tepidsnake | Entries tagged with namco

This week's Arcade Archives release is... Rave Racer (Namco, 1995)

Arcade Archives (previous-gen consoles)
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Arcade Archives 2 (current-gen consoles)

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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.

Now, I can't speak for everyone because my arcade-going experience was usually limited to going on holiday rather than any local arcades- this is probably why I'm still so enamoured with arcade games to this day, it was always a chance encounter for me- but Rave Racer is one I never saw myself, maybe once or twice but certainly not as much as the earlier Ridge Racer games. I've seen it since (in particular at Arcade Club) and loved it, but the fact that it never got a home port or even had its courses reused for many years (eventually showing up in the two PSP Ridge Racer games) gave this one a certain mystique. Fortunately, it absolutely lives up to the Ridge Racer name. This is essentially a real arcade follow-up and it plays just as beautifully as the original, but with little tweaks and additions and, of course, two brand new courses to get your teeth stuck into. Just like the other 3D Namco games of this era, it's easy to learn but extremely fun to try and master, with that 'just one more try' feel as you learn each course and try to get those times down and, ultimately, aim for first place. Just like the first Ridge Racer, this is an incredible racing game that feels just as fun and fluid now as it did over 30 years ago, so this is maybe the easiest recommendation for any ACA rerelease. It says a lot that I was hoopin' and hollerin' when I took first place on the City course last night after several failed attempts, and it just made me think, damn, arcade games kick ass. Play Rave Racer! Play arcade games!!

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)

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Arcade Archives 2 (current-gen consoles)

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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!

This week's Arcade Archives release is... The Outfoxies (Namco, 1995)

Arcade Archives (previous-gen consoles)

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Arcade Archives 2 (current-gen consoles)

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Only the Japanese ROM is included, but fortunately the differences are minor (the profiles for Bernard White, Professor Ching and Danny & Demi are different, the title is displayed in Katakana on the title screen and cutscenes have Japanese subtitles on the side of the screen) and the game is otherwise entirely in English. No special Preference Settings this time.

Mr. Acme... A shadowy individual, shrouded in mystery. They have concocted a scheme, a plot... And a few killings. He's hired seven contract killers to take out seven prestigious art collectors but, curiously, he's also hired each of those killers to kill each other for a handsome fee (paid in Swiss Francs, of course). These are no ordinary assassins though- John Smith (the man who would do anything from babysitting to agitating a revolution for money), Betty Doe (a businesswoman who, among other things, is a hitwoman), Bernard White (a bio-scientist with hands made of steel), Eve (a fading starlet-turned-thief with a pet lizard), Professor Ching (a master of the Chinese martial arts in a killer wheelchair), Dweeb (a monkey) and Danny & Demi (a pair of murderous children) are all prepared to use any weapons available- guns, rocket launchers, flamethrowers, fruit baskets, hot soup- to survive. They don't need to just watch out for their enemy though- the arenas they fight in, from a skyscraper falling apart due to a wired explosive, a fishing boat in the choppiest waters, and even the circus, are full of hazards, traps and dangers themselves, and they might be unrecognisible by the time they're through. What is Mr. Acme's endgame? Only one of the assassins will find out, but before they get there, they have one instruction: kill your enemy by any means!

Well, well, well. I didn't think this would happen- I, like others, figured that the violence against children would mean it'd never get rereleased- but here it is. Thirty years after its arcade release, The Outfoxies is finally at home. Probably the most requested Namco game for Arcade Archives, maybe even the most requested game full-stop, if you know about this game, then you know what the deal is. It's tempting to call it a Smash Bros. progenitor, but it plays quite a bit differently, with a much larger focus on stages that are either constantly changing or adding new hazards or just throwing you off your feet. Is it balanced? Oh hell no. Is it fun? Oh hell yes, it's a game you can pick up immediately and have fun playing whether against the CPU (who does, admittedly, start to cheat but the Acme Mansion stage is worth it) or a friend, and the presentation is immaculate. There are two issues worth pointing out though. First, the camera moves around a lot and this can induce motion sickness in some people, but there's no real way around that unfortunately (I'm lucky that it doesn't affect me even though I can't use VR for more than 5 seconds without wanting to throw up, but I know not everyone is so lucky). Second, there's no online play, which is disappointing but expected. I'm just happy we have a version of this at home at long last. If you want to know more, this Bluesky thread translates parts of the Hamster stream with the revelation that the game was partly inspired by Ghosts 'n Goblins (!) and was made after the director had to work on a string of quiz games (!!). Also, I wrote about The Outfoxies in 2008 (I got to it first, give me retro gamer cred please) and while this article is very, very old, I've updated it a little to bring it up more up to code, but it's more a playthrough than more usual long articles, so it'll be a bit different. Anyway, play The Outfoxies.

Watch on YouTube

This week's Arcade Archives release is... Bomb Bee (Namco, 1979)

Arcade Archives (previous-gen consoles)

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Arcade Archives 2 (current-gen consoles)

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Just the one ROM this week (so, predictably, no Bomb Bee N, as amusing as that would've been). No special Preference Settings this time, but like with Gee Bee, if you have a USB mouse, you can plug it into your console to use as a replacement for the spinner control (this feature is mentioned on every storefront but I've only tested it on the Switch release) or use the JoyCon 2's mouse function on Switch 2, otherwise you can adjust the speed of the paddle in the Controls Settings.

