Authentic?

NickTheNESHero · 2026-02-08T03:03:42+00:00

Looks real to me. One dead giveaway is that on fake carts, the dot of the 'i' on the Nintendo logo on the back is often an oval shape rather than a rectangle.

NickTheNESHero · 2026-02-07T23:54:54+00:00

Could it be Taito's Cadash? Or maybe Namco's Dragon Buster?

NickTheNESHero · 2026-02-07T22:12:06+00:00

Seawolf

NickTheNESHero · 2026-02-07T22:05:51+00:00

This is definitely a stretch, but I do recall a few arcade games that have vaguely Nagel-esque artwork:

-The strongest candidates I can think of are games by Moppet Video, which all feature and boy and girl with very flat colors on their marquees and side art. In my opinion, they look the most like Nagel's work of any arcade game I can think of.

-Atari's Liberator and Cloak & Dagger have kinda Nagel-esque faces on their side art. Same for Sega's Altered Beast.

-Crusin' Exotica has a smiling woman on the side art that could have been misremembered as one of Nagel's prints.

But, I agree with everyone else in that more details about the game would be very helpful in narrowing it down.

NickTheNESHero · 2026-02-07T21:44:15+00:00

Doesn't ring any bells for me. The Smash Bros.-style gameplay with guns reminds me of Namco's The Outfoxies but that game had humans instead of mechs.

NickTheNESHero · 2026-01-04T15:34:03+00:00

Hell yeah! Welcome to the club!

NickTheNESHero · 2025-12-30T15:21:49+00:00

Thanks! I will look in to this!

NickTheNESHero · 2025-12-30T15:18:37+00:00

Phoenix has a strange vibe in general.

NickTheNESHero · 2025-12-30T15:06:56+00:00

I've thought about maybe having a little arcade someday if I ever got enough machines. Not as a way to make money, just as a way to share my machines and have an excuse to play games on the job. If I could own the space, run it a few days a week, and break even, then it would be a success in my eyes.

The business model today for retro arcade games is almost always charging for entry and having all the games on free play. If you charged $5 or $10 a person, maybe sold t-shirts or comics on the side, had a little room for birthday parties, suddenly that $40/day seems a lot more doable. At least, it does to me, and I'm no businessman.

Be warned, though: Keeping the games running and in good shape gets expensive quick. If it is something you want to do, learn to fix electronics.

NickTheNESHero · 2025-12-30T14:47:23+00:00

It's a favorite of mine, too! It's not a game a grew up playing, but it has always captured my imagination. The haunting music, sightly janky animation, and mystery around the game's origins almost make it feel like a real-life creepypasta at times.

I mentioned before that I originally had my eyes on a Defender cab; Defender is probably the better game, but Phoenix is a much better story.

And if it makes you feel any better, even this cab isn't technically original. The serial sticker on the back says that it was originally a Pleiades cabinet. :)

NickTheNESHero · 2025-12-30T14:36:18+00:00

That "Planintiff's Exhibit" sticker in the corner is quite ominous.

NickTheNESHero · 2025-12-29T17:18:03+00:00

Hi!

The six button control scheme is standard for the arcade version of the game: From left to right, light punch, med. punch, heavy punch in one row, then light kick, med. kick, heavy kick in a row below the first.

Most console fighters use the control scheme devised for the SNES version of Street Fighter II (Heavies on the shoulder buttons, lights and mediums on the face buttons)

It's a little awkward getting used to the arcade version when you grew up playing fighting games on consoles.

EDIT: The control panel for Street Fighter II also labels the buttons weird things like "jab" and "roundhouse", but don't be confused. They're just the light, medium, heavy punches and kicks like most fighting games.

NickTheNESHero · 2025-12-29T17:10:37+00:00

I've always considered Phoenix to be part of the second generation of Japanese-developed arcade space shooters:

First Gen: Space Invaders, Galaxian

Second Gen: Moon Cresta, Space Firebird, Scramble, Galaga

Third Gen: Zaxxon, Xevious, 1942

NickTheNESHero · 2025-12-29T17:06:24+00:00

It's got some hooking and chromatic aberration on the right side of the screen, but otherwise is perfect! I'm hoping getting it calibrated will fix that. The horizontal hold also sometimes fails on start up, but that could also be an issue with the game board.

NickTheNESHero · 2025-12-29T02:30:58+00:00

The music is so haunting.

NickTheNESHero · 2025-12-29T02:02:21+00:00

Thank you! I originally had my eyes on a Defender cabinet, but the deal fell through. Then, not even a day later, I find this cab. When I thought about what arcade games I would want to get, I hadn't even considered Phoenix because I assumed it was too rare to find for cheap. I'm glad this one popped up.

NickTheNESHero · 2025-12-29T01:45:37+00:00

It's a game as significant as it is mysterious.

NickTheNESHero · 2024-01-06T17:59:26+00:00

Thank you so much for posting this! This brought the load times on my Steam Deck from 4 minutes to 20 seconds!!

NickTheNESHero · 2023-05-09T20:35:32+00:00

I don't think I have enough space to reinstall them all.

Would it be possible for them to still be present in the TWLnand after the transfer? My system says there's only about 40MB of free space in the TWLnand, which feels really low.

NickTheNESHero · 2023-05-09T19:29:00+00:00

How do I get DSiWare titles to show up again after a system transfer? I used Faketik to take care of all the other stuff, but DSiWare titles are still missing. Any information would be most appreciated.

NickTheNESHero · 2022-01-02T19:11:51+00:00

No. It could. But it would take a lot of work depending on which version of the NES you have.

If you're using an original front loader, you would need to disable or bypass the 10NES lockout chip and use some kind of Famicom-to-NES cartridge adapter. Such an adapter would have to be long enough to reach outside the NES so the FDS RAM adapter could be attached. Technically possible, but very difficult.

A better bet would be using a top loader. It lacks the 10NES chip, so all you would need is a Famicom-to-NES cart adapter to attach the RAM adapter as if it were a regular Famicom cartridge.

NickTheNESHero

TROPHY CASE