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

[BIL]

Spent some time with Big Fighter and it seems quite broken. Level 3 is littered with tedious point milking spots that really drag the pacing down. Luckily they all seem to time out, but there’s really no incentive to NOT just stop and camp above each spawner on the big battleship, with each taking about a solid minute to finally self-destruct and force you onward. Can’t see myself coming back to this one as it’s too flawed and boring to waste time on.

list of champion 80/90s STGs with KANASHIMI ez milks is bigger than my famously beefy pen0r tbh That's what Caravan is for! Unless that's fucked too, oh well

Was checking out some Caravan leaderboards recently and saw old Friend Of Shumps Sikraiken has the #1 on Daioh and Bosconian. Always nice to see familiar faces out there. Also reminded of ACA Image Fight's Penalty Caravan (with autofire/non-autofire divisions, even... although I wonder if it would detect external auto? ah, whatever... could verify with a replay easily enough) That one might be a fun mini-project.

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Looks like Hamster gave a brief explanation about why the PS4 port of Tatakae! Big Fighter's not available yet.

PS4版は土曜日のお昼配信予定！ぜひお楽しみください！
"The PS4 version will be released on Saturday afternoon! Please enjoy!"

[BEAMLORD]

Looks like Hamster gave a brief explanation about why the PS4 port of Tatakae! Big Fighter's not available yet.

PS4版は土曜日のお昼配信予定！ぜひお楽しみください！
"The PS4 version will be released on Saturday afternoon! Please enjoy!"

Ah, that's a reasonably quick update for Hamster, much appreciated. What's another 24 hours, eh?

[valziman]

I loved Gangbusters when I played it and intended to give it lots of my time eventually. Can someone educate me about aim lag? What the heck is aim lag?

[BIL]

Basically, your shot trajectory lags behind your character's visible sprite. It's common in 80s run/guns with 16-way aiming; most famously arcade Contra and Super Contra. An interesting example is IREM's Saigo no Nindou, which features both 8-way and 16-way shots.

Grenades / 8-way Shot: Defending this tree is a snap! (｀w´メ)

Shuriken / 16-way Shot: Expert handling required to avoid a complimentary hardwood enema! (◎w◎;)

Meanwhile, Saigo's M72 stablemate, 1988 contemporary, and fellow ACA luminary IMAGEFIGHT interestingly has lagless 16-way aiming on its Red gunpods. Which kinda annoys me tbh, wish other games had followed suit!



I like Gang Busters too, honestly. The full, four-stage Jailhouse Rock is an infernally tempting stunt. And I absolutely love both arcade Contras; got particularly hard-won Japan 2ALL & US VHARD No Misses. Ultimately, these games have to be played on their own terms... you have to work with the aim, rather than fight against it. Given how many high-profile examples there are, I've come to regard it as a legitimate ethos that had its day, as opposed to merely faulty design that was eventually outgrown.

[Ms. Tea]

Like Sky Kid, Rompers and Jackal, Tatakae! Big Fighter is unavailable in Mexico.
Does Canada is having the same problem too?

It's out in Canada, at least on Switch - maybe just Mexico this time? Weird.

[Steven]

Out Zone has two different 16-way shots as well, although in that case you can abuse the 16-wayness to do massive damage by holding your shot button and moving the lever because it shoots every time you change direction. Highly recommended with Super Burner to destroy most bosses before they can do very much.

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Like Sky Kid, Rompers and Jackal, Tatakae! Big Fighter is unavailable in Mexico.
Does Canada is having the same problem too?

It's out in Canada, at least on Switch - maybe just Mexico this time? Weird.

Good news for shmuppers in Mexico. Big Fighter's now available.

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Just when the expected result was Taito, Hamster throws a curve ball, breaking the pattern.

