Hack17.Play Retro Games on Older Systems

Hack 17. Play Retro Games on Older Systems

Mess around with older attempts at classic collections .

How retro are you? So retro you don't even have a PlayStation 2 or Xbox? Possibly. But I bet you've at least got a PSone or a Nintendo 64 around somewhere.

("But," you explain, "it was on sale, and isn't it retro nowadays? Hell, it came out in 1994")

Okay, okay, I get it. You're retro. But you've got to admit, those classic game compilations [Hack #16] look pretty sweet, huh? Come on, I see you staring. You might want to know that there are a few retro game collections for older systems, too. Some are well done, but some are total ripoffs. In this hack, I'll help you separate the golden oldies from the just plain outdated .

A few of the games discussed in this section are available only in Japan. To learn how to get your hands on these games, read "Buy Retro Games from Japan" [Hack #9] .


2.4.1. Classic Arcade Game Collections

Home versions of arcade games were always inferior to their coin-op counterparts. That was just something we had to deal with back then. Not in today's age of high- powered hardware, right? Yes and no. While some of the collections shown next are perfect, others have some problems. Read before you buy!

2.4.1.1. Namco Museum.

You can find Namco Museum collections, which feature a sampling of the company's classic arcade games, on most contemporary systems from the Xbox to the PSP. But the series started on the PlayStation, which is where the most complete array of titles can still be found. All in all, Namco released a full six volumes of Namco Museum for the PSonethough only five of them were brought to the United States. They were released between 1996 and 1997.

There are more than a few reasons why you might want to buy the PSone versions of the games. They're presented in much more attractive packagingeach volume bearing one letter of the Namco logo, rather than a jumbled collection of screenshots like the later versions. And the games are accurately emulated from the arcade versions; you can adjust the "machine" settings and change the games around just like an arcade operator would. Later editions do not include this feature.

Here's a list of what games are included in each collection.



Namco Museum Volume 1

Pac-Man, Pole Position, Rally-X, Galaga, Bosconian, Toy Pop



Namco Museum Volume 2

Mappy, Xevious, Super Pac-Man, Gaplus, Grobda, Dragon Buster



Namco Museum Volume 3

The Tower of Druaga, Ms. Pac-Man, Galaxian, Phozon, Pole Position 2, Dig Dug



Namco Museum Volume 4

Pac-Land, Ordyne, Assault, The Return of Ishtar, The Genji and the Heike Clans



Namco Museum Volume 5

Pac-Mania, Baraduke, Dragon Spirit, The Legend of Valkyrie, Metro-Cross



Namco Museum Encore (Japan-only release)

Rolling Thunder, SkyKid, Dragon Sabre, King & Balloon, Motos, Rompers, Wonder Momo

There is a single Namco Museum title for the Nintendo 64 called, appropriately enough, Namco Museum 64. It features the games Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Galaxian, Galaga, Dig Dug, and Pole Position.


2.4.1.2. Atari Collections.

During the 1990s the rights to Atari's games bounced back and forth like the dot in Pong, before coming to a permanent stop at French publisher Infogrames (who now call themselves Atari). In the meantime, several collections of Atari arcade classics were released, often of dubious quality. Some of the titles you may still find in bargain bins include:



Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (Midway, Play-Station, 1996/1997)

The first volume of this collection contains emulated versions of six golden-age Atari arcade games: Asteroids, Battlezone, Centipede, Super Breakout, Missile Command, and Tempest. The second contains some Atari titlesCrystal Castles and Millipedemixed with some classic Midway games: Paperboy, Roadblasters, Marble Madness, and Gauntlet. The first was well-received, but Midway seems to have dropped the ball with the second volumeits emulation isn't accurate, and the video is poor. Much like



Atari Anniversary Edition (Atari, Sega Dreamcast, 2001)

This collection of twelve of Atari's most well-known arcade titles was universally panned. The critical drubbing mostly centered on the terrible visuals, which looked markedly worse than the arcade originals , and the fact that the Dreamcast's painful controller design wasn't up to the task. Games included are Asteroids, Asteroids Deluxe, Battlezone, Centipede, Crystal Castles, Gravitar, Millipede, Missile Command, Pong, Super Breakout, Tempest, and Warlords.

The other collection in this series is Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits, which features six titles originally released under the Williams name : Defender, Stargate, Robotron: 2084, Joust, Sinistar, and Bubbles.