You know what, I won't lie, I'm kind of OK with Namco games on Arcade Archives yo-yo-ing between cutting-edge '90s 3D spectacles and their earliest works, especially since with this being the second of Toru Iwatani's Breakout / pinball hybrid trilogy, the next in line is Cutie Q, one of my personal favourites. You get a view of how far the company went across that period of time, which is interesting! Anyway, this is very similar to Gee Bee in that it's a bat-and-ball game with pinball elements with a different table design, and this time breaking the bricks at the side increases the value of the bumpers at the top, and breaking the bricks at the top adds a whopping 1000 point (!) bumper that eventually explodes and brings all the bricks back so you can do it again. This is also a bit of a hardware upgrade from the previous game, as it's proper colour rather than requiring cellophane, and with the exploding bumper, that makes the presentation just that little bit more dynamic, although it still doesn't quite have the visual charm of Cutie Q just yet. Just like the Gee Bee port though, this has somewhat strange controls in that you can't get 'proper' analogue control outside of using a mouse as without it you have to switch speeds by holding a button. Still, this actually works pretty well and on the defaul settings, it never feels like your controls aren't up to the task of returning the ball. Still, analogue controls without plugging in my cheapo mouse would be nice~

This week's Arcade Archives release is... Tokyo Wars (Namco, 1996)

Arcade Archives (previous-gen consoles)

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Arcade Archives 2 (current-gen consoles)

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Both the English and Japanese ROMs are included. There's a minor edit, as the Red Cross has been removed from Shield items. No special Preference Settings this time, but the Arcade Archives 2 version has an extra mode- Split Screen. This simulates the link-up capabilities of the original cabinets, allowing for either two player or four player set-ups with their own section of the screen, and it even goes so far as to replicate the behaviour of the machines when idle- when only two players on a four player set-up have selected their stage, the other two cabinets show a panoramic view of the area, and if a player joins in too late to battle, they can just play their own game. Thanks to HokutoNoShock for the details on this (my PS5 is currently in the hands of Sony as it needs repairs!)

A mighty battle is erupting in Tokyo. At least two areas of the city have been evacuated as a full-scale war has broken out between two tank batallions, the Green and White forces. Whoever wins gets control over whatever's left of the city when they're done! Up to four players in local split-screen (originally two twin cabinets linked together, of course) can choose their allegiance and one of two arenas, the Bay Area and Downtown (plus a selection of music) to do battle with a simple control system- one pedal to move forward, one pedal to reverse, a control column to turn, pivot the tank's cannon and fire and a view change button in case you want to see from a more intense, first-person perspective. Each team of four tanks has a certain number of vehicles in reserve at the start of each match (19 in the Bay Area, 14 in Downtown) and from there, the battle breaks out- wipe out the enemy as fast as you can! Don't worry if your tank explodes, you'll just respawn in a reserve one as long as there's any left, plus any enemy tanks you destroy leave behind a health item . Do what you can to survive- roll over parked cars, blast through obstacles, take out the enemy forces in the time limit!

We're back on Namco's System 22, and this is an excellent pick, the tank battle simulation Tokyo Wars. This is almost a callback to Namco's '80s tank games Tank Batallion and Battle City, using the same system where reserve tanks will populate the battlefield once a tank's taken out, but it also owes a little to Atari's Battlezone but with a simpler control scheme and, of course, full 3D environments, something Namco was excelling at in the late '90s. It's a simple game but presented flawlessly, with bombastic music throughout each fight (multiple tracks to choose from too!), a real sense of weight and heft when you fire a cannon shot, detailed environments (especially Downtown, look out for the video screen with Soul Edge on it!), some interactive obstacles on the field like barrels and barricades you can drive into in the Bay Area and arch walkways you can try to drive up but the stairs crumble under your weight in Downtown, and an enthusiastic announcer shouting things like "Enemy tank to the rear!", "On the mark!" and a panicked "Pull out! Pull out!" when your health is critical (one complaint is that, if this video is accurate, some of the voice clips never seem to come up- you can hear things like "Bingo!", "Bullseye!" and "Enemy tank wasted!" that don't occur in the Arcade Archives release, unless there's something I'm missing). You don't get a long game for your credit- the default is two minutes, although you can increase it to five via the settings- but it has a real 'one more go' feel to it, like many of the other 3D Namco games. Perhaps not to the same extent as something like Ridge Racer or Air Combat 22, and this loses a fair bit without the deluxe cabinet which had force feedback in the form of air blowing at you whenever you fire a cannon, but I've put in a fair few credits since I got it, just wanting one more quick blast on the streets of Tokyo.

My one disappointment is that there's no Network Mode. This isn't me just wishing for an online mode out of nowhere, this was an advertised feature for Arcade Archives 2, but the only game to support it so far is The King of Fighters '98, so maybe Hamster were promising something they couldn't quite deliver from. Being able to play this with far-away friends, either as a team against the CPU or pitted against each other, would've added a lot to the appeal. That said, I'm pretty impressed with the implementation of the cabinet's link capabilities in Split Screen Mode, even if it's only local play. The game itself is quite fun on your own though, and the presentation is thoroughly excellent, so if you've got an interest in this era of 3D arcade games, this is an easy pick.

my photography skills have not improved in the years since this was taken

For a bit of fun, here's a real Tokyo Wars cabinet I saw once! I can't remember where, but it was a pretty popular game, so I saw it a few times when on holiday.

This week's Arcade Archives release is... Gee Bee (Namco, 1978)

Arcade Archives (previous-gen consoles)

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Arcade Archives 2 (current-gen consoles)

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Xbox

Just the one ROM for this one, so you don't get the US Gremlin variant, sorry! If you have a USB mouse, you can plug it into your console to use as a replacement for the spinner control (this feature is mentioned on every storefront but I've only tested it on the Switch release), otherwise you can adjust the speed of the paddle in the Controls Settings. Preference Settings allow players to play in either the original black and white or a simulation of the colour cellophane overlay on the cabinet to add colour (this produces colours that appear to be more accurate than MAME, at least as far as I can tell) which is explained in more detail over here.

Oh wow, we are going deep into the Arcade Archives for this one- Releasing in 1978, this is the oldest ACA rerelease, it's Namco's very first in-house developed arcade game, and it's the first of a trilogy of Breakout / pinball hybrids designed by Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani! I'm a little surprised these games haven't shown up sooner, but there is something a little amusing about all these big-hitter 3D arcade games from Namco getting the ACA treatment and then we go all the way back to their beginnings. That's what's nice about ACA, you never quite know what you're going to get in any given week! As for the game itself, it's a bat-and-ball game with some light pinball elements thrown in to spice things up, with blocks to destroy (get the ones in the side pockets for an extra ball), some NAMCO targets to light up (you can earn a double bonus this way) and a spinning bar in the middle that's actually essential to keep your ball in play- your ball will speed up once you hit it with one of your two paddles enough, so roll it through the spinner and it'll slow down briefly. This is one that's definitely iterated upon by its follow-ups (especially Cutie Q) but as well as being historically significant, this is the first time this game's been rereleased as far as I'm aware (I don't think it got any illegitimate ports like Cutie Q did as Pinball Spectacular on the VIC-20 and C64) as it wasn't even in any Namco Museum collections (although Bomb Bee and Cutie Q were). The one complaint I have with this rerelease is that unless you have a mouse, there's no real analogue control option- even using an analogue stick, you have to hold an added 'speed up' button to increase your paddle's speed, although both speeds can be adjusted in the settings and it generally works OK, I just wish I didn't have to plug in my mouse for analogue!

