Arcade USA

[Willie!]

[Willie!]

This game took many quarters from me back in the early 80's!  One I plan on having in my home arcade (the sit down cab version!)

 

[Willie!]

[Willie!]

A Home Console version of a awesome Indie Arcade Game! Gravitrex!

 

[Willie!]

[Willie!]

[RickR]

Loved your review of Star Raiders II.

[Willie!]

[Willie!]

Willie's Ramblin's and Pickups for January 22nd 2016!

 

[Willie!]

What treasures have I found this time?

 

[Justin]

To me the Sega Master System Power Base Converter was one of the most cool things about the Genesis. Partially because I always loved the Master System and it's bright powerful graphics. But can you imagine if Nintendo had made a NES converter for Super Nintendo? Love the idea

 

 

[Willie!]

Its pong but with SHOTGUNS!!  YEEEHAWWWW!!!

[Rowsdower70]

This made me want to remember Dog Patch, but I just don't remember it.   Looks like a lot of fun though.

[nosweargamer]

Good stuff as always Willie!

The game controls remind me of the Tiger handheld game Skeet Shoot.

 

[Willie!]

From the lab of my bud Duane the Mad Scientist comes ZaxxonCade!

 

[Willie!]

 

You can read my review article at the link below

http://gamester81.com/arcade-usa-checkmate-by-midway-games/

[Willie!]

Lets take a look at My Arcade by Dreamgear!

 

[Willie!]

 

Developed by Konami and released by Stern, Turtles features the player taking the role of a mama turtle trying to rescue her babies in a 8 story building.

 

The game features four different mazes that change every 2 levels(floors) in the building.   The play field has eight mystery boxes scattered about the maze that the mama turtle must open.   six of the eight boxes contain a baby turtle, while the remaining  two contain additional enemies!  As the mama turtle opens the boxes, if a baby turtle is inside it will climb up on mama's back.  At that time a home graphic will appear in the maze, this is the safe area to drop the baby turtle off.

 

Enemies in the maze are beetles that will change color depending on how long it is taking to complete the maze.  Beetles start of a light tan color and just randomly wander the maze, then they will turn into a brown color and will pursue the mama turtle if they catch sight of her, finally the beetles will turn blue and will actively pursue the mama turtle.   However the mama turtle is not defenseless, she has bug bombs she can drop that will stun the beetles.  Only one bug bomb can be on the screen at once and additional ones can be obtained from the center of the maze.  A good strategy is to stockpile bug bombs early in the game.

There were some limited ports of this game to the home consoles as well!

 

Turtles! - Odyssey 2 - Very good home port of the arcade game.  has only six mystery boxes but all the gameplay elements from the arcade are represented.   If you have "The Voice" module attached to your Odyssey 2 you can enjoy some neat music while you play the game. this music changes as you progress through the levels as well.

 

Turtles! - Emerson Arcadia 2001 - interesting port of the arcade game, does have all eight mystery boxes however the enemies are now delivery trucks.  This is from another arcade game called Turpin or 600, but the gameplay is still the same.   This version also allows you to drop multiple bombs in the maze and there is no bomb pickup like the arcade version.  The intro screen looks like the arcade version with what sounds like Morse code playing as the mama turtle enters the building.   Once a maze is complete a door will open at the edge of the maze for the player to pass through.

 

Turtles! - Entex VFD game - This is a very good VFD (Vacuum Florescent Display) version of the arcade game.  The gameplay and maze are represented quite well from the arcade game.  This version of the game is what first made me aware of the actual arcade game!  A neat twist this version of the game has is its two player feature, one player controls the mama turtle while the other controls a beetle!

 

Turtles! - Entex Adventurevision - A very well done version of Turtles for this obscure LED (Light Emitting Diode) tabletop game system.   the maze is compressed vertically, but all the elements of the arcade game are there.  Has all eight mystery boxes, the bug bomb pickup in the middle and numerous enemies (that look like centipedes instead of beetles in this version).  I was able to play this game at CGE (Classic Gaming Expo) in 2014 and really fell in love with it and the system.

