Back again for our regular Sunday roundup of quick-fire reviews and impressions of everything under the spotlight at Retro Arcadia this week, old and new and a bit of both…

The new Toaplan Arcade 4 collection for Evercade actually had its launch pulled-in to release alongside the third batch of arcade games from the legendary Japanese developer a few weeks ago (covered here), although my preorder came as originally scheduled a couple of days ago, which, given Amazon’s recent form on such things, I should probably be grateful for all the same! Anyway, this one brings another five arcade games and, somewhat strangely, the NES port of Flying Shark, but whatever, let’s jump in and have a look at what’s here! Once again, we’re talking top-notch presentation, with game descriptions, controls, load states and stats behind an attractive and sort-able set of game icons on the title menu, and a lot of that stuff also in more detail in a real-life manual in the box – which has stickers in it too! Onto the games, it’s probably no surprise we’re starting with a vertically-scrolling shoot ‘em up, and it’s Dogyuun from 1993, which I think really comes alive with two players, where you can combine both ships into a single high-risk crazy super-weapon, but if you’re playing solo then it’s a fast-paced and spectacular-looking but unforgiving and not massively exhilarating sci-fi curio. The increasingly awesome soundtrack does do its best to ramp up the thrill-count though, and its score system has loads to sink your teeth into, and it’s my first time playing it on this collection too, so brownie points for discovery at least! Grind Stormer is far more my thing though, and thanks to its Mega Drive or Genesis port, far more familiar too…

It’s a spiritual successor to the legendary Slapfight, and is another vertical shooter from 1993 that’s also known as V-V in Japan. It’s another one with some very deep scoring mechanics too, but you can save finding all its secrets for when you’re done just having fun because while not setting the world alight with either visuals or sound design this time, it’s proper action-packed and, like Batsugan on the previous collection, can definitely be seen as steps towards the bullet-hell genre. And once it gets going it’s very hard to put down too! Shooters make up half the games on here, and there’s some very nice variety elsewhere to make up for that, starting with Knuckle Bash, which started life as Toaplan’s attempt to cash-in on the success of Street Fighter II but ended-up as a wrestling-themed side-scrolling beat ’em up released in 1993. It’s like a discount version of Final Fight, with no sophistication but is so camp and generally ridiculous that you can’t help but have a good time with it, especially when you’re the Elvis character in his jumpsuit and big cowboy boots! It plays fine and although not a lot to look at, it’s vibrant and weird and fun and is a nice diversion here. I guess the original game was probably Toaplan’s most successful non-shoot ‘em up but when Snow Bros. 2: With New Elves (to give it its full name) appeared just as Toaplan was going bankrupt in 1994, it was never going to do so well. Like its predecessor, it’s a lot like Bubble Bobble, with you single-screen platforming and turning all the monsters on the level into snowballs, which can then take down all the rest if you give them a shove. It’s got the worst character select ever, with these awful realistic baby faces denoting each of the four to choose from, but from there it’s so cute and bright and breezy, with music and sound effects that fit the vibe perfectly, and tough but irresistible gameplay that’s more of the same but no complaints there! 

I hate censorship, I hate when Blaze decides it has to censor stuff for Evercade, and, despite the cartoon exterior, that’s exactly what’s going on with Pipi and Bibi’s, an “erotic” 1991 action-platformer! There’s a bit of an Elevator Action meets Rod Land vibe here though, so I can’t not give it a chance though, as you (and a friend) run around different buildings planting bombs to destroy the computers they house and all the enemies in them that are after you too, then get out before they blow, which will reward you with a bit of a picture of a nudie anime lady (or not)! Forget all that though, this game is a literal blast and all that sexiness adds nothing at all to its mildly strategic slapstick gameplay, and the most wildly character-filled sprites and the prettiest environments. Really great stuff even if what they’ve done to it still stinks! Okay, one more, and it’s only right we finish on another vertically-scrolling shoot ‘em up, although as said earlier, I’m not sure why this one! Sky Shark is a decent conversion of Flying Shark for the NES in 1987, and does a nice job of replicating the iconic World War II arcade game, which was included in its original form on a previous collection. Which makes me even more curious about what this port is doing on an arcade collection. Okay, it would make sense as a secret game unlocked by plugging in two Toaplan collections at once (which I’d definitely recommend experimenting with here regardless!) but in a lineup of just a handful of games it sticks out a bit. I suppose they were struggling for suitable arcade games by this point though, and I’m happy enough to own a copy of it, just like I’m happy with both of these new Toaplan collections for Evercade! Okay, the first two were properly loaded with some real all-time favourites of mine but I’m always equally pleased to find games I’m far less familiar with, and that’s what you’ve got here, with some of them quite hard to find and certainly never converted to home computers or consoles before. And at well under twenty quid, that’s fantastic value as always.  

Let’s finish with something properly new for a change… Within two minutes of the ultimate in fan service to show you the ropes, I knew Indiana Jones and the Circle of life on Xbox Series X was something special, and four hours of “one more checkpoint” later, I literally had to drag myself back to real life, which repeated at every possible opportunity, every night of the week since it arrived on Game Pass last Monday, but given the chance, I could easily have gone fifteen hours straight instead! It’s been a very long time since I’ve had a game I didn’t want to put down as much as this one, with you globetrotting, swashbuckling, sneaking, exploring and puzzling through the best Indiana Jones story since the original trilogy, which it’s also set right in the midst of, meaning peak Indy rather than some time-travelling old man! Okay, it does get a bit uncanny valley as a result, but the incredible cinematography, and frankly unbelievable attention to environmental detail, together with the immersive moment-to-moment first-person action, soon sucks you right in. Special mention to Troy Baker as Harrison Ford too – you very quickly forget he’s even there! The soundtrack couldn’t be more authentic though, and likewise the absolutely stunning pre-World War II locations. Plays alright as well – nothing especially sophisticated but it’s all just right, however you choose to do it. Turns out there’s still life in this thing after all! 

That’s a lot of stuff but I wanted to squeeze it all in because next Sunday will be our annual round-up of everything new, old and in-between under the Retro Arcadia Weekly Spotlight Christmas Special 2024, when I’ll have hopefully spent the whole week only playing another bumper bunch of festive games! Can’t wait… But there’s more, because on Wednesday, it’s time for another annual feature, and my absolute favourite one of the year, the Retro Arcadia Game of the Year 2024 Top Ten Countdown! And that picture of Call of Duty here may or may not imply its possible inclusion but no more spoilers! By the way, I almost forgot, in case you missed it last Wednesday, it was the traditional Retro Arcadia Christmas Special, where this year we’re going for some festive arcade bullet-hell and rediscovering Deathsmiles II: Makai No Merry Christmas, which I’ve been playing on Nintendo Switch! Hope you’ll enjoy all that stuff, and I’ll see you again on Wednesday!

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