This week's Arcade Archives release is... Mach Breakers (Namco, 1995)

Arcade Archives (previous-gen consoles)

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Arcade Archives 2 (current-gen consoles)

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Both the Japanese (Mach Breakers: Numan Athletics 2) and World (Mach Breakers) ROMs are included. Preference Settings allow players to set the World version to either Europe or Asia, which changes a few character names and nationalities. On the Asia setting, Makoto Kotobuki of Asakusa, Tokyo becomes Li Shao Yen of Huangcho, China and alters her costume to be all white without the Japan flag on her headband, while on the Europe setting, Makoto Kotobuki's Asakusa, Tokyo origin changes to Osaka, Japan, Sophia Rayleigh's London, England origin changes to São Paulo, Brazil and Karl Weiseman's Munich, Germany origin changes to London, England. This was a setting on the original board's test menu, but it's nice they remembered to include it anyway. As with Nebulasray, this is another non-3D, non-licensed double-price ACA game because this is beefier hardware than normal, running on Namco's NB-2 board (also the home of The Outfoxies) so please keep it in mind and don't make me tap the sign. Two minor complaints are that there's no Network Mode (maybe Hamster's saving it for something like Ridge Racer 2?) and that unlike Numan Athletics, the Hi-Score Mode no longer lets you pick a specific event to play, and you just do a full run of the game on one credit. If you want to pick out an event to play at your leisure, consider using the save state function to save on the event selection screens for each day, there's enough slots for all of them!

"Welcome, one and all, to the 765 Stadium, where we'll show you the best events! Yes, seven of the world's greatest Numans- humans with incredible strength and marvellous special powers- are gathered here for the next four days to compete in a staggering twelve events testing their speed, strength and cunning! We've got the traditional Maximum Speed event (blink and you'll miss it!), the ever-popular Monster Drag where our competitors drag a gigantic kaiju across town, Bomb's Away where we see how far they can throw a gigantic missile (please be sure to use the ear defenders under your seat if the missile blows up too early), the Rapid Jump across platforms in a live volcano which is my personal favourite (nothing like the smell of lava in the morning) and many more! Johnny Sanders of the USA, Makoto Kotobuki of Japan, Michael Fletcher of Jamaica, Sophia Rayleigh of England, Karl Weiseman of Germany, Masala Tikka Masala of India, and Long Rui Hu'An of China are all here to prove they've got what it takes to win in all twelve events and take on the mystery Numan waiting for them with one final challenge at the end! The first event is about to begin, are you ready? Here we go!!"

Here it is, the most important video game release of the week, nothing else is even close! Mach Breakers is the follow-up to one of my all-time favourite Namco arcade games, Numan Athletics, a take on the Track & Field style multi-event sports game where the twist is that superhuman athletes take part in outrageous events no humans could dream of being capable of. The first game got an Arcade Archives rerelease last year, and so the sequel now makes its home debut, and I couldn't be more pleased. This is an excellent game, a standout in its genre, with charming presentation (some of the failure animations are great, like the guy whose food stall keeps getting destroyed if you fail the Hyper Glider) and an imaginative and fun set of events to play through, with Rapid Jump, Monster Drag and Deep Dive being particular favourites, and if it seems I'm being a bit brief, it's because the game mostly speaks for itself, just take a look at a few events and you'll see why I love it so much. Back in 1995, this was definitely one of those arcade games that was too much for the SNES or Mega Drive to handle, but not something considered for the Playstation (Namco was all-in on 3D on that console after all) so it didn't get a contemporary home port, there's many arcade games from this era like that. Now, though, you can play the game at home, thirty years later- better late than never, eh?

Luckily for you (and me), I don't have to go too in-depth on this one, because I've done it before. Good work, Past Me! I've written about both Numan Athletics and Mach Breakers on my lil' website in the past, and while this article's quite a few years old now, it still stands up and hopefully gets across what I love about these games. I still lean towards the first one as my favourite (the aesthetc is just a bit more appealing to me, and the Beast Hole event in Mach Breakers is a bit worse than the equivalent on in Numan Athletics) but honestly, you can't go wrong with either of them if you want some button-mashing fun, especially if you can get some local play going with friends, and I'm just delighted that these games are now more accessible than ever. I think it says a lot that when I mentioned the game on Bluesky, a lot of the responses were "I've never even heard of this game, this looks like it kicks ass" and, well, that's what I like to see, introducing people to games they'd never even dreamed of.

As pointed out by gosokkyu, uper fans of the game will definitely want to check out the Hamster livestream for the game's release, sharing lots of production materials and behind-the-scenes stuff, they got a lot of staff from the game to chime in on this one!

Watch on YouTube

This week's Arcade Archives release is... Aqua Jet (Namco, 1996)

Arcade Archives (previous-gen consoles)

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Arcade Archives 2 (current-gen consoles)

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Both the Japanese and English ROMs are included. The Demo Sound option is found in Preference Settings this time, and as with other ACA2 games, you have a lot of control options. You can fine-tune your analogue settings (you'll find this in Settings > Button > Custom Button Settings > Advanced Setting) as well as toggle on gyro controls (PS4, PS5, Switch and Switch 2 only) and change how the analogue sticks work- by default, the left stick controls your left and right movement and the right stick controls moving the handlebar pole up or down, but you can set these to the same stick if you so wish. The manual also contains the cheats for Penguin Mode, Mirror Mode and Penguin-Mirror Mode, although the instructions are a little unclear- the trick is to hold the direction listed then press Start, and when you get to the final step, release both the direction and Start before you press the accelerator. It's tricky, but keep your inputs clean and you'll get it eventually.

