Polymega® Collection Vol. 17 – GUNBIRD – Gunbird (arcade, Saturn), Gunbird 2 (arcade), Gunbarich (arcade), Cybattler (arcade), Exerion (arcade), Sky Fox (arcade), Second Earth: Gratia (arcade), E.D.F. / Super E.D.F. (arcade, SNES, SFC), Operation: Logic Bomb (SNES, SFC)

Polymega® Collection Vol. 18 – RIVAL TURF! – Rival Turf! (SNES, SFC), Brawl Brothers (SNES, SFC), Peace Keepers (SNES, SFC), Tuff E Nuff (SNES, SFC), Ninja Kazan (arcade), Daraku Tenshi: The Fall Angels (arcade)

Per usual, with each package, you get the DVD, visual companion (manual of sorts), controller reference, sticker, and collector’s pin.

You can read my 2024 review of the Polymega platform. Since the time of that review, they’ve released quite a bit, with quite a bit more promised.

The post Polymega game collections 17 and 18 up for pre-order, featuring Gunbird and Rival Turf! appeared first on Armchair Arcade.

TAITO Arcade 3 game list:

• Cadash
• Cameltry
• Crazy Balloon
• Football Champ
• Lunar Rescue
• Puzzle Bobble
• Qix
• The Fairyland Story
• Zoo Keeper

The Turrican Collection game list:

• Turrican
• Turrican II: The Final Fight
• Turrican 3
• Mega Turrican
• Mega Turrican Director’s Cut
• Mega Turrican Score Attack
• Super Turrican
• Super Turrican Director’s Cut
• Super Turrican Score Attack
• Super Turrican 2

You can check out my IGN review of the Alpha Mega Man and Alpha Street Fighter bartops here, and my IGN review of the HyperMegaTech Super Pocket Editions here.

The post Evercade announces TAITO Arcade 3 and The Turrican Collection cartridges, plus updated game list! appeared first on Armchair Arcade.

There’s no word yet on whether or not you can add your own games, but it would be criminal if you couldn’t considering what’s onboard and given My Arcade’s past history with allowing you to do so, at least with the GameStation Pro. Besides Wi-Fi (“for updates” for now) and HDMI output, there’s also a very cool special feature called “SmartGlow,” which lights up only the buttons a particular game uses. No more guesswork.

It features a 7-inch display, as well as a built-in rechargeable battery that should get you at least four hours of playtime.

Here’s the full game list:

ATARI 2600

3-D Tic-Tac-Toe

Adventure

Adventure II

Air-Sea Battle

Aquaventure

Asteroids

Atari Video Cube

Basic Math

Basketball

Berzerk

Bowling

Breakout

Canyon Bomber

Centipede

Championship Soccer

Circus Atari

Combat

Combat Two

Crystal Castles

Dark Chambers

Demons to Diamonds

Desert Falcon

Dodge ’Em

Double Dunk

Flag Capture

Football

Frog Pond

Golf

Gravitar

Hangman

Haunted House

Home Run

Human Cannonball

Indy 500 (spinner!)

Maze Craze

Millipede

Miniature Golf

Missile Command

MotoRodeo

Night Driver

Off the Wall

Quadrun

Radar Lock

RealSports Baseball

RealSports Basketball

RealSports Boxing

RealSports Football

RealSports Soccer

RealSports Tennis

RealSports Volleyball

Saboteur

Save Mary!

Secret Quest

Sky Diver

Slot Racers

Solaris

Space War

Sprint Master

Steeplechase

Stunt Cycle

Submarine Commander

Super Baseball

Super Breakout

Super Football

Surround

Swordquest: Earthworld

Swordquest: Fireworld

Swordquest: Waterworld

Video Checkers

Video Olympics

Video Pinball

Warlords

Yars’ Revenge

ATARI 5200 (keypad!)

