Hello all, My ArcadeAction famiclone came with a 78-in-1 cart which featured the game "Formation Z" by Jaleco. I quickly fell in love with it. I've learned that FZ was originally a(n?) Japanese arcade game by Jaleco (I believe it was released in the US under the Aeroboto name by Williams in 1984, but I read somewhere that they did not do a full production, altough I could find various technica servicel manuals so I don't know if that's true). I have found the FZ MAME ROM a few years ago. I believe Jaleco released conversions for various platforms in the '80s (MobyGames only list the MSX and Famicom, I don't know if was ported to other systems) I don't know why I like it so much, it's really not that groundbreaking game after all. It probably has to do with the fact that I always was a big Transformers fan or something and love transforming robots Still, I keep coming back to the Famicom-version again and again. Now my question: I read some time ago that Jaleco released a new version of Formation Z not too long ago (perhaps 5 years ago) for, I believe, the PC in Japan as a lowbudget release. Is there anyone who happens to have played this game or knows anything about it? Is it similair to the classic game or completely different? Is it still 2D? If I were desperate to get it, would it be possible to get this game legally (with box, manuals, etc.) or would this be very hard, because the game is quite old, not that famous (I guess) and a lowbudget release? I have no idea where to look for this kind of thing. Do you think it will run on European PC's at all? (unfortunately you never have guarantees on the PC platform, sigh). Getting the game to run would be very nice, but because of my FZ-obsession not the most important thing. If anyone has any info, tips, comments, etc. I'd love to hear them Best regards, ArcadeAction
It's not hard to get. Theres one on YJ right now, sealed for 1000 Yen (before shipping etc., Link). Also I don't see why it should not run on non-Japanese Windows. Usually the only thing you have to do is set your system language to Japanese to be able to read the menus. If you can't find it anywhere else drop me a line and I'll get it for you. Edit: Reading the game description it seems that it's just a port of the Famicom game (PC release 2004). Not that interesting maybe if you have the game already.
My two cents: My family had an arcade machine in our garage in the early 90s. We had it for several years, but it was eventually sold. Recently I started looking around, trying to figure out what it was. After much googling, I found out that it was in fact Aeroboto. We owned an Aeroboto machine for several years. Shame the game wasn't that great though...
Thanks for the replies: @Blur2040: I have only encountered a few people who liked this game as well. Oh well! @cez: Many thanks for the link. Too bad I don't read a single letter Japanese , I couldn't even find out how to contact the seller yet (the fact that I have no experience with Yahoo Auctions doesn't help). Yet, I'll try again this afternoon (I am at work right now). I'll first try to get the game on my own before bothering you with it, I really appriciate your offer though! Mm, the screenshots on the box look indeed very familiair. Still to me it will be worth it, it's probably the easiest way to legally own it (I hate playing illegal copies of games that I really like, plus I'd really like to own the box in this case). Many thanks for your help!
Good luck with your search... It's not such a bad game...I just think that there could be a bit more going on. Unless they changed the console versions a lot, there wasn't much variety of enemies...only the guys hovering over the ground and the circles in the air. That said though...the backgrounds and your ship were incredibly awesome...it really made you feel like you were traveling long distances.
I had this game on a Famicom clone as well and I really liked it. I don't remember it playing that great, but like you I'm pretty sure it was because of giant robots. haha.
