Arcade Archives: Cameltry

This week's Arcade Archives release is... Cameltry (Taito, 1990)

Arcade Archives (previous-gen consoles)

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Arcade Archives 2 (current-gen consoles)

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This game is not recommended for people with motion sickness. It's not over-the-top like Mohawk & Headphone Jack, but it does rotate a lot.

Only the Japanese F2 Expanded System ROM is included- there was a B System version with worse music but that's not here, and both the Training tutorials and endings are all in English anyway, so there's no language barrier from playing the Japanese version (you can find more detail on the slight differences on The Cutting Room Floor). As with other spinner / paddle games released via Arcade Archives, you can adjust the sensitivity of the analogue controls and play with a USB mouse or, on Switch 2, use the mouse mode of rthe Joy Con 2 for finer control. No special Preference Settings otherwise this time.

This game is also included in Taito Milestones 4 for the Switch and is the same as this version. However, both versions have problems with the attract mode where it spins out of control and doesn't finish the course.

In the vastness of space and time... There exist the many labyrinths. Cameltry is a maze game with a difference, you control the maze itself! Originally utilising a spinner device, you turn the maze left or right to lead the marble (or Chack'n, or Space Invader, or the disembodied head of Roy Adams from Operation Wolf... Hold Start when starting any course except Training to select your marble) to the goal before time runs out, Breakable blocks, time-sapping tiles that laugh at you, bumpers, one-way paths and twisting, turning paths lie between your marble and freedom. Your only other available action is to hold the one (1) button to speed up your marble that also increases the recoil when you bash into walls and helps get enough velocity to smash blocks (smash multiple blocks quickly to score bonus points!). It's a pretty simple game but feels really satisfying with the right control setup (I'd recommend a USB mouse for maximum spinning action, but an analogue stick works OK) and the presentation is very strange and dreamlike, giving it a weird vibe that I very much enjoy. The backgrounds are usually unrelated to the task at hand and have things like Taito logos and penguins floating around them, the music is often unusual but really catchy, and the endings for each course are bizarre, including one where it's literally a dream the marble is having and, of course, one where they meet Yurika Cery, the Goddess of Space Time (who also hosts the tutorial). There's even weird little secrets like Taito cameos that give you extra points if you're super-fast, the slot machine that appears if you're slow and the pinball-style final chance where you might be able to keep going if you match the numbers... It's a really cool game, and if you've never played it before, you really should give it a try, it's one of those games that personifies 'Taito' to me. Play Taito games, and play Cameltry.

One nice thing about this rerelease is that a few mysteries have already been solved- for years it was assumed that graphics in the ROM showing a camel saying "I'm trying" were unused, but with the work of multiple people, it's been found it'll appear in the desert background if you finish the rounds Space Walker (Beginner Course) or Magician's Escape (Expert Course) with 1 second or less on the clock. Similarly, hidden expressions of Yurika Cery in the Special Course ending have also been rediscovered. Arcade games still hold their secrets, 30+ years later...