HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits'' is a video game anthology of Williams Entertainment's early arcade games from the golden age of arcade games. The title was created by Digital Eclipse, who developed a
compiler In computing, a compiler is a computer program that Translator (computing), translates computer code written in one programming language (the ''source'' language) into another language (the ''target'' language). The name "compiler" is primaril ...
to emulate the arcade games' source codes in order to recreate all aspects of the originals. Initially released for home computers in 1995 as ''Williams Arcade Classics'', the compilation was
ported In software engineering, porting is the process of adapting software for the purpose of achieving some form of execution in a computing environment that is different from the one that a given program (meant for such execution) was originally desig ...
to numerous console systems soon after. While most ports were published as ''Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits'', the title was changed for several releases. The
Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it is the successor to the succes ...
version was released as ''Midway Presents Arcade's Greatest Hits'', the handheld Game.com system was published under the original ''Williams Arcade Classics'' name, and the
Sega Dreamcast The is the final home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was released in Japan on November 27, 1998, in North America on September 9, 1999 and in Europe on October 14, 1999. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, prec ...
port was titled '' Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits Vol. 1''. The compilation consists of '' Defender'', the publisher's seminal horizontal shooter; '' Defender II'', the former title's updated sequel; ''
Joust Jousting is a medieval and renaissance martial game or hastilude between two combatants either on horse or on foot. The joust became an iconic characteristic of the knight in Romantic medievalism. The term is derived from Old French , ultim ...
'', a cooperative action game featuring knights on large flying birds; '' Robotron: 2084'', a multidirectional shooter set in a fictional future world where robots have revolted against humans; ''
Sinistar ''Sinistar'' is a 1983 multidirectional shooter arcade video game developed and manufactured by Williams Electronics. It was created by Sam Dicker, Jack Haeger, Noah Falstein, RJ Mical, Python Anghelo, and Richard Witt. Players control a sp ...
'', another multidirectional shooter in which the player battles a giant anthropomorphic spacecraft; and ''
Bubbles Bubble, Bubbles or The Bubble may refer to: Common uses * Bubble (physics), a globule of one substance in another, usually gas in a liquid ** Soap bubble * Economic bubble, a situation where asset prices are much higher than underlying fundame ...
'', an action game where the player uses a bubble to clean a kitchen sink. Historical information and developer interviews were also included. A few ports omitted ''Bubbles'' from the collection as well as the additional historical content. ''Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits'' received a mixed reception by gaming publications, with the earlier releases praised more and the later Dreamcast version receiving considerably less favorable reviews. The selection of the titles—except for ''Bubbles'', which received a wide range of responses—were frequently praised, as was the quality of the emulation. ''Defender'', ''Joust'', and ''Robotron'' were frequently lauded as the stand-out games in the collection. While the anthology's nostalgia was a frequent point of praise, the original arcade audiovisuals were often described as dated and critics recommended ''Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits'' predominantly for fans that grew up with the originals in arcades. The compilation was followed by the '' Midway Arcade Treasures'' product line, of which the first volume includes much of the same content among additional retro arcade games.


Overview

As a compilation, ''Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits'' features several
action game An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, rhythm games and ...
s from Williams Electronics' early catalog from the
golden age of arcade video games The golden age of arcade video games was the period of rapid growth, technological development, and cultural influence of arcade video games from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. The release of ''Space Invaders'' in 1978 led to a wave of shoo ...
. From a selection screen, players can choose one of five to six games, depending on the platform. The anthology includes '' Defender'', its sequel '' Defender II'', ''
Joust Jousting is a medieval and renaissance martial game or hastilude between two combatants either on horse or on foot. The joust became an iconic characteristic of the knight in Romantic medievalism. The term is derived from Old French , ultim ...
'', '' Robotron: 2084'', and ''
Sinistar ''Sinistar'' is a 1983 multidirectional shooter arcade video game developed and manufactured by Williams Electronics. It was created by Sam Dicker, Jack Haeger, Noah Falstein, RJ Mical, Python Anghelo, and Richard Witt. Players control a sp ...
''. ''
Bubbles Bubble, Bubbles or The Bubble may refer to: Common uses * Bubble (physics), a globule of one substance in another, usually gas in a liquid ** Soap bubble * Economic bubble, a situation where asset prices are much higher than underlying fundame ...
'' is included on the home computer, PlayStation, Saturn, and Dreamcast platforms. The same versions include background information and old promotional materials about the games as well as interviews with the original arcade developers. ''Defender'' is a 1981 horizontally scrolling
shooter game Shooter video games, or shooters, are a subgenre of action video games where the focus is on the defeat of the character's enemies using ranged weapons given to the player. Usually these weapons are firearms or some other long-range weapons, a ...
developed by Williams Electronics for arcades. The game is set on an unnamed planet where the player must defeat waves of invading aliens while protecting astronauts. ''Defender II'', also known as ''Stargate'', is the follow up to ''Defender'' released the same year featuring updated gameplay based on its predecessor. ''Joust'' is an action game featuring two-player cooperative gameplay that was released in 1982. Players assume the role of knights armed with lances and mounted on large birds, who must fly around the screen and defeat enemy knights riding buzzards. ''Robotron: 2084'' is a multidirectional shooter released in 1982 where the player must fight against endless waves of robots, rescue surviving humans, and earn as many points as possible. The game is set in the year 2084 in a fictional world where robots have turned against humans in a cybernetic revolt. ''Bubbles'' is a 1982 action game where the player controls a bubble in a kitchen sink and must progress through levels by cleaning the sink while avoiding enemies. ''Sinistar'' is a 1983 multidirectional shooter game in which the player controls a space pilot who battles the eponymous Sinistar, a giant anthropomorphic spacecraft.