Centipede

Meebzork

Millipede

Missile Command

RealSports Baseball

RealSports Basketball

RealSports Soccer

RealSports Tennis

ATARI 7800

Asteroids

BasketBrawl

Centipede

Dark Chambers

Desert Falcon

Fatal Run

Food Fight

MotorPsycho

Ninja Golf

RealSports Baseball

Scrapyard Dog

ATARI ARCADE

Agent X

Asteroids

Asteroids Deluxe

Atari Baseball

Atari Football

Atari Soccer

Basketball

Berzerk

Black Widow

Canyon Bomber

Centipede

Cloud 9

Crystal Castles

Dominos

Drag Race

Food Fight

Frenzy

Gravitar

I Robot

Liberator

Lunar Lander

Major Havoc

Millipede

Missile Command

Monte Carlo

Night Driver

Pool Shark

Red Baron

Runaway

Skydiver

Sky Raider

Space Duel

Super Breakout

Super Bug

Tempest

Warlords

ATARI RECHARGED (modern)

Asteroids: Recharged

Berzerk: Recharged

Breakout: Recharged

Centipede: Recharged

Missile Command: Recharged

M-NETWORK (Atari 2600)

Air Raiders

International Soccer

Sea Battle

Space Attack

Super Challenge Baseball

Super Challenge Football

BALLS OF STEEL (modern)

7 Pinball tables (Barbarian, Centipede, Darkside, Devil’s Island, Firestorm, Missile Command, Mutation)

PAC-MAN

PAC-MAN (Atari 2600)

PAC-MAN (Classic mode)

PAC-MAN (Speed up mode)

JALECO 8-BIT (NES)

Bases Loaded

Bases Loaded II

Bases Loaded 3

Bases Loaded 4

Battle Unit Zeoth

City Connection

Fortified Zone

Goal!

Hoops

Pinball Quest

Racket Attack

Totally Rad

JALECO 16-BIT (SNES/SFC)

Brawl Brothers

Goal!

Hammerlock Wrestling

Operation Logic Bomb

Rival Turf!

The Ignition Factor

The Peace Keepers

Tuff E Nuff

JALECO ARCADE (various)

Aeroboto

Argus

Avenging Spirit

Big Striker

Chimera Beast

Cisco Heat

Cruisin

Cybattler

Exerion

Field Combat

Kick Off

Ninja Kazan

P47: The Phantom Fighter

Parallel Turn

Plus Alpha

Rod Land

Saint Dragon

Sky Fox

Soldam

The Astyanax

PIKO 8-BIT (NES/FC)

8 Eyes

Bad Street Brawler

Dash Galaxy

Free Fall

Mermaids of Atlantis

Metal Mech

Motor City Patrol

Nightshade

PIKO 16-BIT (Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, SNES/SFC)

Brave Battle Saga

Jim Power

The Humans

Thunderbolt II

Top Racer

Top Racer 2

Top Racer 3000

Water Margin

PIKO ARCADE (Unico, Galeco, Playmark)

Fancy World

Lucky Boom

Maniac Square

World Rally

The post Atari GameStation Go Preorders Plus Full 200+ Game List! appeared first on Armchair Arcade.

Each multi-platform, multi-game collection includes:

• Polymega Game DVD
• Visual Companion
• Controller Reference
• Polymega Collection Sticker
• Collection Pin

Polymega® Collection Vol. 9 – STRIKERS 1945 includes: D-Day (arcade), Desert War (arcade), P-47: Aces (arcade), P-47: The Phantom Fighter (arcade, PC Engine), Strikers 1945 (arcade, PS1, Saturn), Strikers 1945 II (arcade, PS1, Saturn), and Strikers 1945 III (arcade).

Polymega® Collection Vol. 10 – BASES LOADED includes: Bases Loaded (NES, FC), Bases Loaded 2 (NES, FC), Bases Loaded 3 (NES, FC), Best Bout Boxing (arcade), Big Run (arcade, SFC), Cisco Heat (arcade), Goal! (NES, FC), Goal!! (FC), Goal! 2 (NES, FC), Hoops (NES, FC), Super Bases Loaded (SNES, SFC), Super Bases Loaded 2 (SNES), and Super Goal! (SNES).

The post Polymega Collections Volumes 9 and 10 now available – Strikers 1945, Bases Loaded, and more! appeared first on Armchair Arcade.