It's a beautiful sunny day*, the perfect weather for the Namco Mermaid Beach Cup! Everyone's ready to go at the starting line on their Namco-branded jet skis (please don't sue us Kawasaki, we're using your brand name in a more general way, honest) with 550cc action on the Novice course and high-octane 1100cc speed on the Expert course. As well as turning, you can move the handlebar pole up and down to affect your height and distance on jumps- angle it right and you'll even take a dip under the waves for just a moment, keep an eye out for fish! As well as racing for first place and the best time, both courses have a jump contest to see who can grab the most air time on a series of big ramps. Just remember to look behind you before stepping off the mach- oh, wait, I mean, your sofa, this is a home port..
* For the purposes of this Arcade Archives post, please assume that the weather is sunny but mild with a nice breeze, and not the current heatwave in the UK that is turning me into a puddle as we speak.

Hamster, please, you can't just keep dropping unported-until-now 3D Namco arcade games on us like this! I figured they'd play it safe and do something like Ridge Racer 2, but nope, we're now getting games with specialised cabinets. Aqua Jet is to jet ski racing as Ridge Racer is to car racing, as you pick one of two courses (and mirrored versions via a code) and ride the waves to get to the end. This means a greater emphasis on navigating waves in certain parts of the course and giant ramps to launch off of. There's perhaps slightly less complexity here than Ridge Racer (although you might pick up some tips from ohfivepro's Caravan Mode run) and not having the big cabinet where you have to lean to turn and squeeze the accelerator might take away some of the appeal away for some (something I think Hamster could alleviate by providing a picutre of the actual cabinet to give players a sense of what it was like- luckily, Aqua Jet has a 3D model of it in its attract mode). Even so, this works pretty well on a standard controller and it's still important to make these kind of games available without having to fight with MAME's analogue controls, you know? Besides, the presentation is immaculate- blue skies, blue waves, sharp polygons, hot jams and the low camera that really gives a 'feel' for being there (as does dipping under the water for a brief moment after leaning in to a big jump). I'm wondering what this means for future 3D Namco arcade games, as a lot of them had specialised controls like this, even just on System Super 22 like this game- Cyber Cycles? Alpine Racer? Prop Cycle? We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?

This week's Arcade Archives release is... Air Combat 22 (Namco, 1995)

Arcade Archives (previous-gen consoles)

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Arcade Archives 2 (current-gen consoles)

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Both the Japanse and English ROMs are included. There's a whole load of control options available here. As well as the standard controller with dead zone / analgoue sensitivity adjustment settings (as with Ridge Racer, they're a little hidden- go to Settings > Button > Custom Button Settings > Advanced Setting), the PS4, PS5, Switch and Switch 2 versions have gyro controls you can toggle on and off (this works extremely well, so I'd recommend you give it a try) and all versions have flight stick support (including, on PS4 and Switch with a convertor, the USB CyberStick!). I can't check the Xbox One version for control options unfortunately, but I assume flight stick controls are in there at least. Preference Settings allow players to adjust how much time you get upon continuing.

Bandits at 10 o'clock! This is not a drill, this is the real deal! Commandeer one of three top fighter jets and strike out at the enemy bogeys across three intense missions- two Cadet missions (with with training tips) with Aeries to counterattack against an enemy strike on a friendly base, a Top Gun mission with Top Gunners to support ground troops, and a Dog Fight mission with Aces to duke it out over 32 levels of pure dog-fighting. All three of your aircraft come fully equipped with machine guns, a limited supply of missiles and lock-on capabilities, but those enemies are pesky and can outrun your missiles, so be sure to give chase by using the throttle to control your speed. A dramatic climactic air battle awaits brave pilots who make it to the end, so wipe 'em out before they knock you out of the sky!

I didn't think we'd see a 3D Namco game so soon, but here it is! The follow-up to 1993's Air Combat, this is called Air Combat 22 because it's running on Namco's Super System 22 (or is it System Super 22? Both have been seen on official sources, so who knows- thanks electricboogaloofunk in the stream chat!), an upgrade from the System 22 that Ridge Racer ran on, and similar to its predecessor comes on an absolute monster of a cabinet (and operators can upgrade their old Air Combat cab if they want!). Unfortunately, flight sims are absolutely not my area of expertise and I've certainly never seen a real cabinet of either game, but even with my limited experience, it's easy to see why Namco would keep making these games on home consoles to this day. I suppose the closest comparison would be Sega's G-LOC in the arcade as you have a set number of enemies to take down in each area, but while that was 2D trickery, this is all 3D with texture-mapped polygons and an incredible sense of speed and control as you take out enemies to get precious seconds added to the clock.

It's quite a short experience, even for an arcade game- four stages in the Cadet, five in Top Gun and 32 in Dog Fight but you'll have to be good to get that far- but there's multiple routes and terrain to fly over depending on your altitude when you end a mission, so repeat playthroughs are definitely encouraged. Just like Ridge Racer, it's a very 'one more go' kind of game, where you want to just dive straight back in to try again and do better. The presentation really helps too, with excellent music, superb polygons for the time and lots of great radio chatter like "What a manouevre, son of a gun!" when an enemy breaks away from your locked-on missile and even little launch sequences at the start of a game. Even if you've no interest in flight sims, this is way more arcadey ('cause, you know, it's an arcade game) and more accessible than I'd anticipated, so I'd say it's worth a try, as even without the impressive cabinet this is a lot of fun!

