MiSTer FPGA Best Hidden Gem Arcade Cores You Should Play Today!

[@Norweeg]

When VG Esoterica uploads videos about hidden gems, that’s when I know to really pay attention. Thanks!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha it’s what I love

[@theseabass]

I got to play Truxton 2 in Akihibara at Taito Hey last year. It wasn't a popular cab, so I had it all to myself for a decent amount of time. Really fun game, but after a bit I started to realize the reason why nobody was challenging it, IT'S RIDICULOUSLY HARD. I had gotten the clear on the Genesis version of Truxton 1, so I thought I'd be good enough to at least get a decent amount of the way through the game after a few attempts. Nope. Probably only got out of stage 1 a handful of times. The Mister version seems pretty accurate to what I remember. Granted there is a several month stretch in between my play sessions between arcade and Mister.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s very hard. Death in Truxton 2 is just so punishing. It’s def a game you want to save state through to learn it

[@casualSeth]

Alpha 3 is GOAT and the core plays just a well as the arcade board. For my 40th, I spent much of the day playing it at an arcade in Tokyo and couldn't have been happier.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

CPS 2 is so good I finally sent my CPS 2 multi to a new home

[@SRC267]

Bit random but today the English patch for "Rabbit" for the Saturn was released today. Its a fighting game.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

On my list of things to look at today :)

[@Ragesauce]

I heard about Truxton as a kid when an adult gushed about it coming out for the genesis. Said he spent hours and hours playing the arcade and couldn't get enough. I've still never tried the arcade, so that changes today!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Def time to experience arcade Truxton!

[@PlasmaSnake369]

The arcade is harder than Genesis version and the sequel is a lot harder than the first. Tatsujin means expert

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

and it means it when it says it

[@remygamb1t]

Punisher, what a beautiful game! Rastan? Such nostalgia... a masterpiece soundtrack.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Rastan is GOAT

[@crossover-Incorporated]

A fun fact about Cave games is programmers were ex-programmers from Toaplan. One of the last games created on Toaplan before the company shutdown was Batsugun, the father of bullet hell shooter games. Now you know why there are so many bullet hell games on Cave. ^^

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Logic checks out :)

[@simon41978]

I like the way Haggar shouts ''Yeah!'' like he's taking out the trash in Metro City.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haggar for President!

[@Petey-cr5ql]

As always, perfectly put together video. This is great, thank you.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

So glad you enjoyed :)

[@JayTheBarber603]

Niiice plus one on Rastan. That was one of the games I had my customers competing on at my yearly barbershop tournament a few years back at Funspot. I’ll check out Search and Rescue, been trying to figure out what my game of the month will be for April at my shop. Man I love the Mister

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

So much Rastan love today and that makes me a very happy VGE

[@CaptainFalco311]

ESP Ra De is such a phenomenal shmup. There's a Japanese physical copy of it for the PS4 and Switch for anyone without a MiSTer

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I need to pick up a copy for my shelf

[@ninetendopesaitama2107]

The soundtrack is so good. ☮️

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Absolutely a banger

[@chrismoon2961]

Love it when you do videos like this! I have no opinion on the punisher comics franchise, but the game is probably one of capcom's best brawlers (and thus underrated), so glad you mention it here. Maybe not quite as advanced as battle circuit, but there are a lot of unusual things you can do in the Punisher that make it a top tier game. Also, all the shmups remind me that we haven't seen a single Psikyo core yet which is a real tragedy.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Glad you enjoy this style. Probably more coming

[@WMARUoriginal]

Oooh okay I need to try Search and Rescue and Gaia crusaders. Great picks!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Def both! So good

[@retrorobbgaming]

Excellent video. Love these mister arcade recommendations.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Glad you enjoyed :)

[@haydengittins2836]

Love the SF Zero 3 core on MiSTeR but with the Saturn core coming on so well That will be the place to play it I'm sure. I loved Rastan on the Master system so have to try the arcade core. One of the first cores I tried when I got my MiSTeR up and running was track and field ... button mashing at it's best :)

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Def try Rastan. It’s a personal fav

[@draketungsten74]

Ooh I like Rastan, I've played the SMS version a lot.

