The Neo Candy 29 has gotten considerably more play now that it’s in the house.  Demon Front is an excellent game, but I felt the need to expand my collection of horizontal games.

A local coin-op business hosted a swap meet for arcade and pinball collectors, and I picked up two games.

The first was “In The Hunt”.  This Irem classic is by the team that went on to produce Metal Slug.  Play is difficult, and though I’ve managed to reach the third level on a credit, I’m not so sure about later stages.  This game is fun, but I’m afraid it doesn’t suit me well.  It might need to find a new home if it doesn’t grab me soon.

Next, I picked up Life Force (Salamander in Japan).  I haven’t spent a lot of time with it, but in my first two or three games, I’ve reached as far as I think I’ve been in the past.  It boasts “Stereo Sound” on the title screen, so it might motivate me to build out the 4-pin sound cable I need for many of my games.

Finally, I bought another “not working” game off of eBay.  This one is China Gate, and it’s been a bit abused.  Dirty the least of it’s problems, it has at least 4 crushed capacitors, and there’s a spot where one should be, but all that remains is a leg.  I’ll have to do some research to find out what I can replace it with.  Hoping I’ll get to play it, as the emulation is currently incomplete, though I enjoyed my test run with a half-working bootleg ROM set in MAME.

Otherwise, summer is ramping up and we’re been enjoying some use of the backyard and the grill.

Plans to visit Colorado in late September are in the works.