Planet Harriers – Part 1

I had been desperate to play Planet Harriers ever since I saw the first screen shots in Edge magazine back in 2000.  Running on Sega’s Hikaru board, the game looked stunning and had that classic bright, happy Sega look.  I loved that it was an update and pseudo sequel to one of Sega’s greatest arcade games, Space Harrier.

 

I had never come across the game in any UK or Japanese arcade.  Almost all Sega dedicated cabs had a UK release, and whenever I visited a new seaside town I’d check out the arcades, hoping to find Planet Harriers.  The rumoured home release for the Dreamcast and then the Gamecube failed to materialise.  My desperation to play it, coupled with the game’s elusiveness gave it a near mythical status!

In 2009 I bought the arcade PCB along with the cabinet control panel and had it shipped from America.  The seller removed the Hikaru board from the metal cage and shipped the items separately. The board is extremely fragile and if left in the cage there is a high chance of damage in transit.  With the help of Giz10p, Arcade Otaku and Shmups forums, I pieced together the Hikaru board, control panel, I/O board and power supply and connected it up to an LCD television.

 

 

It was a massive relief to see the game up and running.  I was finally able to play Planet Harriers!

Jaleco Table Pony

This lovely Table Pony is currently on Yahoo Japan.  I’ve been regularly checking the arcade auction pages since 2009 and I can’t recall seeing another.  It appears there were different models produced: a 19” version, a 25”, and a 25” supporting tate mode.  An amazing looking cab which would definitely feature high on my list of unobtainable machines!

 

 

 

 

 

P&O Pride of Kent

The ferry arcade had a similar selection of games to the other P&O ferries I’ve been on, but it was nice to see these two:

Ferrari F355 Challenge

Sega’s awesome Ferrari simulator seems to be becoming increasingly scarce.

 

Shh…! Welcome to Frightfearland – Panic Museum 2

This surely deserves an award for longest title ever!  Known as Haunted Museum II in Japan, I had no idea this game was released in the West.  Think The House of the Dead, but in an abandoned amusement park with psychotic clowns.  Unfortunately the Player 1 gun sight was well off, but the Player 2 gun played ok.  Good fun, especially if like me you’ve never liked clowns!

Welcome to Astro City

I recently ventured down to Southend-on-Sea to check out a new arcade – Astro City!

The arcade is awesome, with a fantastic mix of titles on Japanese candy and Western cabinets, including some classic wooden dedicated cabinets.

 

 

 

Walking up the concrete stairway to the main arcade gaming floor and seeing all the classic titles reminded me of Akihabara’s Try Amusement Tower.  The arcade has a nice selection of Cave shooters including Ketsui, one of my all time favourites.  I also enjoyed a few credits on Ghosts’N Goblins, Street Fighter II’ Turbo-Hyper Fighting, Pac-Land, G-Darius, WWF WrestleFest and Pac-Mania.  The games are set to 50p a credit.

 

I remember playing Pac-Mania down the seafront when I was a kid and being impressed by the isometric graphics.  I love the art on this cabinet.  It was great to see it again after all these years.

I hope the arcade is a great success.  I really enjoyed it and can’t wait for my next visit!

 

 

 

 

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.