One thing that was nice to see with this one was that when it was announced, a lot of people outside of the usual arcade rats (read: me) were really excited about it. Ace Combat celebrates its 30th anniversary of the first home console game this year, and so this was announced as part of that and people were really happy to see this game finally come home! Again, my understanding is limited, but even as it's become a home console series over time, there's still roots of the arcade games in there, which makes a lot of sense. A friend of mine who's very much into the series (hi, sharc!) also noted that even as far back as these arcade games, the developers' interest in aircraft was a lot broader than other games, going beyond the typical F-14 Tomcat and other American-made jets you'd usuall see, something that would continue throughout the series. I'd really like to give the series a try myself one of these days, even if the best pilot is stuck in a delisted free-to-play game~

This week's Arcade Archives release is... Ridge Racer (Namco, 1993)

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Surprisingly, the PS4 and Switch ACA versions retain most of the features and menu UI of the ACA2 release on current-gen consoles, but if you buy the previous-gen version first, you'll get a discounted price for the current-gen version, just like ACA2NEOGEO The King of Fighters '98. Four versions are included- Japanese and English versions of the SD model (which used a simple up-down gear shift for changing gears in MT) and the DX model (which had a six-gear shifter and a clutch you need to use to switch gears- in this version, the gears are shown on-screen and you use the right analogue stick to switch gears). Preference Settings include adjusting the difficulty of each course (as far as I can tell, this was a standard option in the game's Test Menu so I'm not sure why they didn't put them in the normal Settings menu, oh well). You can also adjust the analogue control sensitivity although it's a bit hidden- go to Settings > Buttons > Custom Button Settings > Sensitivity Settings and adjust the Maximum Angle of Handle until it feels comfy for you (personally, around 360 works well for me).

Alright everyone, one minute to go, are you ready? The engine's sound like they're ready to go, are you all set? Here in scenic Ridge City, Seaside Route 765 is our racecourse for today, with 13 cars revving up and eyeing up that chequered flag, and you're one of 'em! Our enthusaistic announcer, Micheal Guinn, will be cheering you on the whole way, so get ready! There's four different difficult settings here- Novice and Intermediate cap your speed a little and have a shorter course, while Expert and Time Trials / T.T. expand the course with an under-construction area and use faster cars (with T.T. going up to 220kmph!)- and if you want to win, you'll have master the art of drifting. While turning a corner, let off the gas, tap the brake and quickly go back on the gas and your car will start sliding to make sharper turns without having to brake or slow down too much. Correct yourself before the road straightens and you'll be one genius of a driver! Can you prove yourself as a real ridge racer and beat the lap times for all four difficulties?

Well, here it is, the most important video game release of the year. Only joking a little, really! This is the first Arcade Archives release of a fully-3D arcade game. That's a big deal! 3D arcade hardware from this era is not the easiest thing to emulate, and while there have been rereleases of them across the years, Namco in particular haven't done it that often- while there's outliers like the arcade Tekkens and Starblade on the PS2 version of Tekken 5, they usually go for rereleasing the Playstation ports which are of course excellent but often not quite the same as the arcade version. Ridge Racer on PS1 in particular was an amazing port with a whole load of extras but it was locked at 30FPS and didn't look quite as clean. That PS1 port also has never been rereleased, despite a certain infamous reveal, so the original Ridge Racer has been MIA for a long time.

This arcade version may be missing those extras (mostly the different cars you can select and reverse / mirror courses) but it's got that solid 60FPS and the sharpest texture-mapped polygons Namco's System 22 hardware can muster, and it looks and plays like a dream. Once you mess around with the analogue sensitivity settings in this- by default using the d-pad feels very close to the PS1 version but I think I prefer the analogue controls- you'll be sweving and drifting with the best of them, and even 30+ years later, it's a really satisfying game, one you want to keep trying until you can master those corners and bring those lap times down. It may only be one course with one variation, but there's enough to the drifting that you'll want to get a good handle on it and keep trying. The presentation is great too, with a selection of thumping tunes provided by Shinji Hosoe, Ayako Saso and Nobuyoshi Sano, the bluest of arcade skies and while not as chatty as later games, the announcer has just the right energy to go along with the whole package. Ridge Racer is great, is what I'm trying to get at. You should play it.

Oh, and if you want to see more Ridge Racer promo stuff, I highly recommend ohfivepro's Bluesky page, they've been uncovering some treasures! Look at the size of that Full Scale cab!

This week's Arcade Archives release is... Super World Court (Namco, 1992)

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Both the Japanese and English ROMs are included, with the original typos (one of the courts takes place in the Franch Open) in-tact in the English version. No Preference Settings this time, but there is an odd edit- every single character name, aside from CAT (the cat), TINS (the robot) and MMM (the weird frog thing) have had their names changed, so MAX is now MAT, YURI is now YULI, etc.. This is actually alluded to in the manual (they mention that some things have been changed for this version but don't specify what) so that makes a change, thanks Hamster!

Sports, sports, sports sports... We'll keep it brief as usual, but this is a follow-up to 1988's Pro Tennis World Court on much beefier hardware- this is on Namco's NA-1 board, also home to Fighter & Attacker and Tinkle Pit and while the game's logo isn't nearly as nice as the original (big fan of that colourful logo), this has a nice presentation and adds to the original's character roster (which had a robot) by adding another robot, a weird frog thing and a cat called CAT who has murdered Pac-Man and will kill again. Just giving this a quick casual go, one thing surprised me- it didn't immediately kick my ass. The previous Namco tennis games I've played have made a point of completely humbling me from the off, but I was actually doing quite well in this one, scoring some points off the opponent and even a set or two! Maybe the cat is just overpowered, that'd make sense. Sorry this one's a little brief, but sports aren't my area, but hey, at least I know not to waffle like I know what I'm talking about when I don't! Ahem.

For Gaming Hell's 17th anniversary, it's time to return to that cursed tower with The Quest of Ki, the puzzle-platformer prequel to The Tower of Druaga created by Game Studio and inspired by Atari's Major Havoc! I'm a big fan of this game, so I hope I was able to articulate that properly in this article. I also cover the Vs. System version with 20 extra stages and other bits and bobs. I hope you enjoy it!

Gaming Hell is still on 'limited operations' with less frequent updates... But it will return.

This week's Arcade Archives release is... Nebulasray (Namco, 1994)

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Just the one ROM exists for this game so no other revisions. Preference Settings allow solo players to use the player two side ship. Additionally, Nebulasray costs twice as much as the usual ACA releases, similar to Mazinger-Z and Super Dimension Fortress Macross- in the Super Xevious stream they briefly mention that this took a lot of work to get this one on ACA due to the beefy hardware it's on (Namco NB-1, which is otherwise full of baseball games, one football game and an all-time classic, Point Blank) before calling attention to the price, so I assume that's the reason. Other than that, I don't know, so don't make me tap the sign.

