Since Arcade Archives discounts come out once in a blue moon, I thought it might be useful to post a thread that can be updated whenever it happens. (Also in case an article doesn't get written for them)
NEW $3.99US/each (I think, see below). Now through May 13. 2020:
ACA NEOGEO Metal Slug
ACA NEOGEO Aero Fighters 2
ACA NEOGEO Zed Blade
ACA NEOGEO Power Spikes II
ACA NEOGEO The King of Fighters '94
ACA NEOGEO Samurai Shodown (1)
Arcade Archives Double Dragon
Arcade Archives Ninja Kid
Arcade Archives Ninja Kid II
Arcade Archives Moon Cresta
Arcade Archives Terra Cresta
Arcade Archives Crazy Climber
So as of the time of posting (May 1, 2020), I can't verify my local pricing through nintendo.com as it still shows the full price. Logging in to both NA and JP eShops and listing HAMSTER games by 'Pricing low to high' confirm that the same 12 games are at the top of the list and are going for roughly the equivalent 4 dollar sale.
I'm sort of excited that HAMSTER increased the number of games on sale to 12 titles, up from 10. But not so much impressed since the majority of these titles were the part of the previous sale. IIRC, Double Dragon, Power Spikes, Moon Cresta, and Aero Fighters 2(maybe?) are the new games on sale and the remaining 8 are repeats.
The part I would like to see added to the eShop is the ability to see the price of a game, sale or not, even after I purchased it. It'll make things a little easier to recommend to others instead of saying, "I guess it's on sale? But I don't know how much it is because I already have it." Well, so long as I never pick up Moon Cresta, Power Spikes II, and the Ninja Kid games I should still be able to figure out the prices...or HAMSTER could give us a fresh batch of games on sale, ideally.
(old)As of December 5, 2019:
-Samurai Shodown, Samurai Shodown II, and Samurai Shodown III are all 50% off (i.e. down to $3.99US each, or your regional equivalent) that appears to mirror the Japanese eShop sale, which might be promoting next week's release of Samurai Shodown (2019) over there. The sale ends on December 18, 2019.
@UmbrageHill Thanks for bringing it up! I was debating whether to mention it or not since this is the ACA Sale thread (since the JTA games go on sale more frequently, compared to Arcade Archives that is) but yeah, this is really the lowest I've seen them go for so it's a special occasion! I filled out the rest of my collection except for the ones I really don't feel like picking up. Namely, Joe and Mac 2 and Super BurgerTime. But never say never, and I still got the eShop funds.
@sixrings I haven't spent a ton of time on them but after quickly trying out the games I'm familiar with they seem to run ok. No extra input lag than usual. Not every Data East game originally runs at 60FPS, btw. Nor are their control schemes ideal, so keep that in mind when I say everything seems to be running as they should. The jury's still out on Shoot Out's sound, though, but unfortunately I can't confirm it since the nearest real machine near me is in an arcade about 600 miles away and they got the sound turned down over there (plus I don't think I can afford to vacation there next year, either).
The one peeve I have with the Johnny Turbo games is that even when you choose 'none' as your video filter, there's still some kind of smoothing or something going on with the display. That, and all the other filters have a forced scanline effect applied to them. Oh, and on top of that, every mode below 'scanline rounded' on the list has forced rounded screens. I mean, it makes sense since the rest of the choices are RGB, Composite, S-Video, and VHS. But other than RGB and scanline (and rounded), all of the other filters are novelties since these are all arcade games. So yeah back to scanlines, since I play at 720p, the scanline effect isn't uniformly even. Like as you go down the screen, the scanlines get more pronounced, then go back to normal, repeating in a pattern that looks like scanline bands going down the screen. I can't really check easily, but I think that's because I'm not playing at 1080p.
Lastly, there's basically no game-changing settings. No button remapping (though a good amount of the games only use 2 buttons), no difficulty settings other than default, no changing 'extra life at xx,xxx points' (if applicable), nor any other DIP switch settings that may actually exist on a real arcade board. Not even a manual for a quick overview of the game. I know some people get on HAMSTER for barebones presentation, but those people probably haven't seen a retro game wrapper with basically nothing but the game.
But hey, for $2, I didn't get anything extra from real arcade machines except 8 credits and time spent. They're good enough for that at least.
I bought Fighter's History and am having a bit of problem starting the game. Why does Johnny Turbo decide that to start the game, they map the start button to apparently pushing down the left analog stick instead of the normal - or + button on the Switch. I can't seem to get it to start even after trying to push it for 10 minutes. I can't even switch the buttons in this game. What a waste of money for a game I can't even start even if on sales. Definitely not worth it and am very angry.
