Bookmark This Page; how ARIKA turned an April Fools joke into a great fighting game

Many of the people that created Street Fighter II left Capcom, and founded ARIKA. If you want to find out about how they teased a successor to Street Fighter EX then Bookmark This Page.

Teasing the next Street Fighter EX and Fighting Layer, part 1

Teasing the next Street Fighter EX and Fighting Layer, part 2

Teasing the next Street Fighter EX and Fighting Layer, part 3

Speculation on ARIKA's unnamed Street Fighter EX successor, part 1…

Speculation on ARIKA's unnamed Street Fighter EX successor, part 2…

Speculation on ARIKA's unnamed Street Fighter EX successor, part 3…

Speculation on ARIKA's unnamed Street Fighter EX successor, part 4…

Did you have a favorite ARIKA fighting game? Let me know about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Bookmark This Page; The Namco Chronicles

The more research I did about Namco the more amazed I was at how almost every title was connected. If you want to find out all about Namco’s shared universe then Bookmark This Page.

The Namco Chronicles, part 1...

The Namco Chronicles, part 2…

The Namco Chronicles, part 3…

The Namco Chronicles, part 4…

The Namco Chronicles, part 5…

The Namco Chronicles, part 6…

The Namco Chronicles, part 7…

The Namco Chronicles, part 8…

The Namco Chronicles, part 9…

The Namco Chronicles, part 10…

The Namco Chronicles, part 11...

The Namco Chronicles, part 12…

The Namco Chronicles, part 13…

The Namco Chronicles, part 14…

The Namco Chronicles, final part…

Prop Cycle, the most interactive arcade game you've never heard of. A 1UP Classic...

The tanks of tomorrow, the games of the past.

Did you have a favorite Namco game, or series? Let me know about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Bookmark This Page; The Ridge Racer Legacy

The Ridge Racer series was a result of an intense rivalry with Sega. If you want to find out all about Namco’s flagship racing series then Bookmark This Page.

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 1...

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 2…

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 3…

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 4…

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 5…

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 6…

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 7…

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 8…

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 9…

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 10…

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 11...

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 12…

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 13…

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 14…

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 15…

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 16…

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 17…

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 18…

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 19…

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 20…

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 21...

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 22…

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 23…

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 24…

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 25…

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 26…

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 27…

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 28…

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 29…

The Ridge Racer Legacy, part 30… 

Have you played Ridge Racer in the arcade or the consoles? Let me know about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Bookmark This Page; the Sega / Namco Arcade Rivalry

One of the greatest rivalries in the arcade was between Sega, and Namco. If you want to see some of the best work from both companies then Bookmark This Page.

The Sega / Namco Rivalry, part 1...

The Sega / Namco Rivalry, part 2…

The Sega / Namco Rivalry, part 3…

The Sega / Namco Rivalry, part 4…

The Sega / Namco Rivalry, part 5…

The Sega / Namco Rivalry, part 6…

The Sega / Namco Rivalry, part 7…

The Sega / Namco Rivalry, part 8…

The Sega / Namco Rivalry, part 9…

The Sega / Namco Rivalry, part 10…

The Sega / Namco Rivalry, part 11…

The Sega / Namco Rivalry, part 12…

The Sega / Namco Rivalry, final part… 

Did you take sides in the rivalry between Sega, and Namco? Let me know about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

The memories of Wonder Eggs in my collection

Heya friends, I hope that you are doing well. Today I wanted to share some gems from my collection of Wonder Eggs merchandise. If you don’t know, from 1992-2000 Namco ran a video game theme park called Wonder Eggs in Futakotamagawa, Setagaya Ward Tokyo. When the park opened it was so successful that Namco added a sister park next door called the Egg Empire. I wrote about it extensively on this blog.

I had a great number of items that I had gathered in a few years of searching. I loved that I had an entire set of the plush Pyrallis figures. There were some larger ones that they sold in the park, however I had never seen them for sale in any of the Japanese auction sites, even when I searched via the history of products that had already sold. Chances are that they would ever pop up were extremely slim. It didn't stop me from checking. 

