Konami Adds TATE Mode Support To Its Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection

Well done Konami. Now hurry up and add the Famicom version of Castlevania 3 to the Castlevania Collection so we can enjoy that versions awesome music.

Amazing news. Scramble will feel perfect.

Props to Konami for adding this in. The fact that the emulation is so good and they kept the price reasonable for the Collections is encouraging. They are kinda showing up Capcom, which is surprising given this company’s reputation as only after a quick buck.

Nice might be able to try TwinBee for real this time.

Great! Still eager to learn what the remaining four Contra games in that collection are. I'm 99% sure Hard Corps and Operation C are two of them, but the other two are question marks after the revelation of the Castlevania set. They keep distancing themselves from NES Contra 1, and I would be VERY surprised (and frankly a little disgusted) if they actually bother with Contra Force, since that never got a Japanese release.

Great news. As an owner of a FlipGrip I had ignored this collection but will pick it up at some point now.

Flipgrip is the greatest. any new title supporting the Flipgrip gets my attention

Well, they had announced it days ago, hadn't they? Anyway, did they already include the Japanese versions as also announced?

This collection is getting more interesting (I'll wait for a price drop, though. 20 bucks for a digital anything is too much for me), but what about the "emulation issues" (despite being by Hamster) mentioned in reviews? Or is it just a "M2 is better" situation?

What is TATE? Flipping the screen?

@Sabrewing Isn't the arcade version of the Contra they're including superior to the NES version though? It seems like with these collections, whenever there is an arcade version, they opt for that. See Gradius 1 & 2 and Salamender/Life Force for example..

It would be nice if they put the NES version of Contra on the Switch Online app though.

I've been looking for information and it seems that I was wrong: they never said Arcade Collection would eventually have the japanese versions. And that's a deal-breaker for me. Especially coming from Hamster.

@Sinton Yes, it's how the vertical orientation is known. Because "tate" in Japanese means "stand up" (among many other things, as usual in this language).

I only know Twinbee

Did they add the JP versions too like they said they would?

@Moroboshi876 I’m pretty sure I read more than one article quoting Konami with the intent to ad the regional variations into Castlevania as well as the Arcade Classics. Bummer as I already bought the much better Japanese version of the latter.

@Jimgamer8 Good to know. But, well, if you already have the Japanese version, at least you have the better. Are you going to miss the Western one?

Can you change the orientation in docked mode??

@John_Deacon I for one can't see any emulation problems anywhere, in any release. My eye isn't that sharp, nor have I memories of childhood regarding these games because I didn't go to the arcade rooms, and certainly the reviews only complain about the lack of settings (region, TATE -now solved-, et cetera), but it's more something I read between the lines in the Castlevania Collection review, here in NL:

"Upon launching the game you may be startled to see the aforementioned M2 logo appearing. Whereas the previous arcade collection was developed by Hamster Corporation using its Arcade Archives emulation system, for the Castlevania collection Konami has instead wisely enlisted the help of the talented chaps responsible for the stunning Sega Ages retro releases. It’s a smart move and one that ensures the emulation is as accurate as it possibly could be."

@Moroboshi876 I have both. Bought US before realizing issues with it, then bought Japanese before they announced the planned update

@Jimgamer8 Oh, man, that certainly is a bummer. I'm sorry

Sweet, hoping for a Castlevania update as well to add a few missing game versions and a 4x3 mode that doesn't also have scan lines

@Moroboshi876 I think it's more that HAMSTER has released games with issues here and there. Some minor, like KoF '98's weird colors (that got fixed in about a week after the Japanese launch date). Some more problematic, like Punch-Out!!'s input lag. But yeah HAMSTER's Arcade Archives emulation, while largely great, is just shy of M2's porting prowess (not including M2's standard extras).

@masterLEON OK, thanks! By the way, do you know if input lag of Punch-Out!! was fixed? I have the game, but haven't booted it up yet

Good news, it seems Konami is listening.

I have to say the flip grip is genius, even Nintendo overlooked this angle!

I hope they are considering more volumes! They have sooo much retro goodness left in the basement yet!

Get rid of haunted castle and add gradius 2/3 and i'll consider it, oh and Parodius!

@John_Deacon

The only emulation issue I have come across twice is in Scramble. The sound of my ships explosion repeats infinitely even after game over. Only happened twice, not a Gane changer. Hell maybe the real cabinet does it sometimes too

@vio To be fair, Gradius and Salamander were in an ARCADE-centric collection in this instance...

And I would say NES Contra remixed the game enough to be considered a pretty different entity from the arcade version. Levels were lengthened with enemy placements changed, and the Famicom version is infamous for using an extra chip which enhanced the graphics, as well as including stage intermissions and an actual ENDING.

Also, two of the games are Super Contra and its NES port Super C, so...

I hope we get more compilations. Going for green beret, yie Ar Kung fu, track and field and main event myself

I made a claim on this very site that if Konami ever added TATE mode to this I would buy it the same day.... well played Konami, I have just purchased your game. Now time for another one... Once they add button re-mapping and the Famicom versions to the Castlevania Collection I will pick that one up to!

@Dayton311 I've just bought it too...but I can't seem to update past 1.0.1 yet (in the UK). D'oh!

EDIT: Checked back a couple hours later, and TATE is here to...par-tay? :/

When the Contra collection comes out... if they're going to make us play the crappy arcade version, will they at least include TATE support for that? (I don't think they announced the full lineup for that, so there's a still a chance of the NES version being one of the mystery games?)
That was one thing I remember in the DS arcade collection, was it supported TATE but then you were stuck with the DS' physical limitation of having the d-pad and buttons placed awkwardly so you feel like a monkey playing it.

@Solomon18 @BionicDodo

Where can I get a Flip Grip?

Edit: I found it on Fangamer. They are currently out of stock, but will get more.

Now how about adding Sunset Riders to the release?

@Moroboshi876 It's been fixed, it feels right (and the referee counting is back to 'normal' fast instead of 'super' fast) Now if only I can ever beat Kid Quick, I'd love to see the rest of the game and see if I can draw more comparisons, LOL. There's an arcade Punch-Out!! at a Barcade location 30 minutes on the subway away from me. I'll head out there once I get better.

I looked up a FAQ too, and found out that the player can get stunned if hit too much, it just doesn't 'look' obvious (if no punches come out for a few seconds, that means you're stunned). That probably explains why my controls get unresponsive after taking a beating from Kid Quick or whoever.

@LinktotheFuture Yeah, I got mine from Fan Gamer. Worked out cheap even from the UK. Hope you get one soon.

@BionicDodo Thanks!

@LinktotheFuture buy from Fangamer if you can. they lavish there customers with cool extras. I did see them on ebay too..

@Solomon18 Thanks for the tip!

@NintoRich Gradius 2 IS on it. The game was renamed Vulcan Venture in the West.

@RadGravity Oh, of course you're right, would still like Gradius 3 aswell then

@Sinton
Yes true vertical mode

Parodius collection next please:)

@vio

Contra is one of the few games that the NES port is better than the arcade game. The game is a side scroller, but the arcade cab has a vertical alignment giving you limited view distance which makes it easier to get hit by projectiles. The arcade game is a higher resolution, but it seems to have fewer animation frames as the jumping just looks wonky on the arcade version. The characters on the arcade version are too big and the gameplay is slower on the arcade version. Of course opinions to differ, but to me it's not particularly close. The NES game is a lot better and more fun than the clunky arcade version.

@cleveland124 Oh, I see. I've never played the arcade version, so I didn't know. However, as you probably know now, there is no issue as the NES Contra was just revealed to be part of the Anniversary Collection. So rejoice!