After years of anticipation, Ryuusei no Rockman: Denpa Henkan! On Air!, a rare, Japan-only TV plug-and-play game from 2007, has finally been preserved.
Thanks to the efforts of MAME community member David Haywood, the game’s data has been successfully dumped from its original hardware. While it’s not yet ready for MAME emulation, this marks a major step forward in the preservation process. As with many XaviX-based devices, extracting and reverse engineering Denpa Henkan! On Air! has been a complex challenge. Now, with its data safely archived, the game is no longer confined to obscure, aging hardware. The next hurdle is making it fully emulatable and playable—updates will follow as progress continues.
For those unfamiliar, Denpa Henkan! On Air! is a collection of mini-games based on the characters and world of the first Star Force title. It featured a Rock Buster-shaped motion-sensing controller, allowing players to interact with the game through simple gestures. Curious how it plays? Check out some direct feed gameplay here.
Neat.
ReplyDeleteI didn’t even know this existed! Or that preservation/emulation for these kinds of games was even feasible. Would be cool to see this for other weird Takara Plug-It games, like the built-in games from Gladion of Webdiver, and Daigunder.
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing. Dumping this kind of raw data without damaging the board is a feat by itself, even if it isn't executable yet.
ReplyDeleteWow that is some gorgeous sprite work. I want a full game with fluid animation like this.
ReplyDeleteThat’s cool, I’ve never seen this before.
ReplyDeleteLET'S FUCKING GO! Ever since I saw some gameplay videos of it, I've always wanted to give it a try.
ReplyDeleteAlso, that damn Starforce theme rendition! KICKS ASS!