New Releases: Animal Kaiser Plus [UK]; Surf League [US]

Today brings forth a couple of new games to discuss for release: Bandai Namco Amusement’s Animal Kaiser Plus and Ace Amusement/Coastal Amusements’ Surf League. While we’ve covered the games before, seeing that they have reached production means that they deserve some extra love. Also note that both of those games are focused at kids, thus expanding options in that arena.

We have some additional news re: new games besides these too, so read on to find out.

Animal Kaiser Plus

First up, Animal Kaiser Plus is now officially available over in the UK. The series already had a strong following in the country over the past decade, so Bandai Namco decided to bless them first with this release.

There are dedicated Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts that promote the game in the UK, and they also have shared a Google Map showing where the game (although this might be talking about previous versions as well as Plus? That I’m not sure about) has been installed.

The US version will begin shipping next month, although per Anna at Bandai Namco Amusement America, they don’t have any plans for a map tracker at this time. Unfortunately, tracking where games go is always complicated. Sometimes, a manufacturer just blind ships equipment to a distributor, or the unit goes to a route operator, who in turn places it where ever they feel is best. They don’t tend to report on where, however.

For more info on this particular game, check on our reporting, here. Oddly enough, the game is not listed on Bandai Namco Amusement Europe’s site yet, but I’m sure that’ll be fixed soon.

Surf League

A much more physically involved proposition than Animal Kaiser, though still featuring animal characters, Surf League is a racing/surfing game designed primarily for kids. Adults can enjoy it too – just hunch over a little while you play. 😉

Designed by Ace Amusement, this one is being sold in the USA through Coastal Amusements. The game is complete, there’s just one tiny caveat here – units have not yet arrived on their container. I spoke with Paul at Coastal however, who says that they expect said container to arrive “any day now.” So, those who ordered one can expect it here soon. If you order now, I imagine you won’t have as long a wait, although once stock sells out, it can take a couple of months, depending. If you need pricing, contact your Coastal distributor.

Smash DX Update

Now for a few more tidbits on new and upcoming games. For the biggest of these, according to LAI Games on their social media, Smash DX is actually shipping out next month – not March, as I originally had thought. They did just release this promo trailer for it, so if you want to order one, you can do so:

I was expecting some more news about a couple of other games, but those are on hold for the moment. That said, we still should have another game or two that begins shipping this month, so hang tight. Looking ahead to next month we can expect even more – apparently Wahlap plan to unveil something new…

Also, I will soon be rolling out some sponsored videos from exA-Arcadia, in regards to their ARC-1 cabinet. Having three different exA cabinets makes for an interesting experiment on trying out games in different cab configurations.

Do Animal Kaiser Plus or Surf League interest you, either as an operator or a player?