Williams Arcade Classics

"A somewhat entertaining game that should have come with the Game.com."

Alright, in order to do this review, I had to dig out my copy of Arcade Classics, blow the patina of dust off of its cobwebby facade, and pop it into my Game.com system. It really isn't as bad of a game as the average Game.com game (see Reviews for Game.com, Lights Out, It's Easy M'Kay). It is even nostalgic to players who had an Atari 2600, 5200, or 7800. The games here appeared previously on Atari cartridges and/or arcade machines (hence the Classic part of the title).

In this game, you begin in a menu that lets you choose between the five games. Included are Defender, Defender II, Robotron, Joust, and SiniStar. Personally, I'd rather play Robotron than any of the others, but they are all entertaining, to a simplistic degree. Because there are (were?) no other reviews at the time I wrote this, and because Game.com is not very popular or widespread, I doubt that many (if any, hey that rhymes!) people will read this, but for you, the dedicated reader, I'll give a brief chunk of information about each game.

Defender and Defender II: Defender and Defender II are two games in which you must pilot what appears to be a spaceship through moon-looking levels. Of course, I never played either of these games' original versions, so I am attempting to derive simple plots and game objectives from crappy, graphic-impaired editions. Anyway, it seems that you are supposed to save innocent bystanders from grisly (or as grisly as it gets on the Game.com) deaths. It is rather hard to beat, but if you were a fan of the first version, I'm sure that it is rewarding. By the way, the Defenders also seem to have the best graphics of the Arcade Classics games.

Robotron: Robotron is a game which consists of trying to progress through a series of levels, saving (once again) innocent bystanders from monsters. There are various monsters and obstacles that must be obliterated in order to meet the parameters of beating each level. The monsters all look the same, but the obstacles are composed mainly of Dark Squares and Evil Stars (heh, coined those named myself), and you have to destroy them, too. Repetitive, but overall, has a sliver of fundamental fun.

Joust: This game is an oldie from the Atari 2600. It is also primitive, yet nevertheless, entertaining. You must stay atop several platforms, jousting your foes off of these platforms, without allowing yourself to fall off. It is easy to manage, but the controls may feel foreign to those who have fond memories of Atari joysticks and Arcade controls. The major complaint that I have about this game is that it loses some of the fun through its transition, because it is only one player.

SiniStar: SiniStar and Asteroids are fairly alike. On this version of SiniStar, you control a starship and must shoot down flying meteors and asteroids. There isn't much else to do. Because gamers are forced to deal with Game.com's controls, this game can also be horrendously hard to beat. In fact, I have not beaten the first stage. The best thing about this game is that the background, which is made up of stars strewn everyplace, actually moves constantly. This is not a big feat, but on the Game.com, even a small achievement like this is major.

In general, these games don't seem like they deserve a measly score of 5. But, the graphics are a step down from their former ancient glory, and much of the fun is not as intense as many remember it to be. Still, this game makes a positive addition to any Game.com owner's game archive, considering that many games for this system are worse (ahem, Lights Out, cough, cough).

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 01/28/01, Updated 01/28/01