that.

[jehu]

Apparently Hamster applied for trademarks of 'Warashi' and 'Shienryu.'

https://twitter.com/gematsu/status/1626273322353713153

Spoiler

Warashi:https://chizai-watch.com/t/2023012841

And Shienryu:https://chizai-watch.com/t/2023012840

Love these guys... If I'm not mistaken Hamster contributed to the PSX release of the game. Hope that means we might land some of the zany bonus modes.

Does this also mean that there might be an STV emulator working? What's next: Souky?

[Jeneki]

If Hamster get into STV games, that gives us another shot at Guardian Force / Cotton 2.

[BrianC]

I find it hilarious how Grobda uses NBA for the "National Battling Association".

[cfx]

Apparently Hamster applied for trademarks of 'Warashi' and 'Shienryu.'

https://twitter.com/gematsu/status/1626273322353713153

Spoiler

Warashi:https://chizai-watch.com/t/2023012841

And Shienryu:https://chizai-watch.com/t/2023012840

Love these guys... If I'm not mistaken Hamster contributed to the PSX release of the game. Hope that means we might land some of the zany bonus modes.

Does this also mean that there might be an STV emulator working? What's next: Souky?

I don't know or remember about the original release, but I have the "Major Wave 1500" budget version of PS1 Shienryu, and that is a Hamster release.

While I wouldn't expect Hamster to do an equivalent to S-Tribute instead of arcade emulation, there is also a PS2 versoin of Shienryu, as part of the package with Shienryu 2.

Soukyugurentai? Does Hamster have an arrangement with Raizing? I would more expect that to come from M2.

[Sturmvogel Prime]

I find it hilarious how Grobda uses NBA for the "National Battling Association".

"Welcome to NBA Jam" indeed.

I'm surprised to see Hamster releasing the updated version of Sky Kid as their upcoming March release although that means one step back into Namco's 90's catalogue (looks like we'll have to wait a little longer for NebulasRay).
As for their announcement of Warashi and Shienryu, hope we can also see Sengeki Striker in the future. I could say that brings the possiblity of Triggerheart Exelica in the Arcade Archives, but the emulation of NAOMI hardware is unknown or preliminary.

[BIL]

I've no doubt Hamster will continue with Namco's 80s catalogue, even as they cover more of the late 80s/early 90s. Makes way too much sense, with several iconic favourites still to go (Bosconian & Pole Position pls ). It's a win-win, imo... several (I would say most) of these games are bonafide classics, and hopefully netting mainstream attention. God knows Hamster have earned a little playing to the nostalgia circuit.

I wonder who owns the rights to Daioh, these days. Technically not a Warashi game, but featuring some of the same key staff. I'd love that one to show up.

I'm not terribly interested in STV ports with the Saturn versions around, tbh - I'd rather something like Sengeki Striker tbh - but if they were done to Hamster's usual standard, I'd happily pick them up.

I find it hilarious how Grobda uses NBA for the "National Battling Association".

Ha, I know. NATIONARU BATURINGU ASSOCIATIONU

Noticed a nice trick with the heavy tanks: while their aim and firepower are deadly, they can't snap directly to your location; they've got to rotate clock-style, and quite slowly, at that. If you can keep traction with good steering, it's easy to get on their blind side for a fatal blasting:

Slippin & Slidin Dat Ass I Be Ridin

Spoiler

Also, a handy solution for their tough shields:

DONT TOUCH ME MAAAN

Spoiler

Exactly the intricate mechanical detailing I'd expect from the game that inspired Granada.

[Skyknight]

More like Nashonaru Battoringu (or Battorin? The "g" in "-ing" is silent, yes?) Assoshyeishin...Well, that rendered into katakana.

[Sima Tuna]

I love Shienryu. You say they announced that one? I'll be picking it up then. Diaoh would be cool too, but either way, I'll have fun. I know people shit on Raiden, but I like Raiden. Shienryu feels like "modernized Raiden" and that's neat.

[hamfighterx]

Just chiming in to say I'm still surprisingly into... Magical Speed? Yep! It's addictive as hell. The matches go super fast, the graphics are satisfyingly cute, and I'm just really shocked at how much I keep coming back to it. Same kind of energy as games like Money Puzzle Exchanger or Magical Drop, I'd recommend it if you're into such games. Definitely going alongside Sea Fighter Poseidon near the top of the list of Arcade Archives games that I had never encountered before, but ended up really enjoying despite going in with absolutely zero expectations!