[@simon41978]

I also would pick a Tatsujin - but the first game. It's the best and fairest one player shmup that isn't bullet-hell. Tatsujin II seems designed for two players and is crazy-difficult for one player. Outzone is phenomenal. Pulstar on MVS, R-Type II.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

That’s fair. I’m more of a sequel fan myself

[@TheHiddenFortress81]

R-Type 2 is mean mean video game.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Very mean

[@StariusPrime]

I never appreciated Rastan until I started watching BardicBroadcast’s twitch streams, where he regularly uses it as the “power up” game leading into the main game of the evening. The game is hard in a deceptive way, but watching someone truly good at it, you see just how brilliant it is. Definitely a gem.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Rastan doesn’t pull any punches in the difficulty dept

[@dorfus]

Don’t most games have a peanut in a cowboy hat? Wait, has Slam Masters been the only game I’ve ever played?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Big Peanut marketing

[@bedwablackburn]

Great list across the board

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Glad you enjoyed. Was a fun one to make

[@mr.horseshoe2301]

So many bangers in one video! Lately, I've been using the MiSTer Super Attract Mode to play random arcade cores. I can't really name one core that I absolutely hated. One game I really hope gets a core is Giga Wing. I played that all the time when my local arcade had it. I loved the bullet absorption mechanic.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I’ve yet to try super attract. I need to

[@mr.horseshoe2301]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Its pretty awesome. Discovered lots of obscure Japanese games I never heard of before. If something interesting comes up, just pick up the controller and start playing it! I usually have it running in the background while I'm working on the computer.

[@robross6462]

@@mr.horseshoe2301 Giga wing has a core. I play it all the time. Absolute banger!

[@ninetendopesaitama2107]

Giga wing is on MiSTer. ☮️

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

10/10 for sure

[@lknox1123]

Haven't seen SAR Search and Rescue before. Will definitly have to give that a play. My favorite arcade core..... probably the RAIZING cores for Armed Police Batrider, Battle Garrega etc. Bullet hell shooters with speed. Batrider has so much depth that is under the surface. Even lesser known Snow Bros 2 is pretty fun

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

The Raizing cores are always a good time

[@MarquisDeSang]

My first FPGA are the 2 Analog Duo that I bought. Being an arcade guy (had a collection of 47 PCB), over the next monhts I will try to get more info about this setup. I am an FPGA noob (at least on the emulation side). My favorite arcade game of all time is Captain Silver, is that running on that thing?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

No captain silver as of yet. Def possible on MiSTer though

[@johnhumphries6772]

The cave 68k folder is one of my faves on MiSTer. I can’t seem to get Fever SOS to run though 😞

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Won’t run? Odd. Run update all again and see

[@pju28]

Hi I would like to play THE PUNISHER but I can#t find it to buy it for DOS. Do you have some advise for me? - Thumbs up for you Video!

[@thegrudge]

Search and Rescue looks like my kind of game. I know what I’m playing tonight.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Enjoy it! Ton of fun and hard as nails

[@nobusinesshere]

I love Rastan, but the version I grew up with was the SMS port and playing the arcade makes me miss the wall-jump mechanic they added to that port.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I need to play that version again it’s been forever

[@BreakMan333]

Has there been any news on more Cave 68k games? Would love to play Sailor Moon on Mister!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

No undated yet

[@Tstumpman]

I beat punisher recently, really fun!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Metric ton of fun

[@ynotwalk7391]

we're right on the cusp of getting some amazing arcade cores still quite a bit of meat on those bones

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Tons of meat. The whole damn cow really

[@ynotwalk7391]

@@VideoGameEsoterica so much taito, data east, konami, sega, misc.

[@ynotwalk7391]

@@VideoGameEsoterica it may sound odd, but vendetta was a milestone i had been waiting on. like, "things will get really real once vendetta core happens"

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s that generation when Konami really starts getting good

[@AutumnGarnet]

I can't believe it took me this many months to realize why you open your videos to a sample of "Broken Wings." 😹

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha so few people get that

[@persmestari]

Is there a core for Ninja Spirit or Legend Of Hero Tonma? Those are really good and really hard platformers from Irem.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Ninja Spirit def has one

[@vulcan6036]

Can you tell me if its possible to rotate cave core shmups on a horizontally mounted crt

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s not on analog. You gotta turn the tv

[@adt636]

I fell in love with Rastan after playing it in a gas station a few times.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Gas station Rastan. Love it

[@_BELMONT_]

can't wait to give these a go!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Enjoy them :) all hits

[@CarBitGTSaxen]

Where can I find a list of all the arcade cores for MiSTer FPGA?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

GitHub. Links get eaten here. Google mister FPGA devel. You’ll find most that aren’t the Jotego stuff

[@chrislaustin]

The Punisher is beat'em up royalty, as is Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, and I would also throw Alien vs. Predator in the mix as well, no one did the genre as well as Capcom did. The Punisher was so great for the flat out brutality of the character and how well it was brought to life in the game, and that continuation screen? One of the all time best in all of gaming. I'll also throw a nod to Rastan as that game was amazing and not many titles out there in that specific genre, for sure a coin op classic.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Capcom made the best beat em ups

[@METR0lD]

Love Truxton 2, but holy hell it is frigg'n hard. I've made it all the way to about two thirds through the final stage, but I just can't quite beat it.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Oh yeah it does not hold you hand and dying is such a setback

[@adt636]

I feel like bullet hells are generally easier than most shmups. They usually have slow moving bullets and ways to reflect or absorb them.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