Polymega® Collection Vol. 5 – BAD DUDES

The game list includes:

• Bad Dudes (arcade)
• Bad Dudes (NES)
• Bad Dudes (Famicom)
• Two Crude (aka, Crude Buster) (arcade)
• Two Crude (aka, Crude Buster) (Sega Genesis)
• Two Crude (aka, Crude Buster) (Sega Mega Drive)

The overall package includes:

• Polymega Game DVD
• Visual Companion
• Controller Reference
• Obi Spine Card (FR, JP)
• Polymega Collection Sticker
• BAD DUDES x Polymega® Collection Pin (while supplies last)

Polymega® Collection Vol. 6 – HEAVY BARREL

The game list includes:

• Heavy Barrel (arcade)
• Heavy Barrel (NES)
• Heavy Barrel (Famicom)
• Desert Assault (aka, Thunder Zone) (arcade)

The overall package includes:

• Polymega Game DVD
• Visual Companion
• Controller Reference
• Obi Spine Card (FR, JP)
• Polymega Collection Sticker
• HEAVY BARREL x Polymega® Collection Pin (while supplies last)

The post Polymega Collection Vols. 5 and 6 now available – Bad Dudes- and Heavy Barrel-themed arcade and console collections! appeared first on Armchair Arcade.

In the video, we show you the console board in operation, running several games, and we explain its components. On the website you will find two buttons for those who want to make a pre-reservation. It will cost you 3 Euros, and, if we take it to production, a link will be sent to you in 2024 so that you can make the reservation.

Pre-book it for €3 on the website www.supersega.com.

Here’s a video of the board in action, playing some games:

The post Supersega FPGA project for all Sega platforms and physical media now accepting pre-reservations appeared first on Armchair Arcade.

The team has released new renders of version 0.9 of the Supersega board, which will be featured in future “How does it work?” videos. They’ll have physical prototype units in-hand in roughly 3 – 4 weeks.

Here are the renders:

We’ll post full details on Armchair Arcade as soon as pre-reservations open. See you then!

The post Supersega FPGA project for all Sega platforms and physical media to launch next month with special pre-reservation pricing! appeared first on Armchair Arcade.

What follows is an unaltered (non-native English) text version of the full press release.

Press Release

Supersega.com, an Spanish team of guys born in the 70’s and 80’s who’s goal is to release an “All In One Sega’s Consoles” (AIOSC) in the form of a new retro fpga / asic console, is expected to be fundraising this year (2024).

Users will be able to play its own sega cartridges from Sega SG-3000, Master System & Megadrive / Genesis as well as to play its own Saturn & Dreamcast games.

SPECS : TRUE FPGA LOGIC & HARDWARE

The new upcoming Supersega console is based on Ultrascale+ fpga, featuring WiFi, Bluettooth, and a SD card reader writer.

A CD / DVD Reader Writer with a transparent bay is featured. 8 joystick ports allows users to use its original sega pads, while also they can use USB for. Dimensions of the console are 50 cm (width) x 20 cm (deep) x 10 cm (hight).

THE ENGINEERS BEHIND

Leaded by Alejandro Martin, a computer engineer (ex Cinemartin & Tres Telecom) Developer and Tony Hernandez, Cad Designer along with other members like Carlos Lopez and Cristina Burgués, the team has many years counting in hardware & software development.

SO FAR SO GOOD

Cristina Burgués, public relationsships says: “Until Supersega does not have a working prototype they will not release any funding campaign. Currently we have almost all sega’s console games up to Saturn in a working playable state, and a few Dreamcast playing so far so good, but until we finish the prototype we will not considering to release the project”

Alejandro words on that “We had been working on a SS Core from a few years ago. Until now there were been almost no suitable fpga hardware out there but with the Ultrascale+ things changed, and prices seems more reasonable than before, with a minimum of 100 K up to 1M of Logic Cells, now it is possible to do a Dreamcast behavior with the enough speed.”

Please visit the project website www.supersega.com where soon will be released material, docs & interviews

The post Supersega FPGA Project in Development – All Sega home platforms and physical media supported! appeared first on Armchair Arcade.

Several people have put forth the idea that it’s perhaps a 3/4-scale Arcade 1UP-style cabinet or a full countercade, but my first thought was something a bit more modest, although still in that same general wheelhouse.

