Ultimate Arcade Games

THE BAD:
- presentation in places could use a polish
- want MORE games
- some of the graphics are a little lame

SUMMARY:
Typical title to fall through the cracks, with so many games out at the moment...

You start off with enough coins to purchase a few games, and earn more just by playing (even if you die!). Before long you'll have all the games unlocked. MilkRun is a great platformer, and can stand on its own feet - and I love games like Treasure Hunter (its like a souped up Pitfall). Flipside has some cute ideas, Rubes is quite clever. Not a big fan of GridLock, but its easy enough to play through many levels. Chipbot is a cross between Pacman and Bomberman - the bosses are cool, and add a nice new element. Omega Force is a extended version of Scrambler (one of my favourite old school games :> - probably the best graphics in the game (desert background rocks). Nice bosses too.
(etc..)

Once you play though part of each game, challenges for that game become available at the shop. The challenges are pretty wicked. Some of them are easy, most are medium diff, some are very hard. But they are all short, and lots of fun to play. Its cool how it records the best score or time for each challenge, so you can keep playing it again just for fun. Winning a challenge gives you coins, and if you find an easy one its an easy way to make heaps of cash!

The best thing about the game, is that it records your stats for all the games, challenges and more. There is even an overall sum - its going to take a LONG time to get to 100% (complete all games and all challenges!).

No real bitching - some bits of the game LOOK unpolished, and could do with better graphics, more animation and so on.

I'll be taking this one on holidays for sure. Its great for both short and long gaming sessions, and the sort of game you could give to anyone for a quick go.

This is an absolute steal for $20, and would make for a great Xmas/thanksgiving pressie for kids.

THE BAD:
Some of the graphics are a bit average in places.

SUMMARY:
This game is a compilation of 12 "old school" style games, with lots of modern game-play elements added. There are a few puzzle games, a few shooters, a couple of platformers, a space trading game, and a handful of other games that defy classification. Each game also has 10 "challenges", the completion of which lets you unlock more games.

A lot of attention has been paid to gameplay - I found all of the games instantly addictive and easy to learn, but challenging to master. Even after about 40 hours of solid playing, I still hadn't completely finished more than a few of the games.

One of my favourite aspects of this game is the music: it must be pushing the limits of what the GBA can produce sound-wise. It suits the moods of the games perfectly, and every game has a whole range of tracks. It retains a retro feel for some games, but ranges into styles as diverse as heavy rock and pounding trance when the mood requires. The sound is also good for most of the game.

Graphics aren't quite as consistent, and range from excellent to average in places, but on the whole, the games are very pleasing to look at.

One high point of the game is the save feature: it keeps a heap of statistics and scores on the cart, so you can gradually progress through the game over time, while still retaining an instant pick-up-and-play appeal. Some of the more complex games even have a save feature within them.

There are too many games here to review each one individually, but some highlights for me are: Copter - a sidescroller with really simple, accessible game-play that gradually ramps up the difficulty, and Rube's Cubes - a really neat puzzle game with a retro flavour.

Overall, I think any weak points are made up for by the huge amount of content - even when you get sick of one game, there is always another one to progress with. And for around 20 dollars this is a bargain.