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

[BareKnuckleRoo]

These do indeed look cool aesthetically, though I confess that seeing them played with infinite lives cheats does rather make it hard to get a feel for whether or not these are really playable... I'll have to check some of them out, thanks!

[Fingolfin]

These do indeed look cool aesthetically, though I confess that seeing them played with infinite lives cheats does rather make it hard to get a feel for whether or not these are really playable... I'll have to check some of them out, thanks!

Agreed!

Sorry about that — the infinite lives examples are crappy demonstrations for certain.

Whenever I try to quickly find arcade examples for conveying stuff that’s imo impressive or worth checking out, 90% of the time they’re being played with cheats. Boooo!

I do look for non cheat YouTube examples but often not easy to find with efficiency and efficacy using YouTube only as a quick source.

Please do your best to ignore the BS cheats — just trying to find a good quick sampling of play but again yeah the cheats are distracting.

If I had a decent means to capture I’d do it myself but alas no capture capabilities on this end!

Thanks much for considering BareKnuckleRoo!

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Having played the early version of Blaster and the production Blaster variant, they are quite challenging to progress far enough, especially when playing the higher levels with the asteroids and planets hurling towards you. I like playing Blaster on the Williams Collection 2 port for the PSX (but that particular console port of Blaster only allows you to play the shorter 20 level version and not the longer early 30 level version whatsoever -- they should've included both for completeness) -- it's a fun romp for ol' time's sake.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Fingolfin]

If you haven’t previously played these earlier arcade shooting games, and you’re so inclined and able to play them, I highly recommend

Star Castle by Cinematronics (1980)
https://youtu.be/htWIZRBb_Bs?si=nbfNDmkwgGFLkzqH

Omega Race by Midway (1980)
https://youtu.be/DqQ_VEZIxwo?si=DlgarEM6RdtW0aKb

Blaster by Eugene Jarvis @ Williams (1983)
https://youtu.be/dWuCN-quVAE?si=3iHDM5I5t0pz--J_

Space Dungeon by Taito (1981)
https://youtu.be/Pe4xaBSKiLI?si=HyNCVStUaLhzEau_

The first three all have interesting physics somewhat similar to the sense of gravity/acceleration physics conveyed by Lunar Lander; I’m aware of some folks here bringing up a strong dislike of floaty physics in STGs (with which I usually agree) so be advised. However vs STGs that are essentially “typical” hori, vertical or vertizontal these games implementation and use of physics/gravity is essential to the gameplay — again like Lunar Lander.

The third game is a) by Eugene Jarvis and b) a very unique game by any standards for 1983 in terms of POV and 2.5 3D…and it has those awesome bright colors that are a hallmark of Eugene Jarvis’s work.

Last one’s a mix of multidirectional, maze and twin stick shooter parts. Inspired by D&D and similar to another arcade game Venture.

All of these games take the preexisting Space Invaders/Galaxian and Asteroids model that existed in 1980 quite a bit further from what had come previously — all for the better for the early progression/development of arcade shooters.

Edits edits edits and still more edits

Back in the summer of 1983, I went down to my local 7-Eleven convienance store and saw that they had a brand new "early version" of Williams' Robotron 2085: Blaster sporting a 12" CRT arcade monitor setup and hosted in a converted Robotron 2084 cab with a brand new control panel made just for it. The actual back-lit arcade marquee said "Robotron 2085: Blaster" on it and did feature some the Robotron 2084 character sprites indeed -- this early version sported a whopping 30 levels to play through with the ability to continue if you wanted to see the further levels and eventual conclusion/ending (which meant spending some serious amount of quarters to reach the end). The early version of Blaster had the cool & iconic Robotron 2084 Grunts approaching you in FPV mode which was quite awesome for it's time. The overall upright Robotron 2085: Blaster cab sported a red-colored ball-topped 8-way joystick and a fire button + speed up button (was not a later released Duramold version cabinet of Blaster that was later released for the arcades in 1983) -- which l've only seen/played twice during that fine '83 summer day and never saw it again since then.