Tehkan's Pinball Action is this week's title.
https://www.famitsu.com/article/202504/40522

[Daytime Waitress]

Not too keen on the main table's music; but one of my favourite things about digital pinball is when devs indulge that capacity to switch between table layouts completely - the sort of stuff you can't do with a physical table.
So to see something - from 1985, no less - that just says, "fuck it, you hit enough pop-ups, have a completely new layout" is really up my alley.
Anyone know how smooth it plays?

[Jonpachi]

From GameFAQs: “Pinball Action has a strange control scheme. You use the left and right on the joystick to work the flippers, which means you can't hit both of them at the same time.”

I’m going to bet Hamster will give us the ability to map them separately.

[Jeneki]

Be nice to the redhead on the playfield, in a few years she'll grow into Diamond Lady pinball.

[NYN]

Anyone know how smooth it plays?

What's the standard to measure to?

I play it on TECM0 ARCADE CLASSICS for Xbox , will get HAM AA definitely. Ball plays smooth, confirm. BMG only beeps. Table variants satisfying. No shooter lane. For a '85 game I find it to be solid fun.

[Daytime Waitress]

Anyone know how smooth it plays?

What's the standard to measure to?

Let's go with Jaki Crush?
(I personally prefer the movement in Revenge of the Gator and especially Kirby's Pinball Land, but I feel like they're less well known points of comparison.)

[dmk1198]

Hamster now doing arcade 3d games with ridge racer on switch 2

What 3d arcade shmups would peeps like to see?

[Sima Tuna]

All of the Sega racing games.

Any 3d rail shooters from arcades.

Virtua Fighter and all other 3d arcade fighting games.

Spikeout.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Just when the expected result was Taito, Hamster throws a curve ball, breaking the pattern.

Tehkan's Pinball Action is this week's title.
https://www.famitsu.com/article/202504/40522

Not to mention Tecmo's sequel follow-up with the "Super Pinball Action" jamma pcb release delving into a more risque affair with it's adult content mixed in with some new pinball tables to try your hand at. There's no way to disable (even if you wanted to) the softcore "stripper" portion as it's ingrained into the gameplay itself -- am not sure why Tecmo took such a super-relaxed attitude/stance in going that particular route/avenue the second time around. It is what it is, especially within the already tiny established arcade-based digital pinball genre -- it certainly is something different for a change of pace, indeed.

I seriously doubt it if Hamster would release Super Pinball Action uncensored and unedited as part of it's current ACA lineup nowadays given it's well-known subject matter.

Heck, would Hamster go as far to release even Sammy's "Sexy Reaction Pachinko" and it's proper sequel of "Sexy Reaction Pachinko 2" on it's ACA collection (which really pushes the envelope within the arcade-based digital pachinko genre)?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[BIL]

Only a casual but fond fan of video pins here. However Tecmo's 80s/early 90s AC division are kings and always warrant attention, will have to give this a look. Just got home and fired up BIGGU FIGHTA, it owns. Nichi went out on a triumphant high note. Well not "went out" I mean went on an eroge panty raid but you know.



Lookin so rad together. Used to be MUH DREAM to see random - but lovingly accurate! - double packs of 80s goodies great n' small back on PS1/SS. GE-SEN THE BEST BIG BOUNS SELECTION, you know. Beyond the Namco Museums and Capcom Generations and Konami Deluxe Packs, further to Shooting Battle Volume 2.

Pardon me showing my pinball noobness, but I wonder if that table inspired Devil Crash's? Can't look at it without thinking of RED's icon. Needs more topless demon metal girls for 1:1 though. Or does it have them?

Hamster now doing arcade 3d games with ridge racer on switch 2

What 3d arcade shmups would peeps like to see?

