My FAV Unported Arcade Game EVER! Mazan: Flash of the Blade! Dreamcast Era Hack and Slash Arcade Fun

[@WarriorTier]

I’ve only seen this once in the wild, some random arcade had it in Miami, I remember it being super impressive! I played through the entire game and always wished it had a home port. Would love to own the cab for this one day.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I’d love a cab too but damn are they hard to find. Probably like 9/10 on the rarity scale

[@kenbengtson5740]

Once again you have managed to make me sad. I had many of these shortly after it came out. Love the game. Beast to move. Wish I still had one. Playing thru the full game would wear out your arms. Thank you again for great content

[@kenbengtson5740]

Watching you play it with the mouse shows how much you miss out on control. The dual plane IR sensor would read the tilt and angle of the blade. That was a very important part of successful blocks. I miss it so very much

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Happy to keep making these :) my fav series

[@j_walldubamsthe3rd979]

The name of this game has been on the tip of my tongue for years though can vividly remember the arcade set up! So thanks for making this video. That said though it is shocking though no one has tried to port it to the Wii especially with how big Wii HomeBrew is

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Glad you finally found the game again. I think it would just need too many changes for Wii

[@alexgeorge501]

I used to play this over and over back at The Great Canadian Midway back in Clifton Hill in Niagara Falls as a teen!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Funny I just drove through Buffalo last week

[@alexgeorge501]

@@VideoGameEsoterica nice for you! I'm heading up to the falls for my birthday, my mom is taking me to the casino!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Nice. Best of luck. Hope you win

[@fv_ys_]

Namco - Genpei Toma Den - Samurai Ghost - share the same visual theme. There must be a connection somewhere.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Probably using the same demons and monsters from Japanese legends

[@its_pep]

I don't think a home console port on the dreamcast would have been impossible--namco famously supported the use of the dreamcast fishing rod for quote-unquote "motion controls" in the original Soulcaliber. In that game they bound swings on the x and y axis to the x and y buttons respectively but the only technical reason that would make support for something like this impossible would be if the accelerometers in it were particularly inaccurate. I don't know if there's a z-axis accelerometer in that controller but even if there wasn't the thrust attack could always be bound to a face button. That being said, there's always the possibility someone at namco thought of this too and it turned out the game wouldn't sell enough to make shipping it with the fishing controllers practical. It could make for a cool rom hack, though!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yeah it would have been doable but it’s probably just an economics thing…peripheral for a game that might not sell well. Risky proposition

[@METR0lD]

Oh nice, this is one that I've never heard of! Always love learning about new games on your channel!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Def try it. Bit of a pain to set up but once it’s running it’s solid

[@RaisinBran0291]

I’ve seen this before and thought it looks sick as heck. This would have been perfect for a Wii motion plus game but a mouse will do

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yes I know you can get a wiimote hooked up but I’ve yet to do it. One day

[@sunderark]

Also with the cat boss, that's just a cat demon/monster. In Japanese mythology animals who grow past a certain age gain superpowers and turn into yokai.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Better watch out for my kitten then. He is ruthless lol

[@Hatsworthful]

I'm fairly sure there's also a similar myth but for objects too, or at least for a few common ones like sandals

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

So many demons. Hard to keep track

[@sunderark]

@@Hatsworthful Yeah it's the everyday household items that you neglect or just leave to rot. Sandals, umbrrellas, lamps. They believe that every household items have a spirit associated with it, and if you neglect it it will be displeased.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I better watch out for those workout weights I bought then 😂

[@bryandavidasuncion9515]

Saw this a long time ago and as fascinated with it. It was just prohibitively expensive to play especially during that time in my life when I wasn't earning much so I never got around to trying it out. Hopefully I can find one when I visit Japan. Also the first boss is probably a bakeneko. These have the ability to transform as denoted by the "bake" part of their name.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yes these cabinets were usually always like $2 per credit just due to the size and complexity

[@ynotwalk7391]

i was sold when the bamboo tree demon attacked you

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Such a fun character design

[@ynotwalk7391]

@@VideoGameEsoterica i also love when the boss combusts and the "camera" lingers on the smoking corpse

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It def has vibes

[@METR0lD]

Another comrade in arms against the spider menace! Down with spiders!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

The worst. Hate them

[@THELEGENDARYK2]

This is a new one for me. Watching this, makes me th8nk it could be great on somethingnlike an Occulus. Or make you incredibly nauseous and hurl.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Why not both? Lol I think it would be great in VR

[@FreaKzero]

If i would have the chance and space to have 1 Fullsized "Hardware Arcade" - it would be Silent Scope 2, its my absolute favourite Machine of all Time.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Lol maybe stay tuned for future videos then ;) about Silent Scope arcade boards

[@nicolasrolke3538]

This looks awesome 👍 does the emulator on pc support wii remote for this game? Or is there any third party software that can translate mouse movements from wii remote inputs on pc? Thank you 🙏🎉

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Demulshooter is a good choice

[@sunderark]

Man I'd love to build a setup for this game with my Naomi. I'm hoping someone would make a raspberry pi solution for this.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I’ve thought about trying. It’s just some sensors. But I’ve thought about trying lots of things

[@sunderark]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Which IO board did it interface with again? it's just that part of it which confuses me.

