Introduction

A little while ago, I encountered this Arcade games collection in a shopping mall. Since I like arcade games, and especially classics, my curiosity got the better of me, and I had to check it out. It turned out to be a console with 118 arcade games in it. Strangely, I had not heard of this one anywhere else. the price was quite cheap, just around 50$ (400 SEK). So I decided to buy it and give it a spin. Especially since it's got 118 games, at least one must be good, right?

118 Arcade Classics

A Closer look

At home when I unpacked it, I was quite curious. What games are on there? What sort of hardware is inside? Are they original arcade games, or is it some cheap spin off? Is it worth my 50 bucks? Let me start with the impressions. The first two things that I noticed was that it is blue, and looks like a gun. When plugging it in, I notice that it needs 4 AA bateries, and can directly be plugged into you scart-entrance in your TV. Also it has a companion, a little device, which has the same basic form as the main device, but is slightly smaller. This companion can be plugged into the main device, so you can play two players against each other. I find this a major plus.

What's inside the package

Giving it a spin

After putting 4 AA bateries in the device/console/machine, I start it up. A strange thing was told me by the man who sold it. It would work best on the cheap type of bateries (compared to reloadable bateries). Being a bit of a environmentalist, I thought that was rather a shame. However, even though the sales guy denied it, you can also plug in a power suply, and skip the bateries. The power suply however is not supplied. (no pun intended:)> Then I start it, by..... Well, switching the on/off button to on, and I wait... 0 seconds, as it starts up immediately. So far so good, then the menu, and indeed there are 118 games to choose from. I try a few games that I recognise, like Dig Dug, Donkey Kong, Pac Man, Galaxa, and even Mario. (allthough I didn't try Mario, as I am a c64 fan, and like Giana Sisters, and never got into the Mario Mood) Dig Dug plays nicely, as hoped. It looks and feels close to the arcade, but a not-to-sharp image on the TV, makes it hard to tell if the graphics are inferior to the Arcade or not. It looks in any case as 8 bit graphics to me, which is fine, since that was what I was looking for. Onto the next game, then, or so I thought. The menu started doing strange things, and it looked like the device crashed. Oh No!!! Only after 5 minutes playing, what a piece of rubbish I thought. However then I remembered that I really went for mixed batteries (4 different once), and changed them, to check if that was the problem. Miracle, miracle, it was indeed the problem. Problem solved now, we can continue investigating the games.

All the parts

The games

Well' it's got 118 games, and honestly, I have just tried 20 or so, since 118 games is quite alot. So far so good, the real oldies like Pac man, Dig Dug, Space Invaders and Galaga, do just what they promise. They look and play as expected. Nice actually to play them on TV again, instead of via MAME behind my computer. It's quite a difference! I think the problem comes right after that. There are about 10-20 games, which are classics. After that it is just a bunch of games that are 8 bit. Some really good, some really bad. I found some small pearls in between them too. For example, not really a classic in the original sense is "Raid on Bay". Or you might know it more as "Raid on bungeling bay" from the c64. This was really a very cool game, and now I can play it on TV! Highly unexpected. However the graphics are less then on a C64. There are some nice vertical scrolling shooters on this console as well. However, 1942 was a big dissapointment. PLEASE don't tell me those beeps are music. It's scaring away the neighbours. Also the sound and GFX were dissapointing. I suppose that's about the standard this machine has. It's capable of reproducing the old 8 bit classics perfectly, but anything more advanced, and it looks like a bad conversion. In general, gamewise, I'm quite satisfied, since now I can finally play Donkey Kong and Dig Dug on television, within an instant. Also I still have 100 games to investigate. And even though I am certain 50% of them will dissapoint me, there will maybe be some nice ones as well. So gamewise, expect 20 or so games you like to play, and 98 which you like to just give a spin for curiosity's sake.

118 Arcade Classics

The menu

Why am I now babbling on about the menu you might wonder. Well, if there is so many games to choose from, you might want to be able to easily fins and choose the games you like. The menu system is quite simple. You basically have screens holding about 20 games. You can scroll the arrow up or down with just one, or a whole screen. It is super simple8/26/2007 9:25PM, but does it's job well. It takes me no longer then 2 minutes to locate a game again. HOWEVER!!!! Who was the brainiac that thought up the idea of having 50 sprites fly over the menu all the time? I am not even sure what these sprites are, but they make reading the menu a challenge. After playing 20 games, I wanted to try more games, but I just could not stand having to look at this awfull rain-of-sprites again, and pearing inbetween the little nasty blobs, to read the text on the menu. BUT! This actually is not really an issue, it's just the combination of this , together with the mandatory music track, they decided to put in the menu, that makes it a bit ghastly. So the menu is usable, but after 20 games or so, you just want to avoid seeing it once more. (Maybe tomorrow again though ;o)

The Menu

The Graphics

The graphics are probably similar to an early 1980s graphics chip. They are superior to an Atari 2600, but a little less then a C64. The two main issues I have with it are, vertical scrolling games, have real problems on the top of the screen. and the video signal leaves shadows on the TV. However for older games, it's perfectly ok.

The Sound

The sound is probably also similar to a early 1980s sound chip. They are somewhat superior to an Atari 2600, but a little less then a C64. The main issue is that anything that tries to resemble music, fails. Sound effects are ok, and sometimes quite funny. But not the music.

The Hardware

The console has two plastic units, one for each player. Which is probably one of it's strong points, as other many-in-one consoles have usually 1 control only. (For example the DTV from commodore). The video signal can be PAL or NTSC. I have no idea if it runs ok on a US television, as I tested it in europe. There is a entrance for a external power supply or it needs 4 AA bateries. On cool thing, is that there is also a laser gun for shooting games. I suspect this is a light pen type feature. I have not got it to work yet though, But I haven't tried very hard either. The big mystery is however what is inside. What computer hides inside this console? I haven't found out yet, but if you know, please leave a comment here.

Battery panel

Conclusion

It's a nice little console. 118 games is quite a lot, it can take some time to play them all. Not all games are really classics, but there are a fair few of them (20 or so). The older classics play really nicely, but the "newer" games, which demand better graphics, fall back a bit. If you have 50$ burning in your pocket, and like to play the really old classics once more on your TV, you could go more wrong then this.

118 Arcade Classics