Review: 8-In-1 Arcade Park

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Hello. My name is Doug, and I am a child of the 1980’s. Yes, it’s true. I grew up in the timeless decade of pop sensations such as “Come On Eileen”, the Atari 2600, and the TRS-80. To this day, I still love everything about the ’80s from the A-Team (I love it when a plan comes together) to the Zappas (even Dweezil). So, when I heard that one of my favorite game designers, Herocraft, had updated their pack of eight classic games from the 1980’s (or at least they are variations of the classic games), I knew I had to get onboard.

The Games

Arcade Ball. This is a variation on what I consider to be one of the all time classic games, Arkanoid. Why do I consider it to be an all time classic? It is one of the few remaining games which is directly derived from Pong. This bouncing a ball off of a paddle format was the basis for the original video game. The fact that it remains such a strong genre today is a testament to the quality of game it actually was…but I digress.

I thought Arcade Ball was a pretty good addition to the genre. It did not necessarily move the genre forward or approach it from a unique perspective, the way Ball Rush Aqua did. Instead, the game displayed an accurate representation of the classic game…with a few variations.

Each level, of course, consists of a variety of different bricks arranged in a pattern on the top and sides of the screen. Your job is to bounce a ball against the bricks, popping them. While most bricks will pop on one hit, some may require two or more. Along the way, you will also find that some bricks contain special items. Pop these bricks and the items contained within will drop (not necessarily straight) toward your paddle. These items can help you by strengthening your ball, expanding your paddle, or even giving you guns. Some of them, however, will cause your paddle or ball to shrink, so watch out. Additionally, you will also find a variety of creatures trapped within the bricks. These creatures will attempt to attack your paddle. Strike them with the ball to destroy them. If you lose your ball or get attacked by a creature, then your paddle will die. Kill all of your paddles and the game is over.

Never fear, however, because once your game ends, you can start again from the beginning of any level which has been unlocked previously.

Asteroids. I was probably more excited to see Asteroids than any other game in this pack. Growing up, it was one of my favorite games. I remember when I was in junior high, my friend had an actual Asteroids video game (the full cabinet kind)in his basement. He was probably the most popular kid in school that fall because of that game.

The classic game, you may recall had you playing a spaceship, which was represented by a wire drawn arrow or triangle. You had to fly your ship through an asteroid field, blasting away at the wire drawn asteroids. Strike a large one and it would break apart into several smaller pieces, which you could blast. Along the way, UFOs would fly across the screen offering bonus points.

That was the original game. In Herocraft’s Asteroids, on the other hand…well, actually, gameplay is strikingly similar. The graphics have been significantly upgraded, however, the basic gameplay remains the same. Blast everything on the screen without getting hit. Natch.

Rushman. Remember that game where you played a little yellow circle being chased by four ghosts through a maze? Along the way you had to eat up all of the dots, including power-ups which gave you the power to defeat the ghosts. Yeah, that one. Well, this is not it. It might looks similar, but it is certainly not it.

In Rushman, you play a small ball of fur, resembling the Tasmanian Devil. You must make your way through a maze of dots, while avoiding the Grim Reaper and his cronies. Sure, you will have to gobble up all of the dots, but come on, this little ball of fur is hungry. And there are plenty of new elements as well, like the teleporters. Hit those blue discs and jump to who knows where. And don’t forget to check out the alternate modes of play, including one which turns the tide on your enemies by making you chase them. I love this kind of middle ground, where a game is similar enough to a classic that you enjoy the nostalgia, but gives you enough new elements to keep it original and interesting.

Digger. Buried deep within the ground are dozens of jewels and bags of gold (I have no idea why the gold is buried in bags). Your mission (should you choose to accept it) is to guide the jewel collecting robot through the dirt, digging passages, and scooping up the gems. For an extra bonus, try to collect the gold. To do so, you will have to dig a tunnel and then drop the bag down the tunnel splitting it open.

Be careful, though. Of course, you are not alone in here. Your enemies have been alerted to your presence and will be chasing you through the underground caverns. You can defeat them by dropping sacks of gold on them, or firing your plasma cannon.

Overall, this was a fun game, although I did not find it to be as enjoyable as some of the others in this pack. This was also one of the game in which I found inconsistent graphics which were not nearly as good as some of the other games, such as Asteroids.

Real Tanx. First of all, yes, I spelled that correctly. This game is essentially Capture the Flag with tanks. Your tank is positioned within the city, protecting a purple flag inside the fortification. Droves of tanks are preparing to attack, plowing and blasting through the buildings. All you have to do is destroy them before the demolish the final building and capture your flag.

This game had the potential to be a lot of fun, and I had high expectations for it. Unfortunately, I did not really feel it lived up to those expectations. The graphics felt extremely rudimentary to me, as though they had incorporated the original game, without updating it the way they did many of the others. Additionally, as I mention below, this is one of the games with impossible controls. It is really just far too difficult to maneuver the tank and fire the cannon at the same time. I played this one for a little while and then returned to one of the better designed games in the bundle.

