Galaga Returning To The Arcade With Galaga Assault

(Thanks to Jdevy for the tip)

UPDATE: New high-rez and more detailed cabinet pic added below! Also, please note the writing at the bottom of this post – this game does have an “Amusement Mode” but we do not know yet completely what that entails. I’m seeing some bad info already spreading out there from people that are not reading/considering everything below.

ORIGINAL POST: Back when Bandai Namco released Pac-Man Battle Royale to the arcade scene, I had wondered about the eventual return of an equally popular arcade classic to modern arcades – Galaga. While most early 80s titles earn very poorly on location these days, Galaga tends to be a frequent request and a title that can do ok given its age.

So this is something of interest for Galaga fans out there – Galaga Assault, a new videmption title that is listed on Bandai Namco UK’s arcade site. Not unlike the 2013 release of Pac-Man Chomp Mania, which created a unique version of that original classic for redemption-style gaming, Galaga Assault also features a shorter experience where your aim is to clear out 100 enemies, then face the Mothership for the jackpot. Here is the largest picture of the cabinet offered of the cabinet at the moment, which features a 42″ 1080p screen, green backlit T-molding and some admittedly nice sideart. Like Chomp Mania, this is also being worked on as a partnership between Raw Thrills and Bandai Namco Amusements – notice that the speakers are the same as found on Aliens Armageddon cabinets(click for a large view):

But that’s not all – It is worth noting that the page is listed under the “video games” section of the site as opposed to ticket redemption and the item description does mention some “unique features”, including: “…buying more ships, QR code scanning and Amusement Mode.” How exactly the Amusement Mode will work isn’t detailed but putting the puzzle pieces together isn’t too hard – the QR Code scanning is certainly a high score tracking feature that Raw Thrills has used on many titles including Jurassic Park Arcade, Super Alpine Racer and others; all the mode would need to do is give us endless waves of enemies and bonus rounds. I am checking into that to verify, and I also believe that this will be playable at IAAPA 2015 which is only a few weeks away. What are your thoughts on this new development?