Koei Tecmo's Guzzler Joins Hamster's Arcade Archives Range On Switch Today

I think I played this back in the day. Another example how CRTs make these old games look so beautiful. Looks so basic and blocky here but on a CRT it’d look gorgeous - smooth and clean. The sprites take on a different cartoony look.

Well here’s one I never encountered in the arcades back in the day...

I like the historical/educational value of Hamster’s work on Arcade Archives, though. Keep it up! 👍🏼

Maybe someday they’ll release some similarly old arcade games I enjoyed like Mr. Do and Venture.

Looks interesting, but most Arcade Archive games are over priced. They should have a demo of each game for 25 cents (or a $1 demo if you account for inflation).

@Teksetter I wish more people saw this releases like you (and me) and the hate comments were fewer. Even when I'm not interested in the games themselves depending on the case, I salute the opportunities they're giving us to know more about this beloved hobby of ours.

@Moroboshi876 I hope people like my frustration dont ruin your hobby. I am happy there are people who may enjoy this. I think the hate is coming from the fact hamster about a year ago said certain games were coming soon. Included in that list is my favourite game ever RAIDEN! so every week I check and am very dissappointed while games which were never announced as coming soon pop out of nowhere.

Another one off the TGS 2020 reveal list. We're getting closer to Trio De Punch, Rabio Lepus, Nova 2001, and Raiden.

Below is the Arcade Archives list from Tokyo Game Show 2020 (crossed out games are those that released already)

Guerrilla War
Thunder Dragon
NOVA 2001
Super Cobra
Gradius II GOFER's Ambition
Gradius III: From Legend to Myth
Green Beret/A.K.A. Rush N'Attack
Arabian
Pettan Pyu
64th Avenue
Fairyland Story Rod Land
Zero Team
Raiden
BenBeroBe
Fairyland Story
Kuri Kinton
Liquid Kids
Trio de Punch
Darwin 4078
Ganbare Gin-Kun
Tokidensho Angel Eyes
Swimmer
Guzzler
Cosmo Police Galivan
Soccer
VS. Tennis
Rabio Lepus

I remember seeing this game on Starcade. Never have played it myself, but looks interesting.

I may be vibing this through nostalgia, but I remember having fun with this in the arcade. It's difficult to tell someone what value should be placed on something they've worked on/produced, but I really feel like these releases should be priced based on the game and not just blanket pricing.

$8.00 seems a bit steep for this, but then again I have no idea what their licensing, logistic and development costs are. Maybe digging up something this old and relatively unknown took some doing. $5.00 seems more reasonable, but obviously that's just from a consumer perspective and we all like a good deal.

Then again, I guess you could say I'm part of the problem, as I may still pick it up at this price!

@sixrings I hear you, and this can't qualify as hate. I was referring to those people who only comment on Arcade Archives news to say the games should cost much less and/or they're garbage.

This particular one was announced, but certainly there have been many releases that went ahead the "waiting least", although sometimes that's a good thing depending on the game.

I for one can't wait for Liquid Kids and Trio the Punch, and a while ago had to wait months for Puzzle Bobble 2 because when it seemed it finally was its turn a new batch was announced, so I understand you.

@Tandy255
Couldn't disagree more; The various AA titles are some of my most-played, it's also great that they go for some of these lesser-known titles rather than the usual suspects. In comparison to the Capcom comp they could seem expensive I guess, but there are so many licenses involved here, a different ball game to a company re-releasing its own older IP.

I keep hoping for an Arcade Archives release of Gyruss.

2 WARPS TO NEPTUNE

@SpringDivorce @Moroboshi876 @Tsusasi The Namco Museum at full retail price is less than $3 a game. I know that is a bundle versus buying them individually, but $8 is too high unless you are passionate about the title (and some will be).

I have probably spent $100 on Arcade Archive titles, most at full price. I got Crazy Climber on a 50% sale, but most on my wish list are never on sale (you can verify previous discounts with DekuDeals).

@Moroboshi876
Thanks for the reply Moroboshi-kun! 😁

I can understand people’s frustration with Hamster, when it’s coming from a place of love/impatience waiting for Raiden or some other hit game. Delayed gratification can be so annoying!
But if you’re truly a fan of games or have at least casually enjoyed them since the arcade days, you’ve got to respect Hamster for resurrecting some of these forgotten titles and keeping this unbelievable streak of weekly releases going.

Lately I wish they were as well-connected with Western arcade game companies and we could get Midway games like Defender, Rampage, or Smash TV, or Q-Bert from Gottlieb.
If Hamster can’t pull that off, it’d be nice if some Western company could emulate them and find a way to make it happen.

@Tandy255 I have about $300 worth of arcade archives. No regrets. But I do wish again that those promised games were already out by now. I feel as someone who spent a decent amount that I should be allowed to voice frustration when I’m trying to give them my money.

