Scrolling Shooter Halley's Comet Is Hamster's Latest Arcade Archives Release

I will! I haven’t played this game since I was a kid in the 80’s. I loved this game!

Yet another surprise release. There have been several in a row. Whatever happened to the dozen in queue?

I am so confused. I could've sworn I heard about "Hayley's" Comet a few years ago, like no more than 10 years ago, but looking around online it seems Halley's Comet hasn't been around since '86.

Well, cool name for a game.

One of the first works by Fukio "MTJ" Mitsuji, a great genius of game design (Bubble Bobble, Rainbow Islands, Volfied...)

@Daniel36

It was a very accurate and trendy name in 1986 as it was the year when the actual Halley's comet entered the Solar System. There was a lot of media talk about it back then.

@CooperFrank Hamster is so crazy that we could expect also MTJ's Super Dead Heat coin-op with an option to play with 4 Nintendo Switch contiguous consoles. That would be amazing.

@Bisboch
Sior Bisboch, ma che sorpresa vederla qui!
Non ci resta che sperare, ovviamente più perle Taito/MTJ arrivano, meglio è (l'assenza di Rainbow Islands è imperdonabile)...

@Bydlak So I've read, but I could have SWORN it was big news only a few years ago.

Or am I mistaking a different comet or meteor with a similar name that was big news somewhere in the past decade?

I am probably confusing myself with Hale-Bopp, which well... was '97 so also not in the past 10 years.

But then again, everything after the 90's is just a garbled mess in my brain anyways.

@Daniel36

I do remember the Halley comet hype from '86. The information overload was then not as heavy as today and such a news really stirred my imagination as a 12 years old fan of science-fiction books and video games

This game is fantastic and ten years ahead of itself.

@Bisboch No.

Anyone know if this can be played in TATE mode? Screenshots would suggest is does (unless they've just cropped the stuff at the sides), but no mention in the article.

I'll get this one. I have my flip grip gathering a bit of dust.

kinda off-topic but does anyone recall Moon Cresta?

That's available on Switch too - which really made my year.

@YANDMAN You mean "no" it won't happen (yes, it's true, it's a broken dream for many UX reasons) or "no" it would not be amazing?

That looks like the Flying Phoenix from Battle of the PLanets / Gatchaman.

The enhanced Game Gear port - Halley Wars - was so much better.

• Sweeter visuals
• Better sprite animations
• More colors utilized
• Better pacing
• Vastly improved remixes of the original music tracks
• More special effects
• Revamped and improved bosses
• Mid-level bosses added
• Better sound effects

Anyway.. all-round better game.

@RowdySunstrider

You know what else is so much better?

Raiden.

@Daniel36 Comet NEOWISE made a brief but impressive display in the summer of 2020 (circa July). It was naked-eye for a few days if you had access to dark skies. That was the last significant comet to approach Earth in the last 10 years.

You might also be thinking of the interstellar asteroid, Borisov, which entered our Solar System recently. It passed us in the Fall of 2019, but was definitely not visible to the naked eye.

@COVIDberry Well it's the name, Hayley, with 1 l incidentally, that I seem to remember, so I have no idea why but those weren't it.

Ah well... I guess I will never know.