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Arcade Archives announced for Switch (old Nintendo arcade games retouched)

Punch Out arcade is an instant buy for me.

I do wonder if they release the arcade version of Super Punch Out if they'll leave Vodka Drunkenski's name alone.
 
vs. SMB was sort of a SMB1/2j megamix with mild design alterations, so it's cool to see that happening.

I wonder if it would be possible for them to negotiate with Ikegami Tsushinki to license DK, DK Jr., etc.
 

jwhit28

Member
What is the difference between VS Mario Bros and Mario Bros?

Edit: nevermind I guess Mario Bros was never on the VS. system.

This would be a great chance to give Mario Bros and Ice Climbers some Super Mario Bros style jump physics in a separate mode.
 

maxcriden

Member
OP, you mention updated graphics but I think these are the unaltered arcade games. They are updated compared to NES versions, but it looks like they are as they were originally released in the arcades.

My mistake, sorry all. I misunderstood the video. Thank you for the correction. I've updated the OP.
 
wow, I had no idea Super Mario Bros. was released on arcade. How different is it from the NES version? Did the arcade version come before or after?
 
wow, I had no idea Super Mario Bros. was released on arcade. How different is it from the NES version? Did the arcade version come before or after?

After.

Lots of little level design differences. And I believe a few stages from The Lost Levels replace certain levels (1-4, for example).

It's a fun way to revisit the game if you're a big fan of the original.
 

HeySeuss

Member
These better be 7.99 or less. Hopefully they are 4.99 but I doubt it. Still Punch-Out arcade is cool. Hopefully this is a new line of VC in addition to the normal NES/SNES/etc games
 

JusDoIt

Member
I guess this confirms that Arcade Archives is doing a great job, since Nintendo is trusting them with these ports. I had been assuming the series was janky.
 
Vs. Super Mario Bros. was in the Chelsea Barcade until a few months ago. I highly regret never beating it... It's so much harder than regular Mario 1. It includes several new levels (including several that later made their way to Mario 2 / Lost Levels) and some weird "arcade hard" elements like blind jumps and those dumb castle mazes... But it's still a lot of fun!

How's the music?
Music is the same.

But Vs. Super Mario Bros. does have this awesome piece of music for the high score table:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDu0gJAXd6A

It was remixed a grand total of once, in the multiplayer / download screen of some GBA Mario game, but I forgot what...
 

Ninja Dom

Member
Here we have a picture of an original Mario Bros arcade machine.

For those that are really, I mean really interested in Nintendo arcade machines, you should check out the videos made by 'Nintendo Arcade' on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/user/OWLT509

054dcf164ca61671f2568f1cb153d7ed.jpg
 

Fiendcode

Member
OP still needs to be updated. There are no VS versions of Mario Bros or Punch-Out, those are the arcade originals.

I hope a deal is worked out for DK and DKJr too. It's been over 30 years now so hopefully Nintendo can buy back any rights Ikegami still holds.
 

Phoenixus

Member
Would be interesting if the Switch icon for these games is the Arcade cabinet with the title screen of the game on it. Would certainly fit the theme.
 

Jazzem

Member
These better be 7.99 or less. Hopefully they are 4.99 but I doubt it. Still Punch-Out arcade is cool. Hopefully this is a new line of VC in addition to the normal NES/SNES/etc games

Mario Bros is listed at £6.29 in the UK eshop's "coming soon" section, same price as Hamster's Neo Geo games.
 

sheaaaa

Member
Would love to hear an informed opinion on this - do any of these games hold up today as more than just historical artifacts and curios?

The fact that these are getting preserved (somewhat) on the Switch intrigues me, but are these games actually worth playing in 2017?
 
Nintendo absolutely needs to figure out a solution to do Donkey Kong. It's probably their most important game and there's no way to play the original arcade game through legitimate means (outside of Donkey Kong 64 on Wii U VC, but you have to play to unlock it).

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know how credits work in Vs Super Mario Bros? Can you just keep pumping quarters in until you get to the end?
 

Wadiwasi

Banned
Regarding Donkey Kong


Nintendo has never rereleased it (outside of the inclusion in that one DK64 level) because they probably don't actually own the rights to it.


Many of Nintendo's earliest arcade games, Donkey Kong included, were programmed by an outside company named Ikegami Tsushinki when Nintendo themselves didn't really have many in-house programmers. When Nintendo reverse engineered the code to make Donkey Kong Jr. by themselves, Ikegami Tsushinki sued Nintendo and argued that they owned DK's programming. They settled out of court.

Ooof, that is a kick to the pants. Especially if you want to bring something like this to your customers. I'm sure there will be plenty of variety for a lot of people to be happy though.
 
Nintendo absolutely needs to figure out a solution to do Donkey Kong. It's probably their most important game and there's no way to play the original arcade game through legitimate means (outside of Donkey Kong 64 on Wii U VC, but you have to play to unlock it).

Maybe I'm being far too optimistic but the fact that Nintendo is finally releasing their arcade games on one of their consoles gives me hope that they're working on something behind the scenes regarding Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr.
 