It's sort of a solitaire-like card game, but really plays more like a puzzler with crazy reaction times when you try to slap your card down before your opponent (you're just trying to get rid of cards by putting a card that is one higher or lower than the one on the top of two piles between the players). Has three paths of increasing difficulty, CPU is quite easy on the easy path, gets to be a real challenge on the middle one, and is insane (and honestly unfair) on the hard path - but all of them remain fun.

Worth noting that it's untranslated for the worldwide release - Japanese language only in-game, even in the US eShop version. Not a big deal, but there are a couple of menu choices in-game and then occasional character text between matches. Requires no language skills in the gameplay portion though, you're just reading playing cards that are nice and clear (standard numbers and J/Q/K/A/Joker).

Still also working on perfecting my quick play. I've done the best on Switch Lite by learning to using the touchscreen controls to select one of my 4 cards in hand with my thumbs, and a very wide grip with index fingers on the ZL/ZR buttons to place cards on the left/right stack (a full sized Switch is too big for me to manage that). Faster that way than hitting the touchscreen to both select and then play your card. It also has the ability to use the Switch/PS4 controller's four face buttons to select one of the four cards in your hand, but I have yet to adjust to that in the diamond layout. Would be easier if using a controller with a row of 4 buttons (but then you still need two other buttons to play your card). Touchscreen does open up some possibilities, so I think the Switch version is ideal - but I bet if someone took the time to get the hand of the controls, you could get pretty fast by selecting cards with face buttons and playing them with shoulder/trigger buttons.

OK, that's all I got for Allumer/Magical Speed talk. I did not think I'd ever have so much to say about it!

In other Arcade Archive notes:
* Picked up Grobda today and have put about 10 minutes into it, time to go play that some more!

* I expect it would be licensing hell, but if Hamster ends up doing any ST-V stuff and somehow managed to release Die Hard Arcade... that's the one I'd be over the moon about. But then again, like BIL said... I could just play the thing on Saturn. Or the PS2 remaster. Still, ST-V would open up cheaper options to play some ST-V/Saturn games like Astra Superstars, Groove On Fight, Souky... Most of the ST-V library is Sega though, and I don't really see them playing ball with Hamster, at least for Arcade Archives. They tend to publish their own stuff, including on hardware like the Astro City or Mega Drive minis, or series like the Sega Ages games - but perhaps they'd let Hamster work on some sort of ST-V series/collection, like they've worked with M2 on so many releases.

I've no doubt Hamster will continue with Namco's 80s catalogue, even as they cover more of the late 80s/early 90s. Makes way too much sense, with several iconic favourites still to go (Bosconian & Pole Position pls ). It's a win-win, imo... several (I would say most) of these games are bonafide classics, and hopefully netting mainstream attention. God knows Hamster have earned a little playing to the nostalgia circuit.

Personally, I'm waiting patiently for them to get to Final Lap! Which probably won't happen until after Pole Position I and II, so yeah, point taken that Hamster has a whole lot of Namco to dig through. Easily enough to keep them busy a couple more years alongside stuff from other publishers. By the time they start running out of quality stuff we'll have a Switch successor, so the platforms will have plenty of horsepower for your Taito F3 games and whatnot.

[EmperorIng]

I think since Shienryu and Sengeki Striker (kinda) are the only games that work reasonably well on mame, I would think that one of those two would be the reason behind the announcement. I can sure bet it's going to be Shienryu before Sengeki Striker, lol.

That being said the ps1 port of Shienryu was pretty bad as Gekioh (they cut out the second loop!), so I hope any Shienryu plans have nothing to do with the inferior gekioh release. I better sell my saturn copy now for mad cash while I can...

[cfx]

I love Shienryu. You say they announced that one? I'll be picking it up then. Diaoh would be cool too, but either way, I'll have fun. I know people shit on Raiden, but I like Raiden. Shienryu feels like "modernized Raiden" and that's neat.

I've always liked Shienryu. I played it just recently via the PS2 version, and I still like it.

[EmperorIng]

Trust me, you'll LOVE shienryu once you get to play a version without 2000 frames of delay like the ps2 version!

When I experimented with emulating the Saturn rom via mednafen, it was like night and day with my PS2 copy.

[BIL]

OK, that's all I got for Allumer/Magical Speed talk. I did not think I'd ever have so much to say about it!

Much appreciated - I didn't know what to make of it at first glance, but it's definitely on my rain-check list now.

