The 2025 edition of ShooterFes, a yearly Japanese event that is specially focused on the “shoot ’em up” genre of games (also known as “shmup” or “STG;” I’ll use the latter in this article), has wrapped up and as usual, exA-Arcadia was there to offer up some gaming goodness and make some announcements. While they don’t have as many titles to showcase as they did at EVO Japan 2025, they are remastering some old classics and bringing some new titles to arcades for the first time. As well as that, there are a couple of other updates to do with the platform to talk of while we’re here too.
Without much further ado, let’s look at what new arcade titles and updates were shown off at ShooterFes 2025…
exA-Arcadia @ ShooterFes 2025
The livestream with the announcements and previews is found in this video, timestamps between 2:19:40 to 3:12:50. Below is where you’ll find the news all distilled so you don’t have to learn Japanese to figure it out. The stream starts out with several minutes of trailers focusing on released and already-announced trailers of their STG games, then gets into the “meat” of it:
Bunny Bomber Blast Is Available Now
Before we get into the shooters, I do want to mention those other two exA updates mentioned. One is a game that you can actually grab right now for your exA-Arcadia, in case you have it. Bunny Bomber Blast is a Dig Dug meets Bomberman type game. This joins exA’s value games that sell for under $1000 a kit, and while it’s a new game, it uses retro style graphics that look like they came out of 1982.
exA Hardware Update
For something that isn’t a game but still concerning exA, one point that was mentioned at the top of their stream slot is that they have a new variation on the EXA Board that they are shipping out. This address one of the more annoying issues with the system, that of the CR2032 battery. When it fails, the whole system craps out and had to be shipped in to service, which was a pain – especially for such a small thing. Now, the battery is on the outside of the board, so that operators can swap it out themselves when it dies:
They also discussed the new ARC-32 cabinet (which we have covered previously), but there is nothing new to pass along there that I caught. Those will be available outside of Japan, in case you’re coveting one.
EARTHION EXA LABEL UPDATES
This week, Yuzo Koshiro and his company Ancient announced release dates for the various console versions of their new STG, Earthion. Upon seeing that, I was curious to know if anything about the arcade version would be announced, and thankfully it has been.
We now know that it will be getting a location test in Japan soon (6/25-7/2 at the Taito Hey), with the game launching on July 31st alongside the console releases. exA additionally unveiled some of the differences that the arcade version will have that are not going to be present on the console, including the EXA LABEL mode, and in-game gadgets that are unique to the exA version. The EXA LABEL mode is also where the game will stand out from the console releases.
Another interesting note is that there are five variations of the soundtrack. These are present in all versions, but still worth noting. Whilst Earthion started life as a “homebrew” for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, Yuzo adapted his audio design to fully take advantage of the SG/MD hardware (he has stated on Twitter/X more than once that this game will push the audio hardware of the platform beyond what has ever been done before). This includes taking advantage of the different audio outputs (on the chip level) from the various models of the system: Mega Drive 1, Genesis 1, Mega Drive 2, & Genesis CDX. They spent some time discussing this and here’s a graph showing some of the sound differences between models:
exA tells me that Yuzo wasn’t aware of this until they let him know about it, then he went crazy on what was possible; he likes the CDX output the best. This allowed Yuzo to create some unique variations; players will be able to pick from those, along with the option to select an enhanced soundtrack without distortions.
TRIGGERHEART EXELICA EXA LABEL
For the first title on the list of a new-new game that was announced, we have a 2006 arcade release from Warashi that some of you might have played before. Released to the Sega NAOMI platform, then various consoles over the years, now Triggerheart is getting the “EXA LABEL” treatment of the ultimate director’s cut. No gameplay was demonstrated at this time, but we have a title:
ASURA THE STRIKER EXA LABEL
Here’s one that is a little bit of a surprise, not just due to the game, but due to the revealed hardware that will control it.
Asura The Striker is a new game, created by a company called LeftOver, which is as close to a modern Space Harrier as you can get. Players control “ASURA, a humanoid combat weapon”, whom they see from behind, and can fly all over the screen while blasting and/or punching enemies, and becoming more powerful.