[@brandonwaters4955]

so cool

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s a ton of fun

[@SkyScourgeGod]

I remember you did a video on this a few years ago, but I'm always happy to see games like this come about on your channel. Still looks like a good time even today. I mentioned this before but I'd really like to see this play on a Wii so we can use the Wiimote if you are able to. I can emulate Naomi games on Batocera, but I'm not sure if I can use a Wiimote with Naomi emulation. Dolphin apparently can pair one, but Mazan won't play in Dolphin of course so... yeah. On a side note, would you be interested in trying out a Konami arcade game called Tsurugi Blade of Honor? It's a game with a similar control setup and gameplay albeit I believe that it pre-dates Mazan by one year. Barely anyone has covered Tsurugi on KZbin and is considered an extremely rare arcade even back then. I never played Mazan in the arcade before, but I have great memories of playing Tsurugi as a kid at a long-gone family arcade called Pharoah's Kingdom. Swinging that sword controller was so cool at the time. Considering how rare it was and is, I'm lucky to have played it at all. Tsurugi is a bit rougher around the edges, but if I liked Tsurugi I'm sure I would have loved Mazan to.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yes sadly Tsurugi doesn’t emulate and my board is without the controller. So I’m kinda stuck haha

[@SkyScourgeGod]

​@@VideoGameEsotericaThat's a shame. Maybe someday that will change. I'm assuming Konami Viper is hard to emulate?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

@SkyScourgeGod doesn’t emulate well enough to play

[@SkyScourgeGod]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Makes sense. Oh well, at least we still have Mazan to play. 🙂

[@Hatsworthful]

Its a real shame we never got a port, remake or spiritual successor (other than arguably the samurai games in wii sports resort) of it. I've had the chance of playing it ages ago on an actual arcade machine (though sadly it wasn't very well kept and that arcade doesn't have it anymore) and it would have been perfect with the wiimotion plus setup. I've commented this on the video, but I spent years trying to find out what the name of it was after that day and only found out thanks to another video you made

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Glad you found it again. It’s def a deep cut! (Pun very much intended)

[@srvuk]

Definitely oddball, so perfect for the OP :-). But still looks fun none the less.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Oddball is good :)

[@brentrusche2056]

@VideoGameEsoterica Being that you are able to emulate this, which emulator are you using to capture your gameplay footage? Also, have you been able to emulate this (as you suggested) with a WiiMote and Dolphin Bar? Thanks in advance!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Demul. I didn’t successfully get the wiimote working. I just kind of gave up due to time

[@adonian]

This would be cool on the Quest, imagine swinging the sword like the arcade version.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

That would be epic. I’d buy it day 1

[@homembarata]

Isn't there a way to play it with a Wiimote on PC? Would love to try that out

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

There is :)

[@R1SKbreaker]

​@@VideoGameEsotericanice video. Would be cool to get a follow-up video on how to get this running with a Wiimote.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Maybe one day :)

[@homembarata]

@@VideoGameEsotericaWell, now I know what I'll be doing next weekend

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha a worthwhile use of time

[@pandafresh]

Beast Busters The Second Nightmare is heartbroken to hear its not your favorite unported game

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Lol it’s my fav light gun game. Isn’t that enough

[@Charlie-Cat.]

Hmmm. Not familiar with this title VGE. I have to say it looks amazing for a 21 year old game. I have to look into it more bro. Thank you for sharing this with us. 8^) Anthony..

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Always happy to do it!

[@ViegasSilva]

Play it listening to Iron Maiden's eponymous!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Nah just Panama on repeat. Van Halen or nothing

[@snethss]

the must be much easier with a mouse. right?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Less tiring lol

[@GAZZ707]

I'm still hoping that one day that the naomi games will be playable on the dreamcast, yes it might not be possible because of the more beefier specs compared to the dreamcast

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

My guess is it won’t happen

[@GAZZ707]

@@VideoGameEsoterica people did manage to upgrade the OG xbox and have a very few sega chihiro games are playable

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Dreamcast can get it’s ram expanded too and people have but sadly that doesn’t seem to have led to NAOMI

[@GAZZ707]

@@VideoGameEsoterica that's really unfortunate 😔

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I’m not sure if the SDK tools for NAOMI development specifically are out there. I know I saw a disc sell in like 2021 on YAJ that had some NAOMI dev tools nobody had…but that seems to have been purchased and disappeared into a collection. But I could be misremembering

[@soratheorangejuicemascot5809]

Light saber?!!!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha you could totally make this same game for Star Wars. Change controls and graphics…done!

[@CCCP-sr9ou]

КРУТО! прошел на эмуляторе.

[@joshuaworman4022]

Looks like im.the first one to call this light gun sekiro. If you like this ypu reeealy should play sekiro.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I played a bit of Sekiro but got sidetracked

[@sunderark]

I was expecting you to mispronounce the name of the game, I wasn't prepared for the extent of the mispronunciation.

[@MdrnRtrGamr]

If you look at Mazan…. The second a makes the first a say its name so I’m sure he’s just using English pronunciation rules to say the same. He nailed it in that case. Does it have a different pronunciation?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Lol I said 100 times pronunciation is not my strong suit

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Craisan; Flash of the Cranberry

[@MdrnRtrGamr]

@@VideoGameEsoterica hahaha now you’re talkin! 😁👍🏻

[@sunderark]

@@MdrnRtrGamr Nothing of what you said just now made any sense whatsoever.