Hamster Is Adding A Handful Of Data East Classics To The Arcade Archives

Oh man! The actual Burger Time game, rather than Super Burger Time! I would love to get this, but we'll have to wait until CERO re-opens to rate games.

The real Burger Time (to wash the taste from Super Burger Time). I can wait!

This Arcade Archive line, are they virtual console for Nintendo Switch in a way?

wow...trio the punch?
i would have never thought this game would see the light of day.
it fetches a price these days.
thats crazy news

@AlexanderDaniels More or less their own thing. For one thing, ever game has extra modes like caravan mode and time attack, settings to mess around with, releases on other systems like PS4, and so far have had a release every week for the past 160 weeks or something along that number. Its even in the Guinness Book of World Records.

So I guess another month's wait for Sunset Riders then....

Congo's caper = day one purchase for me.

I love these old games, but..

Bundles like the SNK Collection are much preferred..

You can get that for $25 now and w/ the free update, it's about 30 games.

The historical library in that release is worth checking out on it's own.

Konami Collections are pretty good too with the Japanese versions as bonuses.

@Angelic_Lapras_King

They could basically released every arcade games from MAME and I would be happy. I'm just disappointed that Capcom hasn't jump on the arcade archive bandwagon yet, would be nice to have some old school arcade classics like Bionic Commando, Strider, and Ghosts 'n Goblins in there too.

@Ooyah yes!! I say this to them on Twitter regularly but they never respond... ok Robocop might have some sort of licensing issue, but Midnight Resiatance... come on!!!!!!!

I would like them to include the game B-Wings, however, the NES version of B-Wings, in my opinion, is a better version than the arcade, so I would like that game to be revived, but as Hamster is in charge of the arcade versions, well, I think there will be no opportunity, at the moment.

I thought most of the Data East games were only released by Johnny Turbo these days. But hey, I ain’t complaining about more arcade games. I might pick up Burger Time.

Man, Burger Time puts Switch one step closer towards having nearly every arcade game I’ve ever cared about! Now, all they need are the following:

-Kangaroo
-The Simpsons
-TMNT
-Crazy Taxi
-Virtua Fighter
-Super Punch Out!
-Smash TV
-Marvel Vs. Capcom
-

Burger Time's pretty sweet. Would love to see their RoboCop arcade title, even if there's a premium pricing for licensing fees

I would be a happy camper if they announced Ring King.

Like the fans above when I hear data east I think midnight resistance, have never played it but looks so cool hope we get it one day x x x x x x same with robocop x x

And here I was hoping they would release previously unannounced games, which they will, but not these ones. There's nothing wrong with them, but I was waiting for titles already available on PS4 like Bubble Bobble or Wonder Boy. Yes, I know the former is available inside Bubble Bobble 4 Friends and the latter has a remake, but neither case is the same.

@GamerDad66 Not to mention the wait for these games

@GrailUK
I got both Ring King and World Champ on NES at the same time from a pawn shop. I always thought World Champ was a sort of an upgraded Ring King which is more well known but try World Champ if you haven't.

And Burger Time is a top ten classic!!! Still and always totally fun. So is the gameboy version.

That’s great news! Keep ‘em coming, Hamster!

I'm not a fan of Data East games. I didn't like them back in the day and playing some of their games again all these years later, I get the same feeling as I did back then. The themes of many of their games are great, Joe and Mac,Bad Dudes, Two Crude Dudes, Sly Spy look like they are a lot of fun but I find playing them to be a frustrating affair.

From the Data East games I've played, Robocop is probably my favourite. But even that, if it didn't have the Robocop license, the game would be pretty average. I haven't played Midnight Resistance but from looking at gameplay, it looks to be a poor man's Contra.

Sorry to be negative 😊

@Moroboshi876
Just get Bubble Bobble 4 Friends, seriously.

@EmirParkreiner I know I'm a pain in the ass, trust me. But this game is going to come to the eShop sooner or later. There have been other releases in Arcade Archives that were on PS4 since 2015-16 and reached the Switch eventually. And I prefer paying for what I'm really interested in, not as an unlockable in another game, but as a standalone.

You can’t go wrong with a round or two of BurgerTime.

I hope to see Hamster releasing more arcade games from the 90s in the future. There’s a lot of great arcade titles from this period.

@Priceless_Spork Oh, not played World Champ! I'll defo have to check that out. To this day, Ring King features the meatiest punches ever thrown by a sprite.

@OorWullie It's totally a valid view mate. They aren't crème de la crème by any stretch of the imagination. I for one didn't really like the art style of Dudes (Bad, Crude or otherwise lol) But preceding that era, they did some great ones. Chelnov, Captain America, (I liked Robocop), Side Pocket and International Karate (until I played Way of the Exploding Fist lol). Really looking forward to Burger Time

@BanjoPickles I'm surprised we haven't seen Smash TV already. It's a game that is crying out for a twin stick home conversion. Forgotten Worlds is another one that would be great to get.

