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

[Sturmvogel Prime]

As for Raiden II, are we sure they can yet emulate it? I understand Seibu PCBs are difficult to decipher even at the best of times.

They've emulated Zero Team which was as encrypted as Raiden II, so there is hope for Raiden II and DX.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

In 1986 Iron Horse was the shit. It was the third game in the Konami boot man trilogy (Green Beret/Jail Break) and featured innovations over previous iterations of the trilogy inc crouch and banjo music. I suspect the next Konami will be the disappointing M.I.A. I've been revisiting a 1987 Konami game on Retroarch that I'd previously written off as "dogshit" - Fast Lane. I've done a 180 on that, as I have with another of their 1987 games - Typhoon, in recent months. Still unsure about Battlantis, though.
I'd really like an ACA Fast Lane.

For AGermanArtist,

Konami's Typhoon arcade pcb release did get a proper USA arcade converrsion jamma pcb kit complete with a full-sized arcade marquee under it's original namesake of "A-Jax" (as it was known as in both Japan & USA) courtesy of Konami of America arcade subsidiary (whom sold & distributed various arcade conversion pcb kits to arcade distributors, indie arcades and arcade owners/operators). It's well known that the Konami Typhoon arcade pcbs were distributed for arcades in Europe back in 1987.

My local arcade hangout, Cal's R-Cade, had a converted upright arcade cab of A-Jax up and running back in 1987 -- so yes, I was quite familiar with it at that particular point in time. Quite impressive and awesome scaling and rotational effects with the sprite work, indeed, with the A-Jax/Typhoon arcade jamma pcbs -- this predates the "Mode 7" effects with the SFC/SNES consoles by a mere four years. How cool is that?

----------
Konami A-Jax/Typhoon pcb Factoid:

The actual A-Jax/Typhoon pcb has three arcade operator settings (via dipswitches) that all for up to two players to take turns or offer simultaneous two-player capability (meaning more income/profit for the arcade owner/operator) and even has built-in support to play on the old-school cocktail-table styled arcade cabs with the arcade CRT monitor in tate as well.
----------

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[AGermanArtist]

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[BrianC]

I suspect the next Konami will be the disappointing M.I.A.

That game has different versions that all have different starting locations. One version (which I assume is the US version) is especially cheap. Maybe the Japanese version will be less disappointing?

[Sumez]

M.I.A rocks! My PCB starts on a random stage, each credit.

[AGermanArtist]

I just found it incredibly dull for a successor to Green Beret, it deserved better. It's one big snooze. I cleared it my first time playing it. It's nowhere near on a par with Super Contra which seems like a lavish presentation by comparison. Green Beret's my #2 game after Ghosts n' Goblins.

[SeafoamGaming]

god DAMN it Face Off is completely MIA from the Switch eShop in NA. No trace of it anywhere.

Getting real pissed off… still no statement or indicator of Finest Hour, or Jail Break, and now Face Off is gone too. What the fuck are they doing there?!? Canada apparently got the other two finally so what’s the US’s excuse…

EDIT: Fuck. It’s on the US PSN like those two games but with no price tag. It’s another situation like that…. Why? What could possibly be legally dubious about hockey?

[BrianC]

M.I.A rocks! My PCB starts on a random stage, each credit.

The JT pocket cores had two versions, but not the JP version on the Twin 68000 hardware. One version was much more manageable and the other had cheap enemy placement with grenade guys everywhere. Level design seemed weaker in this version and had more linear underground caves in the first level, IIRC. Didn't notice any randomness in the choice of first stage in either. But wouldn't be surprised if it was the JP version that was random since the video I found of it started on a different stage and I didn't see that stage in either of the versions I tried.

god DAMN it Face Off is completely MIA from the Switch eShop in NA. No trace of it anywhere.

Getting real pissed off… still no statement or indicator of Finest Hour, or Jail Break, and now Face Off is gone too. What the fuck are they doing there?!? Canada apparently got the other two finally so what’s the US’s excuse…

EDIT: Fuck. It’s on the US PSN like those two games but with no price tag. It’s another situation like that…. Why? What could possibly be legally dubious about hockey?