I had various ephemera from the parks. I had both the Guidebook, as well as the Map of the park. I also had several stickers. Not all of them were featured here. One of the nicest ones I got was from the opening of Virtual Vehicle, which came with a Pyrallis celebrating the first anniversary of the park. 

I managed to get several tickets to the park. These were called Karla Cards. They kept track of the attractions you went on, what scores you achieved on certain attractions, and even if you got a fortune from the Pyrallis statues. In this way visitors to the park would have a memento of their visit. The silver card was actually a telephone card from the park. I hadn't seen any other phone cards pop up in years of searching, so this was a score. I even managed to purchase rare stickers from the park. A couple of the stickers you could not buy, but could only win if you got the top score in their attractions. I was lucky that somebody in Japan was willing to part with them. 

The map of the park was gorgeous. Of course the people that worked on the Namco games had also lent their talents into creating the art for the park, attractions, and costumes for employees. The world building that Namco did at Wonder Eggs was exceptional. It had its own mythology, its own calendar, and even its own language. This was apparent on the “Carnival Coin” which you would use to pay for the games on the classic midway. The town of Laperot village appeared on one side, and the message of play from the Goddess Elds was on the other. Once I learned the history of the village I enjoyed going over the details engraved on the coin.

The other things I managed to get from the park were pins that visitors could buy. I got a classic pin back button featuring the Pyrallis Ilinx. I also got a really nice pin of the Wonder Sun. I found out that they also offered a Wonder Moon pin, which I hope to track down some day.

Some of the items you could buy or win could only be done during seasonal events. Such was the case for a jack-o-lantern pin that I found. This was only available during the fall season at the park when they ran a Wonder Halloween Festival. Interestingly enough the Halloween event at their park existed before the ones offered at Disneyland or Walt Disney World.

Even though the park was in existence for less than a decade it was constantly evolving. Every few years they would change attractions, and even the story carried in the park. In 1999 Namco ended the cycle for Wonder Eggs 2, and they had limited-edition pins available. These pins celebrated the closing of Wonder Eggs 2, and heralded the updated Wonder Eggs 3. If you got one of these pins, and attended Wonder Eggs 3 you would get a one-time free pass to the park, and other perks during your visit. It was a unique concept that I don’t think had been explored at any other park.

A thing that I never thought would turn up at auction was a Wonder Rally Passport. The park was designed with gamers in mind. One of the events they had was called the Wonder Rally. It debuted in 1998. In it kids, and adults were given passports where they were required to complete a certain amount of challenges during their visit. Guests would get stamps, and stickers in the passport to mark how well they did. The goals varied depending on the age, or ability of the player. People that competed the challenges could earn “Master of Play” pins. The lowest level was a bronze pin, followed by a silver and gold pin. The gold pin was actually labeled the “Iron Man of Play.”

There was a fourth exclusive pin that went to the “Superman of Play.” It was difficult to earn in one visit as it required the best scores or outcomes in some of the attractions. The pin was colored green. You could imagine how surprised I was when one popped up on the Japanese auction sites. Sadly the passport from the grand master was not included in the auction. The passport that I secured came from an earlier auction. It was sold by a gamer that would have earned a bronze award. I wasn’t complaining about that because every item I managed to get from the park told a story.

At the end of 2025 a couple of items popped up that I hadn't seen before. The first were a couple of mini pins featuring the Pyrallis. These were fairly tiny, a little smaller than a nickel in size. The characters were Alea which represented chance, and Ilinx which represented dizziness. I was now wondering if I'd ever see the other two mini pins.

I didn't see or collect anything for a long time after my mini pins, however in the middle of 2026 a pinback button that I had never seen before popped up. Thankfully it was very inexpensive, however shipping from Japan was absurd. But it was a small price to pay to add some more rare items to my growing collection. 

A few months later something else turned up. I had seen pictures of the keychain from the park, but had never seen one turn up for sale. I think this one sold for less than $5. It was much shinier than the picture below shows. It's brilliant, almost like polished silver. Thankfully whoever owned this took good care of it, and I was grateful for that. Since I was going to pay a ridiculous amount for shipping then I also got a bunch of manga for my kid, and a few rare Oswald items as well. Thankfully the online seller bundles everything for one price. Then I get it a couple days later. I would expect nothing less than shipping that costs four times more than the products. Even then it was less expensive than getting the same things through eBay. If they even turn up. 

