ACA NeoGeo: Pop'n Bounce

[tepidsnake]

This week's Arcade Archives release is... Actually, it's a Neo Geo game this time! It's Pop'n Bounce (Video System, 1997)

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Yes, this is just an ACA release with no ACA2 version, which means no PS5, Switch 2 or Xbox Series reelase. Also, despite the other ACA Neo Geo games showing up on Xbox One in the past, this one hasn't. Don't be too down though, Xbox owners, in this week's Hamster stream they announced that almost all of the Xbox One ACA Neo Geo games have been added to the Xbox Play Anywhere service, meaning you can play them on Xbox, PC or compatible handheld devices, and they've had their UI updated to the ACA2 style. They said not all games have been added to it, and I think this refers to the ACA2 version of The King of Fighters '98 and the delisted football games, so it's basically all of them. Anyway, Pop'n Bounce does have a feature not seen in any other Neo Geo game, paddle support, so you can play with with either a normal joystick setup or with a USB mouse for analogue control

You thought the Neo Geo was finished on Arcade Archives? Not a chance, pal! An ACA version of Pop'n Bounce was included as an exclusive game in ACA Neo Geo Selection Vol. 10 that released at the end of last year for the Switch exclusively in Japan, but now here's the game on its own, This is a strange one, as it didn't release in Japan when it was new- as explained by ohfivepro on Bluesky, around 1997 Videe System and Visco (whose credit is found on the Pop'n Bounce and Sonic Wings Limited flyers) ran into difficulties and cancelled or delayed many of their arcade games, with Pop'n Bounce in particular releasing in the West instead (others, like Captain Tomaday and Ganryu getting released a few years later instead). It still has a Japanese language option (under the name Gapporin) but this is standard for Neo Geo releases, as the game's region is picked by what BIOS you're using, so that's included here too, but what a strange situation! The game itself is even stranger- this is the only paddle-and-ball game on the Neo Geo, so it has support for a paddle controller, but unlike The Irritating Maze which used a trackball and I know exists because I've played a cabinet myself, I can't find a photo of any Pop'n Bounce cabinet using a paddle. I imagine it was probably an option to convert an old paddle game, but as Lord BBH pointed out in his Neo Rank Masters episode on the game, to have this setup you've have to dedicate a cabinet to it, so if you have a multi-slot MVS, you'll be limited to this one game 'cause no other Neo Geo games use a paddle. Not a great situation for an arcade operator to be in!

... Oh, right, I'd better talk about the game, huh? It's a Breakout / Arkanoid-style game where you have to clear the playing field of blocks (the field only takes up half the screen to allow for two-player battles) but with a few interesting twists. For one thing, depending on your settings, blocks (represented by different creatures in ever round, with Rabio from Rabio Lepus appearing in the final round!) can move down the playfield when there's a gap, and this can lead to blocks of the same colour fusing together, becoming larger and eventually dropping power-ups for you depending on their colour (mostly typical of the genre like a larger paddle and the ability to shoot lasers). There's also a decent bit of variety in the level designs, with bombs that blow up small areas of blocks and items that blow up all blocks of a particular colour, but what's interesting is the layouts are randomised- each round has a few different layouts that they can be that's picked at random in each playthrough, so you'll have to play a few times to see them all. Finally, there's the ultimate technique, the ATTACK- if you hit the letters at the top of the playfield spelling out this word, then your paddle extends to almost the entire bottom of the field and a load of ultra-fast balls show up to decimate all the blocks! Hitting the top does speed up the ball though, so you'll have to be skilled to pull this off. There's even a versus mode where you battle against another player to clear your board before they do, while sending nuisance enemies over to their side of the screen. This is definitely best played with something simulating the paddle though, the joystick isn't ideal for this kind of game, but it's nice to see this one get reissued as it's pretty cute. And hey, Breakout / Arkanoid fans have been eating pretty well with ACA lately, haven't they? Good for them, good for them.

Now, you might be wondering, is this a sign that more ACA Neo Geo games are in our future? Well, don't get too far ahead of yourself there, sport. The remaining Neo Geo games that don't have an ACA equivalent are mostly games that have some kind of obstacle to overcome before a rerelease can happen, so just for fun, here's an organised list of those remaining Neo Geo games, divided into groups based on the most likely reason they haven't shown up yet:

Ironclad / Chōtetsu Brikin'ger (Saurus / SNK, 1996)
Thanks for Wotter16 on Bluesky for reminding me about this! Although initially unreleased on Neo Geo MVS, it was given a Neo Geo CD release in Japan, and the prototype arcade ROM was later released on Wii Virtual Console (running in AES mode)  and GOG  and Humble Bundle (running in MVS mode). IIRC Hamster only tends to release arcade games that actually came out, but SNK has repeatedly rereleased this one, so maybe...

