# 5 Arcade Hidden Gems! **Source:** RetroRalph **Type:** video **Published:** 2022-04-19 **Duration:** 10m 8s **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6SBldACEdo --- ## Analysis RetroRalph presents five arcade hidden gems spanning multiple genres: Demolish Fist (3D beat-em-up), Dolphin Blue (run-and-gun), Metamorphic Force (Konami beat-em-up), Forgotten Worlds (rotary-controlled shooter), and Badlands (post-apocalyptic racing game). The video features technical insights from arcade expert Todd Tuckey on control systems and game kit conversions, and includes announcements about upcoming ZapCon arcade event participation. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] Demolish Fist came out when beat-em-ups had largely fallen out of popularity and was never ported to consoles — _Jon (RetroRalph) discussing Demolish Fist early in the video_ - [HIGH] Dolphin Blue was ported to Dreamcast in 2021 — _Jon stating port availability and mentioning GDEMU access_ - [HIGH] Metamorphic Force flew under the radar despite being from Konami alongside X-Men and The Simpsons — _Jon comparing Metamorphic Force to other Konami beat-em-ups_ - [HIGH] Forgotten Worlds has unique 360-degree rotary controls that make it difficult to play in MAME — _Jon and Todd Tuckey discussing control system mechanics_ - [HIGH] Badlands was sold as a kit that could be installed into any Atari cabinet with proper control panel — _Todd Tuckey explaining Atari's kit-based conversion strategy_ - [HIGH] RetroRalph will be exhibiting two Final Assault arcade machines at ZapCon in Jose Mesa, Arizona — _Jon announcing event participation near end of video_ ### Notable Quotes > "It's a side-scrolling beat-em-up that came out when beat-em-ups had largely fallen out of popularity." > — **Jon (RetroRalph)**, Early in video > _Explains why Demolish Fist became a hidden gem despite quality_ > "Basically, you turn into a total badass and lay the smackdown on everyone." > — **Jon (RetroRalph)**, Demolish Fist discussion > _Casual but enthusiastic description of game's Vertigo Mode mechanic_ > "It's essentially Metal Slug meets, I don't know, the ocean, I guess, and dolphins." > — **Jon (RetroRalph)**, Dolphin Blue segment > _Humorous way of describing Dolphin Blue's thematic combination_ > "This one kind of flew under the radar for a lot of people." > — **Jon (RetroRalph)**, Metamorphic Force discussion > _Core theme of why these games are 'hidden gems'_ > "I don't think any other game used them." > — **Jon (RetroRalph)**, Forgotten Worlds controls discussion > _Highlights uniqueness of Forgotten Worlds' rotary control system_ > "I kind of feel like this is one of those games that if you get a chance to play it with the proper controls in an arcade, that would be the best way to experience it." > — **Jon (RetroRalph)**, Forgotten Worlds conclusion > _Emphasizes importance of authentic hardware experience for certain arcade games_ > "It's like if Super Sprint and Championship Sprint became total badasses." > — **Jon (RetroRalph)**, Badlands introduction > _Casual but apt comparison describing Badlands' gameplay style_ > "They're not gone forever, so you can't put your guard down, but they're gone until they're respawned a few seconds later, giving you the opportunity to take the lead." > — **Jon (RetroRalph)**, Badlands gameplay mechanics > _Explains core strategic element that makes Badlands distinct_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Jon | person | Host of RetroRalph channel, arcade enthusiast and content creator | | Todd Tuckey | person | Arcade expert and historian who provides technical insights on arcade control systems and game conversions; recently won a Teppies award | | Kurt | person | Mentioned as having worked on arcade controls earlier in the video | | Demolish Fist | game | 3D beat-em-up arcade game on Atomos Wave hardware, featured as first hidden gem | | Dolphin Blue | game | Run-and-gun arcade game on Atomos Wave hardware inspired by Metal Slug, ported to Dreamcast in 2021 | | Metamorphic Force | game | Konami beat-em-up arcade game with morphing mechanics, featured as third hidden gem | | Forgotten Worlds | game | Capcom side-scrolling shooter with unique 360-degree rotary controls, ported to multiple consoles | | Badlands | game | Atari post-apocalyptic racing game with vehicle combat, available as arcade kit conversion | | Pandora's Box 7 3D | product | Emulation device used to discover Demolish Fist | | Atomos Wave | product | Arcade hardware platform used by Demolish Fist and Dolphin Blue | | Konami | company | Developer of Metamorphic Force and other classic arcade games | | Capcom | company | Developer of Forgotten Worlds | | Atari | company | Developer of Badlands and creator of arcade kit conversion strategy | | Galloping Ghost | organization | Arcade venue where Jon played Metamorphic Force on original arcade machine | | ZapCon | event | Arcade conference in Jose Mesa, Arizona; returning after COVID hiatus; Jon bringing Final Assault machines | | Final Assault | game | First-person/third-person shooter arcade cabinet that Jon is exhibiting at ZapCon | | RetroRalph | organization | YouTube channel focused on arcade games and retro gaming content | | MAME | product | Arcade emulator used to access multiple games discussed in video | | Sega Genesis | product | Console platform that Forgotten Worlds was ported to | | Dreamcast | product | Console platform for modded ports of Atomos Wave games | ### Topics - **Primary:** Arcade hidden gems and underrated games, Arcade control systems and hardware mechanics - **Secondary:** Game preservation through emulation and ports, Arcade cabinet conversions and kit systems, Arcade event participation and community gathering - **Mentioned:** Genre trends in arcade gaming history ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.85) — Jon maintains