Arkanoid Returns (Ver 2.02J 1997/02/10) - MAME machine

Taito F3 cart. published 28 years ago:

Arkanoid Returns © 1997 Taito Corp.

The 3rd chapter in Taito's legendary 1 or 2-player bat and ball game, in which players once again control a paddle and must try to rebound a ball into patterns of bricks to remove them from the play area.

Each level is patrolled by enemies and certain bricks, when hit, release power-ups which then roll down the screen and can be collected by the player.

While the 3rd chapter contains 50 brand new levels for players to fight through, the actual gameplay itself remains unaltered from the first 2 games. The only real differences are a revamp of both the graphics and sound, as well as a number of minor enhancements to the in-game power-ups.

TECHNICAL
Runs on the "Taito F3 System" Hardware.

Prom Stickers: E36

Players: up to 2
Control: 8-way joystick (or unlimited-range dial)
Buttons: 2
→[A] and [B]: Shoot the ball

TRIVIA
Arkanoid Returns was released in March 1997.

Completion of the game on regular set of levels (#1~#50) will show only a staff roll with no flying parts. But completion of more difficult levels (#51~#100) will show a bit different ending - Vaus flying around the space ship scrambled into parts. The parts themselves will fly on the staff roll occurring after the CGI sequence.
Level #100 is a confrontation with DOH.
All the powerups are in fixed places, unlike in the previous games, where the random powerups were flying out of bricks. This makes the game slightly easier to memorize.

Zachary Hample holds the official record for this game with 1589770 points on June 5, 2000.

UPDATES
The J release (probably for Japan) has a territorial notice not allowing to play outside Japan.
The A rom (probably for America) has a territorial notice not allowing to play outside South and North America.
The O rom (probably export rom for the rest of the world) has a copyright notice showing the rights to this game are owned by Taito corporation around the world.

TIPS AND TRICKS
The only way to get an extra life is to pick a silver "P" capsule. There is no point threshold which awards an extra life.

Players can join the game at any time.

OTHER SET OF LEVELS: to start the game on a different (way more difficult) set of levels, press (after you inserted a coin) button #1 3 times, then button #2 once and finally Start. The game will begin on stage #51.

SERIES

• Arkanoid (1986, Arcade)
• Arkanoid - Revenge of DOH (1987, Arcade)
• Arkanoid - Doh It Again [Model SHVC-A6] (1997, Super Famicom)
• Arkanoid Returns (1997, Arcade)
• Arkanoid DS (2007, Nintendo DS)

STAFF
Planners: Atsushi Taniguchi, Yuji Koga
Programmed by: I.T.L.
Program support: Shunsuke Ono
Character designers: Chiho Maeda, Mari Fukusaki, Tomohiro Kagawa
Sound: Yasuhisa Watanabe (YACK), Ishikawa Babio (BABI)
Designer: Kumi Mizobe

PORTS

• CONSOLES:

[JP] Sony PlayStation (1997) [Model SLPS-00948]
[JP] Sony PlayStation (1999) "Arkanoid R 2000 [Model SLPM-86262]"

CONTRIBUTE
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