I noticed there's an unrelated Hockey game named Face-Off for the Amiga. I'm under the impression that Hamster doesn't know how to handle snags in the non Japan approval process.

[Ms. Tea]

god DAMN it Face Off is completely MIA from the Switch eShop in NA. No trace of it anywhere.

Getting real pissed off… still no statement or indicator of Finest Hour, or Jail Break, and now Face Off is gone too. What the fuck are they doing there?!? Canada apparently got the other two finally so what’s the US’s excuse…

Weeeird. It's available in Canada no problem; no idea why the US would be an issue. Obviously they just know how much Canada loves hockey

[Sima Tuna]

M.I.A rocks! My PCB starts on a random stage, each credit.

Built-in randomizer mode.

[SeafoamGaming]

god DAMN it Face Off is completely MIA from the Switch eShop in NA. No trace of it anywhere.

Getting real pissed off… still no statement or indicator of Finest Hour, or Jail Break, and now Face Off is gone too. What the fuck are they doing there?!? Canada apparently got the other two finally so what’s the US’s excuse…

Weeeird. It's available in Canada no problem; no idea why the US would be an issue. Obviously they just know how much Canada loves hockey

So the same nonsense behind everything that isn't Marvel Land. My friend suspects it has to do with that NHL Hockey Series that was put out here in the 2000s and honestly I could see it being a stupid trademark situation like that.

Wish they'd communicate though. I hate to import it and then it immediately shows up on the US store later, and that's why I still haven't imported Jail Break.

[Sumez]

I just found it incredibly dull for a successor to Green Beret, it deserved better. It's one big snooze. I cleared it my first time playing it.

It's a pretty easy 1-loop clear, but given the towers at the end of each stage WILL snipe-kill you if you don't know exactly how to approach them, I honestly find it impressive that you'd just clear it first try :O I had no idea what to do for a while.
Anyway it gets a lot better on subsequent loops, where it starts throwing other enemy types into the loop much more frequently.

[AGermanArtist]

god DAMN it Face Off is completely MIA from the Switch eShop in NA. No trace of it anywhere.

Getting real pissed off… still no statement or indicator of Finest Hour, or Jail Break, and now Face Off is gone too. What the fuck are they doing there?!? Canada apparently got the other two finally so what’s the US’s excuse…

Weeeird. It's available in Canada no problem; no idea why the US would be an issue. Obviously they just know how much Canada loves hockey

So the same nonsense behind everything that isn't Marvel Land. My friend suspects it has to do with that NHL Hockey Series that was put out here in the 2000s and honestly I could see it being a stupid trademark situation like that.

Wish they'd communicate though. I hate to import it and then it immediately shows up on the US store later, and that's why I still haven't imported Jail Break.

Mighty Guy and Finest Hour didn't launch on the UK PSN, I bought both from Japan. Luckily Yen is pretty cheap now.

[BJQ1972]

god DAMN it Face Off is completely MIA from the Switch eShop in NA. No trace of it anywhere.

Getting real pissed off… still no statement or indicator of Finest Hour, or Jail Break, and now Face Off is gone too. What the fuck are they doing there?!? Canada apparently got the other two finally so what’s the US’s excuse…

EDIT: Fuck. It’s on the US PSN like those two games but with no price tag. It’s another situation like that…. Why? What could possibly be legally dubious about hockey?

Not available in the UK either.

Is there a list of games that are unavailable in various regions? I might bite the bullet and buy the JP versions.

[hamfighterx]

For Switch:
* The only regional omissions for the US are: Marvel Land, Jail Break, Finest Hour, and now Face Off.
* All of those except Marvel Land did release on the Canada eShop.
* I'm less up on Europe, but AFAIK in the UK Switch eShop all of those are also unavailable, as is Metro-Cross. Not sure if there are any others missing in that region, or how it breaks down for rest of Europe (IIRC, Finest Hour was available in some countries in Europe, but I don't see it on the UK eShop).