Development

''Williams Arcade Classics'' was developed by Digital Eclipse for home computers: Macintosh, Windows, and MS-DOS. Digital Eclipse's president, Andrew Ayre, served as the title's producer while Brian Johnson, from Williams Entertainment, was the product manager. Williams' director of marketing, John Fowler, decided to release the compilation in order to appeal to people who had played the games as children. He expected that many of the people, who had become adults and parents since the games' original releases, would want to share their arcade experiences with their own children. Additionally, Williams' vice president of third-party development, Mike Rubinelli, felt this was an opportunity to introduce their popular classic games to new players. He believed that despite changes in video game trends, the elements that make games successful remained unchanged. Digital Eclipse's team handled the bulk of the production. The developers obtained the original
source code In computing, source code, or simply code or source, is a plain text computer program written in a programming language. A programmer writes the human readable source code to control the behavior of a computer. Since a computer, at base, only ...
for the arcade games and aimed to accurately recreate them. To achieve this, the team chose to emulate the arcade hardware in order replicate the original games' subtleties they felt encapsulated their unique gameplay experiences. Although computing hardware in the 1990s was more advanced and powerful than that from the early 1980s, remaking the source code for contemporary hardware requires programmers to reproduce every idiosyncrasy from the original, including unintentional
software bug A software bug is a design defect ( bug) in computer software. A computer program with many or serious bugs may be described as ''buggy''. The effects of a software bug range from minor (such as a misspelled word in the user interface) to sev ...
s, with a high attention to detail. The lead programmer, Jeff Vavasour, created a
compiler In computing, a compiler is a computer program that Translator (computing), translates computer code written in one programming language (the ''source'' language) into another language (the ''target'' language). The name "compiler" is primaril ...
that emulated the entire
chipset In a computer system, a chipset is a set of electronic components on one or more integrated circuits that manages the data flow between the processor, memory and peripherals. The chipset is usually found on the motherboard of computers. Chips ...
of the hardware used in Williams' arcade games, including the
Motorola 6809 The Motorola 6809 ("''sixty-eight-oh-nine''") is an 8-bit microprocessor with some 16-bit features. It was designed by Motorola's Terry Ritter and Joel Boney and introduced in 1978. Although source compatible with the earlier Motorola 6800, the ...
microprocessor. William's early arcade games use hardware similar to that of ''Defender'', its first video game. The emulation allowed the games to run in fullscreen mode without impacting the games' speed. However, alterations were necessary to account for a portion of the arcade monitor that was intentionally unused. The original Williams arcade releases feature an "overscan" area that the developers left devoid of content, resulting in a smaller game screen dimension. Despite working with more advanced hardware, the team still found emulating the original hardware challenging, specifically getting ''Joust'' to operate at an acceptable speed on the
Windows 3.1 Windows 3.1 is a major release of Microsoft Windows. It was released to manufacturing on April 6, 1992, as a successor to Windows 3.0. Like its predecessors, the Windows 3.1 series run as a shell on top of MS-DOS; it was the last Windows 1 ...
operating system running at 20MHz. Vavasour considered accurately emulating the audio an obstacle as well. Because the computer hardware at the time could not simultaneously emulate the games and synthesis the arcade sounds in
real-time Real-time, realtime, or real time may refer to: Computing * Real-time computing, hardware and software systems subject to a specified time constraint * Real-time clock, a computer clock that keeps track of the current time * Real-time Control Syst ...
, Vavasour instead used a "pre-processing" technique to save an audio file to the computer's hard drive to be played when needed. The emulation software he created allowed him to isolate the individual sounds and their respective event triggers. With this information, the team created audio files from those sounds and adjusted the emulator to play the prefabricated sound at the appropriate time during gameplay. When selecting the titles to include, the developers focused on highly recognizable games that would catch consumers' attention and aid in sales. Technical limitations were also a factor; as a general guideline, Vavasour aimed to develop on hardware that is ten times more powerful than the original in order to properly support the emulation's computing overhead. However, because several of Williams' games used similar hardware, the team was able to easily add ''Bubbles'', a more obscure game, as a bonus title. Bert Monroy created the graphics used in the opening sequence featuring the arcade room, and Vavasour created the opening's animation.
Game testing Game testing, also called quality assurance (QA) testing within the video game industry, is a software testing process for quality control of video games. Moore, Novak 2010, p. 95 Oxland 2004, p. 301-302 The primary function of game testing is t ...
was handled by Williams' team of testers. Digital Eclipse conceived the idea to include supplemental materials and video interviews, something they would repeat for future projects. Chris Charla and Jon Synder of Flying Rhino Productions conducted the Behinds the Scenes interviews with the original arcade creators. An outside company, Midnight Design, handled the multimedia post-production for the Behind the Scenes portions. GT Interactive Software Corp. published the CD version for Windows machines. Previously in 1994, Williams Entertainment's subsidiary
Midway Games Midway Games Inc. (formerly Midway Manufacturing and Bally Midway, and commonly known simply as Midway) was an American video game company that existed from 1958 to 2010. Midway's franchises included ''Mortal Kombat'', ''Rampage (franchise), Ra ...
entered into an agreement with GT Interactive Software to distribute Midway's PC titles.