As cute as these finds were there was something even more surprising on a Japanese auction site. When wonder Eggs closed in 2000 Namco offered a token that was a thank you to visitors. In all the years of doing research I had never seen it mentioned in any Japanese blog or news article. On the face was a flying egg logo, with tiny impressions of the various attractions. It had the word FINAL at the bottom. On the other side of the token was a thank you message from Namco. Thankfully it didn’t cost a lot as the seller offered it for a buy it now price, rather than try to auction it off.

There were a few gems from the park that hoped might turn up. Even if they didn’t I was super happy with every piece that I managed to win. I was sharing the memories of visitors to the actual parks. I was keeping it alive for people that never got a chance to experience it. Were there any theme parks past or present that you collected items from? Let me know about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Bookmark This Page; Enter the Dragon, Fighting Layer & the roots of Street Fighter II

For those that are visiting my page for the first time my name is Noe aka BigMex. I love fighting games, as well as racing games, skateboarding, theme parks, and much more. You might know that this blog had been around for a long time. A good portion of what I wrote on the 1UP, and the Capcom-Unity  pages some 20+ years ago were shared here. My best work was hidden at the bottom of this page. To make things easy for new visitors I started collecting similar threads. If you were interested in a certain topic then I was asking you to Bookmark This Page.

The first collection was a deep dive on Fighting Layer, a little known title by ARIKA and Namco. Find out the connection to Street Fighter II in this series.

Enter the Dragon, the legend inspires a game, part 1…

Enter the Dragon, the legend inspires a game, part 2…

Fighting Layer, return of the dragon, part 1...

Fighting Layer, return of the dragon, part 2…

Fighting Layer, return of the dragon, part 3…

Fighting Layer, return of the dragon, part 4…

Fighting Layer, return of the dragon, part 5…

Fighting Layer, return of the dragon, part 6…

Fighting Layer, return of the dragon, part 7…

Fighting Layer, return of the dragon, part 8…

Fighting Layer, return of the dragon, final part… 

Did you ever play Fighting Layer? Even an emulated version? What did you think about it? Let me know about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Creating brand new theme park badges for Wonder Eggs

Hello friends, I hope that you are doing well. Today I would like to share another art project come to life. If you remember earlier this year I mentioned the Wonder Eggs employee badge that I had won at auction. This was actually worn at the video game theme park built by Namco in Japan. It was in operation from 1992-2000. I had a number of retail items from the park, and was blessed to get something used by a staff member named “Suzuki.” In doing research on the park I discovered that the same pyrallis character was used on all the employee badges. This was the pink colored character named Ilinx. I wondered what it would have looked like if each pyrallis was used on the employee badges. Not only that if the two gray colored cyborg pyrallis from the Egg Empire had badges as well. At first I did illustrations of the badges, then I decided to go the extra step and get actual ones made from Vogesey.

The Pyrallis, the mascots of the park were based on philosopher Roger Caillois' book “Man, Play and Games.” The author explained that there were four types of play, Namco took those concepts and assigned them to mythological characters. Agon the green Pyrallis with a bow and arrow shaped tail, had a stubborn sense of justice, and represented Competition. Ilinx the pink Pyrallis with a propeller shaped tail, was cheerful, funny, and represented Dizziness. Mimicry the blue Pyrallis with a harp shaped tail was shy, gentle, and represented Simulation. Alea the violet Pyrallis with a three pointed pitchfork tail was free-spirited, carefree, and represented Chance. The cybernetic Pyrallis from the Egg Empire were gray colored but were never given names. I took two other concepts from Mr. Callois’ book and named them Tyche (Luck) and Moira (Destiny). I used the fictional language used at the park “Elds’ Character” and put the character names on each badge. At first I was simply going to have them have plain clear acrylic finishes, but then decided they would be more magical if they had hologram flakes instead.

