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The 'official' Twitter for weird gamesoft review site, Gaming Hell! The old game site with guts! Huge guts!! Sarh is our mascot! Author: @TepidSnake
Apr 9, 2021 29 tweets 16 min read
Righto. What follows is the official Gaming Hell PS3 / PSP / PS Vita Store Closure Thread.

Not a robust guide by any means, just some basic notes and observations for surviving digital armageddon.

(Please wait 'til I'm done before replying to this. It's gonna be a long one.) Image Before we get started, this is NOT a definitive list of all non-physically released games, all essential games to get or anything like that.

I'm mostly sharing some things I've found that may be of use to you, focused on JP-exclusive and PS1 stuff. I hope you understand.
Mar 31, 2021 4 tweets 3 min read
THE iDOLM@STER: Million Live! Theater Days on smartphones has a fighting game minigame as an April Fools' Day joke... That was made in cooperation with Tekken Project themselves.

Incredible.

(Is Iori in this? Is she top-tier?!) (You can search the hashtage in that quoted tweet if you'd like to see actual footage of the minigame.

It looks like Iori isn't in but Yayoi ~is~ so clearly she's the top-tier one.)
Jan 26, 2021 4 tweets 2 min read
RADICAL ARCADE GAME FLYERS - Bucky O'Hare (Konami, 1992 - Japanese flyer)
flyers.arcade-museum.com/?page=thumbs&d…

He goes where no ordinary rabbit would dare. The arcade Bucky O'Hare is notable for basically serving as a finale to the cartoon series, which only had one season and never really had a final 'defeat' for the bad guys, the Toad Empire.

What's more interesting is it adapts stuff directly from the original 1984 comic!
Nov 5, 2020 6 tweets 5 min read
So this is weird, Mad Father has had a significant update today on Steam- basically completely remaking all the graphics, adding new modes, etc.- and if you own the game, you get the update for free.
store.steampowered.com/app/483980/Mad… ImageImageImageImage However... There are three versions of Mad Father. The very first one, from 2012, is freeware and still available, with a translation by vgperson
vgperson.com/games/madfathe…

The version originally released on Steam in 2016 has been 'replaced' by the remake and is no longer available ImageImageImageImage
Nov 5, 2020 4 tweets 3 min read
A really, ~really~ deep cut for Arcade Archives on PS4 this week- Pettan Pyu, a 1984 maze game by Sunsoft that focuses on flipping panels to defeat the baddies.
store.playstation.com/en-gb/product/… ImageImage "Hey, aren't there normally more screenshots with these tweets?"

Yes! However, the new, completely shit browser PSN redesign ~removes all screenshots of games~ so I have to get them myself, and I'm not sure the colours are right in the version of MAME I have.

Sorry!
Sep 25, 2020 5 tweets 3 min read
A few loading screens from the PS1 version of Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes. Every character in the game (except Lilith-style Morrigan, Mega War Machine, Hyper Venom and Orange Hulk) has one! The PS1 port of MvC is, needless to say, very compromised, but they tried their best. Performing a Duo Team Attack, for instance... Brings in a ~clone of your opponent~. Don't need to load a partner into memory if they're already there!
Sep 15, 2020 4 tweets 2 min read
Undertale is 5 years old! Let us mark the occasion with a deeply-cursed screenshot. My favourite standard Undertale monster is Whimsalot, for it remembers its conscience, and isn't afraid of you.
undertale.fandom.com/wiki/Whimsalot (possible spoilers, obv)
Sep 11, 2020 7 tweets 3 min read
Looking into some Mega Drive rerelease stuff, as you do, and there's some real oddities. For instance, excluding plug-and-play systems, The Ooze- by Sega Technical Institute- has only ever been rereleased... on Sonic Mega Collection (JP GC & Plus)
It seems Sonic Mega Collection was intended to include a couple of other non-Sonic games too, specifically Vectorman and Monster Lair. Gems Collection would get Vectorman 1 & 2 (as well as the Streets of Rage trilogy and Bonanza Bros. but only in Japan)
tcrf.net/Sonic_Mega_Col…
Sep 10, 2020 4 tweets 3 min read
It's Arcade Archives which means sadly no online multplayer, but yoooo, Toukidenshou -Angel Eyes- is getting a rerelease!! This game is busted as all heck but it's fascinating! The arcade version has quite the development history, as documented by @suddendesu- the game contains remnants of an English localisation and an unused character, plus this page explains how the game had its origins in the scrapped Ninja Gaiden II, sort-of
sudden-desu.net/entry/touki-de… ImageImageImage
Sep 5, 2020 5 tweets 3 min read
Playing a Real-as-Heck video game today, so don't mind me~ Uncovering some of the Deep Lore about Bug Panic, it appears to have its roots in Cave's feature-phone output, a game called Mushihimesama Gaiden (虫姫さま外伝) which plays very differently but seems to be where Reco's sprites in Bug Panic come from.
Sep 4, 2020 4 tweets 3 min read
Well, may as well leave some Superior Soldiers findings here. Mostly trying to find official art and turning up empty.