Personally, I'm waiting patiently for them to get to Final Lap! Which probably won't happen until after Pole Position I and II, so yeah, point taken that Hamster has a whole lot of Namco to dig through. Easily enough to keep them busy a couple more years alongside stuff from other publishers. By the time they start running out of quality stuff we'll have a Switch successor, so the platforms will have plenty of horsepower for your Taito F3 games and whatnot.

Hell yeah, Final Lap is exactly the sort of thing I hope they cover, on the other side of the 80s. I'm in the same boat re: timescales; I'd much rather see them make the most of their existing licenses now, and make the jump to emulating higher-end hardware once they're ready for a transition to more powerful consoles. I would hate for them to bite off more than they can chew - but they've proven quite canny and slow n' steady, over the last gen and this one so far, so I don't think that's likely. They've already racked up a legendary slate, in the meantime.

Hamster posted a live Grobda demonstration, by consultant, playtester, and OG vet HIRO. He enables Every Extend, so it's technically not default spec, but the guy's expertise is obvious, and will be thoroughly illuminating to anyone going for a default clear. Some astonishingly manful flash-Shielding vs incoming bullets, facing down deadly foes in the open! Was making me think of SFIII's parries, haha. Be like "NAWW, HE GON DIE" *ping* "Oh. Well sheeeit"

Love how he uses the 16way turret for precision sniping from behind cover, too. While the tank takes a while to turn, the turret responds instantly - get behind cover, then tap [direction] to angle the turret for snipes. Of course, Greens' homing shot is tailored to sneak around blocks to bite your ass, so cover is not to be over-estimated. Speaking of those bastards, flash-Shielding works great with them; chase them down while batting aside their intermittent fire with taps of the button. Heavy tanks are quite the opposite, their fire will melt through even blue shield in short order; outflanking the turret, incorporating cover as you can, works best there.

Cover + Outflank for bros, rushdown n' parry for that skittery green ho

Spoiler

It's so rad, seeing these venerated favourites not only given reference-standard modern release, but also pro-standard demonstration. Having a blast incorporating flash-Shielding, cover-sniping, and chainsplosions into my play (see above GIF; incoming horde? blast the nearest - or weakest - and send the whole lot up in flames). I've enabled Every Extend like HIRO, too; I think the game works fine with them, tbh, but as always I've got an eye towards no-death play, so ultimately it's more of a learning aid. The inbuilt stage select (a snap - just hold [fire] as you hit [start]) is a great help, too.

Some super-fine detailing on the SPL0SIONs - I notice they have a "peak," their hitbox expanding along with the visible sphere, then seemingly de-activating as they recede. Good to know in the heat of BATTORINGU.

TEMPTED 2 TOUCH

Spoiler

[cfx]

Trust me, you'll LOVE shienryu once you get to play a version without 2000 frames of delay like the ps2 version!

When I experimented with emulating the Saturn rom via mednafen, it was like night and day with my PS2 copy.

Oh, I've had the Saturn version since initial release.

I was just checking the PS2 version because I was looking at various games that I wondered if I should keep or sell. The main reason I bought the PS2 one originally was for Shienryu 2, which is pretty terrible in my opinion.

I didn't even notice any delay but was just playing very casually, and haven't played the Saturn version in some time so didn't have a reference to compare to. I don't think I tend to notice lag that much in general though.

[Jeneki]

I agree with all the support for Shienryu, the game is seriously cool. You know a game isn't fucking around when the first boss spits out about 20 powerups and dares you to grab them haha.

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Jigoku Meguri (Hell Patrol), better known as Bonze Adventure was announced for March 23.
https://twitter.com/famitsu/status/1629 ... by2pstAAAA

[BIL]

Ahaha, I can't believe I never considered Hell Patrol for a translation! That's badass.

The Theme Of Bonze

[Sima Tuna]

I've been waiting for Elevator Action Returns for so long that my blue balls have shriveled up and fallen off. They're now drying like raisins in the sun.

[BIL]

Tuna-kun you need to bust a rod and jack off already, that shit ain't happenin Rolling Thunder 2 should be along soon though

Well no, I think ACA F3/GX/SPI etc will happen, but not for years, when they're nice and comfy. It's not so bad if you look at it as a historical archiving project. Will be worth it all in the end. Imagine the hulking buff 1CC list of existing releases you can amass by then!

As a stopgap, have you considered a modded Saturn? Would cure what ails without dealing with cancerous reseller cunts ("Ee, m8! It's minteh, cor!") or potential CityCon fuckery. I have one myself, haven't spun any of my discs in years now. Can't assist any further unfortunately, master BLOODF will have my knackers off and drying in the yard. ;3

[Jeneki]

You don't even need to mod a Saturn anymore, if you go the Satiator route.