This reminds me of the never releases Strike Blazinger that Chris Tang was working on years ago, but seems to have been abandoned. Those who were eagerly awaiting that game should be excited to see Asura coming to arcades, but there’s one other aspect to this release that will stand out – it’s the first exA game that will use an analog flight stick controller.
Thanks to the modular control panel design that both the ARC-1 and ARC-32 cabinets have, interested buyers can just swap these out, although with this being the only game to support it at the moment, you’d have to keep the cabinet on a single game. That’s not a bad thing though, in that often players are drawn to a dedicated cabinet anyways. I also feel that this and the trackball games will get some extra attention, since they are the types of controllers that have a feel recreated by home gamepads.
It should be noted that you do not need the flight stick module to play the game – it works with standard digital joysticks as well. I do think that this would make it more enticing though.
Back to the game, this is not a title looking to recreate Space Harrier’s or an 1980’s look; it’s all 3D, modern, and it looks beautiful. The exA version also offers the unique EXA Mode, and has a special soundtrack arrangement available. It is listed as a single player game; in my view, it’d be a good candidate for doing a 2-player VS linked game. They showed footage of it, but the trailers haven’t been posted to YouTube or X yet, so we’ll use a trailer of the Steam version until then:
Jamjam’n Jelly EXA LENTE
I’ve played this next one a few times, and have been able to see it progress into a really awesome shooter. For Jamjam’n Jelly EXA LENTE, they showed off a new trailer (which includes new sound effects that were not present the last time I played the game), and detailed some other changes that this enjoys apart from the console versions (aside from a lot of redesigns in the gameplay that they’ve implemented). Here’s video of the last time I’d seen it, but note that the game has changed since I played it at IAAPA 2024:
Other additions include selectable branching (think Darius or OutRun), big changes to the boss battles, and Japanese voices. This one wasn’t given a precise release date, but will be available in July.
Dragon Blaze EXA LABEL
This EXA LABEL should turn some heads, as it is considered by many to by Psikyo’s best STG. Originally released to arcades in 2000, then ported to consoles not long after that, Dragon Blaze is a bullet hell shooter where you control dragons instead of space ships.
This will include the EXA Mode, “other modes” (in addition to the original JAMMA game), and a selectable soundtrack (original and arrangement).
MUGENDAN INFINITY BULLETS
Here’s another original game that has been in development for consoles, but like Asura will also be able to stand out on the arcade version thanks to the controls (among some other additions). The game itself is similar to Capcom’s 1988 coin-op release Forgotten Worlds, and has graphics that are looking to push a late 80s, early 90s look, while being able to push more sprites on the screen than anything at the time could have done.
For the controls, this one is compatible with both exA’s trackball controller and standard joysticks; I’ve often thought that properly calibrated STGs would play better with trackballs over sticks. I hope to see more (if not all :P) exA STGs get the option to add trackball support. Another advantage you’ll get with this version is that it supports up to 4 players (either on one cabinet, or two 2p cabinets linked VS. style), and an additional game mode.
TRUXTON II EXA LABEL
Last but certainly not least, is another EXA LABEL for a Toaplan game (exA has previously given Toaplan games like Batsugun the EL treatment) – the well-loved 1992 arcade release, Truxton II. This will include both the original and new EXA Mode, a new arrangement soundtrack, and one other mode, although I’m not sure what it is referring to per my translator.
Overall
Though EVO Japan 2025 had a lot of announcements to look forward to for arcade fighters, ShooterFes definitely has brought the arcade STG onto the radar as well. As I often need to emphasize, the exA is not limited to Japan, so even though this livestream was held in Japanese, all of these games can be sold and operated in any part of the world.
The final tease… what might it be?
Out of these, Asura The Striker piques my interest the most, partially due to the modern look, then also due to the flight stick. I almost grabbed a working Planet Harriers once upon a time, but lost the bid; that style of game has been something that I’ve wanted to have for a long while.
As for the others, I could see any of them doing all right at my place, although none of the STGs I’ve grabbed have done exceptionally well compared to the fighters. I would lean either towards Earthion or Jamjam’n Jelly, as I really enjoyed both games from what I’ve played; Jamjam’s color scheme is one that would certainly draw attention to it (I’ve noticed that with anything 2D, vibrant color seems to, perform better than drab).
Which of the new exA-Arcadia games previewed and revealed at ShooterFes 2025 interests you most?