Switch also doesn't have Wonder Boy in any region, that is the only Arcade Archives release that is exclusive to PS4 (and it's Japan only on PS4, released way back in 2014). The game is available on Switch and US PS4 through the Inin/Strictly Limited Wonder Boy Collection though.

Someone else would have to confirm any other PS4 lineup differences.

So the same nonsense behind everything that isn't Marvel Land. My friend suspects it has to do with that NHL Hockey Series that was put out here in the 2000s and honestly I could see it being a stupid trademark situation like that.

Does seem like trademark concerns could be a semi-reasonable explanation for some of these:
- Sony had the NHL Faceoff series in the 90s-00s, maybe it's that
- Disney (Marvel) in the case of Marvel Land
- Disney also released a 2016 movie called The Finest Hours
As for why Canada got a couple of those (Finest Hour and Face Off) but the US didn't, I wouldn't discount the idea that because there is a significantly lower chance of an IP lawsuit in Canada than in the US, maybe more risk tolerance too.

Jail Break (not available in the US on any platform, but available in Canada and Europe) feels like a different story to me though. Might be more of a content matter for that one due to higher sensitivity to police violence in the US in recent years. Wouldn't surprise me if that one was raised by the ESRB or something.

One thing I wonder about is whether these kinds of risks are flagged by Hamster themselves and they make the decision to skip publishing a weekly release, or maybe they get raised as an ESRB/PEGI issue during the approval process and Hamster just doesn't navigate the approval process very well outside of Japan.

At any rate, after a week goes by I assume the games aren't coming. We've had rare cases of delays though, Empire City showed up 1 week late on Switch after being MIA for March 24, 2022 release (which feels like that was just an eShop submission snafu that they resolved the following week). Sucks that Hamster gives zero communication about it these releases though - like others, I wish they'd just say it's not coming to a given region.

[AGermanArtist]

Games I'm aware of that didn't make it to UK PSN

Face Off
Marvel Land
Terra Force
Metro Cross
Mighty Guy
Finest Hour
Shadow Warriors/Ninja Gaiden
Wonder Boy
Rygar

[Samildanach]

Games I'm aware of that didn't make it to UK PSN

Face Off
Marvel Land
Terra Force
Metro Cross
Mighty Guy
Finest Hour
Shadow Warriors/Ninja Gaiden
Wonder Boy
Rygar

I haven't seen Omega Fighter on UK PSN either.

[AGermanArtist]

You are correct! Forgot about that. Got it on Switch.

[BJQ1972]

To add to the UK PSN list, on UK Nintendo eshop, I don't think

Scramble
Navarone
Space Cruiser

are available.

[AGermanArtist]

Space cruiser's there

[AGermanArtist]

Update

Games I'm aware of that didn't make it to UK PSN which may be available on UK eShop. Not inc ACA Nintendo obvs

Face Off
Marvel Land
Terra Force
Metro Cross
Mighty Guy
Finest Hour
Shadow Warriors/Ninja Gaiden
Wonder Boy
Rygar
Omega Fighter
Scramble
Navarone
Ninja Spirits
Kid Niki Radical Ninja

EDIT : Star Force

[BJQ1972]

Thanks for the lists. I've just bought 6 games from the JP eShop.

It was difficult to navigate the eShop due to being in Japanese, but the downloaded games are showing the English title on the icon, and the games/manuals etc. are all in English too.

[BrianC]

Rygar made it to US PSN but is behind in updates and doesn't have the Argos no Senshi version of the game or scanlines.

[hamfighterx]

So I actually spent some time with Face Off today (JPN Switch), since I pretty much play anything Hamster sticks on Arcade Archives, and... yeah, this is one of the least essential releases of the series.

EDIT: Retracing some control complaints, as I missed that you are intended to control two characters simultaneously with two sticks. Unless you pass one off to a second player (maybe Switch joycons). It feels bad.