I also created custom backs for the badges. The original badge had a safety pin, and clip over a plain white background. The new ones had the clip, and pin as well. I added the symbol of the fantastic Laperot Village, which Namco themed their park after. It was a detail that fans of the parks could appreciate. While I was working on the badges I got inspired to create badges for my wife, and I to celebrate the Pink Monorail podcast. But that would be a topic for a future blog. If you could have a badge from a real or fictional place what would you choose? Maybe a passkey for the Avengers Tower? Or a press pass for the Daily Bugle? Let me know about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Designing Wonder Eggs merch...

Hello friends, I hope that you are doing well. Work has been going well, and a few projects are chugging along over here. I was thinking the other day about the rare Oswald watch that I got my hands on. It gave me an idea for an illustration; I was wondering it might have looked like if Namco created prize watches for their Wonder Eggs theme park. As I was doing some research on the merchandise from the park I found out that one of their old shopping bag designs featured a pyrallis on the face of a pocket watch. So that was more than enough inspiration. Here were what I think the watch faces would have appeared. I used the classic Ingersoll “Mickey Mouse” movement for the arms.

The symbols on the outside edge of the watch were the actual numbers from “Elds’ Character” the fictional language used in the theme park. As an art study I actually recreated the fonts for myself a year or so ago. In this way if I ever wanted to do art on Laperot Village, or anything else Wonder Eggs related then it would be accurate. Since I was already drawing the pyrallis I came up with a design for a tee shirt for their seasonal Wonder Halloween Party at the actual park. The pumpkin character was a walk-around costume used in the park.

I had fun coming up with costume ideas for the different pyrallis characters. I just wish I had gotten a chance to visit the park when it was around. Thankfully I have a collection of items from the park that will always remind me of its greatness. Were there any theme parks or attractions you wish you had visited before they were torn down? Let me know about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

The rarest Japanese item in my Wonder Eggs collection...

Hello friends, I hope that you are well. It’s been a few months since my birthday, but I wanted to share something that I got at the end of 2025. As you may remember I was the co-host on the Pink Monorail Podcast. My wife Shelly was a theme park historian, and teacher. On the show we did a deep dive on the parks, technology, and the people that shaped the industry. Her favorite park was E.P.C.O.T. which was Walt Disney’s secret project before he passed away in 1966. It took all of his remaining team members in order to complete it in 1982. Shelly has a collection of rare E.P.C.O.T. items from Walt Disney World over her workspace. She used to have a much larger, and much rarer collection of animation, and theme park items from all around the world. Unfortunately they were stolen by a family member, and sold for drug money. The few things that remained she was very proud of.

By comparison I was a huge fan of Wonder Eggs which was the first video game theme park. I did a multi-part series on it, the links are below. I had a much smaller collection of Wonder Eggs items which I had been slowly acquiring over the past decade. I could literally put everything I collected in a shoebox. One of the things I got for my bday was an old issue of Namco’s magazine NOURS which covered the opening of Tamago Teikoku aka the Egg Empire. This was the sister park built next door to Wonder Eggs.

I can often find Nours magazines from 1998 and later, but issues from 1993-1995 rarely come up on the Japanese auction sites. I got the fifth issue which was from Autumn of 1994. It was filled with photos, and a complete write up of the Egg Empire. It also covered what changes happened with the Wonder Eggs attractions. I was fascinated with how much had changed in the few years since its opening. It was a time capsule of one of the most important eras in theme park history, and sadly not a lot of historians were even aware that it existed.

The most important thing that I was able to score for my birthday was an actual employee badge from Wonder Eggs. It belonged to a person whose name was "Suzuki." Up until that point the only items I had acquired were from visitors. Or could be purchased in the gift shop. Things like plush mascots, tickets, pins, flyers, and even the official park soundtrack on CD. Getting something that was from an employee was astounding. I had never seen one for sale previously, and even when searching through previous auctions none had never come up. I just so happened to be at the right place, at the right time when it appeared.

