r/arcade

If yall interested you can play it here: https://www.n-puzzle.com/en/nintendoku

I recently finished converting my Chicago Gaming Company Arcade Legends 3 cabinet to Batocera.

The goal was to modernize the system without gutting the cabinet. I wanted to keep the original CRT, controls, trackball, speakers, wiring, and as much of the original electronics as possible.

The original game computer was replaced with a laptop running Batocera, but the rest of the cabinet is still largely original.

The biggest challenge was the controls. The Arcade Legends control system does not behave like a normal USB gamepad, so I built a small software bridge that lets Batocera use the original joysticks, buttons, player controls, and trackball without rewiring the whole cabinet.

I also wanted to keep the original control panel completely intact. Instead of adding Coin or volume buttons, I reused the existing controls:

Tap the player button = Start
Hold the player button for about one second = Coin

The original Exit button also doubles as a volume modifier:

Exit + Player 1 Up = Volume Up
Exit + Player 1 Down = Volume Down

Exit by itself still exits the current game.

The original trackball is also still in use through the original controller electronics. I ended up increasing its movement sensitivity in software so it feels right on the cabinet.

I kept the original CRT and cabinet audio as well. A few games needed individual tweaks for things like trackball/spinner behavior or screen sizing, but I tried to keep those fixes game-specific rather than changing the whole system.

Overall, the project ended up being much less destructive than I originally expected. The cabinet still looks and feels like an Arcade Legends machine, but now it runs Batocera and a much broader game library.

I documented the complete build, including the hardware changes, photos, scripts, configuration, installation steps, and troubleshooting here:

https://github.com/TokyoWars/arcade-legends-3-batocera

Hopefully it helps anyone else trying to modernize one of these cabinets without throwing away the parts that make it unique.

If anyone has done something similar with an Arcade Legends or related cabinet, I’d be interested to see how you approached it.

A friend scored a nonworking Vindicators back during COVID and we finally had time to unscramble yet another omelette.

Had to rebuild the PSU and monitor which wasn't unusual but the sound hardware was FUBARed. Volume pot was smashed and one TDA2030 was amputated when the heatsink got whacked. Replaced the amp IC and a 2N3904 that also took a hit.

Found a generic Alps 10K pot but discovered the Atari pot used nonstandard lead spacing. A little creative lead bending and viola!

Strangely even though the game was now playable it was silent. Not even a trace of hiss at max gain. Dug into the marquee box to check the speakers and both were blown. Dug into the parts pile and found two speakers from a parted out APB that fit.

Kind of a tradition now. Whenever I complete a project, I clean up and shoot a video. Enjoy the new addition of “Space Odyssey” to the lineup!

TL;WR -> A nice journey through boomboxes, crazy clowns and wild farting ladies. I did enjoy what little the game had to offer, but even for 1989 it wasn’t enough to gain some roller skate traction. An (8.5) game, very good in my Arcade Book. Wouldn’t replay it though, as I’m better off taking my roller skates and proceeding to knock on the sequel’s gates! 

I’d recommend listening to this music while reading. 

GAMEPLAY (6/10) 

• Storytelling was pretty basic with Bob and Tom (if you chose CO-OP) trying to recover his boombox, yet had an awesome presentation with hip hop aesthetics and a lot of roller skates! 
• The controls themselves were basic too, with a punch, kick, jump or special attack. If you combined some air kicks with ground ones, you could do recovery attacks as well. Besides, hitting enemies with roller skates must’ve been painful. 
• Apart from the normal controls, when you were skating you could slow down, increase your speed or even kick backwards for a change! 
• Problem was, many hits didn’t connect with the enemies, which required precise timings and perfect placements. 
• By collecting cats hidden in barrels or crates, you regained some health back. Unfortunately that wasn’t nearly as enough when the enemies slam dunked you in Greco Roman style or threw explosive briefcases at you! 
• Speaking of enemy variety, they were outstanding. Each level featured unique types with normal schmucks, robots, clowns, police with whips, near naked posers, fire breathing creatures, farting ladies or even slot machines throwing your own coins back at you! 
• Traversal was seamless without any interruptions. You could complete the game in less than 20m, but that required some hard bucks! 
• Speaking of hard, the game was pretty much a coin sucker. I don’t know how many coins I threw in, but from my own feeling, way too many!

 

AUDIO (9/10) 

• Sound design had an awesome stereo output with crunchy punches and cool Wolfman Jack digitised lines. “Yeah I’d say alright, shake it baby!” 
• The soundtrack itself was very good, giving you pleasant vibes while fighting crazy roller skater clowns!

 

VISUALS (10/10) 

• Fidelity was very impressive for 1989, even though the US version was released in 1990. It combined the punk art direction with its visual effects perfectly, as well as the marvellous backgrounds with unique sceneries! 
• Character models were spectacular. Your own character had a 360 sprite rotation with different animations, as well as the enemies themselves. Finishing a level with a wild dance was super fun! 
• Performance was solid for the whole play-through, not dropping a single frame!

 

WORLD DESIGN (9/10) 

• Level design had an amazing progression with skating or “walking” sections. But the best part was going through the city streets, unfriendly neighbourhoods, train stations, underground, casino, scrapyard or even a Wild West themed area while looking at beautiful animated backgrounds and spectacular landscapes! 
• The atmosphere was perfect. Having a punk on roller skates was more than enough, but the game expanded beyond that with a Casino owner kicking you back into inserting another coin! 
• World destruction while not extensive, did provide some destructible crates or barrels. Quite sad you couldn’t destroy those coin spitting slot machines, would’ve been spicier!

 

Do (3) games qualify as a small row? If so, here’s a small Gottlieb one. Juno First (technically Konami), Mad Planets and Q-Bert. Fun, challenging, unique games all.