Faint hopes of a big G-NET run, given Taito and Success's shared strong standing with Hamster. Psyvariar MU, Psyvariar Revision, the badass 3D run/gun Chaos Heat, the super-cool racer RC De Go... surely more I'm forgetting. At a stretch, Night Raid and Shikigami and XII Stag. (no relevant parties for those three currently licensed, ofc, but Hamster devise - and accomplish - the maddest of fucks like ordering breakfast )

While not 3D, I wonder if the added oomph might put STV within reach of ACA standards. Needless to say, Cotton 2, Cotton Boomerang, and Guardian Force would be shoe-ins. But I would hate to see either Hamster or M2 compromise there, leave that to the chumps. The Saturn ports are fine, and natively laggy enough as-is. Now emulations with lower latency, that'd be something. Anyway yeah, conditional AF.

From Namco, Xevious 3D+G, the Air Combat duo, and especially StarBlade. All of these games have decent-to-good-to-great PS1/PS2 ports, aside from Air Combat IIRC. But so do plenty of essential classics I enjoy having diehard 1:1 references of on ACA too.

Would be down for anything they reprise of M2's Taito works, too. ala Super Contra, it's always a pleasure seeing respective masters at work.

TBH though I'm waiting to see how ACA2 RR comes out. I've no doubt its performance and accuracy will be their usual bullseye, it's actually the OST I wonder about. "Ridge Racer" sounds pristine in the demo video, but the others have some extensive virtuoso sampling going on courtesy of MEGATEN and AYA and SANODG aka mahfuckin SAMPLINGMASTERS. I'm hoping Rare Hero and Feeling Over and SPEEDSTER and DRIVE U 2 DANCING make it through ok. Been enjoying Ridge Racers 2's PS5 port over the last week or so; it's a killer anthology WRT tracks, but the BGM is weaksauce regarding the OG quartet of Ridge/Revo/Rave/Rage. "Rareheroes" lacks the eponymous iconic Rakim sample, Feeling Over is AWOL, and Speedster lost its VIVA sample. Rage Racer's title remix seems to have specifically nixed its samples, and R4 dwarfs the overall number of picks.

I could be completely wrong here, and it was just their song selection + remix style. R4 is a classic OST, albeit not representative of the earlier games. I'm hoping it's just paranoia on my part, I've wanted a definitive home RR1 since the OG PS1 disc. Dammit, I wonder if Hosoe talked about this at all on his recent Archiver appearance(s).

Just when the expected result was Taito, Hamster throws a curve ball, breaking the pattern.

Tehkan's Pinball Action is this week's title.
https://www.famitsu.com/article/202504/40522

Not to mention Tecmo's sequel follow-up with the "Super Pinball Action" jamma pcb release delving into a more risque affair with it's adult content mixed in with some new pinball tables to try your hand at. There's no way to disable (even if you wanted to) the softcore "stripper" portion as it's ingrained into the gameplay itself -- am not sure why Tecmo took such a super-relaxed attitude/stance in going that particular route/avenue the second time around. It is what it is, especially within the already tiny established arcade-based digital pinball genre -- it certainly is something different for a change of pace, indeed.

I seriously doubt it if Hamster would release Super Pinball Action uncensored and unedited as part of it's current ACA lineup nowadays given it's well-known subject matter.

Ahahaha, I'd no idea about its X-TRA naughty sequel PCEFX! Perhaps a sneaky connection with Pantybutsu from Ham-chans there!

I'm sure it plays great, knowing how Tecmo's formidable expertise seemed to only increase through the decade into the early 90s. Would surely be a test of CERO prowess though. Maybe it's time for ACA ZERO, so they can get those Nichi stripteases out too! Those Saturn Yellow Label dudes would go ham I'm sure

[Daytime Waitress]

This is pretty delightful so far.

