Taito Z System¶
Taito's sprite-scaling pseudo-3D hardware (1987) — Taito's answer to Sega's super scaler: dual 68000 + scaled sprites for racing and rail-shooter games. Chase H.Q., Continental Circus, Night Striker, Ninja Warriors… Some games have the C-Chip.
Identification¶
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Taito |
| Year | 1987 |
| Type | sprite-scaling pseudo-3D (super-scaler) |
| Protection | C-Chip on some games |
| Cabinets | often cockpit / motion |
Architecture¶
| Block | Chip | Role |
|---|---|---|
| CPU ×2 | Motorola 68000 | game + objects/road |
| Sound CPU | Zilog Z80 | drives the sound |
| Sound | Yamaha YM2610 | FM + ADPCM |
| Video | Taito customs (TC0100SCN + sprite zoom) | pseudo-3D road + scaled sprites |
| I/O | TC0220IOC | inputs, wheel/pedals |
The dual 68000 and sprite zoom give Chase H.Q.'s sense of speed (the "super
scaler" style à la Sega OutRun). Emulated in MAME (taito/taito_z.cpp).
The C-Chip (protection)¶
Chase H.Q., S.C.I., Continental Circus and others use the C-Chip → dumps and conversion: → Taito Z / H / X converts (C-Chip).
EPROM repair: 68000 program in 27C010 → game-by-game EPROM table (Z/H/X).
Notable games¶
Chase H.Q. (1988), Continental Circus, Aquajack, Ninja Warriors, Battle Shark, Special Criminal Investigation (S.C.I.), Night Striker, Dead Angle, Spacegun…
Common faults¶
| Symptom | Likely cause | Lead |
|---|---|---|
| Crashes at boot | C-Chip (protected games) | Check the C-Chip; see converts |
| Sprites no longer zoom | zoom customs / sprite RAM | Video diagnosis |
| No/partial sound | YM2610 / Z80 | Sound-stage diagnosis |
| Wheel/pedals dead | TC0220IOC / harness | I/O diagnosis |
| Cabinet motion dead | motion board / actuators | Mechanical diagnosis |
Modernisation & mods¶
The common ground for every JAMMA board
Video, power, control panel and upscalers depend on the cabinet rather than the board: everything is centralised in Modernising a cabinet. To run the board outside a cabinet (at home, on a display): supergun.
- Battery 🟢: a save battery is fitted (settings/counters/RTC). A leaking battery corrodes traces — check and replace it before it leaks → save batteries.
- Storage 🟡: the game lives in EPROM/mask ROM on the board. Changing or restoring a game means reprogramming the EPROMs (and, for a mask ROM, using a pinout adapter) → EPROM method.
- Media preservation: replacing the original storage, multicarts, ODEs and modern options by family → PCB preservation hub.
- Scan rate 📺: ~15.73 kHz / 60.1 Hz — standard resolution, a classic 15 kHz chassis is fine — the most common JAMMA case → tri-sync and upscalers.
(Computed from the MAME sources —
taito/taito_z.cpp— pixel clock ÷ htotal.) - FPGA / emulation: see the Emulation & FPGA section below.
Repair (technician)¶
- C-Chip on some games: an MCU + a per-game EPROM (donor / dump), not a battery.
- Dual 68000 (game + objects/road) + Z80/YM2610: a freeze = one of the 68000s / its RAM → separate diagnosis; the speed effect = sprite zoom (TC0100SCN customs).
- Sound: Z80 + YM2610 — diagnose the sound stage.
- Capacitors: recap sound + filtering. EPROM sockets: turned-pin socket.
→ Methods: PCB fault-finding · Recap · EPROM · Traces & vias
Expected clocks — measurement table ✅¶
Values extracted from the MAME sources for this platform. On a scope or frequency counter, a clock that is missing or off-value points straight at the crystal, the divider or the chip at fault — the fastest starting point on a dead board.
| Component | Expected clock | Role |
|---|---|---|
| M68000 | 12 MHz | main CPU |
| YM2610 | 8 MHz | FM+ADPCM (sound) |
How to read this table
Several values for one component = several board variants in this family (or several instances of the chip clocked differently). These frequencies are those of the clock signal at the component's input, not of its original crystal — on many boards the clock is divided down from a single master crystal.