Eugene Jarvis has mentioned that his dad has an early version of Blaster arcade upright cab -- there are three versions of Blaster cabs in existence: the early production variant Robotron 2085: Blaster upright cab, the upright Duramold cab and the rarer deluxe sit-down environmental Blaster cab that Williams made for the arcades. It's not known how many of the early version Blaster cabs were manufactured by Williams before making the ultimate decision to go with producing the all-plastic Duramold cabs from that point on.

Considering that it was out on a "street location" meant that this ultra-rare "early version" non-Duramold Blaster cab was only available to play for a such a short amount of time -- snooze and you lose. Sure, I've played the later Duramold version Blaster cab at the past California Extreme shows which allowed you to play either the early version with 30 stages or the shorter trimmed-down regular production version with 20 stages -- the fast sprite scaling on a real Blaster pcb is still quite something to behold even to this very day.

The sprite scaling on this particular arcade game title was & is still is impressive for it's time considering that it's super silky-smooth. The actual arcade game pcb of Blaster uses a whopping 1MHz cpu for the overall custom-made sprite scaling engine which was considered "state-of-the-art" in the arcade game industry. Eugene Jarvis admits that it took thousands of hours to do the sprite scaling all done by hand and frame-by-frame when developing Blaster.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~ you are da man!
You have made my MONTH with this post: I am incredibly jealous you tried this prototype Blaster!!!

Personally, I will be reading/rereading and referring back to this post — for inspiration, etc — for quite some time.

All of your posts about your arcade experiences are invaluable and great for posterity.

You also help me feel less ancient.
So thank you!

And you — or we as a community — need to start documenting all of your vast first hand knowledge of arcade games!

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~ Encyclopediae Ludorum
(Not sure if my Latin’s proper there but going for encyclopedias of games)

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Sorry about that — the infinite lives examples are crappy demonstrations for certain.

Oh, no need to apologize, I don't blame you specifically. I know for less popular games, until they become better known it can be hard to find playthroughs that don't use cheats to showcase the game. Even afterwards, often times "longplays" using cheats filter their way to the top and you have to sift through them!

Space Dungeon in particular was one I'd heard of that was on my radar because of the name, similar to Halley's Comet which I'd had for a while before I gave it a proper go and fell in love, so I'll definitely get to Space Dungeon at some point too. Blaster looks visually cool but seems to be quite challenging!

[PC Engine Fan X!]

If you haven’t previously played these earlier arcade shooting games, and you’re so inclined and able to play them, I highly recommend

Star Castle by Cinematronics (1980)
https://youtu.be/htWIZRBb_Bs?si=nbfNDmkwgGFLkzqH

Omega Race by Midway (1980)
https://youtu.be/DqQ_VEZIxwo?si=DlgarEM6RdtW0aKb

Blaster by Eugene Jarvis @ Williams (1983)
https://youtu.be/dWuCN-quVAE?si=3iHDM5I5t0pz--J_

Space Dungeon by Taito (1981)
https://youtu.be/Pe4xaBSKiLI?si=HyNCVStUaLhzEau_

The first three all have interesting physics somewhat similar to the sense of gravity/acceleration physics conveyed by Lunar Lander; I’m aware of some folks here bringing up a strong dislike of floaty physics in STGs (with which I usually agree) so be advised. However vs STGs that are essentially “typical” hori, vertical or vertizontal these games implementation and use of physics/gravity is essential to the gameplay — again like Lunar Lander.

The third game is a) by Eugene Jarvis and b) a very unique game by any standards for 1983 in terms of POV and 2.5 3D…and it has those awesome bright colors that are a hallmark of Eugene Jarvis’s work.

Last one’s a mix of multidirectional, maze and twin stick shooter parts. Inspired by D&D and similar to another arcade game Venture.

All of these games take the preexisting Space Invaders/Galaxian and Asteroids model that existed in 1980 quite a bit further from what had come previously — all for the better for the early progression/development of arcade shooters.

