The Arcade PS2 Review

Publisher: Liquid Games  Developer: Oxygen Interactive  Genre: Compilation  

Players: 1  Age Rating: 3+  Other console/handheld formats: N/A

Retro gaming is always going to be a popular alternative to the glossy gaming of the modern age. If it’s not grown men wiping a tear from their eye as memories are relived, it’s people discovering addictive experiences and simplicity for the very first time. True, some of the latter – shallow – people may feel a little under whelmed by it all, but many self-respecting hardcore gamers have a strong desire to educate themselves on the rich history of the industry anyway.

A glimpse of some of the games available to play.

Liquid Games have been busy compiling this collection of classic retro gaming, although unlike the likes of Midway Arcade Treasures and Atari Anthology these 10 games are not emulated originals, but if you happened to play any of the classic titles, working out what each game was inspired by is an effortless task.

The likes of Centipede, Q-Bert, Space Invaders, Asteroids, Bomberman, Lander, Joust, Pipe Dreams, Warlords and Pong may not show up in name, but they definitely do in spirit, with new titles and improved paintjobs. The games play, as you’d expect with only small changes to the simplistic formulas. A basic game of tennis with oblong blocks used as the bats sounds a lot like Pong, blowing massive space rocks to bits may summon up thoughts of Asteroids for many, whilst shooting a Centipede that happens to be coming straight for you from the top of the screen is very Centipede like, and so on. The games may be sans their famous names, but they’re certainly faithful clones, albeit with prettier graphics.

What would such games be without scoreboards that allow you to place your superiority into concrete? Lets just say that they wouldn’t be the same, and thankfully many of the games featured in this collection have this means of knocking up a good number of digits and then saving your name and score onto the boards and the memory card. It’s this strive to beat high scores that is part and parcel of making some of these titles so damn addictive, that and the fact that they are extremely enjoyable little gems!

Having raided the back catalogue and restored the spirit of some classic gaming it was almost an impossibility for Liquid Games to slip up, therefore the gaming result is that of addictive gameplay and the desire to keep on improving those scores. If you don’t mind rather basic visuals and gameplay then The Arcade should definitely be on your purchase list.

8/10