Arcade Archives: Field Day

This week's Arcade Archives release is... Field Day (Taito, 1984)

PSN
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Switch
EU
US

Only the JP ROM (The Undoukai) is included. Preference Settings allows players to adjust game speed.

"... Can the band stop playing for a second, this microphone isn't... OK, have we fixed the feedback? Ahem, ahem, test one-two, test one-two... Right, we're on. Welcome, everyone, to Some Womens' Dorm's Sports Day, or Field Day, or The Undoukai, the kids at the local elementary school made signs for all three names, it's confusing. Let's hear it for our athletes, everyone! (Pause for applause) So, we've got a lot of events today! We'll start with the Ball Toss (get the angle right to dunk the balls, please don't throw the balls at each other), the 3-Legged Race (timing and being in-sync with your partner is key), the Bell Ringer (get the timing right to ring that bell), the Obstacle Race (get over the pommel horse, grab the food with your mouth and more), the Softball Toss (throw that sucker as far as you can, but only the first bounce counts), the 120-Meter Relay Race (pass the baton to the next person along) and of course, the grand finale, the Tug of War (don't give up, get that rope over the line). Let's cheer on our competitors without getting too rowdy, because they've got to hit the qualifying time to move on to the next event! And let's all stay hydrated as well, there's water stands all around and it's a warm one today, so be careful everyone. Let's also thank our sponsor, Taito, who supplied... What the hell is a Chack'n? You're making that up,that's not re- oh, balls, we're still live, ahem, ahem, let's all have fun, everyone!"

Oh this is great, my job's way easier this week- I've written about this game at length before! Yes, go and visit Gaming Hell for all your Field Day needs! I'll still give a little summary here though. This is of course a multi-event sports game very much in the vein of Track & Field, but themed around a traditional Japanese sports day or undoukai which you can learn more about here or consult this concise video guide so the events are a little different. The buttons are the standard for a game like this- two power-building buttons and one action button- and it works pretty well, with a nice variety of events and some that are probably easier than some of the Track & Field events (looking at you, High Jump). The qualifying times are also fairly lenient if you're decent at mashing and timing, and there's a lot of cute details in the presentation, like the band playing notes wrong in the intro, hidden bonuses like Chack'n appearing and the vibrant colours, that make this one of my favourites of the genre from this point in time. Another Taito charmer, as expected~