Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
- Lupin III (Arcade Game) - Two-Bag Mode Longplay -
Lupin III is a 1980 arcade action game developed and published by Taito, based on Monkey Punch’s famous master thief. Released during the formative years of the medium, it turns Lupin’s criminal career into a fixed-screen maze game in which money must be stolen while Inspector Zenigata, guards and guard dogs relentlessly patrol the area.
The basic objective is to retrieve bags of money from the top of the maze and deliver them to the vault at the bottom. Lupin can carry up to two at once, but taking a second bag slows him down, making an already dangerous trip considerably more difficult. Once the required number of bags has been delivered, the round is cleared and the game continues on the same layout at a higher difficulty.
Movement and route planning are everything. Lupin has no offensive attack with which to remove his pursuers, so survival depends on predicting their movements and avoiding situations where escape routes become blocked. The maze itself is simple, but enemies approaching from several directions can quickly turn apparently safe corridors into traps.
There is one emergency option. Pressing the Magic button teleports Lupin to one of several positions around the maze, consuming part of his limited Magic Energy. Unfortunately, the destination is random, so what looks like an escape can leave him in an equally bad or even worse position. It is useful when completely cornered, but far from a guaranteed way out.
The arcade machine included a DIP-switch setting allowing operators to require either eight bags or only two to complete a round. Eight is the default, and that version is notoriously punishing. With the awkward navigation, aggressive pursuit and limited, unpredictable Magic system, even clearing the first loop with all eight bags can be an enormous challenge.
For this recording I therefore played the legitimate two-bag configuration. Calling it the easy version would be misleading, because reducing the requirement does not make the enemies any less dangerous or the movement any more forgiving. Even getting two bags safely to the vault and completing a round can be genuinely difficult, particularly when the pursuers converge at exactly the wrong moment.
After a successful robbery, Lupin meets Fujiko Mine in a short intermission before being sent out to steal again. The maze does not change, but subsequent rounds increase the number and speed of the enemies until the difficulty eventually reaches its maximum. There is no conventional ending, so the game ultimately becomes an endurance and high-score challenge.
Visually, Lupin III is unmistakably a product of 1980. The tiny characters bear only a loose resemblance to their animated counterparts, and Lupin himself looks more like a traditional caped gentleman thief than the familiar character. Still, the money-stealing premise, Zenigata’s pursuit, Fujiko intermissions and licensed theme give it considerably more personality than the primitive graphics might suggest.
It is a simple and extremely repetitive game, but its severity makes successfully completing even one round feel meaningful. The two-bag setting makes the challenge somewhat more reasonable without making it trivial, while the default eight-bag configuration borders on sadistic. As one of the earliest arcade adaptations of a major entertainment property, Lupin III is historically fascinating, but it is the surprisingly vicious game of cat and mouse underneath the licence that makes it memorable.
#retrogamingloft #lupiniii #arcadegames
- Lupin III (Arcade Game) - Two-Bag Mode Longplay -
Lupin III is a 1980 arcade action game developed and published by Taito, based on Monkey Punch’s famous master thief. Released during the formative years of the medium, it turns Lupin’s criminal career into a fixed-screen maze game in which money must be stolen while Inspector Zenigata, guards and guard dogs relentlessly patrol the area.
The basic objective is to retrieve bags of money from the top of the maze and deliver them to the vault at the bottom. Lupin can carry up to two at once, but taking a second bag slows him down, making an already dangerous trip considerably more difficult. Once the required number of bags has been delivered, the round is cleared and the game continues on the same layout at a higher difficulty.
Movement and route planning are everything. Lupin has no offensive attack with which to remove his pursuers, so survival depends on predicting their movements and avoiding situations where escape routes become blocked. The maze itself is simple, but enemies approaching from several directions can quickly turn apparently safe corridors into traps.
There is one emergency option. Pressing the Magic button teleports Lupin to one of several positions around the maze, consuming part of his limited Magic Energy. Unfortunately, the destination is random, so what looks like an escape can leave him in an equally bad or even worse position. It is useful when completely cornered, but far from a guaranteed way out.
The arcade machine included a DIP-switch setting allowing operators to require either eight bags or only two to complete a round. Eight is the default, and that version is notoriously punishing. With the awkward navigation, aggressive pursuit and limited, unpredictable Magic system, even clearing the first loop with all eight bags can be an enormous challenge.
For this recording I therefore played the legitimate two-bag configuration. Calling it the easy version would be misleading, because reducing the requirement does not make the enemies any less dangerous or the movement any more forgiving. Even getting two bags safely to the vault and completing a round can be genuinely difficult, particularly when the pursuers converge at exactly the wrong moment.
After a successful robbery, Lupin meets Fujiko Mine in a short intermission before being sent out to steal again. The maze does not change, but subsequent rounds increase the number and speed of the enemies until the difficulty eventually reaches its maximum. There is no conventional ending, so the game ultimately becomes an endurance and high-score challenge.
Visually, Lupin III is unmistakably a product of 1980. The tiny characters bear only a loose resemblance to their animated counterparts, and Lupin himself looks more like a traditional caped gentleman thief than the familiar character. Still, the money-stealing premise, Zenigata’s pursuit, Fujiko intermissions and licensed theme give it considerably more personality than the primitive graphics might suggest.
It is a simple and extremely repetitive game, but its severity makes successfully completing even one round feel meaningful. The two-bag setting makes the challenge somewhat more reasonable without making it trivial, while the default eight-bag configuration borders on sadistic. As one of the earliest arcade adaptations of a major entertainment property, Lupin III is historically fascinating, but it is the surprisingly vicious game of cat and mouse underneath the licence that makes it memorable.
#retrogamingloft #lupiniii #arcadegames