Hi all,

Absolute beginner here so please be gentle.

I've acquired a CE board labeled CPS-DASH. Can anyone confirm the blue component (bottom left) is a suicide battery, similar to those on CPS2 boards?

If so, I need to replace it before it dies. I've read about de-suiciding CPS2 boards and I'm assuming the process is the same here, but I'm not sure. I understand the general idea is to bridge the power so it never fully drops out, but the process still sounds daunting.

If anyone has step-by-step instructions or a link, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks!

Featuring the famous Eldon Dale "Burp" Gun!

Footage by: Bill Heatherly

Terminator 2 (1991). One of the most popular games at Time Extended. Always gets played and for good reason. Midway absolutely nailed it when they made this movie adaptation. Wasn’t aware the game has a red and blue light damage effect, that’s often burnt out, until owning the game. Haste La Vista m, Baby!

TL;WR -> A disgusting gameplay experience wrapped with beautiful visuals, awesome layouts and punchy voice lines. It was a mix bag of sweet melons and literal hot bobbly caca. A (6.5) game, mediocre in my Arcade Book. Wouldn’t replay it for the life of me, even if I liked being punched by Bruce Lee! 

I’d recommend listening to this music while reading. 

GAMEPLAY (3/10) 

• While storytelling was simplistic with a bomb threat, I loved its introduction, the cool bonus stages and the ability to choose your own Arcade machines with 2/3 or even 4 player CO-OP! 
• The controls were straightforward, yet had a lot of inconsistencies in between. You could attack, jump kick, grab and throw enemies in unique ways depending on the character, run or simply pick up knives or grenades and create mayhem on screen! 
• Also, could pick up enemies or bosses and workout your deltoids for a couple of reps, which made me laugh out loud! 
• Speaking of enemy variety, they were heavily reused to the point where I thought I was going crazy. Plus, their spongy health bars and insane hit boxes were the most horseshit I’ve seen on an Arcade game so far! 
• The boss battles on the other hand were awesome and provided a perfect balance between getting your ass kicked and throwing them around. You could meet Bruce Lee twice, and both times he was clearly better than you! 
• There were a couple of health items of course, even One Ups after defeating 100 enemies. What?! I swear to God, I was ready to drop the review mid gameplay, because the coin sucking techniques were way too sophisticated. I think I dropped 50+ coins here, maybe more! 
• While platforming wasn’t present, there was a cool stage within the factory where you didn’t even need to fight enemies, you simply watched them fall to their doom! 
• Traversal was insanely pleasing, mostly because the whole game was streamed as a continuous journey without a single stop screen in between! 
• Now, to the hot bobbly CACA part, the difficulty. I’m not gonna sugar coat what’s already a stinking pile of literal shit, so here you go. Absolute hot fucking garbage of a gameplay. Terrible hit boxes, too many spongy enemies and little to no health items in between. Sorry, -5 points straight up, fuck off!

 

AUDIO (7/10) 

• Sound design had a good mono output where it combined the music quite well with the background sounds, great punches and awesome screams! 
• The digitised voice lines were fantastic for 1991 too, with each boss teasing you into a fight. I also loved how each hero had his own unique screams and grunts, made the experience unique! 
• The soundtrack on the other hand was a mix of good and simply disrupting. I didn’t enjoy most of the songs, yet a couple hit me straight in the gut!

 

VISUALS (10/10) 

• Fidelity was incredible for 1991, with most visual effects having crazy details, awesome shadows and perfect reflections! 
• The character models were so realistic in their animations. You could see fantastic air kicks, overhead throws, spinning mayhem or the idle enemies showcasing their biceps. One detail that I disliked though, were the normal enemies that carried machine guns without even firing them once! 
• Performance was stellar from start to end, without a single frame drop in between. 
• The art direction was simply outstanding. You went from fighting a boss on a moving carousel to kicking Bruce Lee in the face while on a moving tram. The backgrounds on the other hand while having sweet melons on the side, did present breathtaking landscapes as a bonus!

 

WORLD DESIGN (6/10) 

• Level design had the best layout transitions I’ve seen on an Arcade game so far, and each level helped with that accomplishment. You started from the Attraction Park area, then went onto the Tram with the beautiful city landscapes, Construction Site, Rooftop, Cheeky Neighbourhood with the bonus Gym area, Military Base and finally reached the Zero Corp headquarters on a Helicopter! 
• All that was delivered in a seamless journey like a true movie, which was so crazy for 1991! 
• Unfortunately the atmosphere was ruined by the game’s terrible progression and disruptive songs! 
• While the environmental world destruction wasn’t present, the scripted one helped you through with some cardboard boxes while you literally fell out of the sky!

 

Picked up this cyclone game for $50 bucks (was sitting outside uncovered) and was told it fully worked, now after transport it seems only a few neons turn on and seemingly work at random. Is this an obvious eprom failure or something else entirely?
Any advice appreciated

Been after a clean one for years .found one been well taken care of for great $ US MARSHALL 1960S couple questions if anyone has similar game on adjustments please.

Hi!

I have my set up (Video attached). There is still no image on the screen. Any advice would be great. Thank you.

Found this at a garage sale trying to restore it.
Does anyone have more info on this machine.

I think it is missing the:
Payout Control Rocker Arm
Ball Return/Drain box

Not sure if these are the corrects parts:

https://pachinkorestorations.com/product/sankyo-payout-control-rocker-arm-clear/

If there are any more missing components please let me know. If it’s possible I have access to a 3D printer if that is an option.

Would appreciate any help :)

This is so sad… it wasn’t there 10 years ago

Anyone know what this could be? It has this really loud noise when it turns on. I am good with electronics and can likely figure it out just want to know where to start.

Gonna miss her