Coin-Op Collection Presents: The Combatribes (RC1)

The final entry for the Technōs16 platform is here! The Combatribes is a hard-hitting arcade beat 'em up released by Technōs Japan in 1990. Known for its gritty urban theme, over-the-top action, and three-player simultaneous gameplay, it stands apart from other Technōs beat 'em up's of the era.

Players can choose between Berserker, Bullova, and Blitz, each with a distinct combat style, for a chaotic co-op experience as they battle rival gangs across five distinct stages in New York City. Each stage highlights a different part of the city’s gritty 80s setting, with unique enemies and environmental hazards that test the players' mastery of the game's mechanics.

Technōs was the godfather of the beat 'em up genre. Like Renegade and Double Dragon, The Combatribes delivers intense street brawling action across five unique acts. Players battle the Motorcycle Nuclear Warheads gang in the Bronx, clash with Demon Clowns at Coney Island, fight Slash Skate Screamers in a Manhattan nightclub, face the Slaughter Troops on a Brooklyn rooftop, and confront the Ground Zero Organization in their high-tech HQ, each stage featuring distinct enemies, varied environments, and tough bosses.

Players can unleash brutal moves, such as slamming enemies into walls, using them as weapons, kicking them down stairwells, or smashing two enemies’ heads together. Downed opponents can be brutally finished off with repeated head-smashing blows, emphasizing the game’s raw violence and savage tone.

Here is a little information about the options available for the Analogue Pocket. The default DIP setting for the Pocket is 2P. If you have an Analogue Dock, you can use an OTG USB hub to add additional USB ports to support the 3P setting. All DIP switch options are available, and toggling them will result in the game resetting.

Now that the three Technōs16 titles are implemented, we will continue exploring Technōs Japan’s arcade legacy with another title in the future and compare The Combatribes, Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone, and WWF WrestleFest from a technical standpoint when the core is ported to MiSTerFPGA and pass the information learned while implementing to MAME developers.

This release follows the same method as the Midway cores and requires beta access using pudate by Matt. In the future, Pocket Sync will also be supported. This should take twenty to thirty minutes before all the files are available via pupdate. If you'd like to install a local copy of the files you can retrieve them here. We'll see the first release for Mortal Kombat on it's 32nd anniversary date, October 8th, 2024. Have a nice weekend!