Edits edits edits and still more edits

Back in the summer of 1983, I went down to my local 7-Eleven convienance store and saw that they had a brand new "early version" of Williams' Robotron 2085: Blaster sporting a 12" CRT arcade monitor setup and hosted in a converted Robotron 2084 cab with a brand new control panel made just for it. The actual back-lit arcade marquee said "Robotron 2085: Blaster" on it and did feature some the Robotron 2084 character sprites indeed -- this early version sported a whopping 30 levels to play through with the ability to continue if you wanted to see the further levels and eventual conclusion/ending (which meant spending some serious amount of quarters to reach the end). The early version of Blaster had the cool & iconic Robotron 2084 Grunts approaching you in FPV mode which was quite awesome for it's time. The overall upright Robotron 2085: Blaster cab sported a red-colored ball-topped 8-way joystick and a fire button + speed up button (was not a later released Duramold version cabinet of Blaster that was later released for the arcades in 1983) -- which l've only seen/played twice during that fine '83 summer day and never saw it again since then.

Eugene Jarvis has mentioned that his dad has an early version of Blaster arcade upright cab -- there are three versions of Blaster cabs in existence: the early production variant Robotron 2085: Blaster upright cab, the upright Duramold cab and the rarer deluxe sit-down environmental Blaster cab that Williams made for the arcades. It's not known how many of the early version Blaster cabs were manufactured by Williams before making the ultimate decision to go with producing the all-plastic Duramold cabs from that point on.

Considering that it was out on a "street location" meant that this ultra-rare "early version" non-Duramold Blaster cab was only available to play for a such a short amount of time -- snooze and you lose. Sure, I've played the later Duramold version Blaster cab at the past California Extreme shows which allowed you to play either the early version with 30 stages or the shorter trimmed-down regular production version with 20 stages -- the fast sprite scaling on a real Blaster pcb is still quite something to behold even to this very day.

The sprite scaling on this particular arcade game title was & is still is impressive for it's time considering that it's super silky-smooth. The actual arcade game pcb of Blaster uses a whopping 1MHz cpu for the overall custom-made sprite scaling engine which was considered "state-of-the-art" in the arcade game industry. Eugene Jarvis admits that it took thousands of hours to do the sprite scaling all done by hand and frame-by-frame when developing Blaster.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~ you are da man!
You have made my MONTH with this post: I am incredibly jealous you tried this prototype Blaster!!!

Personally, I will be reading/rereading and referring back to this post — for inspiration, etc — for quite some time.

All of your posts about your arcade experiences are invaluable and great for posterity.

You also help me feel less ancient.
So thank you!

And you — or we as a community — need to start documenting all of your vast first hand knowledge of arcade games!

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~ Encyclopediae Ludorum
(Not sure if my Latin’s proper there but going for encyclopedias of games)

For Fingolfin,

Thanks for the kind words. It was just a matter of being at the right place at the right time to experience this ultra-rare Blaster prototype cab out in the wilds of America back in the early 1980s. It was a during a time of the Golden Age of Arcades" that so many new arcade game titles were released on a weekly and monthly basis, there was always something new "just around the corner" and you just didn't know what to expect coming out of the arcade game industry with it's newest arcade game offerings. It seemed like that there was a new arcade game being showcased "front and center" at the local arcades just about every week/month. I'd see the older folks lining up the newest arcade game cab's marquee with their rows of quarters to take their place in line to try it out -- known as the fine art of "jamming" in classic 1980s arcade game lingo/jargon.

The cool thing about the local franchised Tilt! arcade joint in my hometown was, every year they'd price all the oldest & newest arcade games and pinball games around Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping season for sale -- so you could "dicker down a deal" with the local arcade game attendant/manager and take home your favorite arcade game/pinball game home as a super slick 'n' cool X-mas present for the entire family. How cool was that? Of course, the average price of a brand new arcade game cab with said included arcade game pcb was in the $3,000 usd range quite easily (which was typical back in the early 1980s). Those were the days of early 1980s arcade gaming lore.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[BrianC]

Interesting thing about Blaster is that it an Atari 800/5200 version was made first but left unreleased because Williams wanted their games to hit the Arcades first. I played the arcade Blaster at a museum exhibit showcasing rare games. Fun game. The 800/5200 version has been dumped and it's definitely work checking out, as well.

