Merry Christmas

My Arcade Otaku Secret Santa sent me an awesome selection of gifts.

The gifts include a Vewlix arcade cabinet model, a Space Invaders money box, some Japanese candies, and a lovely book – Drainspotting: Japanese Manhole Covers. 

The book is a collection of pictures of Japan’s amazing drainhole cover art. 

 

A massive thanks to my Secret Santa for such lovely gifts. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas Crackers

Ok this post has nothing to do with Christmas crackers.  But I have received some cracking PCB’s since my last post, ready for the festive season!

Mercs – Capcom

I rented the Megadrive version from the local video shop and me and a friend spent a weekend playing it.  That was the last time I played it, around twenty years ago!  I still remember the epic boss battles and the flame thrower being my favourite weapon, awesome game!

Three Wonders / Wonder 3 - Capcom

Another Capcom classic featuring three games - a puzzle, an action platform game and a horizontal shooter.  The board has been de-suicided.

RoboCop 2 – Data East

 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time – Konami

TMNT was in all the arcades back in the day.  By the time this sequel was released, the popularity of the Turtles and scrolling fighters was starting to wane and I only saw this game in one local arcade.  Awesome game though, I have the Super Famicom conversion and am very happy to finally own the arcade original.

NEO Mr. Do! – Neo Geo MVS

Gunspike – Psikyo / Capcom - Sega Naomi Cartridge

This came with original art, manual, and poster.

 

 

Power Stone – Capcom - Sega Naomi Cartridge

I loved playing this on the Dreamcast.  The cartridge came with original art and manual.

I also received a huge bundle of Gamest, a monthly Japanese arcade magazine.  The issues are dated from 1987 to 1994.  This is one of my all time favourite magazines along with Super Play and Maximum, and I’m really looking forward to thumbing through them.

Pirates of the English Channel

 

Another ferry, another arcade!  This time it’s the P&O Spirit of France.  I was quite impressed to see Dead Storm Pirates onboard.

 

 

 

WARNING!!  TAITO MT-8 CABS ARE APPROACHING FAST

A number of Taito MT-8 cabinets have recently been uncovered in Budapest.  Previously information on these cabs was very limited, with no photos online and a question mark on whether they actually made it into production.

The cab features a monitor rotation mechanism, fluorescent tubes on the sides of the hood and a headphone jack on the control panel complete with volume adjustment, very cool! 

Although sadly one of these won’t be heading my way, this is an awesome find and I’m very pleased they have been saved.

A massive thanks to Nik/Wurstkopp (Arcade Otaku) for allowing me to post these pictures.

Wyvern Wings Kit and MVS

I recently received a minty Wyvern Wings Kit, a nice vertical shooter by the Korean developer Semicom.

Also some more MVS.  Nightmare in the Dark has been on my list of wants for a good while.  It’s pretty good timing as well with Halloween coming up!

Bang Bead was a bit of an impulse buy, I got it along with NitD.  The low serial number was a nice surprise!

Luton Airport

I was recently at Luton Airport to get an early morning flight to Amsterdam.  Bleary eyed, I checked out the arcade expecting the usual array of fruit machines and a token Fast and Furious cabinet.  However I was in for some nice surprises, including the awesome modern classics OutRun2 and After Burner Climax, and Tekken 5.  

 

 

The machines were in nice condition and fully working.  But for me the biggest surprise was Chase H.Q. 2.

Chase H.Q. 2 was released in 2006, but I had never seen a cabinet before and I was really happy to play it.  I loved the original, and one of my earliest memories is playing the black Porsche sit down cabinet down Great Yarmouth seafront. 

I had heard negative reports about this Taito Type-X² powered sequel.  It’s no OutRun2, but I enjoyed my few credits.  You now have a choice of three cars with differing characteristics, although sadly the iconic black 944 isn’t one of them.  The visuals remind me of Ridge Racer with its bright primary colours.  Short cuts can be taken, similar to Konami’s GTI Club, to collect extra Nitros whilst in hot pursuit of the target vehicle.  And Nancy has aged very well it must be said!

Knights of the Round

Knights of the Round Japan CPS Kit, Matching Serial # 0258014.

 

    

 

I picked this up from Yahoo! Auctions Japan.  The Kit is the resale version.  It’s in mint condition and the PCB itself looks NOS.  

I haven’t played this game before and never saw it in the local arcades back in the day, but I remember seeing the Super Famicom conversion featured in Super Play magazine.  Being a massive fan of Capcom and scrolling fighters I’m really looking forward to playing this!

Welcome to Aero City

I recently collected a new cab from AeroCityMayor / Ralph.  Ralph was kind enough to show me around his awesome new games room.  Well I say games room, but really it’s a full blown Japanese arcade!  I enjoyed a few credits on Varth and Zero Gunner, two shooters I hadn’t played before.  Ralph’s arcade also has a dedicated mahjong cabinet and two Aeros’s featuring Super Street Fighter II X linked for VS play.  Very cool!

Ralph was kind enough to let me take some pictures of his awesome set up.