People either find them very learnable or 100% impossible

[@thesethguy]

I really enjoy Namco's "Dangerous Seed" shmup. I've only played the MD ROM though

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

There’s one I have not played

[@ynotwalk7391]

@@VideoGameEsoterica hoping for mister to get Assault and all those cool Namco arcades

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Hopefully one day

[@AlexRoseGames]

racing arcade games are criminally unrepresented on mister. when I think arcades, I think car games

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

We def need more on the arcade side

[@n64fan60]

What is the objectively-best arcade board? Neo Geo? CPS2? Model 2? Naomi?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

No true answer. Just depends what you enjoy. If I had to pick ONE forever I’d take NAOMI. Just because it has amazing games in every genre where Neo Geo and CPS 2 don’t have stuff like arcade racing, etc

[@n64fan60]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Personal preference isn't allowed. Your reason for Naomi is pretty objective, though. Strong reason.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Then yeah Naomi. I get racing, fighting games, Platformers, puzzle games, etc etc

[@andyjohnston7110]

Could the sega model 2 work on this?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Already did a vid on it. Check playlist :)

[@JustinH201]

Hey, I'm really debating about buying one does anybody know if the arcade version of Alien versus Predator is up and running on the system yet?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yes it runs on MiSTer

[@JustinH201]

@@VideoGameEsoterica okay ✔️ thank you for the quick reply back. Now I definitely got to get me a Mister in the next couple of days lol🤸🤸🤸

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

👍

[@oliverguiney2603]

The genesis port of punisher was great too

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Was a good time for sure

[@draketungsten74]

Oh, I played that version of Cotton on my MiSTer. I have a video of it on my channel.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s a classic

[@TheKayliedGamerChannel-YouTube]

Enjoy the Punishment 👏😎

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Such a classic!

[@wilsonicsnet]

“Get a friend and get some drinks…”. Oh wait what are friends again? 😂

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha I have no friends that play games

[@tylerd4884]

I have played the punisher both at the arcade and in emulation

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

A game you def want to play at least twice

[@AyeYoYoYooo]

Alpha 3 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Alpha 2 on all levels: Roster Gameplay OST etc

[@ynotwalk7391]

Alpha 2 is a bit less wacky, but also less fun to play imo

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Alpha 3 is just over the top in the best ways

[@AyeYoYoYooo]

@@ynotwalk7391 I sometimes wish Alpha 3 was even wackier … like adding other ISM options for comedic effect …. Commun- Rac- Class- Dhalsim running Class-Ism might be unstoppable. Or Guile using Rac-Ism …. Cammy or L-Mika crying Sex-Ism lol

[@ynotwalk7391]

@@AyeYoYoYooo you make a good point dhalsim would have that brahmin disdain for lower class

[@packpock4369]

I'm actually really surprised Capcom hasn't added Cadillac's and Dinosaurs to the Arcade Stadium. It makes no sense, aa well as the Punisher. Maybe it's a licensing issue, because people love those games.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Def a licensing issue

[@nathanddrews]

Punisher is super fun, but I think it failed to draw because it came after the Captain America Avengers game and X-Men game, both of which were super-powered spectacles. Punisher and Nick Fury are cool characters, but ultimately the combat is just punching with guns. I'm sure there were lots of moms that wouldn't let their kids play it because of the guns... Nuking the entire screen with optic blasts? Np :D

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha I had no restrictions when I was a kid as to what games I could play

[@nathanddrews]

@@VideoGameEsoterica I grew up in rural Wisconsin, so shooting guns was second nature to eating cheese. I would bring about 40lbs of quarters with me when we would drive to a mall (45 minutes away). Circus Circus got all my money every time.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Sounds like Vermont where I grew up

[@Graterstuuf]

The Punisher was the last great arcade game before arcade died for me.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Go home Lahey you are drunk

[@jmssun]

6:32 “Because Jotego gave us all the Capcom CPS2, you have choices” Your are like a Retro guru, guiding enthusiasts mobs to mental health providence 😂

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Lol what?

[@PlasmaSnake369]

I think the PC engine CD version of Cotton is better because the soundtrack

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Good old redbook audio

[@ajsingh4545]

Arcade cores have been slowing down ... I hope more are added 😢

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s been a more console heavy 2024 that’s true

[@sunderark]

* makes Metal Jesus noises

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Lol

[@adventuretaco7140]

Fucking A I love ring of destruction!!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s so good and I never hear anyone talk about it

[@adventuretaco7140]

@@VideoGameEsoterica damn shame if you ask me .. maybe you should do an in depth video .. wish I could capture footage for ya since I can beat the game no problem now

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Get a damn capture card taco

[@H6rdc0re]

2023?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Made in December

[@H6rdc0re]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Cool, I thought I was watching a re-run or something ;)

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha nope just made in advance