So how would I rank these ports?

1. Adventurevision
2. Odyssey 2
3. VFD Handheld
4. Emerson Arcadia 2001

My high score for the Arcade Game 11,490 points.   If you ever see the arcade game or use Mame, give it a try and post your high score below!

[Rowsdower70]

This latest video made me really want an Adventurevision. 

[Willie!]

Tell me about it     I was trying to take one home from CGE2k14 when I closed the console room the last day, but its owner was keeping tabs on me

Edited March 5, 2016 by Willie!

[Willie!]

The ULTIMATE ColecoVision Flashback!

 

[Willie!]

 

Developed by Data East published by Bally Midway, this game puts the player in the shoes of Jumpin' John.   Jumpin' John has a special race car that has the ability to jump!  it only works once the car gets over 100mph, but it is needed to jump over rivers and other obtacles.   As you are racing you can bump other cars into each other or into the walls (bumping in the walls destroys the vehicle).  There is a variety of traffic to dodge, from regular cars to trucks (that like to dump their loads in front of you!).   There are four theme race tracks (Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall) that repeat for a total of 32 tracks.  When you finish a level, your car will stop at a gas pump and you will get a tally of how many vehicles you have bumped off the road!.  If you can complete a track without bumping any cars at all you get a 50,000 point bonus!

Show how well was the game ported to some of my favorite pre-crash consoles?

Atari 2600 - A simplified version of the arcade game, it is however still quite fun.  Sound effects are nice and controls are responsive.  It takes some practice to get used to the jump mechanic in this version of the game.

Intellivision - This version has one of the best looking intro screens I have seen!  the gameplay is spot on and the controls are very responsive.  Of the home versions of this game, this one I can play the best.  Great music and sound effects and a really neat car animation while you play (looks like it is dancing).

Colecovision - This version gives you a choice between using a standard controller or the driving controller!.  The driving controller does work,  but I find it is a little hard to jump when using it.   The arcade game is translated quite well to the Colecovision with great graphics and sound.   The box art of this game is one of my favorites for the Colecovision.

So how would I rank these ports?

1. Intellivision
2. Colecovision
3. Atari 2600

My high score for the Arcade Game 7,580 points.   If you ever see the arcade game or use Mame, give it a try and post your high score below!

[Willie!]

[Willie!]

 

A interesting desktop mini arcade machine with 230 built in games by Soundlogic XT.   These games are divided up into 4 main categories - Sports, Shooting, Puzzle and Arcade.   Each category has a nice selection of games for the genre, with a few hidden gems mixed in such as Galaga (although it is not called this and has alternative game graphics, but the game play and some of the sounds are the same)

It has a nice 2.5 lighted color LCD display, although some text is hard to read on it in certain games.  The control panel has a joystick, 2 fire buttons, reset, start and sound.   The control pad in the unit has the typical carbon dot mushroom style actuators, no mechanical switches are in this device.  I did find the controls responded nicely while playing the games.  The sound has 4 levels – Off, Low, Medium and Loud.   In some games the sounds do distort during gameplay and the music does get repetitive.

Running on 3 AA batteries you can expect to get around 4 hours of play time. The manual shows the names and screenshots of the games included on the MultiCade.  Likewise you can see a screen shot of a game and its title when on the game selection screen.

 

Pros:

• Wide variety of games
• Some very good reworked arcade classics (Defender, Galaga, Elevator Action, Etc...)
• Nice cabinet artwork
• Decent controls

Cons:

• Sound distortions in some games
• Game music gets repetitive
• Low resolution screen

Overall I like this MultiCade, much better than the DreamGear My Arcade I reviewed some time ago.   With a better selection of games and a improved graphical interface, this MultiCade is more desirable for continued play.  Typically this can be found for around 30 dollars, but if you shop around you may find it at a lower cost.

 

Rating: (3 out of 5 mincades)

 

 

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[Willie!]