Gaming Hell's natural weakness, the shmup, returns again! I'll do my best. Nebulasray is an interesting vertical shmup with a pre-rendered look, receiving its first home port over 30 years after its arcade release. Here, you have the standard 'weak but wider shot range' vs. 'strong but narrow shot' choice for your standard weapon (and just like Raiden, the game cycles through the two different types when a power-up appears) but the sub-weapons, ranging from homing lasers to a close-range blast and even a shield, are time-limited, so keep an eye on their timer and don't get too attached to them! You've also got a bomb that won't completely clear the screen for you but does a lot of damage to the bosses. I think this pulls off the pre-rendered look pretty well with strong colour use and lots of scaling and rotating (like the space backgrounds, hopefully they won't make you motion-sick) although I did find myself struggling a little to determine what was safe to touch and what wasn't in Mission 3's asteroid field because of this style. Stomping soundtrack though! As usual, I have to disclose shmups are not my area of expertise, not by a long shot, so I've kept it brief, but hopefully this gives you a rough idea of what this one's like.

... By the way, they announced the next Namco Month game is Super World Court, the tennis game where you can play as a cat. That gives me a score of 1/3 on my predictions. Whoops!

This week;s Arcade Archives release is... Super Xevious (Namco, 1984)

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Just the one ROM exists for this game. As well as the enemy guide you would've seen in the ACA version of Xevious, the manual has a pretty robust list of differences between this and the original game, which is very handy! Preference Settings allow players to view the boot screen on start-up, adjust game speed, reproduce the title screen burn-in to different degrees, reproduce the original explosion effect for Giddo Spario, display the area number, show the Sol and Special Flag locations and view an enemy encounter table at all times.

Not to be confused with Vs. Super Xevious: Mystery of GUMP (yes, they localise it as GUMP, let's have a good chuckle about it) which was the Famicom Super Xevious (imagine Xevious with The Tower of Druaga-style secrets required to advance from one Area to the next), the arcade Super Xevious is an updated version of the original game. It makes the game harder. Much, much harder. In fact, by default, the difficulty is set to Very Hard. It changes some other things too of course (there's some new enemies and the locations of Sol Citadels and Lucky Flags have been moved, among other things) but the main takeaway is that this is for experts only. This is a game only for those who've absolutely mastered the original Xevious and want a new challenge, because for the rest of you, GUMP's Xevious forces will crush your spirit. That's me, by the way- I am terrible at Xevious, so this version scares me!! Ahem, this is also the first home version of this game since Namco Museum DS (available as a toggle for Xevious), which surprised me- I thought the last home port of that was Xevious 3D/G+ on PS1 (which also had the original Xevious and Xevious Arrangement) but, as usual, I was wrong!

In other Arcade Archives news, Arcade Archives 2: Ridge Racer is coming to Playstation 5 as well as Switch 2! I expected we'd get this (pour one out for arcade game fans with an Xbox Series X / S, no version for them) but, surprisingly, there'll be a standard Arcade Archives (1) version of the game for Playstation 4! Now that I wasn't expecting, but it's a nice surprise and good for those who don't want to get one of those fancy newer consoles to race the ridgers. Also, the next game of Namco Month has been revealed- the clue was 'first release for a home console', so who out there guessed Nebulasray, the 1994 vertical shmup? I didn't. I guessed Blazer. Swing and a miss! I'm also probably wrong about World Stadium too. Is it too late to change my guess? It is? Oh well.

This week's Arcade Archives release is... Assault Plus (Namco, 1988)

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It's Namco's twin-stick tank action game Assault, but with a plus! Two new sets of stages are available- Scenario #2 is the Easy Course, "Rehearsal for Core" if you want a breezier mission, while Scenario #3 is the Hard Course, "Battle for Core", a sturdy challenge awaiting those who thought the original Assault was too easy. New music and graphics too!... Yes, I know, I know, they probably should've bundled this with the Assault rerelease. Namco in particular, however, seems to treat updates to games like this (see also: Rally-X / New Rally-X and Sky Kid / Sky Kid DX) as completely separate games- compare this with other ACA releases of games from different companies like Rainbow Islands (included the Extra version) and Omega Fighter (included the Special version) and you can see the pattern. Oh well. If you didn't get your fill from the first Assault (or you decided to wait out for this version) then Assault Plus is for you.

We're not done this week, though! If you saw the Nintendo Direct on the Switch 2, you might've spotted a very important announcement, dropped in the middle of a development partner montage...

It's Ridge Racer! Riiiiiiiidge Racerrrrrrrrr! (Sorry, I had to).

When Dead Connection released a while back, it was accompanied by ACA2NEOGEO The King of Fighters '98 on Playstation 5 and Xbox Series, which added a whole boatload of new features (oh, and it was patched to add support for PS4 fightsticks, yay!). It seems that non-Neo Geo games are also getting the Arcade Archives 2 treatment in the future, with Ridge Racer on Switch 2 (no mention of other platforms, but we'll see) being the inaugural release, and the description of the video mentions the same set of extra features as ACA2NEOGEO (no Network Mode for this game though, it was only one-player in arcades). This is huge news- just by showing Ridge Racer, Hamster's letting us know that 3D arcade games are on the table, and if you thought there weren't enough ports of 2D games of the era, oh boy, there's a lot of 3D arcade gaming history that's just not available at home nowadays. Namco especially made huge technological strides in this era in the 3D space, and this means games like Starblade and Solvalou could be on the table in the future. And you know what, the original Ridge Racer is excellent too, I'm really glad it's finally making it home! It won't be out for a while (it releases in June, same day as the Switch 2) so I'll be rotating in excitement until it arrives.

Watch on YouTube

This week's Arcade Archives release is... Vs. Mystery Tower (Namco, 1986).

The Namco Curse has struck once again, with the game only showing up as 'announced' on PSN, so we'll just have to use US links only this time.