The name tag wasn’t cheap, however given its rarity it was worth the price to me. It looked great in my collection. There were very few items left on my wish list, but I don’t think I’ll get anything cooler. If you collect anything unique tell me in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

The horse jumped over the moon, the story of Namco, final part

Masaya Nakamura believed in the power of play. He founded his company in 1955, and made kiddie rides for Japanese department stores. In the ‘60s he made electromechanical games for a young company called SEGA. In the ‘70s he saw the future of play, and begged banks for a loan to start up a video game business. In the ‘80s Pac-Man, DigDug, Pole Position, Galaga, and many more arcade hits made him an industry icon. By the ‘90s Namco was a billion dollar company. Before the end of the century he wanted to build the first video game theme park. He ended up building two: Wonder Eggs, and the Egg Empire. They were a grand experiment in play. They also predicted the future of theme park attractions by years, if not decades. There was nothing in the world like Wonder Eggs, and there would never be another park like it. Namco taught the world that play was crucial to society. So what was the legacy of the parks? How were they remembered?

Shortly after closing the park Namco curated its own exhibit celebrating the legacy of Wonder Eggs. A number of park items, specifically those featuring the Pyrallis were on display at Namjatown. The exhibit ran for a number of years. The company was proud of what they had accomplished in the decade of the ‘90s. They had every right to be. The lineup of attractions, and shops at the end of Wonder Eggs 3 was far more impressive than how it started. 

Wonder Eggs 3: Final attraction lineup 

1. The Wedding Judge 

2. Future Colosseum 

3. Carnival Arcade 

4. Galaxian³ 

5. Zombie Coffin 

6. Phantomers 

7. Cyber Station 

8. Tower of Druaga 

9. Hotel Murder House 

10. Möbius Creek 

11. The Star Audition 

12. Laperopter 

13. Oracle of Pyrallis 

14. Pyrallis Carousel 

15. Virtual Vehicle 

16. Italian Tomato Sweets Sweetie (Dessert House)

17. Hatch Batch Pot (Fast Food) 

18. Greedy Moon (Hamburger Shop) 

19. Italian Tomato (Pasta Shop) 

20. Wonder Market (Souvenir Shop) 

21. Wonder Chapel (Memorial Shop) 

22. Wonder Caricature (Portrait Shop)

The sister park started off with a lot of promise, but fizzled out with its collection of off-the-shelf attractions. It was still an important lesson in theme park design, and operations. When both parks opened they had a combined 23 rides, and shops. When they closed they had over 30. 

Here was the Egg Empire: Final attraction lineup: 

23. Funhouse Express 

24. Drift King 

25. Q-Zar Arena / The Mummy 

26. Cyber Station II 

27. Fighter Camp 

28. Tomato Empire Kitchen 

29. Wonder Pitching 

30. Virtual Coaster - Max Flight VR2002 

31. SFX Movie Ride - Venturer: Featuring Space Race, Alien Encounter, The Snowman the Ride

Audiences never forgot the urban theme park. As they got older they shared stories with their kids about the magical Laperot village which used to be on the outskirts of Tokyo. On February 29, 2020 the former employees, and fans got together to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the closing of Wonder Eggs. The event opening team members Yoshitaka Sadakata, and Hisako Shimizu hosted the presentation. The special guest was Mamoru Ikezawa, the former head of Namco’s Theme Park Division. They brought memorabilia from the park. Signs, stamps, employee uniforms, standees, and the like. Other employees brought in the items they had managed to secure in the closing days of the park. It was a packed turnout with many fans in attendance, including one that showed up in a homemade Pyrallis costume.

Futakotamagawa Garden amusement park ran from 1956 to 1985, and then Wonder Eggs was built on a corner of the park from 1992 to 2000. When Namco decided to close down them down they sent a few attractions to other parks, zoos, and play centers. Sadly by 2024 any physical trace of either park was long gone. A shopping complex was built on the path that used to separate Wonder Eggs, and the Egg Empire. There was a high-rise apartment complex standing approximately where the Pyrallis Carousel once turned. I was kind of surprised that there was no memorial plaque or statue honoring what used to be there. When I started this series I wanted to talk about the designs featured in a few Namco games. Researching them lead me to discover the art of Shigeki Toyama. The more I read about Mr. Toyama the more I learned how forward-thinking his boss was.