@BionicDodo I've been after both of them for ages...

Great news amid all the bad news in the real world. I've been hoping for Bump 'n' Jump (Burnin' Rubber) and Burgertime for ages. Glad the heavily filtered Johnny Turbo line never touched the golden age stuff now, since I much more prefer Hamster's efforts.

Their last appearance on the PSP and Wii had significant audio issues and the screen resolution at the time couldn't really do justice to their vertical orientation without significant issues with uneven pixel sizes.

Hopefully Lock 'n' Chase is next. The audio is downright broken in that one on Data East Arcade Classics on the Wii.

Burgertime for me, I love that game. I know it's a stretch cause of licensing issues, but the Robocop arcade game would be cool as well. Same for Captain America and the Avengers. I know it'll never happen but an onion can dream.

Yeah day 1 for burger time!

@Ooyah Midnight Resistance... I remember that on the C64, would that be right?

This is good news, hopefully Robocop eventually gets a release, and I hope Taito (mid to late eighties) & Atari/Midway start making an appearance. Would love for Chase HQ, Op Wolf, and Rainbow Islands to get the Arcade Archives treatment

@GrailUK Don't you mean Karate Champ rather than International Karate? If so, it's already on Arcade Archives. (IK was a C64 game by Archer Maclean published by System 3)

@antster1983 Lol, yeah, you know that's what I mean. Fingers typing faster than my brain is all

I remember watching Pat the NES Punk's podcast on "classic games everyone loves but you hate" and he (or was it Ian) picks BurgerTime.
And then it felt like I wasn't the only one who just couldn't enjoy the original game. Tried it several times and just end up frustrated.
It just starts out too aggressive. When you struggle to finish even the first round, I don't think that's good. Feels like the food just homes in and surrounds you, and I end up quickly using all the pepper.
More of a difficulty curve needed, I'd say. Pac-Man ghosts didn't all gang up on you from the outset, did they?

@KingMike I totally agree. It sort of blends DK and Pac-man, but I am not very good at the game.

Still, I appreciate it for what it is and may still pick it up.end up

@Ooyah cool, I’m gonna have to go YouTube some gameplay footage now, and see if I can remember any other old C64 games I used to play! Vague memories of a Bruce Lee game, Fox Fights Back and some Dizzy Egg games

Only ever played the NES port of Burgertime. I'll have to download this.

@BanjoPickles : I would kill to get an arcade perfect Kangaroo. We already have Route 16 which was made by Sun Electronics, so unless Atari has an issue; we could see it.

This is great news. Was hoping for Bump n' Jump most of all. My wishlist would be:

Kangaroo
Popeye (yeah keep dreamin')
Mr. Do's Castle
Mr. Do's Wild Ride
Do Run Run
Mr. Do!
Krull
Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom
Berzerk
Amidar
Juno First
Space Panic
Simpson's
Ring King
Both Tmnt arcade games
Chase H.Q.

Burger Time Party was fine, but you can bet I'll be clearing it off the Switch to make room for the original Burger Time the moment it's released.

@Ooyah Turrican! Well now I remember THAT well!

The only DE game I have any nostalgic feelings towards is Express Raider. I would probably buy that.

I'll be grabbing Burger Time, it's one of those games that I had on the weird 50-something-games-in-one (expect actually more like 30 or so) thing I had as a kid. Megajoy III it was called, this weird orange colored N64 controller shaped thing.

@AlexanderDaniels “virtual console arcade”actually lol Awesome stuff either way! I hope the Ratings holdup doesn’t effect getting Sunset Riders getting rated & posted to the eshop in time!

@Gerald the whole Atari arcade collection is on the Atari Flashback Collection for Switch FYI- for the midway collection, we have to hope that Warner Bros comes around to doing it! Hopefully!

@KnightRider666 @BanjoPickles Man... I FINALLY have come across people who remember Kangaroo! That is definitely an arcade gameI would leap all over if it released. Another classic arcade release I'd like to see is Pole Position I and II.

@MeloMan i own a copy on Atari 5200 and except for having the arcade perfect version on some modded systems I own, the 5200 cart is the only legit copy of Kangaroo that I’m aware of.

@MeloMan : I have it for the both the 2600 and 5200 Atari's, but neither come close to the arcade original.

@AlexanderDaniels I think the NES and SNES Switch Online apps are considered the Virtual Console on the Switch. All the tons of retro re-releases on the eShop are separate. In the end though, it's all the same thing dressed up a little differently. What's really the difference between say the Castlevania Anniversary Collection or Super Mario Bros 1-3 on the NES app? It's all emulation of old school games.