The movement is definitely smooth, though overall it's got kind of a slower, more thoughtful pace, and there are definitely some quirks in the handling.
Little things like how, when the ball is coming toward the flippers from one of the inner lanes, propping the flippers up will basically stop it dead: super for control, but can make it hard to intuit how to keep momentum going.
Nudging also feels almost non-existent, so knocking the ball out of an endless bumper cycle feels like a crapshoot (not unrealistic by any means); and knocking it away from the hungry hungry right-hand outlane on the main table feels like... a situation you've got to work towards not putting yourself in the first place

Haven't spent much time with it at all, but the main table has a decent layout with more to do than I was expecting: aim for the colour-coded pop-ups to open their respective tables; collect accumulated bonuses by aiming for a separate hole; or advance the bonus by hitting all the rollovers. The spinner placement is a bit finnicky, but none of the shots to table warps are too onerous; plus you get a lovely consolation for each bonus in the chamber, rather than forfeiting it when you drain - not as cash money as collecting, but it takes the sting out of it a little. Similarly, when you drain, warps stay open - it just feels like a really generous set of mechanics that, whilst simple, wants you to succeed.

The tunes also compliment the action, for mine. I had expressed hesitation about the main table theme, but the meditative pace of the game combined with that rhythmic, throbbing beat creates a vibe that helps you zone in.
The high score table having separate themes for regular and #1 positions is just darling.

And on top of all that, HamHam are spoiling us by adding a counter to the leaderboards that shows how many times each of the coloured tables were visited (cleared?).

Gorgeous little package that may yet prove to be a bit simplistic in the long run, but absolutely makes a solid first impression.

[BIL]

Ta for review DW! Was gonna give it a test run on account of my casual pindom, but I'll happily snap it up now. Quite the august STG-luminary roster of video pin dudes, now I think about it. Besides Tecmo, there's Tecno Soft (Kyuutenkai), Compile (Alien Crush ), RED (Devil Crash), Tecno Soft (DCMD), Natsume (Gator's Revenge), and ofc the Solar Striker guys themselves. Wouldn't be surprised if I've forgotten something obvious there too. Figures really, pins being every bit as arcade elemental as STGs.

With a few Japanese commenters mentioning its troubled release, I almost wonder if Big Fighter really is Nichi's; the pacing, a minor longtime achilles of theirs imo, is wickedly good in the early going. Stuff like MagMax and Mighty Guy and Armed F, they keep me nice and busy, but there's a certain sense of holding pattern. This is 110% METAL ASSAULT OPERATIONS worthy of the HENTAI COLONEL CHACK JOHNSTON he very self

That said, I was so tired last night I still fell asleep at the damn controller. Must return. The super-aggressive transform attack is hawt Strafe a line of chumps, HENSHIN to fry the would-be reprisal, then unload your Greyhound-sized assault rifle square into the hard target they were guarding. KEEP TEH CHANGE YOU FILTHY ANIMALS First stage plays militant as all hell, demolishing those incoming troops and the platforms they rode in on. That boss design is fuckin balls to the wall too, best believe Dick Stock operatives aware.

OTOH, maybe they were just hyped up. Perhaps those broads they digitised for the naughty table games pepped up the office spirit! They were determined to SHOOT LIKE LIGHTNING.WAV to impress those fine young Bubble Era slappers! You are now picturing industrious young TARO-KUN doing his best TRAVOLTAGE atop his desk before his boss stodgy old YAMAMURA-DONO runs in and yelps "FUCKING WHAT YOU SINK YOU DOING TARO-KUN!" as the girls steal his toupee!



Wait, is top-right doing the International Small PP gesture?!
And her buddy down below's telling em to take a hike! >83
MAJUU ONNA (■｀w´■) (｀w´メ) (*'ω' *)
Where's me coins (⌐■w■)

Made it to st2 and as mentioned was discovered unresponsive at the controls, that's how I wanna go for real. No time to die just yet though you fuckin lousy robo pricks

Shame we missed the early caravan on PS side, seems perfect for it. But as always, the challenge is eternal! I still have to knuckle down for that 1mil in Front Line 2.

EDIT: ahh, god fuckin damn I think they actually delayed the Caravan for the PS side? KUROBUTA-sama just upped his best run. That's wonderful if so. Serves me right for doubting them! Diehard arcade gaming STILL maintaining busy schedule in AD202XX!

