I don’t know if posting about a new game release will be seen right now in the States, since everyone’s focused on Election Mania, but in case you want to read about something other than that for a moment, I’ve got the thing for you.
Another game is now available for exA-Arcadia coin-op game systems, bringing the total number of games available for the platform to nine. That game is the “Dragon Spirit meets Darius” shoot ’em up called Vritra Hexa. It’s been mentioned on the blog here a number of times, and I’ve long found it to be intriguing, given the unique look it has to everything. It’s also the second horizontal scrolling shooter on the platform, following Infinos EXA (all games can work in horizontal mode, the ones made for vertical monitors just limit the screen space). The game can be ordered here for about $1,500USD as a cartridge (also includes game artwork, poster). It has also done very well during location tests, beating out some better-known titles in the same arcades, by what I have been told.
In addition to that, exA has announced a Limited Edition version of the EXA board that sports Vritra artwork, comes with a “Unique Photo of Producer Hiroshi Sawatari with a handwritten message,” and “VRITRA HEXA Soundtrack CD by Composer, Fumihito Uekusa.” The system itself also has this artwork:
Here’s a trailer that publisher Neotro Inc. posted to their YouTube channel that shows the attract mode sequence. It’s 6 1/2 minutes long and shows plenty of gameplay…I certainly like this over typical Japanese attract modes (which are often too short and repetitive, in my humble opinion). I recommend watching this at 1080p60 resolution; The game itself supports 4k and runs buttery smooth throughout, and this trailer helps you know how to pronounce Vritra. The soundtrack is also phenomenal:
What do you think about this one? I’m tempted to grab it for my own exA setup, although at the exact moment I’m not in the best situation with all the bills that are coming due, thanks to opening up a second spot (and things have been slow due to virus cases going up locally, so more people have been staying home). Of course, shooters just don’t perform as well here as they do in Japan, although I think the right kind of shooter can work (i.e., shouldn’t be a Bullet Hell shooter, which are too intimidating to new players) and perhaps draw new players into the genre.
Also since I have you here for some exA news, I mentioned the other day that the company recently launched a new firmware update for the platform, bringing it to v1.3, and they also updated a couple of the carts that I own (Aka & Blue Type-R and The Kung Fu Vs. Karate Champ). I found some time to capture some play straight from the machine on Kung Fu, and found the game to be much more manageable to play and enjoy. In fact, I was able to do a complete play-through as Best Karate (I tried the Bruce Lee-alike here, but was defeated by White Claw):
