Gaming Hell

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


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 Video 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:

Four versions are included here, with Japanese and English versions of the Standard /SD (simple up-down gear shift) and Deluxe / DX (six-gear shifter and clutch) cabinets. The main regional differences are the language and the silhouetted dancer (whose actual model is naked! NSFW, of course) on the City course being replaced with a lit-up arrow sign in the English release. That's why I went with the Japanese version of the Hamster trailer this time, that silhouette is important. No exclusive Preference Settings here (I thought the car selection was, but nope, that's in the Service Mode menu) but you do have plenty of analogue control options and, on ACA2, there's Split Screen Mode with support for up to four players at once so you can see the exclusive 'waiting for entry' screens at your leisure. As with other 3D Namco games, this is double the price of normal Arcade Archives releases. Worth it, though.

This is Radio 765 comin' at you live from Rave City for the Rave Racer competition, the engines sound like they're ready to go! We've got twelve revving roadsters out there ready to take on four exciting racetracks- the City with its elevated highways and the famous hilly descent, the Mountain with its spotty use of safety barriers (careful out there, or you might have to take a different route) and both the short and long courses in the nearby Ridge City, always a welcome sight on race day, especially since they finally finished that under-construction part of the long course! Whether they're using automatic or manual transmissions, these drivers know they've gotta use every trick they've got to stay on top, from drifting through turns to slipstreaming off other cars, so the action's gonna be flaming hot! Racers, start your engines, and let's get it on!

We're only two months into 2026 and we already have another Namco all-time great hitting Arcade Archives, and about time too- it's taken 31 years for Rave Racer to finally come home. While Namco did release Ridge Racer 2 in 1994, it was more of an upgrade to the original than a follow-up, as while it added the rear view mirror support for up to eight linked cabinets to race against one another and a new soundtrack (and a much ruder version of the announcer), it still used the same course. Rave Racer is a full-blown sequel with the short and long Ridge Racer tracks returning but with the brand new City and Mountain tracks, a new slipstream mechanic (you have to get really close to your rivals to get a boost), a view change button to see from behind the car, altered physics (bumping against opponents feels slightly less like you're getting pinballed around), another new soundtrack with 12 tracks to choose from (and a new set of announcers, including other racers trash-talking you) and a fresh look with a slightly more realistic colour palette. Oh, and I've got to mention the leather jacket-wearing lady shown in the game's title demo- contrary to popular belief, it's not series mascot Reiko Nagase, but instead a woman who was given the name "Rave Reiko" by fans and used in Gamest, but she's earned a place in the heart of gamers who ever saw that attract mode.

This week's Arcade Archives release is... Quester (Namco, 1987)

This one's shown up everywhere else except the UK store. The US, France, Italy, Germany and the rest of Europe, it's on all those other places except the UK which, annoyingly, is where I happen to live. At least getting Japanese points isn't so difficult these days, even if I'd rather have just paid the six quid to get it easier. Oh well. So, we're just providing US links this time~

Arcade Archives (previous-gen consoles)
Just the one ROM for this one, which means there's no Quester Special Editionm that's the one with designs sent in by fans to NG Namco Community Magazine and printed in the November 1987 issue (Wikipedia has the page wrong, it's on Page 24). Preference Settings allow you to display the current round and time elapsed to the side of the screen (there's a handy Round Select setting too, but that's a dip-switch on the original cabinet). You can also use a USB mouse or the JoyCon 2's mouse functionality to simulate the original paddle controls, or adjust the sensitivity of the left analogue stick for analogue control.

This is a bit of a milestine release, as it's the final non-3D Namco arcade game that was previously rereleased on the Wii Virtual Console in Japan that's made it over to Arcade Archives. The only ones left now are Starblade, Solvalou and Cyber Sled! As for Quester itself, this is Arkanoid by way of Namco. This has a few different gimmicks, mind you, and one of them is actually pretty neat- once your ball hits the walls (oo-er, missus) enough times, the ball slows down and splits into three which can make it a lot easier to finish up a stage, plus there's special blocks that both speed up and slow down the ball when you hit them. There's also a few power-ups for things like making your paddle incrementally bigger and little barriers that clone your ball when you get them trapped inside, plus bonus stages where you can mash the button to unleash dozens of balls at once! Unfortunately, there's also perhaps one of the most annoying gimmicks I've seen in a Breakout-style game, blocks that constantly spawn new blocks unless you destroy the spawner, and it's actually possible to get stuck for ages trying to get rid of the bloody things. Not ideal, really, but the presentation is pretty nice, with that Namco System 1 gradient look to it and different dings for the different block types the ball bounces off of. Still, I've been spoiled by OOParts when it comes to this kind of game, sorry! 

One day, in 1979, Earth was suddenly attacked by alien life forms known as the Space Invaders. Vast numbers of them enveloped the- wait a minute, haven't we heard this before? No, not the time the Invaders got even, I mean last week! Yes, this is Space Invaders Part II which is from a time when the concept of a video game sequel was pretty new. How do you follow up from Space Invaders, the worldwide phenomenon? More of it, of course. This means we're in a situation like Rally-X / New Rally-X and Sky Kid / Sky Kid DX where it might've been preferable to bundle both together, but here at least the lack of a black & white version means there's no Pepper's ghost effect available here. This has a few visual changes- it's all in living colour from the off, the invaders storm in from the top of the screen at the start of each wave, the bunkers all have the current wave number on them and there's cute little cutscenes of an Invader making an escape on a UFO between stages (sometimes they even have engine trouble). There's even a fancy new title screen!

