Konami Classics Series: Arcade Hits
Score: 87% ESRB: Everyone 10+ Publisher: Konami Developer: Konami Media: Cartridge/1 Players: 1 - 2 Single/Multiple Card Genre: Classic/Retro/ Action
Graphics & Sound: One of the benefits of being a larger than average child growing up is that it meant I could reach the arcade controls sooner. Konami Classics Series: Arcade Hits offers many titles I have chucked my quarters into more than once. And, a few I spent way too much money playing. Looking back now, I could have probably bought the arcade itself with all of the quarters I pumped in. Graphics are the best part. All of the games are in glorious 256 color 8 bit. The way that real games were meant to played, 20+ years ago, that is. The music is here in its original midi monotonous glory. Don't get me wrong, it is exactly the way it is supposed to be. You can even listen to each of the tracks individually in the Juke Box section of the Menu.
Gameplay: Konami Classics Series: Arcade Hits gives you 15 paths to take down memory lane. After you load the game, you simply choose your game and then drop a quarter in. Yeah, that's right, I said drop a quarter in. You hit select to drop a quarter into the slot and play or continue a game. Choose from the following titles: Scramble- A side-scroller where you shoot objects as they approach while you take out ground targets with bombs. Horror Maze- Explore this top-down pyramid maze while taking out enemies with your laser. That's right I said laser; every good archaeologist who leaves his whip at home needs a laser. Pooyan- Somehow you find yourself in a giant crane, moving up and down, while shooting balloon-propelled wolves out of the sky by popping their balloons. Time Pilot- Shoot enormously out-gunned enemies as you fly around this top-down scroller. Roc'n Rope- Use grappling lines to ascend to the bird of fortune. Stun your enemies with flash bombs or use your hook. Track & Field- Button-mashing at its finest. Use alternating button strikes to run and jump your way through events like long jump, 100yrd dash, and triple jump. This has to be historically the first game I ever used a cheat on. You would position a popsicle stick between you fingers so that as you struck a button, the stick would bounce back and strike the other for you quickly. Circus Charlie- Use precision jumping in several levels of side-scrolling excitement. Basketball- It's basketball, what do you want me to tell you? Road Fighter- Shift gears as you weave your way in and out of slower traffic. Yie Ar Kung-Fu- A one-on-one fighting game. Rainbow Bell- In this top-down, forward-facing scroller, you shoot the oncoming enemies while bombing ground targets. Shao-Lin's Road- Take out enemies as you jump between floors and dodge attacks. Reach your quota of defeated attackers and advance in difficulty. Gradius- The epitome of 80's side-scrolling at its greatest. Rush'n Attack- You rush in, and then you attack. Don't get hit. Remember it was the 80's, I am sure they wouldn't have been so non-PC. Contra- And finally here we are. Not only a side-scroller, but a vertical scroller, and a forward-facing isometric shooter. A veritable plethora of scrolling action, and multiple weapons to collect and use. Defeat an invading alien menace, and win the day.
Difficulty: Konami Classics Series: Arcade Hits has options in the Menu to be able to individually adjust the difficulty for each game. Now why would you want to go and do a thing like that? This game is about the nostalgia of the games you are playing. That should mean that you should have to experience it in its quarter-swallowing glory. The idea of games wasn't because they were fun and entertaining for hours on end. These games were designed to give you just enough to get you hooked, and then make you choke up a few more quarters to play before the continue timer went out. Just for the realism, you should enjoy the frustration of simple controls and cheating microchips. I mean every knows that A.I. of the time was capable of such complex ideas of cheating. Well, maybe not really, but it was still in the best interest of the game to be just hard enough to cost another quarter.
Game Mechanics: Konami Classics Series: Arcade Hits has an extremely easy to use menu system. From the Menu you can change game settings, listen to the Juke Box, view the credits or exchange game replays. The games of the time had a small box of text showing the controls of the game. Most of the time, these instructions were vague at best for a reason. As a piece of history, you can view the original instructions that were on the face of each game on the lower screen. I would have liked to have been given the option to actually see the current button assignment for each game. I appreciated the trip down memory lane. I had some great memories of many of these games and the time I spent playing them. There were many quarters sacrificed to the digital gods. A good game to pick up on DS to pass the time, like 20 years or so.
-WUMPUSJAGGER, GameVortex Communications AKA Bryon Lloyd
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