I so wish we would get Robocop, Robocop 2, & Captain America and the Avengers on the Switch.

BurgerTime was best on Intellivision

So many good arcade classics left to go for the 70's and 80's. Here's a wishlist off the top of my head of games I'd love to see that haven't gotten an official emulated home console release of the arcade original. Many aren't owned by companies Hamster is involved with, but it's a wishlist and doesn't need to be realistic.

-Arabian
-Berzerk
-Cisco Heat
-Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat
-Domino Man
-Frenzy
-Gorf
-Hydra
-Juno First
-Jr. Pac-Man
-Kangaroo
-Lady Bug
-Lock 'n' Chase
-Mouse Trap
-Pepper II
-Popeye
-Rip-Off
-Satan of Saturn/Zarzon
-Solar Fox
-Stocker
-Turbo (Obviously would have to be a Sega Ages release)
-Turbo Outrun (Obviously would have to be a Sega Ages release; Breaking my qualifications, this did see a 3DS release in Japan)

And there are a lot of games I'd like to see get a fresh release. In particular, the overhead racing/driving games from the Midway collections. These were always unplayable in past collections, but the emulation experts at Code Mystics came up with a clever solution on their Atari Flashback Classics collection for the several included overhead racers.

Instead of moving the stick left or right to rotate the arcade's free-spinning 360 degree wheel, you instead push the stick in the direction you want your car to move towards. So if you want to steer towards the upper right corner of your tv, you simply move the stick to the 3 o'clock position. Made the overhead racers like Sprint 2 and Super Bug actually fun and enjoyable to play rather than a chore like Super Sprint and such were on the Midway Arcade Treasures trilogy and Midway Arcade Origins.

So I'd like to see Super Sprint, Championship Sprint, Badlands, Super Off-Road (With the Track-Pack), and A.P.B. get another chance with this steering setup. And the beautiful Capcom game Ghouls 'n Ghosts is crying out for an accurate emulation on a high-definition capable home console as well. The old Capcom Classics Collection release on our modern displays doesn't do the beauty of this one justice even through component cables.

Having played the original Burger Time since the Intellivision. Hmm...

@MeloMan @KnightRider666 holy crap, I finally found the other two people who remember this game! My family and I used to vacation at Pin Oak Lodge in Tennessee, and they had a Kangaroo arcade. I pumped so many quarters into it, every year!

I actually bought a 5200 just for that game, about sixteen years ago! It didn’t come close to the arcade, but it was nice to finally be able to play it again!

I do wonder who, if anybody, holds the rights to it.

@KnightRider666

Popeye would be amazing, but it has absolutely no chance. Then again, crazier things have happened.

Oh, and how about a little Food Fight action, since we’re making requests! 😁

@Atariboy

Ah, another fan of Kangaroo! Nice! These lists prove that there is plenty of mileage left for the ACA/Hamster line!

@joey302 hey, thank for info.
Is that Arcade or is it just Atari 2600 games ? Thanks

@OorWullie

Data East was a big part of my 80’s, and I agree, going back to most of their arcade games....nope, I’m good.

They should do this with games other than the arcade.

@Gerald it’s both the Atari brand 2600 carts AND the original Atari arcade games that are still owned by Atari today. So you’ll see games like Asteroids, centipede, millipede, Missle Command, Tempest, warlords and Crystal Castles. Battlezone however won’t be there though as Atari sold the rights to the game to Rebellion who recently published an updated Battlezone game on the consoles including Switch. Another FYI, the retail copy of Atari Flashback for Switch Is a bit tough to find for under $40. But imo worth it! I remember thinking when it first hit the Switch that it was a milestone in the sense that it was the first time the Atari classics of any sort came to a Nintendo console! Still available in the eshop as well! Enjoy 😊

Burnin Rubber was my first favourite racing game and it's still great, 38 years later.
Great times. It's mindblowing that back then we had to wait years for good racers like Pitstop II, Excitebike, Kikstart II, and Buggy Boy to be created and released. Those times when the first F-Zero and Super Mario Kart were a decade away.

@BanjoPickles : Funny I purchased an Atari 5200 for Kangaroo as well, but the controller is horrible. I used to play the arcade version at a few campgrounds in PA when I was a kid. Heck, that's where I spent most of my time when camping with the family, watching people play games in the arcade because I was too broke to play more than 1 or 2 games. I would think Atari and Sunsoft have the rights to it. Yeah, Popeye is a longshot; but I never thought we would see any DK arcade game either.

@Gerald : Atari Flashback is well worth the $40 on the switch. You get 150 games all on 1 cartridge.

@Atariboy : Definitely Arabian! That game looks awesome, though I've never played it.

@BanjoPickles - Great list. I have very fond memories of Kangaroo. Too bad we're not likely to see the bigger licensed ones, however.