enthusiastic, appreciative tone throughout. All games discussed are praised for quality and uniqueness. Community engagement encouraged. Gratitude expressed toward Todd Tuckey and invitation for viewer participation creates welcoming atmosphere. ### Signals - **[community_signal]** RetroRalph soliciting community participation by requesting viewers share their own arcade hidden gems in comments (confidence: high) — Jon states: 'if you have a hidden gem that you think is really cool that maybe people don't talk about or it doesn't get enough attention, definitely put it in the comments below' - **[event_signal]** ZapCon arcade conference returning after COVID hiatus, positioning itself as larger event with RetroRalph exhibiting arcade machines (confidence: high) — Jon: 'They hadn't had it for several years because of COVID, but it's back. It's bigger and badder than ever. And I'm bringing two Final Assault machines.' - **[market_signal]** Multiple arcade games mentioned require original hardware, emulation, or console ports to access; preservation through emulation is active and ongoing (Dreamcast ports in 2021) (confidence: high) — Dolphin Blue Dreamcast port 2021; Atomos Wave emulator availability; MAME preservation; multiple console ports of Forgotten Worlds - **[community_signal]** Todd Tuckey recently won a Teppies award, indicating recognition within arcade community (confidence: high) — Jon congratulates Todd: 'congratulate Todd because he won a Teppies award. He won an award. That's really cool.' --- ## Transcript Hey guys, welcome back to the channel. In today's episode, we're going to do five arcade game hidden gems. I thought this would be a really cool idea, since there are so many arcade games that I come across and I'm all, wow, that's really neat, and I had never heard of it before. So hopefully you guys enjoy this. Let's get started. The first game on my list is Demolish Fist. It's a side-scrolling beat-em-up that came out when beat-em-ups had largely fallen out of popularity. I never played Demolish Fist in the arcade, but discovered it on the Pandora's Key 7 3D in late 2018. For a 3D beat-em-up, they actually did a really good job. My absolute favorite part of the game is a super called Vertigo Mode. Basically, you turn into a total badass and lay the smackdown on everyone. It only lasts for a short period of time, though. But when you have it, take advantage and kick some ass. If you're a fan of the beat-em-up genre, there's no doubt you'll enjoy this title. While it was originally released on the Atomos Wave hardware, it never got a console port. However, there was a project to port Atomos Wave games to the Dreamcast. So if you had a modded Dreamcast, I'll drop a link in the video description so you can check that out. Otherwise, you need to find an Atomos Wave emulator and play it that way. If you can dig up a Pandora's Key 7, you can play it that way too. Okay, moving on. Next up is Dolphin Blue. This is another Atomos Wave game. It's a run and gun game and kind of like Demolished Fist, this came out at a time where the run and gun genre as a whole wasn't that appealing to the mainstream arcade audience. As you can see, it's heavily inspired by Metal Slug. And if you like those games, this might interest you because it's essentially Metal Slug meets, I don't know, the ocean, I guess, and dolphins. I don't know, but it's really cool. The character animation is awesome, the soundtrack is great, but it's pretty hard, so expect a challenge, because it ain't easy. You die in a single hit. If you want to give this game a go, you can download an Atomos Wave emulator, or you can play it on a modded Dreamcast via a GDEMU. The game was ported to the Dreamcast in 2021, and I'll have a link in the video description of where you can find it. Next on the list is Metamorphic Force. This is one by Konami and I think with hits like X-Men, Simpsons and Sunset Riders, this one kind of flew under the radar for a lot of people. It awesome though and there four main characters to choose from and each has a beast it can morph into You collect these golden statue power that drop from the sky There also this weird rodent that will appear at random times to deliver health, power-ups, and gold statues as well. Once in beast mode, if you get an additional statue, your character will perform an attack to destroy all the enemies at the same time. The game is super fun, with amazing character sprites, a good soundtrack, and something a bit different than the typical beat-em-up with a unique theme, albeit slightly reminiscent of Altered Beast. This game wasn't ported to any platform that I know of, but it is available on MAME, so it should be easy to load it up and check it out. Or if you happen to see it in a local arcade, that would be a great way to experience it. I was able to play it at Galloping Ghost on an original arcade machine, and I had a lot of fun with it. Next up, Forgotten Worlds. This one is a pretty unique side-scrolling shooter due to its rotary controls. Now, I don't have one of these arcades myself, so what we're going to do is we're going to break out to my man, Sir Todd Tuckey, to explain the controls. Todd, the floor is all yours. It has an 8-way joystick, but then it has a 360 rotary. It's a really beautiful quality control. Kurt worked on this earlier, didn't you, Kurti? Let's take a peek. Let's look at these things. There's just two clamps to hold it in. And we're going to show you what these controls look like because, you know, I don't think any other game used them. It's like an arkanoid. You can see the control spin. See all the gears. And there's the optic here. And then when you push it, it pushes the micro switch. Pretty interesting controls, don't you think? I couldn't agree more. What a cool rotary control system. As a matter of fact, it makes it kind of difficult to play it in MAME, but