However, it's not just visual, this adds some new game elements with scoring opportunities being something of a focus- flashing UFOs with temporary invincibility that are worth a lot more points, a special points bonus for achieving the rainbow effect, UFOs being able to add new Invaders as reinforcements and gaps in the formation that allow some Crab Invaders to split after being shot for even more points. I must confess, even though I'm a big Invaders fan, I never really spent much time with Part II and assumed it was just a visual improvement, but that's partly because many of the new features only appear a few stages in- Invader reinforcements only start in the third stage, and splitters only show up in the fourth stage. Fortunately, this version lets you pick your starting stage (and for Caravan Mode, you can start from the first or fourth stage) so even if you struggle with this game, you can skip ahead to try the new mechanics for yourself. The manual is also realy useful for explaining the secrets they added (beat the first, second or third stage without missing a shot and you'll get an extra life!) and the extra settings make this a better option than Space Invaders Invincible Collection (for both this and the first game, honestly) and, well, I think Space Invaders is an addictive little game (going for the trophies in these rereleases did take up more time than I expected!) so I'm glad they're available on modern systems. Try Space Invaders! Enjoy arcade games!!

... I don't have to explain Space Invaders to you, do I? This is like, one of the video games, one of the most successful and popular arcade games ever, with the Crab Invader going on to become a symbol of video gaming itself. I know some people were disappointed that this is the 500th Arcade Archives release (mostly because they were setting themselves up for disappointment by maybe being a bit too out there with their guesses) but to that I say, if you're going to mark the occasion, isn't a symbolic game like this a good pick, really? This was actually one of my guesses for what the 500th game was (my other guess was Mobile Suit Gundam, the Allumer game- wish I'd emailed my guess in now!) to keep my expectations in check.

In any case, this is actually quite a bit more feature-rich than the version included in Space Invaders Invincible Collection, with cellaphane and lunar backdrops included which were missing from Invincible as well as more screen and audio options in general. The sound does seem a little strange at first, but it's been a good few years since I've played an actual Space Invaders cabinet (there used to be an antique store / museum place called Botany Bay that had a few Invaders cabs, I was kinda nice at it) and so maybe all the other rereleases have the sound just a smidge wrong, but it's not my pace to say. Anyway, I'm one of those freaks who still enjoys a round of Space Invaders now and then, If it's not to your liking, there's like 499 other ACA games to pick from, try one of those!

This week's Arcade Archives release is...Roc'n Rope (Konami, 1983)The Roc... A gigantic bird of myth and legend. Marco Polo may have claimed to see the bird, but as a brave explorer, you're about to catch a ride with one, you've found the mountain it lives on! However, the path to the top is treacherous. Not only are there cliffs and platforms to navigate, but hostile creatures ready to stop your ascent. Brave explorers such as yourself are never without the right tools though, so you've got a flashlight to temporarily stun enemies and, more importantly, a rope you can shoot at an upwards angle. Get a solid shot that hits the bottom of a cliff or platform and you can shimmy your way across, but watch out- monsters can shake the rope to throw you off (stop moving to stay on the line) and even start climbing towards you with it! There can only be one rope on-screen at once, so if a monster's using one, shoot out another to get rid of 'em! Once you reach the Roc and take it for a ride, you'll move on to another mountain with new hazards. Waterfalls, moving platforms, rock-dropping birds... Only the hardiest of mountaineers will make it through all four mountains!

Designed by Tokuro Fujiwara before he'd leave Konami to join Capcom and, eventually, help create the Ghosts 'n Goblins series as well as Bionic Commando (the parallels between this and that game's bionic arm mechanics are pretty obvious) and, much later on, Tomba!, this is a great Donkey Kong-style single screen platformer with really interesting movement mechanics. Relying on the angled rope is tricky at first, but satisfying once you get a feel for it, especially once you learn how to avoid being shaken off the rope and using the flashlight to distract enemies mid-rope-climbing. The stages also have a nice bit of variety with some neat little setpieces like the waterfall and the giant rotating ferris wheel platforms. It's a tough game but an excellent example of this type of game, so it's highly recommended, and it's nice to see it show up here as it's been a while since it's been reissued! While not worked on by Fujiwara, Konami would use a similar rope mechanic in their Famicom Disk System release, Arumana no Kiseki, so it's not just Bionic Commando that took notes from this one.

Oh this game is weird! This comes to us from the post-Final Fight era of scrolling brawlers but feels a bit closer to Konami's contributions to the genre, with smaller sprites like Crime Fighters or Vendetta, no enemy health bars outside of bosses and a very loose feeling to combat. The controls are also strange, with kicks as your attack at far range and punches at close range, plus your jump button is actually a jump kick button with you automatically attacking both in front and behind you when you use it, plus a shoulder charge if you tap a direction just after the jump kick button. There's a few other interesting additions like on-the-ground attacks similar to Crime Fighters (the positioning is awkward but kicking enemies while they're down can often send them flying and back on the ground again) and the sweep which is good for knocking enemies down, but there's a lot of things that just feel odd. When you knock enemies down, they fly up into the air first so you have to wait a lot longer than you'd expect for them to land, some enemies can dodge just about everything you throw at them outside of the grab (which doesn't even lead to a throw, just a close-range gut attack) and just in general combat feels very loose and strange. It's unmistakably Video System though, with some excellent animations (especially for the traditional scrolling brawler walking sprites, so many frames) and it has a goofy atmosphere to it... It's definitely not a traditional scrolling brawler and it's got some interesting ideas from a time when the genre was still evolving in the wake of Final Fight, so it's worth a look.



And yes, Karate Blazers is part of the Video System Cinematic Universe- Gil and Glen (alongside a new character, Glinda) are playable in Aero Fighters 3!