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

[OldSkoolShmuper]

Please please please be Rave Racer tomorrow

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Please please please be Rave Racer tomorrow

Looks like we're not gonna have a Namco game this week.

SNK's Bermuda Triangle is this week's title.
https://www.famitsu.com/article/202512/59565

[OldSkoolShmuper]

Please please please be Rave Racer tomorrow

Looks like we're not gonna have a Namco game this week.

SNK's Bermuda Triangle is this week's title.
https://www.famitsu.com/article/202512/59565

Agh, alright...

That still leaves three more chances for Namco''s Rave Racer in 2025 and 30 years after that game's release in 1995.

[BIL]

Oh hell yeah. Ala Chopper 1 aka KOUKUU KIHEI MONOGATARI, another SNK40th refugee safely billeted. Roll on GENSHITOU 1930s, the SNK-made IREMesque nobody talks about. (I suppose Last Resort and Pulstar are more "SNK-published," but yes. harumph!)

Ham-Chan pricktease game being brutal as ever, it's also another tortuous crank nearer to mahfuckin SEARCH AND RESCUE. Those bastards, they're saving it for last, I just know it. Was an entire god-damn year between Ikari III (meh) and SHIN IKARI III aka Guevara (AWW YEEAAAA) lmao.

SNK must've harboured at least one metalhead around then. Bookended by the classically stone-faced martialesques of Ikari and Guevara, Dogosoken has some biblically balls-hard combat rock.

> Cruel Killers (power chord barrage reminds me of Bloody Wolf's opening motorcycle rampage - also, one for the Evocative VGM Titles thread!)
> Run To The Field (fiery! IKARI, even! traversing the hellish battlefield, cutting down fiends left and right! )
> Count Down (the only stage BGM used twice, in succession at that; classy mid-tempo for the tough final stretch)

And some of Genshitou recalls Venom n' Frost. Balls to the wall at full throttle! Did you know that's redundant? "Balls to the wall" just means the throttle lever (and its big pair of balls!) is hitting the far end of its enclosure.

[TransatlanticFoe]

Sounds like some Taito will be coming:

https://www.timeextension.com/news/2025 ... the-corner

I don't think there's enough sat idle in Arcade Archives already to warrant another collection. Chase HQ and Gekirindan finally??

[Sima Tuna]

Give me ACA Elevator Action Returns you goddamn bastards.

[ExitPlanetDust]

Give me ACA Elevator Action Returns you goddamn bastards.

This right here!

[SavagePencil]

I'm anticipating it largely being focused on Vol 4 of the Egret Mini II release.

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Konami's Roc'n Rope is this week's title. Looks like we're having a "No-Namco" month by far.
https://www.famitsu.com/article/202512/60207

So, with two weeks before 2025 ends, my best guess is that we will have a surprise game and then Taito. ¿Could this mean Raiden II or Shienryu?

[hamfighterx]

Willing to bet the December 25 game is a notable one!

[Jeneki]

Roc'n Rope is an ok pick. I tried a bit of it last year at a local arcade, I remember aiming the rope throw felt like "guess and check and then memorize the throw that worked". Once I got that part down I could get through a few levels fairly consistently.

[Jucksalbe]

Ah, nice. First game in a while I'll buy immediately. I love these Donkey Kong style platformers (does this "genre" have a name?). Pandora's Palace next, please.

[AGermanArtist]

One Konami closer to the good stuff.

[hamfighterx]

Taito Milestones 4 details announced via Famitsu. Switch Japanese release is March 26, 2026. https://www.famitsu.com/article/202512/60292

7 of the 10 games are already out on AkeAke:
Bonze Adventure
Don Doko Don
Field Day
Kuri Kinton
Ninja Kids
Typhoon Gal
Water Ski

And 3 new ones that are presumably coming soonish to AA:
Arkanoid
Cameltry
Sylvalion

Those three all have USB mouse support. Worth noting that all three are also on the Egret II Mini trackball/spinner controller pack, and the controller is excellent so for my money that’s the best way to play them aside from the actual arcade cabinets.

[BIL]

Ah nice! Wanted to revisit Roc n' Rope ever since learning it's an early, pre-Capcom Tokuro Fujiwara work, like Pooyan. Always liked it BITD on the PS1 arcade compilation, but didn't really have a full appreciation of that era at the time. Shao-Lin's Road was another of those, now I think back a couple years. Good caravan game.

Cameltry with mouse support is great to see, too! That'll go well with the SFC port. Haven't played the AC one more than a few credits. I've been curious about giving Syvalion another look too - albeit ala Roc n' Rope, owing mainly to its authorship. Had a great time with ACA Volfied, another Fukio Mitsuji work.

Still though I'm mostly waiting on Genshitou 1930s and most of all mahfuckin Search And Rescue

[Atariboy]

Roc'n Rope is a great one. I spent many hours on it on the PS1 and DS collections.

It's such a staple that I had forgotten it had yet to receive an Arcade Archives release until this announcement. There can't be much left from those collections (or Game Room, where I believe it also saw a release iirc) that has yet to see the Arcade Archives treatment.

[hamfighterx]

Roc'n Rope is a great one. I spent many hours on it on the PS1 and DS collections.