Archived original schematics ✅¶
Manufacturer schematics for games in this family, archived locally (so they do not depend on a third-party site staying up). They give the board's real functional breakdown: clock tree, address decoding, video stage, sound stage, power supply — exactly what you need to trace a missing signal back to its source.
- Chase H.Q. — full schematic (PDF)
-
Double Axle — full schematic (PDF)
-
Night Striker — full schematic (PDF)
- Operation Thunderbolt — full schematic (PDF)
Scope and limits
A schematic applies to the game and revision named. Within one family the general breakdown (buses, decoding, sound/video stages) carries over from board to board, but component references and custom chip pinouts do not transpose between titles. Use it as a map of the logic, not as a cross-reference table.
Source: the Arcade Game Manuals collection on the Internet Archive. Manufacturer documents with no explicit licence, kept here for preservation (machines out of service for over 25 years).
Original manuals for games on this platform ✅¶
Manufacturer manuals for games running on this board. Beyond the instructions, they very often carry the full DIP settings, the connector pinout, the test procedure, the parts list and the expected voltages.
Chase H.Q. — two distributors, two documents
All of them carried the same label here. Opened and identified from their title page on 13 August 2026.
| Doc | What the cover carries | Pages |
|---|---|---|
| Taito America | Taito — Chase H.Q. — Operating Manual, Taito America Corporation, Wheeling, Illinois. Cover: upright** cabinet | 16 |
| Electrocoin | Taito — Chase H.Q. UP RIGHT — Service Instructions and Parts Catalogue — the Electrocoin** edition, the European distributor | 27 |
- Special Criminal Investigation — original manual (PDF)
→ Full catalogue: service manuals, wiring & game manuals
DIP settings ✅¶
14 games on this platform, settings extracted from the MAME sources (INPUT_PORTS_START blocks). The Position column gives the switch's physical reference on the board (SW2:!3,!4 = bank SW2, levers 3 and 4) — which is what lets you set it up without the paper manual. Games are sorted by MAME set name.
DIP settings — MAME set aquajack
| Setting | Position | Options (default in bold) |
|---|---|---|
| Cabinet | SW A:1 | Cockpit · Upright |
| Demo Sounds | SW A:4 | Off · On |
| Coin A | SW A:6,5 | 4C 1C · 3C 1C · 2C 1C · 1C 1C |
| Coin B | SW A:8,7 | 1C 2C · 1C 3C · 1C 4C · 1C 6C |
| Difficulty | SW B:2,1 | Easy · Normal · Hard · Hardest |
| Bonus Life | SW B:4,3 | 30k · 50k · 80k · 100k |
| Lives | SW B:6,5 | 1 · 2 · 3 · 5 |
DIP settings — MAME set aquajckj
| Setting | Position | Options (default in bold) |
|---|---|---|
| Coin A | SW A:6,5 | 2C 1C · 1C 1C · 2C 3C · 1C 2C |
| Coin B | SW A:8,7 | 2C 1C · 1C 1C · 2C 3C · 1C 2C |
DIP settings — MAME set bshark
| Setting | Position | Options (default in bold) |
|---|---|---|
| Mirror screen | SW A:1 | Off · On |
| Demo Sounds | SW A:4 | Off · On |
| Speed of Sight | SW B:3,4 | Slow · Medium · Fast · Fastest |
DIP settings — MAME set bsharkjjs
| Setting | Position | Options (default in bold) |
|---|---|---|
| Mirror screen | SW A:1 | Off · On |
| Demo Sounds | SW A:4 | Off · On |
| Speed of Sight | SW B:3,4 | Slow · Medium · Fast · Fastest |
DIP settings — MAME set chasehq
| Setting | Position | Options (default in bold) |
|---|---|---|
| Cabinet | SW A:1,2 | Upright / Steering Lock · Upright / No Steering Lock · Full Throttle Convert, Cockpit · Full Throttle Convert, Deluxe |
| Demo Sounds | SW A:4 | Off · On |