The playable characters have headshots on this instruction card
aucview.com/yahoo/x6106838…

And you can see zoomed-in versions here
web.archive.org/web/2011072115… ImageImageImageImage A JP MUGEN Wiki & other places have a page looking at two of the game's characters- Arabian Moon and Broadway / Cattydox, but no source.
w.atwiki.jp/niconicomugen/…

This partial art also appears in GIS, but links nowhere, coloured versions of that art. From a game magazine, perhaps? ImageImage
Sep 3, 2020 5 tweets 2 min read
If you have Switch Online, update the SNES app- Super Mario All-Stars has been added to celebrate the series' 35th anniversary. Image Ah, remember when Nintendo rereleased SMAS on the Wii and, just to crush the spirit, made sure it was crystal-clear this is exactly the same as the SNES game ~and~ in 50hz because get stuffed, PAL-Landers? Ah, good times.
mobygames.com/game/wii/super… Image
Aug 26, 2020 5 tweets 3 min read
With that last retweet, this is the first time these early SaGa games have ever been rereleased. Well, sort-of- beyond a WonderSwan remake in 2007, Sunsoft of all companies reprintd these games in the US in 1998.
gamefaqs.gamespot.com/gameboy/563273… Image Why did I say 2007? I need to put my glasses on, what I totally meant to type was 2002.

Anyway, there were also Japan-only DS remakes of 2 and 3, but no straight-up reissues of the originals.

gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ds/956193-saga…

gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ds/605583-saga… ImageImage
Aug 25, 2020 5 tweets 3 min read
As seen on LordBBH's MAME Roulette stream, there was an arcade version of Quake, titled Quake - Arcade Tournament Edition that, uh, included print-out prizes with the most ill-fitting soundbite imaginable when you grab them in-game~
clips.twitch.tv/StupidAgitated… I'm not 100% on the story here- PC stuff is outside my wheelhouse- but it was to be part of an endeavour by redemption game company Lazer-Tron to bring PC games to the arcade market, including Carmageddon and Forsaken (?!) which probably never materialised
flyers.arcade-museum.com/?page=thumbs&d… ImageImage
Jul 31, 2020 4 tweets 3 min read
What time is it? It's BURGERTIME. On Switch it is, anyway, with BurgerTime being the first Data East game to show up in the Arcade Archives range. Help Peter Pepper engage in deeply-questionable food safety practices and avoid Mr. Hot Dog!
nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo… ImageImageImageImage There are some arcade Data East rereleases out on Switch like Joe & Mac and Bad Dudes, but these are by Flying Tiger Entertainment under the Johnny Turbo's Arcade name- yes, the TurboDuo mascot from the '90s- and their quality is dubious at best. Some are OK, others are ~rough~.
Jul 26, 2020 4 tweets 2 min read
Oh, since it's the 15th anniversary of THE iDOLM@STER, I have an excuse to post this song about hamburgers.
Go on then, let's have a few more, I never get to do relevant idolposting here!

This is one of my very favourite songs, Mahou wo Kakete! sung by Ritsuko Akizuki.
Jul 16, 2020 4 tweets 4 min read
This week's Arcade Archives is one for the Golden Age fans- Sunsoft's Kangaroo from 1982. Help the mama kangaroo save her joey by climbing ladders, hopping over platforms and her boxing prowess.

PS4 up now, Switch tomorrow (probably)
store.playstation.com/en-gb/product/… ImageImageImageImage American readers probably remember that Kangaroo was brought over to the US by Atari, and so it was one of those games you could get pin badges for from them. They were sold at arcades for promotional purposes, as outlined here:
atariage.com/forums/topic/3… ImageImage
Jul 15, 2020 4 tweets 3 min read
Exhuming my copy of Vampire Night from the crypt unearthed this little flyer.

That’s really the tag line they went with for this, folks. Image Bad jokes aside, Vampire Night is a bit of an oddity. A collab between Namco (on their System 246 hardware) and Sega's WOW Entertainment, it's almost a halfway point between The House of the Dead 2 and 3 as the boss life gauge from 3 was introduced here.

flyers.arcade-museum.com/?page=thumbs&d… ImageImageImageImage
Jun 16, 2020 4 tweets 3 min read
Wait, Darius Cozmic Collection is out this week on PS4? Hard to keep track of this stuff at the mo.

These are by emulation wizards M2 and split into 2 releases for the West. At least we didn't have to deal with the ridiculous preorder exclusive nonsense of the JP ver! First is the Arcade set which includes Darius, Darius II (both dual-and-triple screen) and Darius Gaiden as well as various alternate versions of each (Darius Extra, Sagaia, etc.)
store.playstation.com/en-gb/product/… ImageImageImageImage
Jun 1, 2020 4 tweets 2 min read
The Junker's High prototype for OutRun 2019 on the Mega Drive has an interesting difference with one of its billboards- it's Kilroi (not Kilroy, don't be silly) and oh, he's saying something rather rude.

This was changed to 'BYE BYE!' in the final game. ImageImage Back on some OutRun 2019 stuff, and the prototype Junker's High is known for having SRAM support, saving your records and replays. This was stripped out of the final game.

... But these UK mag reviews still refer to it being a feature! Was it cut that late, or is this in error? ImageImage
May 20, 2020 4 tweets 2 min read
Gaming Hell is 12 today! So it's time to look at an arcade favourite, Zoo Keeper (Taito of America, 1983) gaminghell.co.uk/ZooKeeper.html ZEKE AND HIS ANIMAL PALS IN 'TROUBLE AT THE ZOO' ImageImageImageImage Let's have a look at that teaser image again... Ah, yes, there's Zeke, all the way to the left!

As for next month, this is when Gaming Hell usually has a bit of time off, and so it shall be this month. Image