Namco System 2

The Namco System 2 arcade system board was first used by Namco in 1987 and was a major enhancement to the previous Namco System 1 arcade system board.

Final Lap was the first game to use this board, and also the first to feature multiplayer. The following year, more games using this board were released, including Assault, Assault Plus, Ordyne, Metal Hawk, Mirai Ninja and Phelios. In 1989 they released Valkyrie No Densetsu, Dirt Fox, Finest Hour, Burning Force, Four Trax and Marvel Land.

Namco System 2 Specifications

Burning Force arcade PCB, which runs on the Namco System 2

Processors:

• Main CPU: Motorola 68000 @ 12.288 MHz
• Sub CPU: Motorola 68000 @ 12.288 MHz
• Sound CPU: Motorola 68B09 @ 2.048 MHz
• MCU: Hitachi HD68705 @ 2.048 MHz

Video:

• Video resolution 288×224 (horizontal) or 224×288 (vertical)
• Variable-sized display window
• 24-bit RGB palette
• 3 scrolling 512×512 tilemap layers (64×64 characters)
• 1 scrolling 512×256 tilemap layer (64×32 characters)
• 2 fixed 288×224 tilemap layers (36×28 characters)
• 1 fixed rotate/zoom tilemap layer
• roadway generator (driving games only)
• 127 variable-sized sprites (up to 64×64) displayed at once

Sound:

• Yamaha YM2151 FM sound chip
• Custom 24-channel stereo PCM chip
• PCB supports volume, treble, bass, and balance audio adjustments via potentiometers.

List of Namco System 2 arcade games

• Final Lap (1987)
• Assault (1988)
• Assault Plus (1988)
• Ordyne (1988)
• Metal Hawk (1988)
• Mirai Ninja (1988)
• Phelios (1988)
• Valkyrie No Densetsu (1989)
• Dirt Fox (1989)
• Finest Hour (1989)
• Burning Force (1989)
• Four Trax (1989)
• Marvel Land (1989)
• Kyūkai Dōchūki (1990) - baseball game which uses characters from Yokai Douchuuki
• Final Lap 2 (1990)
• Dragon Saber (1990) - sequel to Dragon Spirit
• Golly! Ghost! (1990) - electro-mechanical videogame hybrid
• Rolling Thunder 2 (1990)
• Steel Gunner (1990)
• Super World Stadium (1991)
• Steel Gunner 2 (1991)
• Cosmo Gang the Video (1991) - game which uses characters from a popular redemption game released in the previous year
• Bubble Trouble / Golly! Ghost! 2 (1991) - electro-mechanical videogame hybrid sequel to Golly! Ghost!
• Suzuka 8 Hours (1992)
• Super World Stadium '92 (1992)
• Final Lap 3 (1992)
• Lucky & Wild (1992)
• Super World Stadium '93 (1993)
• Suzuka 8 Hours 2 (1993)