SNES Williams Arcade Classics - How is it?

[courtesi96]

I've read some pretty bad reviews that were full of fail. On the other hand I came across the programmer of these conversions and it was written that Larry Demar(sp) one of the original programmers gave him the source codes to the game so they were translated as closely as possible.

I also know this programmer is very good (Jeff Vavasour) and would find it hard to believe that these translations would not pan out.

Any input?

[Graham Mitchell]

Haven't played it in years, but I remember the games all being somewhat slow, and they don't look like the arcade versions 100%.

[bangtango]

If it helps, the DP Guide entry for the Genesis version of the same game says that EGM gave it pretty good scores (8.5, 8.5, 8 and 7)

Source:

http://www.digitpress.com/DP/cmf/game.cmf?gameid=6982

I'm sure someone reading my answer might have 2 objections.

1. EGM isn't a credible source for reviews

Reply: The game was released so late in the Sega Genesis lifespan and it was such a low-profile release that I highly doubt anybody pressured or paid EGM to give it a good review. On top of that, given that four different people from the magazine each gave it about the same score, I think that fact is worth something.

2. Well it is the Genesis version and not the SNES version.

Reply: Would something like that have been significantly different on the SNES compared to the Genesis? If anything, I'd venture to say it was "better" on SNES.

My opinion is that a lot of the reviews covering it were written during the height of the 32-bit (and 3D) era when "old" games were taking a beating in the press. Remember this was released long before it was "fashionable" to release a compilation with a bunch of old games like we see on a regular basis today.

[Graham Mitchell]

My opinion is that a lot of the reviews covering it were written during the height of the 32-bit (and 3D) era when "old" games were taking a beating in the press. Remember this was released long before it was "fashionable" to release a compilation with a bunch of old games like we see on a regular basis today.

I remember when Williams' Arcade Greatest Hits first came out for the PS1. Some of my friends came over and I was playing Joust as they looked on in horror and disappointment. One of them said "Dude, I can't believe this is CD-ROM!"

[NE146]

I think they're pretty interesting to play actually. The gameplay is indeed more or less spot on, but you can tell it's scaled down somewhat. Robotron for example has a smaller playfield.

Arcade
http://www.users.uswest.net/~userid946/robotron.jpg
SNES
http://www.users.uswest.net/~userid946/robotronsnes.jpg

So anyway like I said it plays accurately, so it makes for a nice little interesting variation if you've played the arcade games a lot :)

[Sanriostar]

It scratches the itch, but the playfield for Sinistar is cooked down.

[Icarus Moonsight]

I like it quite a bit. It's part of my perm SNES collection. Robotron plays great and I appreciate playing Defender and Stargate with the simplified controls with an arcade stick. I always sucked hard on the cabs.