Back in 2023, two new Bandai Namco arcade games suddenly appeared on test; one was GoldStorm Pirates, the other being Bike Dash Delivery. GoldStorm is just about ready to release in the West, following showcases at trade shows like IAAPA and EAG, but up to now the latter Crazy Taxi-like title (with an added dash of Prop Cycle and Downhill Bikers) has appeared much more sporadically, even out in Japan.
After some further tests (including one Stateside) during early 2024, Bike Dash did disappear for a little while, yet then returned in November for another pre-release showing at Japan’s Amusement Expo and location test there. Those re-emergences seemed to suggest it wasn’t cancelled, and now exactly one year on from that initial appearance here, the bicycle food delivery arcade game has returned to the US again…
Note that the following shows a prototype game on test. It can yet change even further from what you see here, or still may not be released at all. Thanks to Nsm for sharing this news on our Discord server and Manamaster for the original find, plus Ted for his assistance.
Bike Dash Delivery – The Second US Test
As per Manamaster (who also found the first US location test last year), Bike Dash Delivery is once again being tested out at the Round1USA location in Fox Valley Mall, Aurora, IL. Owing to its relative closeness with Bandai Namco Amusement America’s head offices, this seems to be their current main hotspot for tests (they had GoldStorm Pirates and Animal Kaiser Plus units on trial there late last year as well, alongside a Bandai Gashapon pop-up outlet that has only just been removed).
In terms of immediate physical changes made from the previous test hosted for the game, it looks like Bandai Namco have finally started to localize its remaining elements that were weirdly still in Japanese before, such as the marquee. The cabinet design presently looks the same as the newer one seen late last year in Japan – but with the loss of seat adjusters. That aspect had been through a change or two on previous tests, however it hadn’t been completely absent until now. Perhaps adjusters have been deemed too hard to manage maintenance-wise, but this could make it harder to play for some, depending on height.
According to Manamaster, the gameplay remains the same as the previous US test. He has unfortunately had a poor personal experience with it so far, and only got to play this second test today after some setup issues persisted over the weekend… but the impressions from all of the game’s Japanese appearances have been positive, so it’s not clear if this is just some kind of software difference or a difference in game culture tastes. If you’d like to take a closer look at it yourself, here’s a recent trailer that Bandai Namco posted on Twitter/X to promote Amusement Expo last November, with annotated rough English translations.
Overall, this test would seem to suggest Bike Dash could be a surprise product on BNAA’s booth at Amusement Expo International this month; failing that, IAAPA in November at the very least. Of course, that assumes it doesn’t fail, but if it were to be cancelled that likely would’ve been long done by now. Either way, it is good to see that Bandai Namco haven’t forgotten about this title, even in the wake of them already testing out other new arcade concepts like the recent Penda Beats and Magi Blast…
What do you think of Bike Dash Delivery? Would you like to see it at an arcade near you soon?