Even sorting the control options a bit, it's still a very janky game. Lots of stop and start play (mostly stop) in between short bursts of action. Computer controller characters often just stand there. Then sometimes they decide to score on you almost at will, due to the controls being so floaty and unresponsive. It's hard to control your goalkeeper and skater when on the defensive. I managed to get used to things enough to win, but even then the herky jerky pacing really takes you out of any state of flow and kinda ruins the feeling of momentum.

The hockey rules are... odd. Looks like a typical NHL 3 period setup, but you actually face a different opponent in each "period" and it's game over (or continue/retry) if you lose a period. Win and go to 2nd period, and 3rd. You can choose a 5-on-5 game, or 3-on-3 (2 skaters + a goalie for each side). There are cheerleaders when a goal is scored.

I enjoy arcade style hockey, always liked stuff like NES Ice Hockey, Blades of Steel, the Genesis NHL games, Midway's NBA Jam-like Wayne Gretzky game. But oof, this one... not so hot. If they ever put the Hit the Ice (1990, Taito/Williams on Taito B system hardware) on AA, it's gonna be a stark difference to show an actual fun arcade hockey game.

[soupbones]

I'd really like an ACA Fast Lane.

I just picked up this PCB without knowing much of anything about the game…

This game is a true hidden gem - amazing to me that this doesn’t get mentioned when bringing up Konami classics. It’s easily one of their best from the late 80s.

[BrianC]

So I actually spent some time with Face Off today (JPN Switch), since I pretty much play anything Hamster sticks on Arcade Archives, and... yeah, this is one of the least essential releases of the series.

I am shocked that Hamster did not provide better control options, they're usually pretty thoughtful about such things. Default on Switch is that the ABXY buttons are used for movement, as is the right stick. Shot buttons on RT/LT. Basically this means it's very awkward to control your skater and hit the main action button, and will probably feel backwards to anyone used to your stick/d-pad on the left.

It's MUCH easier to play if you use left stick for controls, but that's not an available in-game option for the control configuration! Thankfully, Switch allows you to remap controls at the system level for most controllers (including Joycons, Pro Controller, Switch Lite) from the home menu (System Settings -> Controllers and Sensors -> Change Button Mapping) - so you can swap left stick for right stick there. Face Off feels SO much better that way, I was controlling with left analog and using AB for my shots and it became a lot more tolerable.

Even sorting the control options a bit, it's still a very janky game. Lots of stop and start play (mostly stop) in between short bursts of action. Computer controller characters often just stand there. Then sometimes they decide to score on you almost at will, due to the controls being so floaty and unresponsive. It's hard to control your goalkeeper and skater when on the defensive. I managed to get used to things enough to win, but even then the herky jerky pacing really takes you out of any state of flow and kinda ruins the feeling of momentum.

I tried it in Mame. It looks like you actually control two players at once, which is probably why one of the players on your team doesn't move (because you have to move him).

[hamfighterx]

Oh, I meant the opponents. They frequently just… stand there. Or back away for no reason after a face off.

But… yep, I think I failed to see you’re simultaneously controlling two skaters with two separate sticks. Ohhhhhh. It’s… pretty awkward! But retract some of my previous complaints about button mapping.

[AGermanArtist]

I'd really like an ACA Fast Lane.

I just picked up this PCB without knowing much of anything about the game…

This game is a true hidden gem - amazing to me that this doesn’t get mentioned when bringing up Konami classics. It’s easily one of their best from the late 80s.

I didn't immediately take to it. I found it impenetrable, but as my skills improved it gradually won me over. Now I love it.
Still having trouble with Konami's other 'revival' game from '87 - Battlantis which just destroys me every time, but it's me not the game.
Happy to see Fast Lane has another fan.

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Taito's Master of Weapon is this week's release!
https://www.gamer.ne.jp/news/202402140036/

[AGermanArtist]

Intrigued. Hadn't heard of this one.