Ready for another blast from the past? After the success of the first set, Toaplan Arcade Shoot ‘Em Up Collection Vol.2 has been announced from Bitwave Games and Toaplan.
This time around we're getting these:
- Hellfire - Toaplan's first side-scrolling shooter, Hellfire features stunning graphics and a rock-heavy soundtrack, so if you can’t handle the heat at least you’ll go down in headbanging style.
- Flying Shark - Ride through the skies as they burn in a rain of armor-piercing bullets and experience Toaplan's arcade shooter Flying Shark (AKA Sky Shark).
- Slap Fight - Buckle up and fight computing power with the only power that counts: FIREPOWER! Toaplan's 1986 vertical shooter Slap Fight (AKA Alcon) boasts gauge-based power-ups and strategic gameplay.
- Fire Shark - An evil powerful military force is about to take over not only a small country, but the whole world... so get ready for classic shoot-'em-up action in Toaplan's Fire Shark.
Direct Link
Just like the first set they will come with various improvements but coming new with this set is a "Mirror Mode". Their added features include:
- Minimal Input Lag: Emulation, input processing, and rendering all complete on the same frame.
- Online leaderboards for Single Credit, No Assist, and Assisted plays.
- Instrument panels with extra gameplay information and artwork.
- Rewind the game between 10-18 minutes, depending on the action.
- Experience the game in Mirror Mode.
- Assist Features such as auto-fire at multiple rates.
- Very Easy Mode: Lower the difficulty to breeze through the adventure.
- Rotate the gameplay in 90-degree increments.
- Choose between Raw Input on Windows or Steam Input.
- Hone your skills in the ultra-customizable practice mode.
From the press release:
“The response we had to Toaplan Arcade Shoot ‘Em Up Collection Vol.1 was incredible, so we’ve been looking forward to sharing more about the next volume in the collection” said Niklas Istenes, CEO of Bitwave Games, “We listened to the community’s feedback and used it to bring back these iconic shooter titles as players wish, whether that’s with our accurate emulation or the help of practice and easy modes. We can’t wait to see players go back in time with these superb games.”
Just like the first set of games they will have Linux support too. Nice to see!
The games will be available on Steam and GOG at release on August 24th.
I like the bezel artwork seen in the trailer, too. Traditionally I've never used these when available, preferring to opt for a plain black or grey background (depending on what any given release offers), but picking up Arcade Game Series: Ms. Pac-Man in a sale recently made me a convert.
It's particularly nice to see this sort of treatment being given to a company like Toaplan, since you can generally guarantee that the more famous names will issue collections every now and then, but not so much the somewhat-forgotten developers like this one. Now they just need to get Snow Bros., or its recent remake, Snow Bros. Special, onto Steam, too - Toaplan made more than just shooters, after all!
Last edited by Pengling on 3 August 2023 at 5:09 pm UTC
I will look if one of these fits on my taste and buy it. I imagine by now their emulator must be very mature.
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