@Teksetter All those games would be day one purchases for me too

And I don't think they're impossible to come, but it's true that Hamster seems to get the licenses from the same 3-4 companies (yet there have been some surprising ones, like Konami), and that they've mostly released the best games they had.

Anyway, there's still some room to surprise us. And some games like Bubble Bobble should come any time, given that they're already on PS4.

Let's be patient, all the promised games will eventually come, it's just they sometimes release some games that they hadn't announced, maybe for rating approvals or something.

@Tandy555 I know, and I can understand it, because I always switch regions to get the lowest possible price.

@sixrings Well, it is cheaper than buying arcade cabinets. 😉

And I do appreciate that...
— they are bringing lesser known titles
— they include different versions of the ROMs
— there is a legal way to play these games

@sixrings Yeah same, been looking for Raiden since forever now and I think it's never going to release.

I love these games from my earliest gaming days before I settled into home consoles. I don't even remember seeing this back then, but great for history sake.

Off topic a bit. I know there was no announcement but I'd like to see arcade Double Dragon 3 possibly as 2 was a big surprise as I had never played it, and only loosely even heard it existed. Any word on that?

I really appreciate what Hamster are doing. I bought several of their games, from In The Hunt to X-Multiply and Moon Patrol. I really liked them all, especially Moon Patrol. Of course, not everything Hamster releases is "for me," so to speak, but when they put out so many titles, that's to be expected. I'm just glad they're rescuing these games from oblivion and letting new audiences find them through legal means.

All I can say about the Arcade Archives series is that, after having a casual interest in trying City Connection in its arcade form and getting it, it became one of my favorite arcade games.

My ACA collection right consists mostly of Nintendo's games (it's nice to have a legal way to play the arcade versions of Donkey Kong (DK64 aside) and Mario Bros. plus the Punch-Out!! games, not to mention, Vs. Balloon Fight and Vs. Wrecking Crew feel different to their NES counterparts) plus Vs. Castlevania, City Connection and The King of Fighters 2000.

I must have missed that Liquid Kids was coming, too. That's another game I've seen and have casual interest on.

@masterLEON Umm, Cosmo Police Galivan already happened.

@sixrings I need Raiden II in my life!

@KIRO Raiden, Raiden 2, Raiden DX..... somehow i care about these three games more than BOTW2 or MP4

I pray for a re-release of Mr Ee!

@sixrings ha ha / well for me R2 was played during a very formative fun time as an arcade in a pub I loved , so yeah I’m emotionally invested BOTW2 I’m pretty hyped for that one too

@adamman12345 You're right! Must've slipped my memory.

Keep 'em coming, guys!

@Beaucine Moon Patrol was a must buy for me too! For 1982, it looked ahead of its time (and still fun to revisit).

@Tandy255 after doing my best to support hamster I don’t think I’ll feel guilty if for whatever reason the switch 2 isn’t backward compatible and then I resort to a raspberry Pi.

@KIRO my gf now wife had to bare feigning interest in me finishing raiden 1 on one quarter every time we walked past the arcade while we were dating.

@Beaucine I just wish a month or more wouldn’t pass before a hamster game was for me.

@Tandy255 Oh I agree. Like I said, $5.00 seems a lot more reasonable for a title like this. But I always stop short of saying that they are overpriced as I don't really know what it costs to bring these to the eShop. I try to keep in mind that Nintendo get I believe 30% right off of the top (so they're down to $5.60) and I don't know what the original publisher/developer get for their cut. Whatever's left after that has to cover all of their costs... then after that, how much are they actually pocketing as pure profit. A couple of bucks maybe?

So the straight up, perhaps mildly entitled gamer/consumer in me says 'that's too much for a game like this', but the logical and compassionate parts of my brain are telling me that it probably wouldn't be sustainable for them, outside of the occasional eShop sale.

@MeloMan
Don't hold your breath man, it sucks. A massive stain on an otherwise brilliant series.

They keep releasing Taito games, so where is Qix?????

@Tandy255

Yeah, it's awesome. I was a first-time player, but it looked so unique I had to get it. The art style's on point. I was playing it and when I told my girlfriend it was a game from before we were even alive, she was like, "Huh, it looks like a modern game doing retro and not an actual retro game." Which she meant as a compliment.

I guess after they stopped doing Neo geo games (by the way there are some I’d still like Nightmare In The Dark) I assumed that they would do more 90s arcade games. Instead they still do obscure 80s games. They have a place but I’d sure like a lot more 90s games.

More Arcade Archives game are a good thing. While many of them are clunky by today's standards the series represents a rich treasure trove of an important period of the development of games. While I would prefer the games to be slightly cheaper it's hard to know what the true costs involved are, so perhaps Hamster have averaged it out, knowing that some games might sell hardly anything (maybe only a few hundred sales?) & others will sell decently.

There's much more to it than copy/pasting a rom and uploading it to the e-shop so I'm happy to support the Arcade Archives series.