GENRE
	Arcade
	DEVELOPER
	Nocturnal Entertainment
	PUBLISHER
	Telegames
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1
	CONNECTIVITY
	No
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If you haven’t heard of these Ultimate collections before, you’re missing out: as a rule they have been big on value. This collection features a twelve game array that draws inspiration directly from older titles that gamers in their late teens will no doubt recognize. Bomberman, Pac-Man, Pitfall, Q*Bert, Galaga, Silkworm, Dig-Dug, Spy Hunter, Breakout, Asteroids and others provide inspiration, but most of them make use of the GBA hardware and take a few welcome modifications to the older formulas. It’s a tour of the gaming fundamentals without the licenses of their progenitors.

But some issues remain, especially in presentation. The interface between games is dissimilar. Some games offer training modes, some don’t. Some allow you to instantly quit to the menu, some don’t. Above all, the saving takes way too long.

visuals

Some are good, some are bad, some are in-between. Asteroid Mine, Merchant Galactic and Milk Run are graphical highlights. Sprite rotation, pseudo 3-D and vivid colors adorn these titles. Most of the others are passable. At the very least, these are all visually distinctive.

Most of the games lack soul and a flair that separates Pac-Man from ChipBot, Dig-Dug from BeeKeeper; however, some of the originals weren’t too keen on character in the first place, namely the shooters, and these fare the best of the set. It is amazing what a difference little extra animations add in the way of making a character come to life.

audio

Given the retro-feel of the rest of the compilation, the blips and bloops are accepted, but the more sophisticated coat of graphical paint make these a little underwhelming. The sounds are decent, but fairly generic.

gameplay

There’s a platformer, several shooters, some puzzlers and some old fashioned arcade bouncing ball games. Is there a common thread between them? Not especially. In fact, the wide discrepancy is what makes this collection so odd: why wasn’t the same loving care put into Rubes Cubes as Asteroid Mine? A few also suffer from questionable mechanics; you would expect to be able to jump instantly into a group of games based on the halcyon days, but it isn’t always so clear cut.

Not all games are available at first; you earn coins by playing games which can unlock the others for nominal fees. It isn’t a bad system, but if you pick a poor initial selection you’ll be miserable until you pick the rest. If you are looking to extend the play value, a Challenge Mode contains segments of one of the other titles to complete with a set of guidelines, such as a certain score or time limit. This sadly means that you will have to play even the poor games in the collection to finish it.

• Omega Force - A helicopter game of bland and forgettable gameplay. The variety is nice, but the slow rate of fire is a snooze.
• Galaxy Hero - The Galaga clone has a few issues; namely, death is dealt to you without a chance to react.
• FlipSide - My personal favorite of the series, this one takes the Breakout formula and improves upon it by giving you unlimited lives, but imposes a time limit.
• ChipBot - Pac-Man style gameplay spruced up with the ability to lay bombs to thwart your enemies. There’s a lot of depth here, but the pace is too slow.
• Merchant Galactic - This is perhaps the deepest game in the collection. It takes the economics games from your calculator and pairs them with a fairly robust and graphically pleasing moon landing game. With a lot of different planets, it isn’t bad.
• Milk Run - It’s a platformer full of been there, done that mechanics and foes, but the floaty physics and bland character design hurt more than they do in any of the other titles.
• GridLock - A tile-sliding collecting spree. There’s some brain teasers in here that puzzle fans will find worthwhile, but again the proceedings are dull.
• Rubes Cubes - A newer Q*Bert, but slower paced. The deeper puzzle component makes this one less frantic and a little less fun.
• BeeKeeper - The worst of the set. It is frustrating to play even for a small amount of time.
• Asteroid Mine - The most graphically intensive of the bunch, and one of the most fun. It improves the most on the original formula with a good amount of depth and is good fun.
• Highway 51 - Spy Hunter with aliens? Sure, it sounds like a good idea, but driving is very, very boring.
• Treasure Hunter - Adventure through a temple collecting golden objects. Nothing objectionable here, you might find it worth a play through.

multiplayer

N/A

overall

On the whole, this collection of games is above average, but not by much. Odds are you will like a few of the titles. This is a good choice for children who may not be familiar with the fundamentals, but other arcade collections have more style. Still, with twelve games you might give it a rental at least. Ultimate Arcade Games comes mildly recommended.

6.0/10