December was a pretty good month for arcade-lovers, huh? Four arcade carts coming along with the Alphas? I gotta be honest, as much of an arcade fan as I am - and as much as I understand that Blaze wanted to prioritize arcade content for our new Alpha-owning friends - it seemed a little much to me.

Watching the trailer I need to be honest, I wasn't very impressed. It seemed very much an "...and the rest" cart. And you know what, it kind of is that. But maybe that's okay.

Let's check out the games.

Dogyuun

Would it be a Toaplan cart without some vertically scrolling shoot 'em ups? (the answer is "no"). Dogyuun is one of those. It's also probably the most visually spectacular of the crop across all four collections.

Is it also the best and most well-designed? Well...

The two things that stand out in Dogyuun are the weapons and the module system.

The weapons add to the aforementioned spectacle. You start with a cool, pulsing laser and can pick up a multi-beam "V" weapon as well as two flavors of homing lasers - one which corners 90 degrees and one which is a little bit more free-flowing.

In addition to that, you can pick up different "modules" for your ship. One is a bomb of the variety you probably expect to find in shoot em ups. And one is a little boost module that kinda-sorta lets you dodge around enemy fire. You also get a Truxton-like tractor beam. Well, I say Truxton-like, but it's actually a bit different - it comes out of the back of your ship. If you're playing 2-player, you can combine with the second player to beef up your firepower, but otherwise it doesn't seem to serve much of a purpose. Perhaps a way for operators to collect two credits per play even with only one player.

Ultimately, Dogyuun never quite plays as well as it looks. The homing lasers look sharp streaking across the screen, but they don't quite have the sort of turning radius you'd like. So if you're careless you may find yourself completely helpless while you watch your lasers streak broadly around the screen seeking a target. It looks great, but gosh it feels bad when it's happening to you.

The modules system is an interesting idea - collecting little bits of functionality for your ship that you can jettison to pick something else up later. But the single bomb module is...underwhelming. And the dodge module isn't as useful or exciting as it might be. As a long-time Dark Souls player, when I picked up the module I was like "hell yeah dodge rolls gimme them i-frames." But, of course, you don't get any invincibility during your boosts. In practice, the hitbox is small enough that you can generally dodge without the module. And using the module during real screen-filling times is just as likely to boost you into a bullet than to help you dodge one.

But maybe this is just another time when I'm not good enough at shoot em ups to properly appreciate the nuance. Still, this game looks incredible. And it plays well enough that it's worth taking a look in at it.

Grind Stormer

Three guesses the genre of this game. Hmm, I guess you've probably already seen the screenshot above. Still, though, it might surprise you to learn that this is a vertically scrolling shoot em up.

Grind Stormer is the western version of a game called V-V (V-Five [vi faɪv]). That game, apparently, had an upgrade system like Gradius or Alcon where you collect pick-ups that advance an upgrade bar that lets you purchase the one you want. Grind Stormer replaces that with more traditional power-ups and introduces bombs. Indeed, in the Japanese version, that bomb bar you see at the bottom of the screen is replaced with a power-up bar.

I do appreciate the introduction of bombs to this version of the game, but I wish we got the upgrade purchase system. I'm a real sucker for that kinda stuff.

Without it...this game is fine. You can pick up your three different weapons, a power-up for them, a shield, some bombs. It's all fine. It's a Toaplan game, so it looks and sounds great, and it plays perfectly well. It's a good time. I've written enough of these across these two carts that you know what to expect here.

That being said...I haven't played V-V myself so I can't say for certain it's any better, but I can't play this without wondering what might've been.

Knuckle Bash

Knuckle Bash is a belt-but-not-quite-scrolling beat em up that straddles the line between confidently stylish and weirdly goofy. There are 8 stages to fight your way through with three playable characters to choose from. You get a choice at the beginning of which set of four stages you'd like to start with. At the end of your first set of stages you unlock a fourth playable character to play the second half with.

Here's where I have a confession to make. I've talked a bit about how shoot em ups are not a genre I'm qualified to evaluate. Well beat em ups are right up there with them. I'm a little bit more comfortable with both than with fighting games, but even so. Take the rest of what I have to say with a grain of salt.

As a Toaplan game, Knuckle Bash looks great and plays pretty well. The game is wrestling-themed - and indeed one of the characters is a literal luchador. The levels are varied and interesting, if not actually interactive. The encounters are also varied. You'll fight hotel doormen, scuba divers, American football players, and more. This game is nothing if not interesting.

That being said, I'm not sure about how well-balanced it is. Honestly, I can't tell if this game is too easy or too difficult. Some encounters you'll be able to just slide-tackle back and forth to clear the stage without taking damage. Others have bosses that melt your health bar in a single hit of a move that you need to be perfect to dodge. Maybe there's some secret strategy I wasn't able to discover, but I had to feed in quite a few credits for some of the stages.

Overall, this game is fun. You can take a (knuckle) bash against the easier levels and feed your way through the more difficult ones. But, for me anyway, there isn't anything about it that makes me think I'd be able to work my way down to a 1CC if I stuck with it. So it may be more for a quick dip rather than focused playtime. I personally don't get a "just one more" feel from it.

Snow Bros. 2

Look, sequels are hard. The original Snow Bros is a classic. Not my favorite but, yeah, a classic. It's a tough balancing act to make your sequel bigger and better than the original without destroying what made it so special to begin with.