Play was not only an essential need for individuals, it was also a critical element of society. That realization allowed Mr. Nakamura to grow, and defend his business. As the chairman of JAMMA, he helped get arcade manufacturers to standardize technology, giving them all a boost. The lawsuits he brought against piracy defended not just Namco, but his contemporaries as well. In 2002 Mr. Nakamura stepped down as CEO, and in 2005 his company merged with Bandai. He was given an honorary role as the President of the video game division. Mr. Nakamura forever changed the landscape of gaming at home, and in the arcade. His lesser known contribution was how he created the templates for interactive theme park attractions.

Masaya Nakamura earned many accolades in his illustrious career, and left a huge void after his passing. He succeeded in life because he believed in the power of play. As we got older many of us forgot how play shaped our lives, shaped our friendships, and shaped our identity. Mr. Nakamura never forgot. Play allowed his mechanical horse to jump over the moon, and take us all along for the ride. In his memory we should never stop playing. 

I hope you enjoyed this part of Namco’s history. Did you have a favorite entry in the series, or Wonder Eggs attraction you wanted to try? Please tell me about it in the comments section. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Wonder Eggs, and Egg Empire research collected from: Wonder Eggs Guide Map, Namco Graffiti magazine, the book “All About Namco II", NOURS magazine, The Namco Museum, Namco Wiki, Ge-Yume Area 51 Shigeki Toyama Collection, mcSister magazine, first person attraction details from Yoshiki. Event details from Hole in the Socks

The horse jumped over the moon, the story of Namco, part 24

Namco had an ambitious goal. To build an urban theme park in one of the busiest cities of the world. Wonder Eggs would be located in Futakotamagawa, Setagaya Ward Tokyo. It was originally meant to be a temporary park, but ran from February 1992 to December 2000. It had a strong theme, its own origin myth, and even its own language. It did so well that a sister park named the Egg Empire was built shortly after. Sadly the second gate lacked the creative spark that went into Wonder Eggs. A majority of the attractions featured at the Egg Empire were off-the-shelf rides which could be found at other amusement parks, and even shopping malls. The opening of Wonder Eggs 3 in 1999, featured the massive 56-seater 4D attraction “Fun House Express” starring Jimmy the Clown. This attraction was produced by Showscan Entertainment Inc. The company I talked about previously.

The Egg Empire was in dire need of more direction. It was struggling compared to Wonder Eggs. The Q-Zar Arena in particular, the laser tag center, seemed to be underperforming. I felt that this was the only attraction at the park where the financing people at Namco came crawling to the design team, and begged them to fix up the space. Those designers saw that the building had a huge area to work with. Plus elevators, tunnels, and ramps they could dress up. They would be able to create an entirely new experience relatively quickly. The Q-Zar Arena would be replaced with a Participatory Story Attraction, similar to the Hotel Ghost that I described earlier. The Mummy - Hamunaptra - The Lost Desert Capital was based on the 1999 Hollywood movie “The “Mummy”, the Japanese name of the film was “Hamunaptra.”

The attraction allowed eight people to play at once. The multiple-story interior of the Q-Zar arena was unrecognizable to visitors. It now looked like a series of caves, and ancient Egyptian temples. The guests would all hold onto a rope as to not get lost. They went from puzzle to puzzle looking for clues. It featured actors in costumes, animatronics, smoke, moving sets, and projection effects. It also featured original music from composer Yuka Watanabe. She not only wrote for different game studios, but also wrote original compositions for Sega’s Joypolis. If player figured out how to access the tomb of Hamunaptra then they could pick a magnetic “Karla Card” out of the pile of “treasures.” If they solved the puzzles, and answered the question correctly at the end then the employees would reward them with a prize. It very much had all the magic of the Participatory Story Attractions across the street.

When the Egg Empire was built it was treated as a separate park. It was very close in distance, but had its own gate. It also allowed customers to pay cash at certain attractions rather than use the Karla Card magnetic ticket system. Namco did not invest as much changing, and plussing attractions at the Egg Empire as they did at Wonder Eggs. In order to bring in new visits they started adding more off-the-shelf attractions to the park. Specifically motion rides. These were created by any number of companies, and often featured a live action, or CGI film projected at the front of a motion simulator. The SFX Movie Ride - “Venturer” was added to the park circa 1999. The description from Namco was; “Experience a simulated world of powerful SFX images on a large movie ride that seats 15 people! The highlight is the two-part SFX film Space Race and “Alien Encounter" produced by ILM led by George Lucas. Rush through the universe with powerful images!! ¥500 yen per person.” I could not find an Alien Encounter VR ride, but I did find an Alien Ride at the Speed of Fright attraction which might have been the same thing.