Viewpoint (Aicom / Sammy, 1992)
Fight Fever (Viccom, 1994)
Bomberman: Panic Bomber (Hudson Soft, 1995)
Double Dragon (Technōs, 1995)
Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer (Technōs, 1995)
Far East of Eden: Kabuki Klash (Racjin / Red Entertainment, 1995)
Tecmo World Soccer '96 (Tecmo, 1996)
Neo Bomberman (Hudson Soft, 1997)
Nightmare in the Dark (AM Factory / Paon / Eleven / Gavaking, 2000)
Matrimelee (Noise Factory, 2003)
Pochi and Nyaa (Taito / Aiky, 2003)
These are all third-party games from different developers and publishers. If any games are likely to show up on ACA NeoGeo, it's these ones, but Hamster would need to talk to the rights-holders involved (most of these have obvious owners outside of maybe Nightmare in the Dark and Fight Fever, although considering The Eye of Typhoon got a Piko-branded rerelease, maybe they have Fight Fever?)

Super Dodge Ball (Technōs, 1996)
Rage of the Dragons (Evoga / Noise Factory / Brezzasoft, 2002)
These are also third-party games from different developers and publishers, the difference is they have modern rereleases elsewhere- Super Dodge Ball was included in Super Technōs World: River City & Technōs Arcade Classics and Rage of the Dragons was released standalone as Rage of the Dragons NEO.

Mahjong-kyō Retsuden: Nishi Nihon Hen (SNK, 1990)
Bakatono-sama Mahjong Manyūki (Monolith / SNK, 1991)
These are all mahjong games that all require a special mahjong control panel.

Quiz Daisōsasen: The Last Countdown (SNK, 1991)
Quiz Meitantei Neo & Geo: Quiz Daisōsasen Part 2 (SNK, 1992)
Quiz King of Fighters (Saurus / SNK, 1995)
These are all quiz games with contemporary question sets and, in the case of the two Daisōsasen games, litigation-worthy parodies of celebrities and movie stars like Sean Connery and Marlon Brando.

Eight Man (Pallas / SNK, 1991)
Legend of Success Joe (Wave, 1991)
Minnasan no Okagesama Desu! Dai Sugoroku Taikai (Monolith / SNK, 1991)
Chibi Maruko-chan: Maruko Deluxe Quiz (Betop, 1995)
The Irritating Maze (Saurus / SNK, 1997)
These are all based on outside licensed properties such as manga / anime (Eight Man, Legend of Success Joe, Chibi Maruko-chan which is also a quiz game), celebrities (Minasan no Okage Desu! which also requires a mahjong control panel) and game shows (The Irritating Maze is based on the Japanese variety show Ucchan Nanchan no Honō no Challenger: Kore ga Dekitara 100 Man-en!!).

Andro Dunos (Visco, 1992)
Goal! Goal! Goal! (Visco, 1995)
Puzzle de Pon! (Visco, 1995)
Neo Drift Out: New Technology (Visco, 1996)
Breakers (Visco, 1996)
Puzzle de Pon! R (Visco, 1997)
Neo Mr. Do! (Visco, 1997)
Breakers Revenge (Visco, 1998)
Battle Flip Shot (Visco, 1998)
Captain Tomaday (Visco, 1999)
Ganryu (Visco, 1999)
Bang Bead (Visco, 2000)
These are all Visco games whose back catalogue was purchased by PixelHeart in 2020, and they've been rereleasing them in various forms by themselves since then, including the Visco Collection and Breakers Collection on modern home consoles. The exceptions are Neo Mr. Do! (rebranded as Punky Circus for its Neo Geo CD rerelease, not on modern consoles) and Puzzle de Pon! and Puzzle de Pon! R (Visco licensed out the Puzzle Bobble mechanics from Taito so presumably they'd need to OK it too).

Shōgi no Tatsujin: Master of Syougi (ADK, 1995)
This is just a lonely shōgi game that doesn't fit anywhere else. Poor thing.

And that's it.