Arcade Archives -- anyone else getting into this???
Aug 17, 2022 12:28:07 GMT -5
Post by bonesnapdeez on Aug 17, 2022 12:28:07 GMT -5
Any other fans of the Arcade Archives here?
For the uninitiated: since 2014 a publisher called Hamster has been releasing officially emulated versions of classic arcade games. First these were exclusive to the PS4; now they are available on the PS4 and Switch. They typically launch at noon on Thursdays with a price of $7.99 apiece. Sales are rare. Emulation is excellent, there are often multiple "variants" of each game included, and there are online leaderboards. Really polished products overall.
Some additional info:
-- A diverse array of games has been released. Classics from Data East, Irem, Jaleco, Konami, Namco, Nichibutsu, NMK, Seibu Kaihatsu, SNK, Sunsoft, Taito, Technos Japan, Tecmo, and UPL.
-- There are additionally some Nintendo games, though these are exclusive to the Switch. Some of these are from the old Vs. line.
-- For whatever reason there are four games that have remained exclusive to the PS4. Frustratingly, fan favorite Bubble Bobble is one of them.
-- This is a Japanese outfit rereleasing only Japanese arcade games. No Atari or Midway.
-- Sega and Capcom are not represented. Thankfully both outfits continue to rerelease retro games under their own branding.
-- Data East is an odd one, as the Data East arcade games were originally being released under the "Johnny Turbo" line. Johnny Turbo hasn't been active in about two years ago though, and is presumably defunct.
-- Namco was late to join the Arcade Archives, hence the flurry of Namco releases since fall of 2021.
I tend to purchase these when they are released. I've skipped several though, due to lack of interest or ownership on another device or having them included in some compilation already or whatever.
You can find a list of released games on Hamster's own website though I find the Wikipedia list more readable:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcade_Archives
Favorites so far....
The Astyanax: pretty awesome, I had only played the NES game (which is quite different) and of course this has links to The Legendary Axe.
The Fairyland Story: a forgotten and very cute Taito classic.
In the Hunt: amazing shmup, was never able to find the Saturn or PSX port.
Ninja Spirit: nice to finally play the arcade original after enjoying it on the TG16 for so long (still never beaten it!)
Rod Land: I love this Bubble Bobble style of platformer. I recall the Famicom port being expensive.
Sky Skipper: the "lost" Nintendo game. Before this release the only home version was the Atari 2600 port.
Valkyrie no Densetsu: same deal as Ninja Spirit, great to finally play the original.
For the uninitiated: since 2014 a publisher called Hamster has been releasing officially emulated versions of classic arcade games. First these were exclusive to the PS4; now they are available on the PS4 and Switch. They typically launch at noon on Thursdays with a price of $7.99 apiece. Sales are rare. Emulation is excellent, there are often multiple "variants" of each game included, and there are online leaderboards. Really polished products overall.
Some additional info:
-- A diverse array of games has been released. Classics from Data East, Irem, Jaleco, Konami, Namco, Nichibutsu, NMK, Seibu Kaihatsu, SNK, Sunsoft, Taito, Technos Japan, Tecmo, and UPL.
-- There are additionally some Nintendo games, though these are exclusive to the Switch. Some of these are from the old Vs. line.
-- For whatever reason there are four games that have remained exclusive to the PS4. Frustratingly, fan favorite Bubble Bobble is one of them.
-- This is a Japanese outfit rereleasing only Japanese arcade games. No Atari or Midway.
-- Sega and Capcom are not represented. Thankfully both outfits continue to rerelease retro games under their own branding.
-- Data East is an odd one, as the Data East arcade games were originally being released under the "Johnny Turbo" line. Johnny Turbo hasn't been active in about two years ago though, and is presumably defunct.
-- Namco was late to join the Arcade Archives, hence the flurry of Namco releases since fall of 2021.
I tend to purchase these when they are released. I've skipped several though, due to lack of interest or ownership on another device or having them included in some compilation already or whatever.
You can find a list of released games on Hamster's own website though I find the Wikipedia list more readable:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcade_Archives
Favorites so far....
The Astyanax: pretty awesome, I had only played the NES game (which is quite different) and of course this has links to The Legendary Axe.
The Fairyland Story: a forgotten and very cute Taito classic.
In the Hunt: amazing shmup, was never able to find the Saturn or PSX port.
Ninja Spirit: nice to finally play the arcade original after enjoying it on the TG16 for so long (still never beaten it!)
Rod Land: I love this Bubble Bobble style of platformer. I recall the Famicom port being expensive.
Sky Skipper: the "lost" Nintendo game. Before this release the only home version was the Atari 2600 port.
Valkyrie no Densetsu: same deal as Ninja Spirit, great to finally play the original.