Retro gaming is one of my hobbies.
I spent a lot of time with a controller in my hand and lost many quarters to the
arcades. My friends and I would get together often and have gaming marathons or
spend all day at the arcade. I have many great memories from those days. I even
won a few trophies and awards at competitions back in the day. I don't do much
console gaming anymore, at least not on modern systems. I am almost strictly a
PC Gamer now. I do however do quite a bit of "Retro Gaming" on some of the
classic systems like the NES. I am also a collector of the "Plug & Play" games,
the controllers and joystick's with the games built in, that contain some of
those old school games I used to love. Basically, this page is a list of the
favorites in my collection and a short review of each one. Since most of the
consoles these games were on, and the games cartridges themselves, are hard to
find these days, the Plug & Play games are a great way to relive the classics.
Atari Flashback
This great little console contains
15 Atari 2600 and 5 Atari 7800 games. This unit was not as popular as its
successor, the "Flashback
2", primarily due to the non-authentic controllers and the fact the
system was designed to emulate the games using the "NES on a chip" hardware and
not original hardware. That being said, it's still a great little system in my
opinion. The fact the games are not being run on original hardware in no way
diminishes the fun. If your a serious retro gamer, then this system is for you!
Designed to look and feel like the
original Atari 2600 Paddle controllers. This unit lets you experience original
gameplay for some great Atari classics. The menu system is nicely designed and
the included games are some of the best. It comes in both a single and 2 player
model. I have the 2 player one shown. I have got many hours of play out of the
unit and its a must for any Atari fan!
This is by far one of the best
"plug & play" units ever released in my opinion. The controller itself is
designed exactly like the original Genesis controllers. The main device actually
contains original Genesis hardware, so the games play just like they did on the
system itself. Side by side, you could not tell the difference between the games
on this unit and the original console. If you were a fan of the Genesis like I
was, then you have got to give this thing a try. I guarantee you will get many
hours of good gameplay out of it! It also features dual power. You can run it
off batteries, and it does run for quite a long time on batteries. Or you can
use an optional power adapter.
This was the first unit I
purchased, and the one that got me hooked on the idea. I can remember playing
games like Pac-Man, Dig-Dug, and Galaxian for hours on end way back in the day.
So needless to say, this little game unit ranks pretty high on my list. Its a
must for any retro collection!
Mortal Kombat was one of the most
popular fighting games of its day, probably due to its extreme violence and
digitized characters, which was quite controversial and over the top for the
day. So popular it was that it spawned two movies based on its storyline.
Basically, the unit stays pretty true to the original arcade version of the
game. There are a few obvious differences, that if you were a fan of the series,
you may notice. In order to save on CPU power and memory, the port is somewhat
stripped down. Shadows have been removed and the sounds seem like they are
directly ported form the Genesis version. You can see a few other graphical
reductions as well if you pay close attention. However, even with the
reductions, this game unit is still quite fun to play and a must have for any
Mortal Kombat fan! The controls are true to the original and the game pad itself
is surprisingly easy to use and control. It also has the option to link 2
units together for some head to head action. Ahh, the good old days!
This unit is actually designed for
your PC rather than your TV. Simply plug into an available USB port and follow
the instructions. There are a few special requirements to use the unit. You must
be connected to the internet in order to install the games, as it downloads them
from an online location. You must also be connected to play the game once they
have downloaded and installed. This is a security feature to fight piracy,
similar to "Steam". All the games are original arcade ports that have 2 modes of
play, original and enhanced. The enhanced versions add upgraded graphics to the
games. I got the unit primarily for one game, Contra. The arcade version was
always my favorite. So if you can track one of these units down, it makes a
great addition to your retro collection. I know people that have had
trouble getting the unit to download the games. I had no problems at all. In the
future, I may share my files to help those who are having problems getting them
to download from Konami.
What can I say, it's
Frogger! This
little unit contains the original hit, nothing more. Its not a true port of the
original game. The sound and music has been updated but the graphics and
controls are quite nice and very close to the original. If you were a Frogger
fan from way back when, then this little unit is perfect for you! If you have
small children, I'm sure they will have a blast trying to help the our little
friend cross the road and the river to safety. So if you looking for Frogger,
and don't want o buy a console then this is for you.