Snow Bros. 2 is a...partial success in this regard. Like the first game, Snow Bros. 2 is an elimination platformer where you're presented with a screen of enemies to stun and throw into other enemies. Enemies getting crushed by these stunned enemies will drop pick-ups that will speed you up, power up your weapons, or just give you bonus points. Bigger combos tend to give you bigger bonuses. There are also hidden pick-ups hanging around the level that you can find.

The game is bigger than its predecessor in some ways, to be sure. With four characters that have slightly different moves and different ways of dealing with enemies. In addition to the classic Snowthers Brothers, you can also, for example, catch your enemies in little tornadoes and send them spinning off.

But in most ways, the game is just more Snow Bros. Which isn't a bad thing. The new characters are neat and they offer different ways to engage with the game, though I never really fell in love with any of them. The difficulty also ramps up much more quickly than in the first game. There's plenty of fun to be had at the beginning of the game, but soon you're likely to just find yourself credit feeding.

If you're looking for more Snow Bros action, this is a perfectly fine place to find it. Of course, if you weren't into the first game you won't find much different here to change your mind.

Pipi and Bibi's

If you've read any of my prior reviews, you'll know that if there's one thing I love it's weirdo arcade games. And this is one of those.

Pipi and Bibi's (or "Whoopee!!" in Japan) is an arcade platformer and it may be the weirdest game across the Evercade's four Toaplan collections. Arguably, anyway. I mean, Knuckle Bash is pretty weird, too. But I think this edges it out, uh, so to speak.

Make your way around the stages, climbing stairs, riding elevators, and bouncing on trampolines. Avoid the enemies making their way around the stage to plant a time bomb at each of the computer consoles you find around the stage. Once you've planted all of the bombs, a countdown starts and you need to make it to the exit before you get caught in your own explosion.

The enemies are interesting and each behaves in a specific way. Understanding their behavior is instrumental in helping you safely navigate the levels without getting cornered. Helping you deal with the enemies is your shredder beam. Which, despite its name is much more like a taser. Shooting an enemy will stun them very briefly, holding the beam on them for several seconds will drop them down a level to the floor below (or off the level if there isn't another floor). The shredder can only focus on one enemy at a time, though, so you don't want to be caught by a mob.

If that doesn't sound fun enough (and it is!), there's an extra incentive to make your way through the stages. Each block of four stages comes along with a drawing of a woman. Each stage has a little "H" coin floating around. Depending on how many of those coins you pick up, once you've completed the block of stages you'll get another drawing of the woman in a different level of undress. Blaze has set the game to a slightly more family-friendly mode so none of the images are too risque. But still something to keep in mind if you're sensitive to that kind of thing or will be playing around someone who is.

This game is tons of fun. Puzzling out which console to hit in which order and figuring out how to manage the enemies based on their individual behaviors is really interesting. On the other end, though, the difficulty ramps up a little bit more quickly than maybe would be ideal. After putting in a bit of time, I can pretty reliably clear the first two blocks of stages but I'm still working on the rest. So it's not a wall, but I don't expect a 1CC any time soon.

One thing worth mentioning is that after the second set of stages, you start getting trampolines scattered around levels. It's very tempting to start playing Mappy at that point, but this games doesn't go by Mappy rules. Jumping at the same time as an enemy is not allowed. However, a quick blast with your shredder sends them falling through the trampoline. So it's worth taking it a little slow in these levels and keeping in mind how these enemies will maneuver.

This might be a controversial take on a cart with two arcade shoot em ups and a Snow Bros, but this is my favorite game on the cart.

Sky Shark (NES)

And on the other side, we have my least favorite game of the cart. We've got the NES version of Sky Shark. You might remember this game from the arcade version on Toaplan Arcade 1 - called Flying Shark there.

As a home console port of an arcade game, this is interesting. Unfortunately, it's not especially good. The hit boxes are weird, the color palette means it can be tough to keep track of projectiles or certain enemies on the screen. It's okay to dip into and see how they adapted the arcade game, level-wise and balance-wise. But in the end it's just...not very fun for me.

Blaze also makes a pretty big deal about the soundtrack being composed by Tim Follin. That doesn't really mean anything to me, but if it does to you maybe you find that interesting. One of the things I've enjoyed about Evercade is learning about classic games and the companies that made them, but I'm not personally at the level of knowing much about individual human beings quite yet.

This is an okay filler game to round out this final cart at 6 games, especially given that there weren't necessarily a lot of alternatives. But beyond that? Maybe not worth it.

Wrap Up

Up at the top, I said that my first impression of this cart was that it was an "and the rest" cart. And, well, it is. But that's not to say it's bad.

This is our fourth and probably our final Toaplan collection - certainly the final Toaplan Arcade collection. And it does have a bit of a "scraping the barrel" flavor to it. But there's an interesting variety to these games that you won't find on other Toaplan carts.

As someone always on the look-out for interesting games (I mean, just read my Data East Arcade 2 review), I have a certain fondness for this cart. These shoot em ups are fine and have some interesting ideas, but - aside from visuals - don't hit anywhere near the highs of the prior carts. Snow Bros 2 is not as good as Snow Bros 1 for me. Knuckle Bash is fun, but not especially well-balanced. Pipi & Bibi's is great, though, and something you won't find a better version of on another cart.

This shouldn't be your first Toaplan cart, or even your second. Or, heck, maybe even your third. But if you want to see out the full picture of the games created by these legendary developers, you should Consider picking up this cart. Because it offers a unique perspective on the company that you aren't going to find on the other carts.