Complete with quality-of-life enhancements, Scion is out this week for Nintendo Switch 1 & 2, PlayStation 4 & 5, and Xbox Series.
The addition of Scion to the record-breaking Arcade Archives is an opportunity to secure an arcade outlier from 1984. Crucially, tracing the lineage of this vertical shooter reveals its significant role: Scion was developed by Seibu Denshi, Inc., the company that would later become the legendary Seibu Kaihatsu—the studio behind the genre-defining Raiden series.
This makes Scion a direct, early ancestor of one of the most successful shmup franchises in history.
What the Arcade Archives adds
Why use an Arcade Archives release rather than a ROM you found online?
While the historical context is fascinating, the true test of this Arcade Archives port remains in two areas only accessible to players: input latency and display clock synchronization. If HAMSTER hasn’t managed a near-perfect translation of the original 1984 hardware’s timing, the game is functionally broken, regardless of the developer’s name on the title screen.
Happily, Arcade Archives releases from Hamster are heavily tested to ensure an authentic reproduction of the original game.
And it is the consistent quality-of-life additions are what make these ports functionally superior to simply running a raw ROM dump:
| Feature | Critical Value |
| DIP Switch Access | Allows users to verify and replicate official cabinet settings (difficulty, lives) for authentic high-score competition. |
| Save/Load States | Provides essential training wheels for a game designed to strip players of quarters, making serious mastery possible. |
| Screen Options | Crucial for adapting the vertical (tate mode) aspect ratio to modern displays without stretching or cropping. |
| Online High Scores | Replaces the local arcade competition with a global, verified challenge ladder across multiple play modes. |
A raw port of Scion is a brutal, quarter-munching experience, but the Arcade Archives framework ensures that this piece of Seibu Denshi history is preserved with both integrity and modern user control. It allows this direct precursor to Raiden to be properly studied and mastered, not just briefly witnessed.
Learn more on the Arcade Archives listing for Scion.
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Christian Cawley is a writer and editor who covers consumer electronics, IT, and entertainment media. He has written for publications such as Computer Weekly, Linux Format, MakeUseOf.com, and Tech Radar.
He also produces podcasts, has a cigar box guitar, and of course, loves retro gaming.