Bonze Adventure is awesome, this is one I've been hoping to get for a while now.

[BIL]

Heehee, that's exactly what I had in mind. Works a fookin treat

[Bassa-Bassa]

Would be surprised if we end up seeing Sengeki Striker as it would mean Kaneko's alive somehow. I don't think Warashi's the copyright holder for that one.

[Jeneki]

Don Doko Don is up now, time to get your gnome murder spree on. The only thing this game needs is for the witch from Fairyland Story to join in the delicious blood orgy of death and destruction.

[BIL]

Gotta say 2023 has been bangin thus far, going by Q1. New Zealand Story, Tank Force, Phelios, Galaga, Don Doko Don... plus a surprise caravan gem in Senjyo, and an absolute revelation of topdown tank STG in Grobda. Balls-tough, balls-technical, absolute hardcore. Sky Kid Deluxe and Jigoku Meguri are instant gets, too. Still curious about Magical Speed - card games are far outside my wheelhouse, but hamfighter's writeups make it sound like exactly the crossover title I like now and then.

EDIT: coming off a Q3/4 with Metal Black, Gun Frontier, Metal Hawk, Assault, Baraduke, Toy Pop, Marvel Land, and TGM, at that! Quality's been off the scale lately.

It's a pretty nice groove they're in - lots of marquee late 80s/early 90s Namco+Taito, plus a healthy assortment of stuff that I doubt anyone ever thought would see quality home release (as opposed to washing up in some godawful lag-ridden mini console, or 500-in-1 compilation). Would love to see War of Aero and Mad Shark join ImageFight and Raiden, absolutely surreal.

I do want them to quit the pricktease and get Rastan and Rainbow Islands out already, but that's been the status quo for like half a decade now.

Don Doko Don is up now, time to get your gnome murder spree on. The only thing this game needs is for the witch from Fairyland Story to join in the delicious blood orgy of death and destruction.

I particularly like the Fairyland-esque Death From Above mechanic Stunned baddies will smoosh any of their bros caught in the drop-zone, and since you can pick up whole stacks of the buggers, it's easy to turn a single whacking into a mass wall impact event The whole throw mechanic is just hilarious casual brutality - as far as dispatch methods go, it doesn't get much more unceremoniously visceral than hucking a poor bastard headfirst into a wall. That classic bubblewrap-compulsive fusion of the cute and the crushing that Taito's single-screeners excel at.

[Jonpachi]

I've been waiting for Elevator Action Returns for so long that my blue balls have shriveled up and fallen off. They're now drying like raisins in the sun.

I understand the aversion or hesitation to the S-Tribute line, but that version of the game is actually quite playable. Maybe not the true, new arcade port we’d all like to see, but it’s not a waste of time or money.

[BIL]

Yeah I have to say, were Ray'z not around the corner, I'd pick up the PS4 version of CC's Rayforce. The demo actually handles very responsively. I'm guessing VING's Saturn disc being absolutely razor-sharp mitigated any added latency on CC's part; could easily believe EAR performs similarly on PS4. Can't speak for other platforms, though.

[Steven]

Are there any significant differences between arcade and Saturn Elevator Action Returns? Mikado put the arcade version out a few weeks ago, so I finally got to play the game for the first time. They were even nice enough to rig the third button on the cabinet to be A+B.

[BIL]

Nope - from everything I've seen over the years, it's a straight disciplined conversion, as was VING's speciality. I did notice the Saturn version gives you more bombs by default than the F3 cart, but that's easily fixed via Options menu. Other than some very brief load screens between stages, I'd be hard-pressed to tell them apart.

What'd you think of the game? Over time, I've found it's one of those crossover titles that's well within hardcore spec, yet even the most arcade-averse can have a blast with, especially in 2P play. Dozy-yet-inquisitive enemies, all-seeing POV, and black-comedic slapstick ultraviolence, a surefire crowd-pleaser. (Metal Slug and Shock Troopers are near-identical in all regards, down to the relatively mild-by-AC-standard difficulty)

As said, I do find the default difficulty a little mild - cranking it to max will tighten up the enemies' generous delay between spotting you and opening fire, giving things an almost Rolling Thunder Lite intensity, without sacrificing its innately easier-going, doll's house-view sense of directing your own comic-violent spy action thriller.