Piccoro

Member
Just out of curiosity, does anyone know how credits work in Vs Super Mario Bros? Can you just keep pumping quarters in until you get to the end?

On the other Arcade Archives releases (PS4, Xbox, Switch), you have unlimited credits. But you can limit it to only one credit in Options.

I don't know if in the original VS. Super Mario you could insert a coin to continue after a Game Over, though...
 
On the other Arcade Archives releases (PS4, Xbox, Switch), you have unlimited credits. But you can limit it to only one credit in Options.

I don't know if in the original VS. Super Mario you could insert a coin to continue after a Game Over, though...

I just remembered that I actually played a cabinet for a few minutes about a year ago. The places where you would normally get a 1-up mushroom instead gave you a power up, and the coin counter had a place for a third digit, implying that you could get more than 100 coins and not a get a 1-up.

So either the cabinet gave you extra continues per credit or the game was needlessly cruel.
 

Piccoro

Member
I just remembered that I actually played a cabinet for a few minutes about a year ago. The places where you would normally get a 1-up mushroom instead gave you a power up, and the coin counter had a place for a third digit, implying that you could get more than 100 coins and not a get a 1-up.

So either the cabinet gave you extra continues per credit or the game was needlessly cruel.

Yeah, I just read the wiki. VS. SMB had all 1up mushrooms removed, so the game was a bit harder.

EDIT: Here's the complete list of first party arcade games (NES VS series) released by Nintendo. Hopefully Hamster can port them all!

VS. Balloon Fight (Japan only: October 3, 1984)
VS. Baseball (Japan: March 1984; North America: July 1984)
VS. Clu Clu Land (Japan only: December 5, 1984)
VS. Dr. Mario
VS. Duck Hunt (North America: May 1985)
VS. Excitebike (Japan: December 5, 1984; North America: February 1985)
VS. Gumshoe
VS. Hogan's Alley (North America: May 1985)
VS. Ice Climber (Japan: February 1, 1985; North America: March 1985)
VS. Mach Rider (North America: November 1985)
VS. Mahjong (Japan only: February 1984)
VS. Pinball (Japan: July 26, 1984; North America: October 1984)
VS. Slalom (Developed by Rare Ltd.)
VS. Soccer (North America: November 1985)
VS. Stroke and Match Golf (released in "Men's" and "Lady's" versions) (Japan: July 26, 1984/Both versions North America: October 1984/Men's version; December 1984/Lady's version)
VS. Super Mario Bros.
VS. Tennis (Japan: February 1984; North America: March 1984)
VS. Urban Champion
VS. Volleyball
VS. Wrecking Crew (Japan only: July 26, 1984)
 

Anth0ny

Member
this is your virtual console

it's literally untouched old game ROMs, they're just starting with arcade releases instead of the more traditional NES or SNES. I'm thinking it's because they want to do something a little different, plus the fact that NES and SNES Classic is a thing.

NES Archives will eventually be a thing.
 

GenG3000

Member
Someone was complaining about lack of arcade conservation efforts from Nintendo in that SEGA thread some days ago? This is for you.
 

mindatlarge

Member
this is your virtual console

it's literally untouched old game ROMs, they're just starting with arcade releases instead of the more traditional NES or SNES. I'm thinking it's because they want to do something a little different, plus the fact that NES and SNES Classic is a thing.

NES Archives will eventually be a thing.
Arcade Archives is an existing series by Hamster Corp who do all the Neo Geo games. It's specifically for arcade games. This is Nintendo licensing their old arcade titles to Hamster for the Arcade Archives series.

This has no bearing on VC. None of the games are console versions. The only thing this means regarding VC is, we still don't know anything new about it.
 

Blues1990

Member
Regarding Donkey Kong


Nintendo has never rereleased it (outside of the inclusion in that one DK64 level) because they probably don't actually own the rights to it.


Many of Nintendo's earliest arcade games, Donkey Kong included, were programmed by an outside company named Ikegami Tsushinki when Nintendo themselves didn't really have many in-house programmers. When Nintendo reverse engineered the code to make Donkey Kong Jr. by themselves, Ikegami Tsushinki sued Nintendo and argued that they owned DK's programming. They settled out of court.

Well, shit.

I'll take it that Nintendo hasn't made much traction with retaining the rights to the arcade original, no?
 
Not the ACA releases I was hoping for, but oh well. More ACA stuff on Switch in general is good stuff.

I think I'm just glad to see Hamster putting out more than Neo Geo stuff as part of the archives.
 

sphinx

the piano man
what about the that arcade exclusive Donkey Kong 3?

the one where you have to chase bugs with the insecticide
 

twinturbo2

butthurt Heat fan
Nice i hope we get also other nintendo arcade games like cruisn usa and mario kart. But saddly no ki :(

A pixel perfect port of the Cruis'n trilogy would be awesome to have. KI, I have that on Xbox One, the classic games haven't aged particularly well, but it's nice to play around with them.
 
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