New arrival - Shippu Mahou Daisakusen

I got a rather nice parcel in the post from Japan yesterday. It contatined this little chunk of raizing loveliness. The game is Shippu Mahou Daisakusen, called Kingdom Grandprix overseas. It's a shooter with a race element to it. You and your competitors race through the levels. You have to dodge bullets and shoot enemies as with other shooties but you can also nudge your fellow racers into danger. Sitting higher up the screen is more dangerous but allows you to travel faster. You can also hold down the A button which stops you from shooting but gives you a speed boost. It's a nice idea for a game.

I've not had all that many games yet. It's pretty looking and the sound is pretty good but I'm not sold on the gameplay yet. Will have to give it a little more time.

New arrivals - ROM cassettes

As Takashi Nishiyama refers to MVS carts in this rather lovely interview at 1UP. I've heard other folks use the term before. I like it.


I had these five new games turn up today. KOF 2000 / last blade 2 / league bowling / pulstar / super sidekicks 3. I'm especially looking forward to playing pulstar. I can see that being in the U4 for quite a while!

The arts were a nice extra. I already had a last blade mini but I didn't have any paperwork. It's a shame they're holepunched. I wonder why so much MVS art is. I can't think of a real reason why people would do it.

With this bunch I have 80 of the 148 MVS games.

New arrival - Cute art

I got these repro cute art bits today: a control panel overlay and the coin entry sticker. I still have some more art to get later on. I was generously gifted some nice kick rubber recently too. Once I have a bit of time I'll dismatle the cab and get it ready for painting.

I still have to sort a monitor. Not had any joy with a few wanted ads. I may have to get hold of a tube from a TV and have a custom arcade chassis built. It should give a nice result. Won't be cheap but shouldn't be too bad. I'll be keeping my eye out for an 18" TV with a quality tube.

New arrivals - A nice seibu pcb, and a cab and such

I've received a few things since I last posted. First was this samurai showdown IV cart in a rather fetching rental cart. That makes 75 / 148 MVS games I now own.


As I've said before, despite not being a fighter fan really I like the Samurai Showdown series. They have a great atmosphere and music. I'm happy to just listen and watch the backgrounds and sprites while I get a kicking from the CP :) I was a lot more interested in this game though! I'd been looking for one for a while. I eventually bought this one from France. Cross channel postage was pleasantly rapid!



The layout of stuff on this board is pretty wacky. The large black bits are insulated sub boards which are on legs which bend at 90 degrees. There are other chips underneath. The game is...

Seibu's proto raiden release Air Raid. This was released in 1987, three years before the first raiden game. The graphics are very cutesy (and awesome) but the gameplay reveals the family resemblance. It only arrived a couple of hours ago but so far I'm liking it. The design is great. The sound isn't really, especially the effects. Game play is pretty good. There are a few different power ups including a speed up and bubble shield which aren't in raiden. I'm not sure there's a vulcan weapon sadly. I haven't found one yet anyway. Kind of a shame.


And over the weekend I also collected this beautiful Jaleco Pony III 25. After christmas some time I'll move it to sit next to my other one. They'll make a beautiful couple. It's been repainted and converted to 240V but it's otherwise original. The convergence isn't amazing but it's good enough to not bother me during play. I love these little things. So, so pretty.

New arrivals - Sexy parodius and an F3 cart

What a terrible photo that is. I was just testing the puzzle bobble 4 cart I got yesterday. The monitor's in the wrong orientation but I still managed to put in a reasonably decent performance on my test credit. I like puzzle games. They're my second favourite genre after shooters. Speaking of which:

I also got this lovely thing.

The marvellous sexy parodius from konami. It's a fantastically fun game. I really need to adjust the monitor on the candy 18 to fit since the image is slightly high and too wide but I was having too much fun playing to bother! I prefer vertical to horizontal shooters so I don't have many of them. This one is a goodie though.

New arrivals - A cab in need of love and a little gift

This turned up today. It's been severely tampered with but underneath it all it's still a Capcom Cute. Or mini cute as most people call them. This one has had all sorts done to it. It's been repainted obviously. It's actually a really nice quality paint job but It's going to be covered. It has also had all the internal gubbins stripped out and had an lcd installed. No loom, no monitor, no interior door, no coin mech. It needs a LOT of work. It's a labour of love though. It's the perfect size for my diminuative lady friend and she likes the design. She gets to choose the colour. So far she is leaning towards yellow. I have tracked down most of the artwork hopefully although I won't be able to get my hands on it for a few months since the seller has it in storage. The last thing I need right now is another project but it's the only opportunity I'll have to get a decently priced cute. It'll never be right but I should be able to get it working as new and looking right externally and that's more than enough for the lady friend.


A friend also sent me this awesome shooting game historica Opa Opa :D

It was in with a pcb but that's a christmas present. As such it'll stay wrapped up until the 25th.