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There's only one revision this time... Sort-of. As explained by ohfivepro, the game will check your console's language and call the game Vs. The Tower of Babel if it's set to Japanese, or Vs. Mystery Tower if it's set to English. This will even change the in-game title screen- I imagine this wasn't too difficult to do as Bandai Namco had already done this title switch-up for the Nintendo Switch Online reissue (and, in a later patch, the Namcot Collection reissue) and since both the home and arcade versions are on NES hardware, it's a much easier thing to do than, for example, changing Marvel Land's name to Talmit's Adventure. Anyway, the reason for the name change on the Japanese side is unclear- the box and title screen would just call the game Babel originally- but overseas is a bit easier to guess as the name The Tower of Babel has been trademarked for use with toys and card games since 2019. I dunno, that's what I'd guess anyway. Preference Settings allow players to remove the black space that appears when character sprites overlap, automatically enter passwords, remove the time-up fireball for Original Mode, display the current speed level and set an optional button to kill your character immediately for Original Mode (thanks, ohfivepro!).

There's also a fair few differences between this and the Famicom version as explained in the Hamster stream at 3:40:30- summarised quickly, you can only select Floors 1-60 rather than Floors 1-64; the Floors are all from the Famicom version but are a jumbled-up mixture of Floors from the normal game and Floors from the unlockable Pro mode (no longer available in this version); the Power limit to picking stones is removed but replaced with a timer; extra lives are given every eight cleared Floors instead of every single cleared Floor; a time-up fireball enemy is added if the controls are left alone (although this can be disabled with Preference Sesttings in Original Mode) and the Grade bonus system has been changed.

The intrepid explorer Indy Borgnine (no relation) has been searching for the mythical Hanging Gardens of Babylon... His adventures take him to the 64-floor Tower of Babel, with the gardens supposedly at the top. However, he can't just take the stairs- each floor is a puzzle that must be solved, mostly through the use of the magical stair blocks. Shaped like Ls, it takes a little strength to pick one up but Indy can haul them around the stage and create staircases with them. As long as they're just about connected by their edges, they'll magically float in place! A good thing too, Indy can't climb anything that's over his head, so he'll need these little steps to get anywhere. Spike pits, monsters and mysterious murals every eighth floor make Indy's climb up the tower treacherous and enigmatic... Is there truly something special waiting for him at the top?

Described by the Famicom manual (available on Gaming Alexandria) as 'Namco's first traditional puzzle and action game', Mystery Tower is an interesting one, and another example of Namco using the Vs. System to advertise their Famicom games in their own game centres (just like The Quest of Ki, the Vs. System version has until now never been rereleased or publically dumped). While appearing fairly simple, this is one I actually find a little confusing and difficult, mostly because I find myself frequently getting mixed-up in how to get the stair blocks to face the direction I want them to- a problem that presents itself from the very first stage! Still, this one's got multiple exits for stages, bonuses to find, infectious music, cute presentation... While this arcade version isn't currently available in Europe, you can try the Famicom version on Nintendo Switch Online if you like, and there's absolutely no language barrier, even the murals you'll need for later on in the game are just images rather than letters or words. This isn't one of Namco's better-known Famicom games it seems, so it's honestly worth a look if puzzle and action is your bag!

Watch on YouTube

Only one way to end this entry though... Oh yes, there is an IDOLM@STER version of this game's soundtrack!

Watch on YouTube

This week's Arcade Archives release is... Märchen Maze (Namco / NH System, 1988)

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This game only has a Japanese ROM with no confirmed English version, so just the one version this time. There were rumours of an English ROM retitled Alice in Wonderland, but many years ago I spoke with btribble of UnMAMEd Arcade Games where this version was listed as a game being searched for, who confirmed that while he had been informed by someone else such a version existed, he hadn't seen any evidence himself. Preference Settings allow players to adjust game speed and shift the directional controls 45° to the right (so holding Up moves Alice diagonally up-right) allowing for slightly easier movement control.

In the land through the looking glass, all is a muddle! An evil queen has taken over and its inhabitants don't know what to do... The white rabbit knows, though. He reaches out through the mirror to Alice, a young girl who loves fairytales and is one of the few out there who can see and talk to the residents of the land. Dragging her into the mirror, she's got to save the land from the dark queen's tyrant! Fortunately, the rabbit also gives her a magic straw that can blow bubbles- mash the button for rapid-fire, or hold the button to charge up a giant bubble to bowl the enemies over. Alice is also a pretty sturdy girl, and won't be killed by just being shot at by enemies, as they just bounce her around. If she falls into a pit though, that's one life lost (unless she finds a recovery balloon that floats her to safety). Many bizarre enemies await her- smoking mushrooms, giant robots, card soldiers... But Alice will have to be up to the task if she wants to go home!

It's been quite a while since we've seen a proper Namco arcade game on Arcade Archives, hasn't it? Well, Namco published at least, as this is by the short-lived NH System who also made Blast Off and Final Blaster for the PC Engine (their entire output got a soundtrack release with really adorable cover art) before shuttering in 1990. In any case, Namco's been doing some stellar work preserving undumped Vs. System games like The Quest of Ki and Family Tennis, but it is nice to see their real arcade games again. This is one that people have been waiting for- Märchen Maze is one of the last holdovers from the Namco games rereleased via Wii Virtual Console Arcade (the only ones left now are Quester, Starblade, Solvalou and Cyber Sled) and it's a pretty interesting game. There's not a lot of on-foot isometric shooters out there (the arcade version of Michael Jackon's Moonwalker, Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters and Prikura Daisakusen are the only ones that really come to mind) and certainly none that have the unique 'take as much damage as you want but don't fall off the stage' mechanics seen here. It can take a little getting used to, can be a bit awkward when it comes to jumps (you have Alice's shadow to judge them except for the chequered platforms at the end of rounds) and it's a little disappointing that the game eventually runs out of round layouts (Rounds 7, 8 and 9 are palette-swaps of previous rounds but have different enemies). However, the presentation really sells it, it's a cute and charming game that might be a bit easier to play with the extra directional control option offered here. It helps that it's based on Alice in Wonderland, a favourite of mine. Anyway, I do have an old Gaming Hell playthrough of this game, but oh no, it's like 15 years old at this point. I probably need to rewrite a lot of this, so please bear that in mind.