Gold Hunter. This is a variation on the classic platform scroller game. Here, each level consists of a single room composed of platforms connected by ladders and ropes. On the platforms are piles of gold, and little red aliens. Your quest is to retrieve all of the gold, without encountering an alien. Complete that task and the door will open, transporting you to the next level. Of course, you are not without defenses. When an alien is near, fire your flame thrower to create a temporary hole in the floor, which will trap the alien, allowing you to escape.

I thought this game had a lot of potential. It was an extremely well made platform scroller. My only problem with it was that when you die, you must start the level over again. It should start you where you left off, so that you can just retrieve that last bag of gold and move on to the next level.

Galaxy Invader. When I was a kid, probably the most popular genre of arcade games was the one that had rows of spaceships attacking your lone vessel. In fact, the original member of this genre, Space Invaders, was included free with the Atari 2600 (does anyone else remember the excitement of learning how to access the super fast level or the purple flee?) The genre continued with fantastic games, such as Galaga and Galaxian. Galaxy Invaders, like Asteroids, takes this genre and gives it a complete facelift, with fantastic animation and an amazingly well drawn background. Anyone who remember this genre, however, knows that the key is being able to move and fire at the same time. The layout of the controls on my Mogul make this next to impossible. Playing this game was like walking and chewing gum at the same time. But, try it on a different device. The layout of the controls on my Dell Axim probably would have worked much better on this one.

Riverside Assault. I am just going to come right out and say it. This was probably my least favorite game. Typically, I like this genre, in which you must pilot a plane through enemy territory, destroying enemies as you go. This one, however, simply did not work for me at all. This was another game in which the graphics felt rudimentary. I felt as though Herocraft really missed an opportunity to excel with this one. It had the potential to display some extremely intricate graphics, but came away with ho-hum at best. This is also another game in which the controls made it simply a chore to play instead of a joy. I am not going to get into a lengthy discussion of this one, except to say that I enjoyed it the least of the pack.

Graphics, Sounds, and Controls

I though the graphics in this game were somewhat inconsistant. Some of the games, like Asteroids, had well drawn backgrounds with cartoony graphics which seemed relatively up to date. Others, like Real Tanx or Riverside Assault, had very simple graphics which almost looked like they would have been right at home in 1985. The splash screens and title screens, on the other hand, were all exceptionally well drawn.

I thought the sounds in most of the games were relatively well done. They harkened back to the sounds and music of their 1980’s counterparts, without the annoying digitized sound that was so indicative of those games. Essentially, they sounded like modern versions of the classic sounds, which is exactly what these games needed.

As I mentioned in some of the game, I found the controls in many games were a bit tricky, if not downright difficult to use. In fairness, I find this on many arcade style games. Typically, you have to use one hand to move, and the other to jump and shoot. This works fine on something like the Gameboy or Sony PSP, which has controls on either side for your thumbs, but my Mogul is just not setup that way. Once I have a thumb on the D-Pad, there is no real room for my other hand to jump and fire. All of the controls are configurable, however, the layout of the buttons on my device is simply not conducive to these types of games. On most of the games, you can use the stylus, but this got a bit tricky, and on some games really does not allow you to fine tune the controls as much as you might prefer

Conclusion

I have played a number of game packs on my mobile devices. Typically, however, they are a pack of related games: board games, solitaire games, brain games. One of the things I really liked about 8-in-1 Arcade Park was that there was little relationship between the games. They spanned multiple genres and gameplay styles. This meant that it is sure to have a little something for everyone. I did find gameplay to be a bit inconsistent. Some games had outstanding graphics while others seems stuck in the mire of the 1980’s from which they spawned. Similarly, the controls could be a bit tricky at times, but this is really more of a problem for the entire genre of arcade-style games, and is not specific to 8-in-1 Arcade Park. Overall, though, if you grew up in the 1980’s or just enjoy the nostalgic feel of 1980’s arcade games, you will love the assortment of games Herocraft has included in 8-in-1 Arcade Park. Now, if only they would include a game where you have to rescue a princess from the top of a tower while a giant ape throws barrels at you.

What I Liked:

• Represents virtually every genre of classic arcade games
• some of the games had extremely well done graphics

What Need Improvement:

• graphics were inconsistent
• controls were difficult on many devices

Vital Stats

Name: 8-in-1 Arcade Park

Version: 1.4.1

Developer: Herocraft

Trial: First two levels of each game

Tested On: Sprint Mogul with WM 6

Also Available for: Symbian, Palm OS, Windows Mobile 2003 SE and higher, Windows Mobile Smartphone

Price: $17.71

Where to Buy: 8-in-1 Arcade Park

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