A seasonal The Snowman the Ride ran between November - December in 1999, and 2000. The “Virtual Coaster” was also added to the park. This simulator was a much different experience. The Max Flight VR2002 was according to Namco; “a two-person ride that takes 90 seconds to soar, drop, and turn sharply up, down, left, and right. The excitement of continuous 360° loops will hit you directly. You can select 9 courses and design more than 1 million courses. The presence of a "stop button" within the ride is proof of its intensity. ¥500 per person.

There was also an eight-seater motion ride developed by Hitachi. It was a shooting game called “Contraption!” Each rider was an active participant in a crazy game show. They were “shrunk down” to three-centimeters in size and had to race against the other players to reach the finish line first. Finishers would be returned back to normal size. The employees would say if you don’t make it to the finish line then you’ll remain three-centimeters tall. Ha-ha, very clever! Players could shoot at computer generated targets that popped up on the screen with the use of a trackball controller. From the descriptions I could find it was very difficult. You couldn’t spot your target as you were being bounced around the simulator.

The successes, and failures of different VR, and motion rides helped the theme park industry evolve. Showscan forever altered the course of attractions, and movie development. Max Flight was still in business, and Hitachi was still in manufacturing. The companies, and their patents would help shape attractions for Universal, Disney, and other park operators over the next 30 years. There was much more to the industry that creating a unique ride. I’ve met people from all over the world that could name a handful of memorable Disney attractions. I couldn’t find many blogs, or articles written about how great the Egg Empire rides were.

The final days of Wonder Eggs 3 were lackluster. The influx of the motion rides, and attractions like “Wonder Pitching” made the parks feel cheap. Namco managed to preserve some of their reputation. They began expanding their seasonal events. Creating unique shows, collectables, and “rally’s” for Easter, Halloween, and Christmas. To help with overall attendance they built The Bridge of Time and Space. Previously visitors would have to leave each park, cross the road, and buy a separate admission. They changed their policy, and a ticket to one park, allowed you to visit the other. To avoid the crosswalk visitors could take the "Era no Kakehashi" aka the Rainbow Bridge, and remain within the Namco property.

One of the last attractions added to the park was one of the most alarming. It even had more cautions than the other rides in the park; “People using pacemakers are not allowed to use the facility. People living in the city or who are otherwise in poor health are not allowed to use the facility. People under elementary school age must be accompanied by a junior high school student or older (fees apply).” Coffins of Zombie was a spooky two-person ride. The official write up said ““We're going on a "Catacomb Ghost Tour" to test your courage. Can you withstand the series of terrifying experiences that await you?” Riders had to hold onto “sweat sensors” with their hands in order to complete the attraction. Couples were asked to hold hands while riding. The sensors must have sent some sort of electrical current to determine if guests stayed connected. This ride was not for claustrophobic people. Passengers rode standing up in a vertical coffin, as it moved along a track. There were different scenes, and all manner of scary pop up monsters would leap at the guests. The goal was to not let go of each other’s hands until the end. For an extra touch of the macabre there were 13 coffins on the track at any one time.

Wonder Eggs certainly went out on a high note. The final year, and especially final few months in operation saw the park reach record attendance. It lasted twice as long as Namco had originally planned, and surpassed 6 million visitors in the process. Despite the stumbles along the way it was a certifiable hit. It would be remembered fondly by people the world over. We will look at that in the next blog. I hope to see you back for that. Were there any defunct parks that you visited? Please tell me about it in the comments section. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Wonder Eggs, and Egg Empire research collected from: Wonder Eggs Guide Map, Namco Graffiti magazine, the book “All About Namco II", NOURS magazine, The Namco Museum, Namco Wiki, Ge-Yume Area 51 Shigeki Toyama Collection, mcSister magazine, first person attraction details from Yoshiki. Event details from Hole in the Socks