As a bonus, I highly recommend the Hamster stream for this one, as alongside some development documents and sketches, they show off a video of a 1987 prototype of the game at around 1:10:20 just titled Alice. As well as a very different, more realistic artstyle for Alice, this seems to be more of an arena shooter with large, open spaces to fight in and the ability to jump down to different arenas. It's clearly very early as a lot of collision detection doesn't seem to be implemented and there's debug information on the side of the screen, but this is fascinating stuff!

Watch on YouTube

This week's Arcade Archives release is... Vs. Family Tennis (Namco, 1987)

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Preference Settings allow players to display the extreme sides of the screen not normally visible. As explained in the Hamster stream for this game at around 3:06:20, the differences between this and the Famicom version are that this only has the Exhibition mode and it also slightly alters the rules of tennis, removing the rule of deuce (presumably to keep games faster and not have people hog the machine all day, this is an arcade game after all).

Sports, sports, sports, sports... It's tennis, by Namco! To be fair, this is the first in the Family Tennis series, one of a few Namco-developed tennis games- if you've played Smash Tennis on the SNES, this is part of the same series (it was released in Japan as Super Family Tennis) as is Family Tennis Advance for the GBA. There's also the World Court games in the arcades (the first of which is also available on Arcade Archives) and the Smash Court games on PS1 and later PS2. This is where Namco's tennis lineage began though, and it has a few advantages over the only other tennis game on the system at the time, Nintendo's own Tennis. Specifically, you have a selection of characters with different stats to play, different courts to play on with different effects on the ball (including one in space) as and you can play versus two player, not just against the computer! This is because of the perspective used, opting for a more top-down look compared to Nintendo's angled view of the court so both players have the same amount of space to work with. It does mean things have to scroll a little, but it works fairly well, just perhaps outclassed by the later Namco tennis affairs.

Surprisingly, this isn't one of the games available on either Namcot Collection or the localised Namco Museum Archives sets, so this is the only option you have for playing this one, plus like some of the other Vs. System games, this is currently not available for use in MAME. You might want to look at World Court Pro Tennis via ACA first, but this has charm too. Might as well take this moment to mention that most of the sports games Namco released on the Famicom had the Family title and had a mascot lady playing the sports, as seen here, and she was even briefly brought back for some Namco slot machines. Big fan of the art of her at the baseball game!

Watch on YouTube

This week's Arcade Archives release is... Vs. The Quest of Ki (Namco, 1988)

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This version of the game includes a full set of maps detailing enemy placements, items and time limits for every stage, available during gameplay at the press of a button. Preference Settings allows players to remove the black space that appears when character sprites overlap, display visuals near the edge of the screen normally not visible and display the score, current floor number, key status and wind direction in-game.

In another time, in another world... The evil Druaga has stolen the Blue Crystal Rod, planning to use it to cast the world into darkness under his rule. The Goddess Ishtar entrusts the priestess Ki with a most difficult task: ascend the 60 floors of the tower Druaga has holed himself in and retrieve the rod! To aid her in her quest, Ki has a magical tiara that allows her to jump as high as she wants and float down gracefully, although she needs to be careful not to hit her head on the ceiling or run into a wall too fast as she'll crumple for a moment... Although that might be useful in some situations. As well as treasures that offer protection, extra lives and even warps courtesy of the adorable dragon Quox, the tower is filled with enemies and hazards ready to kill Ki with a single touch. Mastery of Ki's flight powers are your only hope, but even if you reach the 60th floor...?

While this is a story prequel to The Tower of Druaga, showing how Ki managed to get captured in the first place (although if you ask me, getting all the way up that tower without any armour shows she's way tougher than Gil), it's a completely different game, developed by Game Studio, the company Masanobu Endō formed in 1985 that kept a good working relationship with Namco. Inspired by the jumping mechanics in the Atari arcade game Major Havoc (Atari even gets a special thanks credit specifically mentioning this game in the credits), this is a methodical platform game where Ki can jump as high as she wants, but once the jump ends, she has to float down and can't add to her height again. It starts off gentle, and there's even some warps early on to get you started, but you really need to master these controls to get up the tower, and as the manual for this one shows, there's a lot of techniques you'll have to learn how to do, such as hopping short distances and even intentionally hitting the wall or ceiling to crouch under things. I wouldn't exactly call it a puzzle-platformer as it's very much focused on dexterity, but you will have to think a lot more than others in the genre.

The special stages- unlocked in the Famicom version by beating the first 60 floors- are particularly infamous for being brutally difficult, and you might know about them from their GameCenter CX appearance, but this Vs. System version- currently undumped for MAME- has a few extra features tailored to these special stages. As explained in the Hamster stream, you can start from the special stages right off the bat (and even select which one to start on), hidden backwards warps in there now don't take you as far back (to prevent people playing too long) and... There's twenty new special stages. If you've beaten this game before and want a new challenge, Namco is happy to provide. If you've never played this though, this is absolutely the version to play- you can get it for Namcot Collection on Switch as well, but this version has an extremely useful set of guides, including maps, enemy and item descriptions, so similar to the other Druaga games available on Arcade Archives, this is perfect for those who've never played it before. Anyone remotely interested in platformers that make you think a little (and who have patience, this is a Druaga game after all) should look into this one immediately!

Gaming Hell

Arcade Archives: Rave Racer

Arcade Archives: Quester

Arcade Archives: The Outfoxies

Arcade Archives: Bomb Bee

Arcade Archives: Tokyo Wars

Arcade Archives: Gee Bee

Arcade Archives: Mach Breakers

Arcade Archives: Aqua Jet

Arcade Archives: Air Combat 22

Arcade Archives: Ridge Racer

Arcade Archives: Super World Court

New on Gaming Hell - The Quest of Ki

Arcade Archives: Nebulasray

Arcade Archives: Super Xevious & ACA News Update

Arcade Archives: Assault Plus + Arcade Archives 2 News

Arcade Archives: Vs. Mystery Tower

Arcade Archives: Märchen Maze

Arcade Archives: Vs. Family Tennis

Arcade Archives: Vs. The Quest of Ki

DATA EAST FOREVER

March 2026