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

[Marc]

Looks nice. But I've so, so, many shooters....

[BIL]

Oh god lmao They caught me napping with that one. Takes me back to the ol' days. I can't even remember what ZZZ plays like, other than a vague recollection of it being rather fuckin balls-hard. Time for a spin in MAME methinks!

[EmperorIng]

Another Allumer - Zing Zing Zip

Never heard of this one.

To the tune of $8.00USD, you'll soon discover all the things you wish you could have spent $8.00USD on!

[cfx]

.

[hamfighterx]

Just gonna drop this link here viewtopic.php?t=67553

Lovingly compiled by EmperorIng, who now tells us we're soon going to learn a lot about the value of $8.00! I take that as a challenge, looking forward to this hitting the US eShop in T-minus 22+ hours

[MJR]

I love that character poster. Wish the testicle chins made comeback to games.

[EmperorIng]

Thanks for reminding me I still have to agonizingly update all my score boards and tables to the new code.

[BurlyHeart]

I've heard some not so good things about Zing Zing Zip over the years. So much so, it has peaked my curiosity and I might get it

[Sumez]

Another Allumer - Zing Zing Zip

Never heard of this one.

You must definitely be new around here

[AGermanArtist]

Hamster gone done it again.
#106 for the ACA collection and #10 in the Tecmo folder.

[BIL]

Did ZZZ share staff with Thunder Dragon, I wonder? I see a mention of it being a stealth Moss game ala Mad Shark, which I could buy; it's got a solid workhorse chassis underneath the goofball stylings. But the sense of a TD1.5 is hard for me to shake; it feels much nearer TD1 than anything Seibu did, while sharing TD2's subtly superdeformed-yet-still-menacing gunmetal aesthetic (and approach to voiceovers ).

Also some TD1-esque bullet visibility woes, sadly, in an already tough game. More happily, also the likeably liberal NMK approach to bombing. It's the kind of STG that can seem alarmingly mean until you learn to stop worrying (about your bomb stock, and the game's design cred alike) and unleash teh hounds. It's a tough cookie even then, the second stage reminding me of TD2's sixth.

Regardless of provenance, while TD2's my categorical pick of these three broadly-similar verts, I do like TD1, so this one's welcome.

[Bassa-Bassa]

Tecmo just did the distribution thing, as they did with so many others. And ZZZ predates MOSS by a year, it's just that the game's code was touched up by later MOSS' founder Toshinobu Komazawa, but seems the game's was already basically finished by Allumer's own staff.

[BIL]

Cheers Bassa, that would seem to explain the Moss thing I saw!

[Jeneki]

What causes the i-frame rolling in Zing Zing Zip? In a rare case of Hamster's in-game manual disappointing me, it says you should use this but then doesn't say anything about how to do it.

[BIL]

What causes the i-frame rolling in Zing Zing Zip? In a rare case of Hamster's in-game manual disappointing me, it says you should use this but then doesn't say anything about how to do it.

Ha, I furrowed my brow at the lack of instructions too. Fortunately I'd had a gander at ING-san's HS thread, so my Zing Zing Zip enjoyment was enhanced!

Basically, you need to move laterally until the plane completes its banking animation. At any point on/after the last frame, reverse direction. The roll will activate the instant the opposite bank is completed. Start of this video should illustrate the timing.

EG steer [left], wait for the animation to complete, then steer [right]. You also can involve diagonals; eg, moving down-left, then up-right (handy if you want to overlap-pointblank something). By the same token, it doesn't have to be a perfect [side-to-side] input; vertical inputs won't cancel it. As long as you execute two consecutive opposing bankings, it'll work.

Note that you can't hug the edge of the screen to set up a roll; the plane won't turn. You have to be moving laterally.

With the i-frames and shot powerup, it feels like a very, very early iteration of Psyvariar's roll; to the point I wonder if it was any influence. Then again, I'm sure lots of us like messing around with banking/turning animations in our STGs. I do anyway! >_>

I almost wonder if Hamster didn't bother with instructions since you'll probably be doing them constantly without meaning to.

[Sturmvogel Prime]

The second "Surprise" game is Konami's Manhattan 24 Bunsho, known here as Jail Break.
https://www.famitsu.com/news/202309/13316657.html

[AGermanArtist]

Fucking rejoice!

[BIL]

Helll yeah Now only IRON HORSE remains of my quintessential FC Action Man trio, Green Beret having gotten ACA release a few years back. Those proto-Dracula sprite/screen dimensions and compact rugged sprites

Longtime viewers may recall the IRON DISAPPOINT when SNK's unfortunately frowzy Datsugoku/Prisoners of War got announced a couple years back, and some noobs ran around telling everybody it was this 3; In a year featuring Tecmo's incomparably superior beltscroller WILD FANG, that is DOUBLE SATISFACTIONS

[AGermanArtist]

The Konami boot man trilogy.
"The Warden has been taken hostage, kill hookers with a rocket launcher..."