there were many ports. I played it on the Commodore 64 as a kid, but it was also ported to the Sega Genesis, the Amiga, the TurboGrafx-16. I think there was even a TurboGrafx-CD version with a really cool and different soundtrack. So anyways, if you want to play it, you can play it those ways, but I kind of feel like this is one of those games that if you get a chance to play it with the proper controls in an arcade, that would be the best way to experience it. Although the console ports are good too So anyways I got a soft spot for anything developed by Capcom They just made so many great games back in the day Anyways on to the next game All right, the last one is a racing game. It's called Badlands. It was developed by Atari. And in my opinion, it's like if Super Sprint and Championship Sprint became total badasses. The game is set in a post-apocalyptic environment, and what makes this game so fun is you can arm your car with missiles to destroy other vehicles on the track. They're not gone forever, so you can't put your guard down, but they're gone until they're respawned a few seconds later, giving you the opportunity to take the lead. I actually never played this game in the arcade, but discovered it later on in MAME. I recently saw it in an arcade in my travels, and it was a lot of fun to play with the proper controls. But if you want to give it a go, it's available in MAME, and it emulates pretty good, but it's obviously not as fun as it is with a steering wheel. Let's bring back my buddy Todd one more time to talk about the history of Badlands. Badlands. Just finishing it up, I wanted to show you this was a kit. Atari came out with this great idea. Let's make a kit, a driving game, because it's proven that driving games always made more money and it'll put in it can go into any game we made as long as you had a control panel this big so they sold the Badlands kit it consisted of header glass the monitor bezel which is cardboard and this control panel this metal panel here with the start buttons on it the fire buttons and the pre-mounted steering wheels pointing in out in the same direction as championship sprint remember that great game very similar in play but here's the big difference Badlands although it looks like champion strip champion sprint runs on a regular monitor so you didn't have to have a medium res monitor like super sprint championship sprint and paperboy and APB there are several that they released in that series but look isn't that a still terrific picture very detailed notice the same sort of course but you are driving in badlands they're trying to kill you the gray cars are the computer control cars that are going to constantly knock you off the road and you are either blue or a red car really great idea the kit sold for probably around maybe less and then they converted an existing game to a new driving game Thanks so much Todd for adding some additional color around this. I love this game, actually. The funny thing is, I didn't even play this in the arcade. I didn't really know much about it, and I happened to come across it on MAME, and I'm like, man, this is actually a really cool game. And I can totally see where, you know, they would turn an Atari cabinet into something like this to make a little bit more money. And it's a unique spin on a genre that had been kind of just more about racing. And this kind of put a little edginess to it, which I totally love. Anyway, we're going to I'm going to try to finish this race first place. And then after that, we're going to do some final thoughts. I'm going to wrap this up. First place, baby. Well, guys, we've said it all. We've done it all. That was five hidden gems. I have a lot more but I thought we'll start somewhere and if you guys really enjoy videos like this we'll do more hidden gem videos but what I want to know is if you have a hidden gem that you think is really cool that maybe people don't talk about or it doesn't get enough attention definitely put it in the comments below I'd love to see what your hidden gems are on other news I want to thank Todd Tucky really quick for letting me use his footage he's such a cool guy I was like hey Todd can I use it and he's like of course but odd loves is the center of attention. So he's like, use all my clips, use all of them. I don't care. So that's awesome. So thank you, Todd, for allowing me to use those clips. I really do appreciate that. And you're such a good guy. And also, if you're in the comment section and you just want to be real chatty, congratulate Todd because he won a Twippy. He won an award. That's really cool. But anyways, outside of that, in other news, I'm going to be at a conference in Mesa, Arizona called ZapCon. They hadn't had it for several years because of COVID, but it's back. I think the last time I went was like three years ago. So it's been a while, but it's back. It's bigger and badder than ever. And I'm bringing two war final assault machines. So if you want to go experience a first person slash third person shooter in an arcade cabinet and what that was all about, then you can do that at the show. And we can hopefully meet and talk and hang out and all that. I would love to meet several of you if you're in the area. And if you're flying in even better, like let's hang out. I'm probably going to be there most of the weekend. So I'm excited to get to meet some of the people from the community. and then obviously the local Arizona people that I already know. But that's cool because I get to see a bunch of friendly faces as well. All right, guys, that's it. If you enjoyed the video, give me a thumbs up. Put your comments below. I want to know about your hidden gems and consider subscribing to the channel. That's it for now. We will see you on the next one. _(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 799d61f1-a6f3-4786-a95f-41cdc5573b89*