| Timer Setting | SW B:3,4 | 70 Seconds · 65 Seconds · 60 Seconds · 55 Seconds |
| Turbos Stocked | SW B:5 | 3 · 5 |
| Continue Price | SW B:6 | Same as Start · Discount |
| Clear Damage on Continue | SW B:7 | Off · On |
| Allow Continue | SW B:8 | Off · On |
DIP settings — MAME set contcirc
| Setting | Position | Options (default in bold) |
|---|---|---|
| Cabinet | SW A:1 | Cockpit · Upright |
| Continue Price | SW A:2 | Same as Start · Discount |
| Demo Sounds | SW A:4 | Off · On |
| Difficulty 1 (time/speed) | SW B:1,2 | Easy · Normal · Hard · Hardest |
| Difficulty 2 (other cars) | SW B:3,4 | Easy · Normal · Hard · Hardest |
| Steering Wheel | SW B:5 | Free · Locked |
| 3D Effect | SW B:6 | Off · On |
DIP settings — MAME set dblaxle
| Setting | Position | Options (default in bold) |
|---|---|---|
| Gear shift | SW A:2 | Normal · Inverted |
| Demo Sounds | SW A:4 | Off · On |
| Network? | SW B:3 | Off · On |
| Player Truck | SW B:4 | Red · Blue |
| Back button | SW B:5 | Normal · Inverted |
DIP settings — MAME set dblaxles
| Setting | Position | Options (default in bold) |
|---|---|---|
| Handle Pulse | SW A:1 | Normal · Fast |
| Back Gear | SW B:3 | Normal · No Back Gear |
| Vibration Mode | SW B:4 | Partial Vibration · All The Time Vibration |
| Steering Wheel Vibration | SW B:5 | Off · On |
| Select Round | SW B:6 | Off · On |
| Allow Continue | SW B:7 | Off · On |
| Buy-In | SW B:8 | Off · On |
DIP settings — MAME set enforce
| Setting | Position | Options (default in bold) |
|---|---|---|
| Demo Sounds | SW A:4 | Off · On |
| Background scenery | SW B:5 | Crazy scrolling · Normal |
DIP settings — MAME set enforceja
| Setting | Position | Options (default in bold) |
|---|---|---|
| 3D Effects | SW B:5,6 | Off · On · In Game Only · In Game Only (duplicate) |
DIP settings — MAME set nightstr
| Setting | Position | Options (default in bold) |
|---|---|---|
| Cabinet | SW A:1 | Cockpit · Upright |
| Demo Sounds | SW A:4 | Off · On |
| Bonus Shields | SW B:3,4 | 3 · 2 · 1 · None |
| Shields | SW B:5,6 | 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 |
| Allow Continue | SW B:7 | Off · On |
| Trigger Turbo | SW B:8 | 7 Shots / Second · 10 Shots / Second |
DIP settings — MAME set racingb
| Setting | Position | Options (default in bold) |
|---|---|---|
| Cabinet | SW A:1 | Type 0 · Type 1 |
| Demo Sounds | SW A:4 | Off · On |
| Steering Wheel Range | SW B:3 | Normal · High |
| Steering Wheel Type | SW B:4 | Free · Locked |
| Network | SW B:5 | Off · On |
| Player Car | SW B:6,7 | Red · Blue · Green · Yellow |
DIP settings — MAME set sci
| Setting | Position | Options (default in bold) |
|---|---|---|
| Cabinet | SW A:1 | Cockpit · Upright |
| Demo Sounds | SW A:4 | Off · On |
| Timer Setting | SW B:3,4 | 70 Seconds · 65 Seconds · 60 Seconds · 55 Seconds |
| Turbos Stocked | SW B:5 | 3 · 5 |
| Steering Radius | SW B:6 | 270 Degree · 360 Degree |
| Clear Damage on Continue | SW B:7 | Off · On |
| Siren Volume | SW B:8 | Normal · Low |
DIP settings — MAME set spacegun
| Setting | Position | Options (default in bold) |
|---|---|---|
| Always have gunsight power up | SW A:2 | Off · On |
| Demo Sounds | SW A:4 | Off · On |
| Allow Continue | SW B:7 | Off · On |
| Disable Pedal (?) | SW B:8 | Off · On |
Check against your own board
These settings apply to the game and revision described by MAME. One title may have several DIP sets depending on region or revision, and some systems use soft-dips (settings in memory, via the test menu) rather than physical switches. In case of a discrepancy, the board's silkscreen and the test menu are authoritative.