@KnightRider666

DK Arcade was a complete shocker! I am so happy that Nintendo has finally opened the vaults to their arcade games. I hadn’t played Punch Out since ‘88. I’m.....not very good at it.

I’m really hoping they get around to releasing Super Punch Out eventually.

@Banjopickles: Tell me about it. The reason I finally bought a switch? Mario Bros. Arcade, the very first time it has been released in 100% true arcade form. That was the game I played most at the campgrounds right behind DK. I think it's safe to assume that we will see Super Punch-Out arcade in the near future. You seem pretty cool. Here's my switch friend code: SW-2057-6835-9015.

Good deal! I'll add you later tonight, my friend!

What I really want though is the Intellivision version of Burgertime. That was my favorite version by far. Here's hoping the Intellivision Amico will deliver!

Have played Burger Time Deluxe on 3DS virtual console, really enjoyed it. Not so sure about the arcade version though because the music is very repetitive from the video.

@Banjopickles: What's yours?

@Moroboshi876
I just don't see why someone who cares so much about Bubble Bobble wouldn't want to get BB4F anyway, i mean, it looks like a really good and faithful successor all around.

If this was a game that plays very different from the original (like Donkey Kong 64 is obviously very different from the included unlockable original arcade game, or all those classic Sega games' in Shenmue and Yakuza), or if BB4F wasn't good (like those mediocre PS2/GC Turtles games that had unlockable arcade classics), i'd understand your position.

But this seems more of a Panzer Dragoon Orta situation where the original is included with a good and faithful sequel any fan of the original should enjoy.

@EmirParkreiner I get your point, really. And I was going to get that game, but the reviews weren't so good actually.

@Moroboshi876
The thing is, what kind of reviews could we actually expect for a Bubble Bobble game that sticks close enough to the original formula?

Some reviewers could never accept a 2d game with an arcade length as a retail game, and would have probably reacted more positively to a game bloated to 500 stages, or a game that completely changed the concept (with 3d gameplay or grindy RPG leveling).

I have not played BB4F myself so far (i'll get it soon), so i can't say for sure if it's good or not.
However, from the videos i've seen the graphics and the music give me the impression that the team was serious about making a good game.

I'm also generally under the impression that Taito is a pretty reliable company outside of a short phase of weakness that lasted from the PS2 days into the early PSWii60/DS days.
All of their more recent efforts were very, very good in my opinion (Dariusburst, Ninja Saviors, Darius Cozmic Collection, Space Invaders Invincible Collection including the very recent Space Invaders Gigamax and Arkanoid VS Space Invaders).

@KnightRider666

I shot you a request. I’m SeattleGuy

@EmirParkreiner You reply reminded me of the Space Invaders Collection, which last time I checked had to be released "in 2020". I guess it's because I almost read Nintendo Life in search of video game news, and they stopped talking about this particular release.

Anyway, it's already out and I put it in my Amazon Japan wishlist in case a friend living there comes back (once the lockdown finishes) and can grab me this and a couple more collections for Switch.

But I see Taito did it again: some games are behind a huge paywall, as 3 of the titles come exclusively in the expensive collector's edition, à la Darius Cozmic Collection. Mean.

@Moroboshi876
Yea, randomly completely ignoring some good/interesting games is the reason why i could never rely on NintendoLife as my sole source of Nintendo-related news.

It's particularly bad when it comes to games that have no confirmed western release, for example they completely ignored Sisters Royale until it got announced for the west, which took about a year.
Even some good games that actually got western releases like Quad Fighter K (Kyogeki Quartet Fighters in Japan) get completely ignored.

Space Invaders Invincible Collection is definitely worth getting, as Majestic Twelve, Arkanoid VS Space Invaders, Extreme and Gigamax are really fun, i went with the Special Edition, but honestly the regular has all of the most important games (however, DX's VS mode is good fun).

@Banjopickles : Added you, thanks. No arcade archives today. Looks like we get a Nintendo arcade game tomorrow. I'm betting it's Vs. Wrecking Crew!😄

Did you see that some of the ACA games are on sale for $3.99?

@Banjopickles : Yes, I had all of them already except for the volleyball one. Vs. Wrecking Crew is confirmed for tomorrow!

@BanjoPickles @Juga @MeloMan @KnightRider666 @SuperToe

Good news, Hamster has announced that Kangaroo is coming to their Arcade Archives line.

@Atariboy : Yeah, I spotted that on 6/19. Great news indeed. Wonder why @Nintendolife it wasn't mentioned here?

@Juga : Right here: https://nintendoeverything.com/arcade-archives-kangaroo-p-47-the-freedom-fighter-heading-to-switch/

@Atariboy

@KnightRider666 told me the other day. I’m beyond excited because I didn’t see it ever happening. 🙂