It's such a staple that I had forgotten it had yet to receive an Arcade Archives release until this announcement. There can't be much left from those collections (or Game Room, where I believe it also saw a release iirc) that has yet to see the Arcade Archives treatment.

Oh, good call. Roc'n Rope is indeed the final Arcade Archives release to get to 100% of the 15 games on the DS collection. The PS1 collection still has Gyruss out there as the final omission. I'm a little surprised that's the last one, TBH!

DS collection has: Circus Charlie, Contra, Gradius, Pooyan, Road Fighter, Roc'n Rope, Rush'n Attack, Scramble, Shao-Lin's Road, Super Basketball, Time Pilot, Track and Field, Tutankham, TwinBee, and Yie Ar Kung-Fu.

PS1 collection has 10 games, 8 of which also appeared on the DS one (the two bolded ones did not): Circus Charlie, Gyruss, Pooyan, Road Fighter, Roc'n Rope, Scramble, Shao-Lin's Road, Super Cobra, Time Pilot, and Yie Ar Kung-Fu.

Willing to bet the December 25 game is a notable one!

Hamster has confirmed on their latest stream that the 12/25 one is a special release, and they're having a contest (via email) for picking the game in advance of its reveal to happen on this upcoming week's stream.

We had a rare non-Taito month in November, which gives me a litttttle bit of suspicion that maybe, just maybe, it's time for Taito F3 on Arcade Archives! I'd guess Darius Gaiden as the first F3 release, but sure would be thrilled to see the likes of Elevator Action Returns, Gekrindan, Bubble Symphony...

Or, of course, no Namco yet this month and that seems inevitable. Tekken? Starblade? Rave Racer?

But my heart really wants... Banpresto/Gazelle's Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon.

[Jonpachi]

They need a big cross-demo game for Christmas, so I doubt a shmup. I would put money on Rave Racer or Tekken.

[Steven]

Watch it be some kusoge like Knuckle Bash lol

[hamfighterx]

I mean, even if it was something like Knuckle Bash... a new significant new developer added to the Arcade Archives mix would be a pretty big deal worthy of the special release slot.

But if we were thinking new developers, I'd get crazy and hope for Sega

[AGermanArtist]

Gradius IV

[Sumez]

Gradius IV

??
Is this a wish, or did you hear something?

[AGermanArtist]

Just a wish.

They need a big cross-demo game for Christmas, so I doubt a shmup. I would put money on Rave Racer or Tekken.

Gradius III Dec 24th 2020

[Steven]

I mean, even if it was something like Knuckle Bash... a new significant new developer added to the Arcade Archives mix would be a pretty big deal worthy of the special release slot.

But if we were thinking new developers, I'd get crazy and hope for Sega

True enough! Sega is actually my #1 wish for devs not already on ACA. Sega has too much great stuff languishing in nothingness instead of being rereleased. In some cases they'd have to do some licensing, like Out Run and After Burner, but damn if I wouldn't love to see those.

As for my overall #1 wish for ACA, yeah, it's R-Type I/II/Leo. I think they would have done those a long time ago before they stopped releasing Irem games, but that doesn't stop me from wanting them.

[Sima Tuna]

My ACA wish is Undercover Cops. Rave Racer would also be acceptable.

[Steven]

More Irem in general would be great. Sega had Sega Ages, but of course nobody bought those and it got cancelled. Sega Ages Fantasy Zone is the closest thing there is to M2 ShotTriggers Fantasy Zone, especially since M2 did it, so it's really too bad they didn't keep doing them, or put them on anything other than the damn Switch.

Well, there is an actual M2 ShotTriggers Fantasy Zone... for MD Mini 2 and nothing else lol.

[Sima Tuna]

At least Sega Ages gave us Phantasy Star 1, which I will forever be grateful for. Roughly equivalent to getting an M2 port of Dragon Quest 1 or Wizardry 1 or some other similarly important early rpg.

[AGermanArtist]

I was really hoping for some Sega deep cuts from M2 like Bank Panic and Flash Gal, but alas...

[hamfighterx]

They need a big cross-demo game for Christmas, so I doubt a shmup. I would put money on Rave Racer or Tekken.

Gradius III Dec 24th 2020

See also:
Super Spacefortress Macross - Dec 26th 2024
Xexex - Dec 23rd 2021

They kinda do have a history of viewing notable shmups as "special" enough to warrant the holiday release slot, it has happened in 3 of the last 5 years.

Re: Rave Racer, that would certainly qualify as a big name Namco title. But I wonder if they'll release that before Ridge Racer 2, or go in order.

Air Gallet is another one that would be amazing, and the Banpresto-published Macross games and Mazinger Z being on AA gives me some hope.

[OldSkoolShmuper]

Rave Racer is at the very top of the list for me.

R-Type I, II and Leo are high up on the list.

Undercover Cops would be cool too.

Sega stuff would be amazing. As already mentioned, they have tons of games never released at home, or not ported to arcade perfection.

Shadow Dancer, Super Monaco GP, After Burner II, Galaxy Force II, the list is massive.

Anyway, hope we get something awesome this week and next week, like Rave Racer and Raiden II.