See also: DIP reference · game manuals
Procedure — a dead board, step by step ✅¶
What this adds
The general method lives in PCB diagnosis. This is its application to this platform: the same order, but with the values actually expected here, so you do not have to go back and forth.
Tools: multimeter, oscilloscope (or frequency counter), current-limited bench supply, desoldering braid. → Tooling
If the board is still in a cabinet
A CRT holds its charge with the machine unplugged. → CRT safety
1. Inspection, power off. Corrosion, cut tracks, oxidised EPROM legs, leaking SMD capacitors, dubious earlier repairs.
2. The connector, before anything else. A large share of "dead boards" are a contact problem, not a fault. Clean the contacts with isopropyl alcohol and reseat — not with an abrasive eraser on a gold edge, which takes the plating off and brings the problem back worse. It costs two minutes and settles the question.
3. Power, measured on the board. Aim for +5.0 V measured as close as possible to where power reaches the board — not at the PSU output: the drop is in the loom, and that is exactly what makes a board boot on the bench and not in the cabinet. Where you probe depends on this board's connector — JAMMA edge, JVS loom or a proprietary harness — plenty of makers kept one long after JAMMA arrived — see Identification above. → Wiring Check −5 V and +12 V too if the sound stage uses them. Suspected short: bring it up current-limited and find the hot spot.
4. /RESET. It must release after power-up. Held low = the CPU never starts. A 1–2 Hz loop is not the reset circuit, it is the watchdog: the CPU is crashing at boot, so look at the bus, not at the reset.
5. Clocks — the values expected on this platform.
- M68000 → 12 MHz (Main CPU)
- YM2610 → 8 MHz (FM+ADPCM (sound))
No clock on the M68000 (12 MHz) and there is no point measuring anything else: the fault is the crystal, the divider, or the chip itself. That single measurement splits a dead board in two.
6. Bus. Activity on the main CPU's address lines tells you whether it is running or frozen. Frozen with good clocks and good reset → work RAM, bus buffers, ROMs.
7. It boots but the picture or the sound is wrong — that is another job: see Common faults on this page, then signal tracing.
Emulation & FPGA¶
- Emulation: MAME (
taito/taito_z.cpp) — C-Chip emulated. - FPGA / MiSTer: no confirmed dedicated core → MAME.
Lineage¶
Contemporary with the B/F2 (same YM2610 sound). A super-scaler family close to the Sega Super Scaler / X-Board. The H System (Recordbreaker, Syvalion) and X System (Superman, Gigandes) are detailed on the converts side.
Photos / assets¶
(To add: Z System board, dual 68000, C-Chip, TC0220IOC.)
Sources & attribution¶
- MAME —
taito/taito_z.cpp(2× 68000, Z80, YM2610, sprite zoom, C-Chip, games) — https://github.com/mamedev/mame - Internal page: Taito Z / H / X converts
- Wikipedia — Taito Z System — CC-BY-SA — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taito_Z_System
Review & corrections
How this space is used
Spotted a wrong value, an outdated procedure, a chip reference that does not match your board? Say so here, with what you observed (model, board revision, serial number, measurement). Every report is cross-checked against a source before anything changes — an unverifiable correction is published as “reported by …, not cross-checked” rather than silently applied.
Reading is open to everyone; posting requires signing in with Discord. Reports from the wiki's declared reviewers are handled first; anyone else's are read too, but go through a human before anything is changed.