Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits

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a game by Midway, and Digital Eclipse Software
Genres: Action, Arcade Classics
Platforms: Sega GenesisGenesis, SNESSNES, Playstation
Editor Rating: 8/10, based on 3 reviews, 4 reviews are shown
User Rating: 8.0/10 - 5 votes
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See also: Arcade Games
Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits
Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits
Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits
Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits

If you haven't already noticed, Arcade's Greatest Hits from Midway is a compendium of seven old games found in the arcades back in the '80s and late '70s (if I remember correctly). These titles include Spy Hunter, MoonPatrol, Splat and BurgerTime, all of which seem to be directly ported from the arcades, which is both a good and a bad thing.

The pros of a direct, don't-change-anything port for classics is quite obvious. You know what you're getting, and you're getting something that probably can't be found anywhere. However, the cons are also there as well. For instance, these games still ask for a coin deposit, so instead of just jumping into Spy Hunter, I had to go through the help file looking for what button tells the computer to give me a credit. Once that's done, I get my credit, but then I receive a notice stating that if I want to start, I need to press one of the floor pedals. So then I had to dig through the help files to find out what I had to do for that. As you can see, this could get very tedious. To top it off, the controls aren't even customizable, so that means you're stuck with whatever they give you, like it or not (and what they give you is sometimes downright stupid).

Then there is the trivia mode. This mode asks questions about games that were popular around the same time as these arcade classics, in a QuickTime format. Good idea, but only mediocre execution. The trivia mode has no randomization of the questions, so that means each time you play it, you get the same questions in the same order. However, if you do manage to get through the questions you do get some interesting info about the games, such as other names for it and things that didn't make the final release of the game. Judging from the overall quality of this mode, it feels like it was tacked on at the end of the production cycle.

Pitfalls aside, this game is some great fun. I get a kick out of playing these and realizing how fun games used to be before SVGA, force feedback and the Internet. If you're looking for something that the whole family would enjoy, this is definitely a buy. It can refresh older gamers' memories as to what games were like when they were young, and give the slacker kids that jeer at anything less than 3Dfx and 32 player TCP/IP compatibility a dose of what gaming was like a decade ago.

Download Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits

Genesis

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
  • Game modes: Single game mode

Player controls:

  • Up, Down, Left, Right - Arrow keys
  • Start - Enter (Pause, Menu select, Skip intro, Inventory)
  • "A" Gamepad button - Ctrl (usually Jump or Change weapon)
  • "B" button - Space (Jump, Fire, Menu select)
  • "C" button - Left Shift (Item select)

Use the F12 key to toggle mouse capture / release when using the mouse as a controller.

SNES

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
  • Pentium II (or equivalent) 266MHz (500MHz recommended), RAM: 64MB (128MB recommended), DirectX v8.0a or later must be installed
Playstation

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP

Game Reviews

Where can someone go to not only wheel around in a futuristic tank but also defend a city from alien invaders-not to mention destroy a giant Centipede? The answer is simple: Williams' Arcade's Greatest Hits Atari Collection I. But those are not the only things gamers can do in the title.

All of the games in this collection are classic arcade games compiled onto one CD for the PlayStation.

This volume of AGHACI includes the following titles: Asteroids, Super Breakout, Tempest, Battlezone, Centipede and Missile Command.

The first volume of AGHACI included some classic titles including Joust. Robotron and others.

This time around the interface is changed, among other things. The first volume featured "virtual dip switches" which allowed gamers to change options in the game (like difficulty, number of lives, etc.). AGHACI allows gamers to change these same options-along with a few new ones-in a standard options menu environment.

On top of this, the game features a full-fledged, rendered intro sequence (which is quite impressive) and a huge amount of background info on each of the games. The first one had interviews and some info, but not as much as the second installment.

For instance, gamers can see some of the old-school Halloween costumes based on these arcade classics along with some of the print ads and packaging from the '80s.

There are also interviews with some of the original programmers for some of the games in the history portion of this disc. These interviews give gamers some interesting and sometimes funny stories about the making of the games Qike the Tempest free A3 credits bug).

The graphics in the games are identical to their arcade cousins. Little blocks thrown together represent a mushroom in Centipede or a city in Missile Command. The vector classic, Battlezone is arcade perfect, except for the control. The digital sounds are identical to the arcade versions, too.

There are probably gamers out there wondering how the control is overall (as mentioned in the last paragraph). Since the arcade originals used a whole slew of different types of control (like rollerballs and double joysticks), it may be strange to use the PS pad for some of the games. With the use of the mouse, the control is much better.

Since this version is early, the control may be tweaked to make it feel more natural (with Missile Command and Super Breakout).

Last month gamers so some of the retro titles that have come out or that are coming out. Now that we have a playable version of the second volume of AGHACI, more retro should be a good thing--for fans of these classics that is.

  • MANUFACTURER - Midway
  • THEME - Classics
  • NUMBER OF PLAYERS - 1 or 2

Revivals of old arcade games are the rage. Unlike Namco's Museum games, Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits adds nothing new to these average '80s games.

Of the classics here—Defender, Defender II, Joust, Robotron, and Sinistar—Robotron comes off best with its swarming enemies that create genuine suspense.

In all the games, the graphics are simple and the sounds add little. The controls are hit-and-miss, especially in Defender where there's lots to do but your shots and warps are often ineffective.

Old games have their place in history, but not in 1997. "Old' doesn't always equal "classic."

ProTips:

  • In Defender, save your smart bombs for lots of swarming enemies.
  • In Robotron, quickly grab the hostages, then obliterate the robots.

Midway offers more curiosities than classics in its latest retrogaming release. You may have seen these seven oldies in the comers of your local arcade, but it's not likely.

Joust 2 is the best of the bunch--ultra-rare and virtually unknown, it improves substantially on the original. Spy Hunter and Moon Patrol serve up pure twitch goodness; the dizzying Blaster helped to pave the way for first-person space shooters like Starblade and Star Wars Arcade; and cute titles like Tapper, Splat, and BurgerTime reflect a more adventurous, quirky time in gaming history.

A poorly produced trivia game offers info and perspective on these wayward wannabes, but ultimately, this collection is only valuable to folks who already know its answers. This one's for historians only.

ProTips:

  • From Level 2 on, Root Beer Tapper's patrons can be distracted by the stage show. If they're not facing the bar, don't serve them.
  • To dock with the Spy Hunter weapons van, drive in Low and let it pull ahead. Once you're lined up, shift to High and you'll zip right in.

Snapshots and Media

Playstation Screenshots

Sega Genesis/Mega Drive Screenshots

SNES/Super Nintendo/Super Famicom Screenshots

See Also

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