I played a bit of Tank Battalion. More primitive than its sequels, but I like it quite a bit, partly for that very reason. Also feels like a precursor to Dig Dug in some ways since you get extra points for shooting the tanks when they are facing you, ala Frygar.

[Fingolfin]

Interesting thing about Blaster is that it an Atari 800/5200 version was made first but left unreleased because Williams wanted their games to hit the Arcades first. I played the arcade Blaster at a museum exhibit showcasing rare games. Fun game. The 800/5200 version has been dumped and it's definitely work checking out, as well.

Thanks BrianC!

I know the Atari 400/800, etc (and 5200) version of Blaster well: it’s an amazing conversion/port from arcade (see PC Engine Fan’s detailed description of specialized hardware and painstaking details performed by Eugene Jarvis above). Plays really well and looks and sounds incredible for an 8 bit game — full use of voices and great use of Atari 8 bit graphics & sfx.

I won the Atari Age High Score Club HSC Blaster contest back in 2018 with a high score of 692,900. Very much laughing @myself there!
https://forums.atariage.com/topic/27824 ... ari-blast/

a bit off topic but here’s a link for info about the Atari 5200 Blaster prototype
http://www.atariprotos.com/5200/softwar ... laster.htm

The prototype was dumped as you stated and then converted from 5200 to Atari 8 bit computer (a simple procedure for knowledgeable programmers as I understand: many 5200 games have been similarly converted and a good # of Atari 8 bit games have been converted to play on 5200 as well).

[AGermanArtist]

Chef Fitarus doesn't like War of Aero omg loosen that hat and put the tea on son

I bought Galaga 88, Cosmo Gang - The Video and Super Cobra this week, since Tank Battalion wasn't doing it for me.

No Scramble? ACA site says yes.
http://www.hamster.co.jp/european_hamst ... e_list.htm

PSN says no.

[evil_ash_xero]

I just recently grabbed a handful of ACA Konami games. Contra, Super Contra, Sunset Riders, and Mystic Warriors.

I really enjoy Mystic Warriors, but good lord, the colors they chose for those characters make them look extra silly.
I always felt the Sunset Riders cowboys had some flamboyant coloring, but MW takes it to another level. NINJA!

[AGermanArtist]

I like Ninja Warriors and Sunset Riders a lot, but they do go on a bit.

[BJQ1972]

No Scramble? ACA site says yes.
http://www.hamster.co.jp/european_hamst ... e_list.htm

PSN says no.

Scramble is also not on the Switch EU eshop. No explanation why, as far as I know.

[AGermanArtist]

Aha! I have it on the Switch Konami Arcade collection.

[AGermanArtist]

lmao after all my complaining I got a clear on Scramble on my first go.
Anyone else notice the audio for the settings section of Konami's Arcade collection is the same as Arcade Archives?

[OldSkoolShmuper]

Please let there be a good game out this week.

[AGermanArtist]

This week - UPL's Mouser

https://www.famitsu.com/news/202403/13337194.html

[Sturmvogel Prime]

This week - UPL's Mouser

https://www.famitsu.com/news/202403/13337194.html

What a letdown.

On the bright side, Hamster's almost done with UPL's library. Only Acrobat Mission's left.

[AGermanArtist]

Haven't played it, but it's a step closer to getting something I want.

[BIL]

Always happy to see UPL. One of the three OG labels from ACA's launch a near-decade back, along with Tecmo and Nichibutsu. Not gonna lie, I'd punt them both in favour of Tecmo in a heartbeat, if forced to choose. Only Omega Fighter and Ninja-kun II would stay my shoe! But consistency is a hallmark of this series.

Omega Fighter and Ninja-kun II are clearly their masterpieces, actually I'd call the former a Top 5 1980s contender, easily. Its buzz scoring's largesse and finesse could've easily come from an STG a decade younger. But I'm very fond of the distinctive mad streak running through Mutant Night, Atomic Robo Kid, and Battleship Gomorrah, too. Big n' loud and aggressively weird hardcore STGs with surprisingly disciplined chasses. A bit of it persisted into Ark Area (a straitlaced topdown arena STG known for raising false broken PCB alarms with its jaw-clenching GRAFX), and Strahl (classically weapons-fixated early 90s STG with a line in FOOKIN MASSIVE LAZ0RS M8), too.