2.4.1.3. Capcom Generation.

Arcade giant Capcom produced an arcade anthology series much like Namco Museum on the PSone and Sega Saturn. The Capcom Generation games were for the most part released only in Japan, with one exception: Capcom Generation 5 for the PSone was released in the United States as Street Fighter Collection 2.

The collections are excellent , if a bit light on content at only three games each. The games were organized by series:



Capcom Generation 1

1942, 1943, 1943 Kai



Capcom Generation 2

Ghouls 'N Ghosts, Ghosts 'N Goblins, Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts



Capcom Generation 3

Vulgus, Son Son, Higemaru, Exed Eyes



Capcom Generation 4

Commando, Mercs, Gun.Smoke



Capcom Generation 5

Street Fighter II, SFII Champion Edition, SFII Turbo

2.4.1.4. Konami Antiques: MSX Collection.

Jumping on the PSone retro release bandwagon, Konami released its Konami Antiques collection, featuring the large selection of games that the publisher released for the MSX computer in Japan, on PSone and Sega Saturn. Bizarrely, the PSone collection is split up over three volumes that were sold seperately, whereas the one-disc Saturn version of the game contains all thirty titles listed.

In general, these are not exceptional games. They're only really relevant to Japanese gamers with lots of nostalgia for the old MSX software they used to play. If you gag when you look at the blocky graphics of Atari 2600 games, these probably aren't for you. You will certainly recognize a few of the titles in the list, though, because the arcade and/or Nintendo Entertainment System versions of them were released in the United States. (The "Hyper Sports" games, for example, were released as the very popular Track and Field series here.)



Konami Antiques MSX Collection Vol. 1

Konami Boxing, Konami Ping-Pong, Mopiranger, Arctic Adventure, Yie Ar Kung Fu, Road Fighter, Sky Jaguar, Gradius, Ambition of Gofer



Konami Antiques MSX Collection Vol. 2

Konami Golf, Konami Billiards, Athletic Land, Magical Tree, Super Cobra, Twin Bee, Gradius 2, Hyper Sports 3, Knightmare, Yie Ar Kung Fu 2



Konami Antiques MSX Collection Vol. 3

Konami Tennis, Konami Soccer, Konami Rally, Pippols, King's Valley, Time Pilot, Parodius, Comic Bakery, Penguin Adventure, Salamander

2.4.2. Classic Home Game Collections

Arcade games are all well and good, but my collection of retro console games is getting too unwieldy to bring along with me every time I move. Thank goodness for the following collections!

2.4.2.1. Activision Classics.

Released on the PSone in 1998, this collection of games that Activision released on the Atari 2600 system certainly didn't lack for content. It included thirty of the publisher's classic titles: Atlantis, Barnstorming, Boxing, Chopper Command, Cosmic Commuter, Crackpots, Dolphin, Dragster, Enduro, Fishing Derby, Freeway, Frostbite, Grand Prix, Hero, Ice Hockey, Kaboom!, Keystone Kapers, Laser Blast, Megamania, Pitfall, Plaque Attack, River Raid, River Raid 2, Sea Quest, Skiing, Sky Jinks, Spider Fighter, Stampede, Starmaster, and Tennis.

Unfortunately, the emulation just isn't as good (and the package not as impressive) as Activision Anthology on the PS2.

2.4.2.2. Intellivision Classics.

Another Activision PSone release, another thirty games, but this time they're straight from the Intellivision console. Included on this disc are Armor Battle, Astrosmash, Auto Racing, Baseball, Basketball, Boxing, Checkers, Chess, Football, Frog Bog, Golf, Hockey, Hover Force, Las Vegas Poker and Blackjack, Night Stalker, Pinball, Sea Battle, Shark! Shark!, Sharp Shot, Skiing, Snafu, Soccer, Space Armada, Space Battle, Space Hawk, Spiker! Super Pro Volleyball, Stadium Mud Buggies, Star Strike, Sub Hunt, and Tennis.

Although this Intellivision collection is considered to be pretty good, there are much better ways to get your INTV fix [Hack #35] .




Retro Gaming Hacks
Retro Gaming Hacks: Tips & Tools for Playing the Classics
ISBN: 0596009178
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 150
Authors: Chris Kohler

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