The 9th Arcade Cartridge and 41st overall release for the Evercade is Toaplan Arcade 2. This cartridge features seven classic games from the legendary developer Toaplan, with an 8th title unlocked if you connect this cartridge with its predecessor, Toaplan Arcade 1, to the Evercade VS System, released in late 2021. With only eight titles to cover, let’s dive into a small preview of each one!
Wardner
The first game in this collection is Wardner, a side-scrolling platformer where you play as Dover, a young boy trying to rescue his girlfriend, Mia, from a warlock who has kidnapped her. The gameplay is reminiscent of Ghosts ‘n Goblins, featuring end-of-stage bosses, five levels of gameplay, and secrets scattered throughout the game. This version was well-received when it was released in arcades back in 1987.
Rally Bike
Next up is Rally Bike, a personal favorite of mine, though it comes with a mind-blowingly steep difficulty curve. With six stages and nearly impossible-to-avoid opponents, plus a required placement to progress, this game is a nerve-wracking experience. The graphics and sound are excellent, making this a standout title in the arcades back in 1988.
Twin Hawk
The third game, Twin Hawk, offers two versions (assuming you have both Toaplan Arcade Carts in a VS System simultaneously): the arcade version and a 16-bit Japanese Mega Drive home version (our hidden game). The arcade version was praised for its good graphics and gameplay, while the 16-bit counterpart was criticized for choppy gameplay and subpar sound. Set in an alternate WWII setting, you must overthrow Giovanni, the leader of the fictional country Gorongo, to restore peace.
Fire Shark
Our fourth title, Fire Shark, is a direct sequel to Flying Shark, which is included in Toaplan Arcade 1. Similar to 1942, you control a biplane taking on an armada of enemy craft coming from an island in the Mediterranean Sea, aiming to cause trouble across Earth. Released in 1989, this game features amazing graphics and solid gameplay, improving significantly upon its 1987 predecessor. It was also well-received in arcades.
Twin Cobra
The fifth entry, Twin Cobra, is another aerial shooter and a direct sequel to Tiger-Heli, also featured in Toaplan Arcade 1. During a five-year stretch, Toaplan truly excelled in developing aerial shooters, and Twin Cobra was no exception. In this game, you control a helicopter, taking out military targets like tanks, battleships, and other craft. The game offers many power-ups and pickups, essential for defeating stage bosses and advancing. Like other shooters mentioned, the game loops a second time with increased difficulty after completing the last stage.
Hellfire
The sixth title, Hellfire, breaks the pattern slightly by being a space shooter rather than an aerial one. It’s Toaplan’s first horizontal shooter, set in the year 2998. You play as Captain Lancer of the Space Federation, tasked with stopping the Black Nebula from overtaking human-controlled galaxies. Developed alongside Truxton (also included in Toaplan Arcade 1), Hellfire features gameplay similar to R-Type, a popular space shooter from the same era. Like other titles in this collection, Hellfire was well-received in arcades, solidifying Toaplan’s reputation in the genre.
Demon’s World
Last but not least, Demon’s World breaks the shooter stereotype, offering a run-and-gun experience where you play as two ghost hunters fighting against monsters and ghosts sent to Earth by a demon king. The game is an auto-scroller with ten increasingly difficult levels, each ending with a stage boss. Demon’s World incorporates elements from Ghostbusters, like a weapon with an energy pack, but you can also stomp on enemies’ heads like in Super Mario Bros.. However, this title received mixed reviews in its arcade version and might be the weakest in this collection.
Today, nearly every IP that was once Toaplan’s is owned by Tatsujin, a company formed by Masahiro Yuge, one of Toaplan’s original team members. This compilation was released for the Evercade despite Tatsujin’s 2022 sale to Embracer Group, which plans to release every Toaplan game, with only two exceptions (Mahjong Sisters and Enma Daio), to consoles in Japan. A Toaplan Arcade 3 may be on the horizon—fingers crossed (Editor Dan: Toaplan Arcade 3 is set to release on November 28th, 2024) .
Conclusion
Out of the seven separate titles in this collection, five are shooters, and when Toaplan strayed from their bread and butter, the results were mixed. All of the games mentioned had good to great graphics for their time and decent sound, but the overwhelming number of shooters in this collection makes what could have been an excellent compilation feel repetitive. This collection echoes the 1996 Toaplan Shooting Battle 1, which similarly featured many of the shooters found here and in the original Evercade collection.
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The reason this collection only earns a 7.5 is due to its presentation and the overwhelming number of shooters, with just two games outside the genre. I must admit that the original Evercade collection had a similar issue. While it's understood that most of Toaplan's games are shooters, they could still include more non-shooters to create a more balanced experience. That said, the gameplay in each of these titles is very well-executed, and with the Evercade controller or handheld, the experience is smooth and highly playable.
The good:
- What is here is, across the board, high quality
The bad:
- Heavily dosed with shooters