Looks very Mappy/Flicky; I'm guessing it's another workhorse affair ala XX Mission. They contributed a genuine original classic of 80s platforming just a year later, in Ninja-kun, and AFAIK this is the earliest game by them on ACA. While chasey stuff is rarely my cup of tea - I prefer murder - I'm interested to see a rookie effort from a dev that'd be synonymous with cheerful madcap by the decade's end. That fruit machine colour palette is definitely theirs.

[retrokid64]

This week - UPL's Mouser

https://www.famitsu.com/news/202403/13337194.html

What a letdown.

On the bright side, Hamster's almost done with UPL's library. Only Acrobat Mission's left.

What is Acrobat Mission? Never heard of that UPL title.

[Jonpachi]

This week - UPL's Mouser

https://www.famitsu.com/news/202403/13337194.html

What a letdown.

On the bright side, Hamster's almost done with UPL's library. Only Acrobat Mission's left.

What is Acrobat Mission? Never heard of that UPL title.

https://letmegooglethat.com/

[Jeneki]

Mouser doesn't look any worse than Kangaroo, which was enjoyable enough to learn a few loops. Also watching the mice run away and try to bait you into traps is kind of cute.

Edit: Thanks to this game I'm now aware that UPL stands for Universal PlayLand. My new thing learned for today.

[BIL]

I'm only familiar with Acrobat Mission's SFC port, which was handled by infamous shitbirds Micronics, who had gruelingly hauled themselves up from "Fuck off!" unplayability to "Christ, yeah alright, ok" mediocrity by FC Kyuukyoku Tiger. SFC Acrobat has two weapons, one of which is broken. This represents a 50% success rate, an unfathomable standard for Micronics

[hamfighterx]

Mouser doesn't look any worse than Kangaroo, which was enjoyable enough to learn a few loops. Also watching the mice run away and try to bait you into traps is kind of cute.

I had never heard of Mouser before today, but I upon looking at it I immediately thought of Kangaroo (a game I've always loved, but there's some real nostalgia value there for me since I liked it in arcades as a kid). IDK, I'm kind of into this, it does look cute.

A slight tangent...
For those who enjoy these kinds of single screen platformers in the vein of Donkey Kong, DK Jr., Burgertime, etc. - if you've overlooked Donut Dodo you really should check it out. Released in 2022 as a throwback to those kinds of games, and the level design, music, and hectic speed are just great. You'll get some stages that feel like Burgertime, some with ropes to climb and DK Jr. climbing mechanics. Interesting scoring system where you need to collect all items to clear a stage, but the game randomly assigns one active "bonus" item to collect, so if playing for score you want to grab that one to build up a chain/multiplier (as opposed to grabbing all of the items to simply clear the level).

Switch port is excellent, I fire it up all the time for a quick hit of pure arcade scoring goodness. I assume Steam release is probably equally good. Also made it to the arcade on eXa-Arcadia (the main exclusive is a different character), I tried that once and enjoyed. It's getting a European physical release next month too via Pix'n Love.

[AGermanArtist]

Another here for Donut Dodo. Its often on sale for peanuts, too.

[Jonpachi]

It doesn't belong in this thread, but I just recently discovered Dead End City, and it's been my jam for the last couple of weeks.

The game is essentially a mix of Galaga/Gaplus and Gun.Smoke, with a unique healthbar/fuel mechanic that fits perfectly into its Mad Max aesthetic. It wants very much to look and feel like an early Capcom arcade title, and even sticks to a single coin ethos (die and you'll see the title screen with no option to buy-on). Graphics and audio are pure Gun.Smoke, though firmly planted in that Frank Miller dystopian universe, with a ripping soundtrack (Train Base ftw) that I would buy as a stand-alone if it existed.