There’s a product that’s several years old now called the TAITO Egret II Mini. It’s a tabletop unit with a screen that’s easy to rotate and has interchangeable controls. There are plenty of other variations of the form factor and design methodology, with some of the more popular ones featuring Sega and Neo Geo arcade games. So why this form factor?

First off, Evercade has yet to embrace an arcade-style form factor. It’s impractical for them to do an Arcade 1UP- or AtGames-style upright machine since logistics would be difficult for a company based in Europe with a strong US presence. And that’s of course ignoring the reliability and other issues that larger machines have. In short, they’re a bear to support.

So why a TAITO Egret II-style machine? Simple. Evercade has already embraced TATE mode on their EXP handheld series, but there’s not a practical way for many people to do it with the VS series without using a separate, smaller display. After all, it’s not easy to put a big screen TV on its side.

Keeping in line with their current streamlining mindset, it’s unlikely the Alpha would have a TV out. It would rely on its built-in 5-inch or larger display, which again, would almost certainly be something you could manually rotate like on the Egret II. In terms of controls, it could potentially have a built-in Egret II-style arcade controller, since Evercade only supports digital controls and buttons at this time, so no need for analog, spinners, or trackballs. And since Evercade games support up to four players, you’ll need additional player controls, although I’m skeptical that they’d necessarily include four ports on Alpha rather than just two. That’s again with the idea that they’re trying to streamline and cost-reduce the products that support their ever-growing game library.

In terms of cost, I’d estimate a $129 – $149 USD price point for such a device. That’s a bit high, but there would be a bit more going on here than with their usual consoles or handhelds. To put it simply, you have to get that screen and the rotation mechanism exactly right not to have support and reliability issues.

Anyway, that’s my reasoned speculation. What’s yours?

The post What is the Evercade Alpha? appeared first on Armchair Arcade.

PROS:

• Makes great use of the touchscreen
• Easy portrait-oriented gameplay
• Clean visuals
• Fast and fun gameplay

CONS:

• Frequent ads in the free version
• Mediocre sound design
• Levels can sometimes feel too short

Apple App Store (review platform) | Google Play

Sega wowed both the arcade and console worlds with their popular Crazy Taxi series, which began in 1999. Often copied, but rarely matched, Crazy Taxi set the standard for stylish, over-the-top score attack racing video games. While gamers on iOS can enjoy a great mobile port of the original game with Crazy Taxi Classic, there’s a lot of additional mileage you can get out of the basic concept of throwing out traditional road rules and getting passengers from point A to point B in the fastest possible time.

Taxi Run keeps the wacky theme of its inspiration, setting play in a nice looking, colorful, and blocky 3D world filled with obstacles. However, instead of worrying about finding the best path, Taxi Run takes mobile gaming control limitations into consideration and simplifies play down to a single tap.

Although the game is conceptually an endless runner, it gives the player more direct control than those types of games typically offer. Instead of being focused on swipe-based obstacle avoidance, Taxi Run focuses on stop and go action.  It’s a subtle, but important, distinction, and helps elevate this game above the typical entry in the bloated endless runner genre.

To play, simply tap and hold to get your taxi moving, then remove your finger to stop. You’ll need to dodge other vehicles, dash between speeding trains, collect coins and keys, and more, by getting your timing just right. This can prove quite the task because once you get your taxi moving, the game’s speed doesn’t let up until you react, which can be a real test of your reflexes.

As you would expect, there’s plenty to discover, uncover, and unlock, including tons of additional cars with different attributes. The free version of the game is fully playable, but does feature loot boxes, and does run regular ads. Fortunately, ad removal is inexpensive at $1.99 USD, and gives you three storage containers, which normally cost 1,000 of the game’s currency. You can of course also choose to watch ads to get in-game currency should you prefer that option.

While the visuals are pleasing in their own cartoony way, the sound design is fairly pedestrian. You’ll hear basic car engine and coin collecting sounds more often than you’ll probably like.

Despite some rough spots, Taxi Run does a great job of capturing both the basic spirit of Crazy Taxi and the fun of endless runners without slavishly copying either. It’s a fast, fun game that’s especially great for quick play sessions, with enough to unlock and collect to keep you coming back longer term. 

Score: 4 (out of 5)

The post Mobile Game Review – Taxi Run appeared first on Armchair Arcade.