Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Some games get remembered for what they started more than for what they were, and this one is the definition of that for me. Forgotten Worlds hit arcades in 1988 as the very first title Capcom ever released on their CP System board, the CPS-1. That same board went on to run Street Fighter II, Final Fight, Strider and Ghouls 'n Ghosts. All of it traces back to this shooter being the one that made it out the door first.
In Japan it was called Lost World. Two nameless super soldiers with jetpacks tear through a wrecked 29th century Earth to kill an evil god named Bios and the eight gods serving him. The cabinet control was the real story though. Instead of a normal fire button you got a rotary switch you physically spun to aim in sixteen directions while you flew, and hammering it twice set off a screen clearing Mega Crush that ate a chunk of your own health bar to do it.
Enemies drop currency called Zenny, and shops burst straight out of the ground mid stage so you can buy heavier guns and armor from a shopkeeper named Sylphie. Little detail most people miss: the American version starts you with no satellite at all while every other region hands you one, so the US cut is harder from the first second. That high score sitting at the top of the screen was added for the international release too. Japan never had it.
Here is the part that always gets me. Capcom put two years and around five million dollars into this, and it still did not bring in the money they wanted, because the arcades were drowning in shooters and CPS-1 chips were in short supply. The board it launched went on to define an entire decade anyway.
Did you ever run into one of these in an arcade, or is this your first time seeing it? Subscribe to Game Forest GF for retro gaming content every single day.
#forgottenworlds #lostworld #capcom #cps1 #capcomarcade #arcadegames #retroarcade #shootemup #shmup #arcadecabinet #coinop #80sarcade #arcadegaming #retrogaming #gameforestgf #youtubeshorts #gaming
Some games get remembered for what they started more than for what they were, and this one is the definition of that for me. Forgotten Worlds hit arcades in 1988 as the very first title Capcom ever released on their CP System board, the CPS-1. That same board went on to run Street Fighter II, Final Fight, Strider and Ghouls 'n Ghosts. All of it traces back to this shooter being the one that made it out the door first.
In Japan it was called Lost World. Two nameless super soldiers with jetpacks tear through a wrecked 29th century Earth to kill an evil god named Bios and the eight gods serving him. The cabinet control was the real story though. Instead of a normal fire button you got a rotary switch you physically spun to aim in sixteen directions while you flew, and hammering it twice set off a screen clearing Mega Crush that ate a chunk of your own health bar to do it.
Enemies drop currency called Zenny, and shops burst straight out of the ground mid stage so you can buy heavier guns and armor from a shopkeeper named Sylphie. Little detail most people miss: the American version starts you with no satellite at all while every other region hands you one, so the US cut is harder from the first second. That high score sitting at the top of the screen was added for the international release too. Japan never had it.
Here is the part that always gets me. Capcom put two years and around five million dollars into this, and it still did not bring in the money they wanted, because the arcades were drowning in shooters and CPS-1 chips were in short supply. The board it launched went on to define an entire decade anyway.
Did you ever run into one of these in an arcade, or is this your first time seeing it? Subscribe to Game Forest GF for retro gaming content every single day.
#forgottenworlds #lostworld #capcom #cps1 #capcomarcade #arcadegames #retroarcade #shootemup #shmup #arcadecabinet #coinop #80sarcade #arcadegaming #retrogaming #gameforestgf #youtubeshorts #gaming