Unlike those inspirations, it's quite approachable on its Normal difficulty, and you'll likely pick up the 1CC within a couple days of messing with it, largely due to the aforementioned fuel mechanic. The game doesn't have lives, and instead bakes them all into what looks at first like a simple health-bar. The bar decays over time as you "burn fuel" and you must keep collecting red gas barrels to fill it back up. That sounds insidious, but it drains very slowly, and in the 10 or so hours I've put into it I've never once died because I ran out of gas. Rather, when you collect enough gas to go over the max of your bar, something the game calls "Top Up" you enter a flaming state ala NBA Jam, in which your main shot is powered-up. At first you'll be laughing about how generous the game is with the fuel, and how easy that makes the game, until you start trying to earn the end-stage bonuses for killing every single enemy.

The game is broken up into themed worlds, like Desert, Mountains, Caves, etc. Each world has you play 7 levels of Galaga-style action, with enemies entering the screen in swooping formations, only to then take up a station at the top of the screen. Just like the Bonus Stages from that game, many enemies will enter, do a loop-de-loop, and then zoom back off screen never to be seen again. When playing for score, the fuel is not something you look to for health, but rather to continue your "Top Up" state, which is absolutely vital in your bid to destroy every enemy in every stage before they can escape. Pass the Galaga stages, and you'll enter a "Base" level that plays out like Gun.Smoke, with your car rolling through an enemy encampment with pre-placed foes and environmental obstacles to deal with before moving on to a final Boss level.

It's not a perfect game, but the look and feel are spot-on for what they wanted to achieve, and it fits firmly into what I call a "Sunday Shmup", something you can pick up on a Friday, get the 1CC before the weekend is over, and then start working on your scoring runs afterward. A solid 7/10 and a great first effort.

[Sumez]

It doesn't belong in this thread, but I just recently discovered Dead End City

viewtopic.php?t=70671

[Jonpachi]

Yes, I know there's a dedicated thread, I just wanted to give a shout to this game to lovers of classic arcade titles, as it might easily be overlooked.

[Sima Tuna]

Mouser doesn't look any worse than Kangaroo, which was enjoyable enough to learn a few loops. Also watching the mice run away and try to bait you into traps is kind of cute.

I had never heard of Mouser before today, but I upon looking at it I immediately thought of Kangaroo (a game I've always loved, but there's some real nostalgia value there for me since I liked it in arcades as a kid). IDK, I'm kind of into this, it does look cute.

A slight tangent...
For those who enjoy these kinds of single screen platformers in the vein of Donkey Kong, DK Jr., Burgertime, etc. - if you've overlooked Donut Dodo you really should check it out. Released in 2022 as a throwback to those kinds of games, and the level design, music, and hectic speed are just great. You'll get some stages that feel like Burgertime, some with ropes to climb and DK Jr. climbing mechanics. Interesting scoring system where you need to collect all items to clear a stage, but the game randomly assigns one active "bonus" item to collect, so if playing for score you want to grab that one to build up a chain/multiplier (as opposed to grabbing all of the items to simply clear the level).

Switch port is excellent, I fire it up all the time for a quick hit of pure arcade scoring goodness. I assume Steam release is probably equally good. Also made it to the arcade on eXa-Arcadia (the main exclusive is a different character), I tried that once and enjoyed. It's getting a European physical release next month too via Pix'n Love.

I was trying to find it, but there's some other single-screen platformer about a girl dodging snakes that's very Donkey Kong inspired. It came out pretty recently. Maybe somebody else on this forum knows the name. Google failed me and so did Steam. I'm sure I can find it on the switch eshop eventually.

I'm probably alone in not particularly liking regular Burgertime, but loving Super Burgertime. I think Super evolved the formula in some cool ways.

[Ice Beam]

I was trying to find it, but there's some other single-screen platformer about a girl dodging snakes that's very Donkey Kong inspired. It came out pretty recently. Maybe somebody else on this forum knows the name. Google failed me and so did Steam. I'm sure I can find it on the switch eshop eventually.

I'm probably alone in not particularly liking regular Burgertime, but loving Super Burgertime. I think Super evolved the formula in some cool ways.

Annalynn. The screen scrolls, though. It plays like a Pac-Man/DK Jr. mix.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1508460/Annalynn/