[BIL]

It's all connected innit When diplomacy fails, FLAMETHROWER IS A MUST Man, they were the Bloody Sams of the whole Entertainment Yard for a bit there

HARDBOILED AF FROM KONAMI (■｀w´■)

Here's hoping Top Gunner might get a look in. I know it's got that Contra aim lag, but sometimes it's about teh vibe dag nabbit ]

[Marc]

Any good? I only remember it from shitty home ports back in the day.

[AGermanArtist]

I love it, but it depends on your nostalgia for the game. It's my understanding that the PCB defaulted to Hard which may account for the perception of it being a particularly punishing game which was quite off putting for many. It's part of Konami's golden period, which BIL has outlined above. Green Beret, Jail Break, Iron Horse and Jackal just have something special about them for me and all feature in my top 10 arcade action games.

[Sima Tuna]

Wasn't Green Beret one of the very first big games in the Elevator Action Returns/Rolling Thunder likes subgenre?

You know, a game where you have to strategically move and shoot while managing ammo. Where firepower is deliberately limited compared to games like Contra.

[Marc]

I love it, but it depends on your nostalgia for the game. It's my understanding that the PCB defaulted to Hard which may account for the perception of it being a particularly punishing game which was quite off putting for many. It's part of Konami's golden period, which BIL has outlined above. Green Beret, Jail Break, Iron Horse and Jackal just have something special about them for me and all feature in my top 10 arcade action games.

Oh shit, it's hard. Autofire is useless here. I like it, I think.

[BIL]

Wasn't Green Beret one of the very first big games in the Elevator Action Returns/Rolling Thunder likes subgenre?

You know, a game where you have to strategically move and shoot while managing ammo. Where firepower is deliberately limited compared to games like Contra.

I consider it ~Akumajou Zero Alpha: What Great-Great-Grandson Did In The War~ All it needs is a jump button and some proper tunes, and you've got a working blueprint for Akamatsu's FDS masterpiece. (on the latter count, I recommend sorting out an FDS/NES playlist)

The second attract demo reel illustrates well - icy technique at deadly proximity! The debt to Piston Takashi's Spartan X shared by basically all sidescrolling combat is evident, but the platforming element is transformative. While there are technically no pits in GB, jumping (AND ITS CONSEQUENCES ) remains critical via landmines, and later, some very useful roof-to-roof parkour.

(by the same token, Tecmo's Rygar works great as an artfully-leavened Ninja Gaiden counterpart; call it X-Millionth Years BC: Genealogy of Peregrine Falcon-Ryuu )

Well, let's go for a Bunsho time

[Skyknight]

Is it really a surprise/arcane when it’s by Konami? I have a feeling they’re shifting from Namco/Taito/Namco/outside to Konami/Namco/Taito/outside.

[AGermanArtist]

I think they just paused the Konami stuff for a while to play catch up with Namco and Taito and the stuff they own like Nichibutsu and Allumer. They'd put out quite a few Konami games already. There's not that many of theirs left to go.

[BIL]

Blimey, I'd forgotten how unforgiving this is >w< I told myself I was retiring from Konami's 80s aim-laggers after the Super Contra 2ALL, but that's got nothing on Bunsho... I think I'm gonna retire the "Contra Aim Lag" terminology.

Truly uncompromising game. It can seem pointlessly mean-spirited at first, but it's more just plain ornery, bad-tempered. Figure out how you're expected to evade and return fire, and it's surprisingly reasonable. Twitch, or even just improv too far, and disaster will ensue ("OH NOOO"). Nothing for the occasional Party Van attacks but memo, unfortunately. Put a rocket through their windscreen and be done with 'em. Got back into it fairly quickly - as always with Konami, 4-way movement and its lag obviation is vital to know - before calling it quits at stage 4.

Aesthetically it's an immortal classic, right from that charmingly preposterous "AT ALL COSTS" opening command. Skinheads hobbling along with ball-and-chains, the haplessly bumbling construction worker, your own SUPER CAWP's hagiographically bull-necked build... it's all so grimly lovable, even moreso if you dig the compact, well-proportioned character sprites of Konami's 80s~90s heyday.

They gotta get Mystic Warriors, Violent Storm, and at least Paro Da up on ACA for this project to be called a success imo.

[Jeneki]

There's a local arcade with Super Contra.

But the joysticks have 4-way gates.

[BIL]

Now that's DEATHBED.mp3 I'd ask for my money back on that setup. Maybe the operator heard that mimicking 4-way input is situationally useful in these games and thought "SURELY THIS IS EVEN BETTER LMAO" (assuming it's the kinda joint where thought is involved )

EDIT: Now I remember something about Hamster acquiring the rights to Warashi's catalogue, but I don't quite recall if Athena was mentioned too? At any rate, next week is Strike Gunner STG...



...which opens up the possibility of not just Daioh, aka DAI-YOHHH, but also represents another great stride:

Spoiler

ATTACK HELICOPTERS IN SPACE

Hold onto yer butts

...it also moots Dragon Unit, admittedly!