[Sturmvogel Prime]

It was imminent.

It had to happen. Back to favoritism. Namco Month is back.
https://www.timeextension.com/news/2025 ... ch-and-ps4

Can't they dedicate a month to some one else? I mean a Taito Month or a Konami Month would be well appreciated.

Anyway, my expectations are NebulasRay, Galaga Arrangement and Pac-Man Arrangement.

[BEAMLORD]

It was imminent.

It had to happen. Back to favoritism. Namco Month is back.
https://www.timeextension.com/news/2025 ... ch-and-ps4

Can't they dedicate a month to some one else? I mean a Taito Month or a Konami Month would be well appreciated.

Anyway, my expectations are NebulasRay, Galaga Arrangement and Pac-Man Arrangement.

Ah, Ham-Chan are offering a souvenir to successful guessors of the prospective titles? Very nice. I wonder what it could be? I could use some Namco branded binoculars! I don't use social media, but good luck to any contenders

[BIL]

MANCO BURB FLIES AGAIN (◎w◎;)



NOW, FROM THE MAKERS OF MANCO BURB COMES...
MANCO CAR (■｀w´■) (｀w´メ)



IT'S MANCO CAR VS MANCO BURB!!! (*'ω' *)



What is it we want of the Manco Car you ask? Fuck kinda question is that motherfucker >83

GET DOWN ERREHBODEH (つ✧ω✧)つ

GIVE IT 2 ME BABEHHH Round this time last year was F/A, I got a good feelin.

[Jucksalbe]

Kinda funny that the next game after the Namco month will be a Namco game.

[BIL]

The torture never stops. MANCO FAVOURITISM™ has the entire SHUMPING COMMUNITY hanging by its balls

It's a shame - to think they might've done ACA Viper Phase 1 or ACA Macross 2 instead. 3;

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Kinda funny that the next game after the Namco month will be a Namco game.

I also notice that, and what a coincidence they delayed their month from April to May to match Arcade Archives 2: Ridge Racer.
Hamster already gave three hints about the releases.
1.- Super difficulty
2.- First port to home console
3.- Sports

[Daytime Waitress]

From GameFAQs: “Pinball Action has a strange control scheme. You use the left and right on the joystick to work the flippers, which means you can't hit both of them at the same time.”

I’m going to bet Hamster will give us the ability to map them separately.

Yeah, that's on by default: on Swatch it's Left/Y and Right/A.

[velo]

What 3d arcade shmups would peeps like to see?

Starblade!

Anyway, my expectations are NebulasRay, Galaga Arrangement and Pac-Man Arrangement.

Ha, that seems optimistic. The Arrangement games were always part of collections weren't they? They'd have to do some extra work to release them separately, and I don't think they'll do a 3-for-1 deal like that until they've run out of everything else.

1.- Super difficulty
2.- First port to home console
3.- Sports

1. Super Xevious
2. S.O.S.
3. World Stadium

[BIL]

Anyway, my expectations are NebulasRay, Galaga Arrangement and Pac-Man Arrangement.

Ha, that seems optimistic. The Arrangement games were always part of collections weren't they? They'd have to do some extra work to release them separately, and I don't think they'll do a 3-for-1 deal like that until they've run out of everything else.

I could see it. Hamster were a little cheeky on stuff like Assault Plus and New Rally X, but quite generous with Omega Fighter + Special, Salamander + Life Force, Viper Phase 1 Old Ver + New Ver, and Rainbow Islands + Extra.

tbh even the former weren't entirely out of line. I'm rusty on my Rally X lore, but Assault Plus is a super legit Black Label board.

Granted, they've never done an outright multi-game PCB, but they have done a lot of firsts at this point.

Maybe charge a bit extra ala their anime licenses?

[velo]

Maybe charge a bit extra ala their anime licenses?

I'd pay it!