@nitake92 If you're on the menu screen, the one with the orange border and the Johnny Turbo character in the corner, try to highlight 'Start Game' on the left of the screen and press A. That takes you into the game itself. Then click/press the left thumbstick in and that should start the game. Things might get weird if you try to start with joy-cons detached, like what happened to me at first (and I don't normally use joy-cons), but the button map is basically the same.
Yeah, not being able to change button mappings is a huge drawback for this game in particular. Even Street Fighter II on the SNES allows you to change the buttons!
There is currently a sale on in North America until Wednesday October 11, 2023. (I think the 12th after midnight ET)
Keep in mind, there are over 100 ACA NEOGEO games and nearly 300 Arcade Archives games. And only 20 of each go on sale at a time, and games from these collections only go on sale a couple of times a year. So you really have to jump on them, because if you miss it, it could be years before any individual title goes on sale again.
The 10 Arcade Archives titles on sale this time around are all Taito games. Keep in mind that some of them have been previously collected in Taito Milestones collections 1 & 2, which each include 10 games. If you're a retro gaming nut, these collections are definitely preferable to buying them individually, especially as they go on sale for 60% off. There is also a #3 collection due out early next year, and its games list has not yet been released. So you can wait for that one, and hope that the games now on sale will end up in that one...or you can just cave and buy them now!
ACA NEOGEO MAGICIAN LORD
ACA NEOGEO METAL SLUG 5
ACA NEOGEO OVER TOP
ACA NEOGEO POWER SPIKES II
ACA NEOGEO PULSTAR
ACA NEOGEO PUZZLE BOBBLE 2
ACA NEOGEO SENGOKU 2
ACA NEOGEO STAKES WINNER 2
ACA NEOGEO KING OF FIGHTERS 2003
ACA NEOGEO WORLD HEROES
Arcade Archives Chack 'n Pop
Arcade Archives CHAMPION WRESTLER
Arcade Archives DARIUS
Arcade Archives ELEVATOR ACTION
Arcade Archives FIGHTING HAWK
Arcade Archives FLIPULL
Arcade Archives HALLEY'S COMET
Arcade Archives KURIKINTON
Arcade Archives QIX
Arcade Archives RAIMAIS
I bought Puzzle Bobble 2 a few days ago because of the sale.
At first I looked at the control bindings and thought “what did I get into” but I quickly realized they just overcomplicated the default options; the game only uses three buttons (and even then one of them is to insert a credit). Thankfully you can change them to get rid of all the fluff.
There is currently a sale on in North America ending today, Monday December 11, 2023. (the 12th after midnight ET)
Keep in mind, there are over 100 ACA NEOGEO games and nearly 300 Arcade Archives games. And only 5 to 10 of each go on sale at a time, and games from these collections only go on sale a couple of times a year. So you really have to jump on them, because if you miss it, it could be years before any individual title goes on sale again.
ACA NEOGEO REAL BOUT FATAL FURY 2
ACA NEOGEO SHOCK TROOPERS 2nd Squad
ACA NEOGEO ZED BLADE
ACA NEOGEO THE KING OF FIGHTERS 2001
ACA NEOGEO TOP PLAYER'S GOLF
Arcade Archives THUNDER DRAGON
Arcade Archives TASK FORCE HARRIER
Arcade Archives Penguin-Kun Wars
Arcade Archives Super Volleyball
Arcade Archives Frisky Tom
There is currently a sale on in North America ending Friday, January 5, 2024. (the 6th after midnight ET)
Keep in mind, there are over 100 ACA NEOGEO games and nearly 300 Arcade Archives games. And only 5 to 10 of each go on sale at a time, and games from these collections only go on sale a couple of times a year. So you really have to jump on them, because if you miss it, it could be years before any individual title goes on sale again.
A while ago I googled for lists of the best Neo Geo games. I looked for ranked lists at least 25 games long. I ended up finding 7 qualifying lists with 132 unique games and a total of 410 separate entries.
Aero Fighters 2 ended up the #8 best Neo Geo game. If you only want one game, and especially if you're interested in shmups, that's a must-have.
As far as this batch of Arcade Archives games, although there are no real classics on offer, there are a bunch of interesting curiosities. Collecting former Japan-exclusives is a weakness of mine!
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Topic: Arcade Archives / ACA NEOGEO eShop sales
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