Console ports

After the home computer release, the developers ported the anthology to home console systems. The first port was to the PlayStation in 1996, with Ayre and Johnson returning as the executive producer and product manager, respectively. George and Peter Phillips handled the programming, while Vavasour shifted to an assistant producer role and consulted on arcade hardware. The PlayStation version contains a hidden CD audio track featuring sounds from ''
Mortal Kombat 3 ''Mortal Kombat 3'' is a 1995 fighting game developed and published by Midway Games for arcades. It is the third main installment in the ''Mortal Kombat'' franchise and a sequel to 1993's ''Mortal Kombat II''. As in the previous games, it has ...
''. Video game magazines reported on it as a hidden tip, with Terry Minnich of ''
Electronic Gaming Monthly ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews. History The magazine was fou ...
'' baffled at the inclusion, speculating that it could be a clue pointing to another
easter egg Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The ...
. Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) versions were also published in 1996, late into their respective console life cycles. Vavasour redesigned the selection screen and converted ''Defender'', ''Defender II'', ''Joust'', and ''Robotron'' to play on the SNES. Christopher Burke converted ''Sinistar'' as well as programmed new features for the game. John Kowalski was responsible for converting the audio for the Nintendo console. The original arcade sounds were produced by a computer
algorithm In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of Rigour#Mathematics, mathematically rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific Computational problem, problems or to perform a computation. Algo ...
that fed data into a
digital-to-analog converter In electronics, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC, D/A, D2A, or D-to-A) is a system that converts a digital signal into an analog signal. An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) performs the reverse function. DACs are commonly used in musi ...
. To match the audio frequency of those sounds, Kowalski wrote a translator program to convert the arcade's source code into the assembly language version used by the
central processing unit A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor, or just processor, is the primary Processor (computing), processor in a given computer. Its electronic circuitry executes Instruction (computing), instructions ...
for the Super Nintendo's audio subsystem. Nintendo of America promoted the game in a ''
Nintendo Power ''Nintendo Power'' was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Ninte ...
'' magazine preview that highlighted the quality of the classic games' reproduction and the reduced
list price The list price, also known as the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP), or the recommended retail price (RRP), or the suggested retail price (SRP) of a product is the price at which its manufacturer notionally recommends that a retailer ...
due to the smaller memory requirements of the
Game Pak Game Pak is the brand name for ROM cartridges designed by Nintendo for some of their earlier video game systems. The "Game Pak" moniker was officially used only in North America, Europe, Oceania, and South Korea. In Japan, Nintendo uses the term w ...
. A few months later, the magazine featured a multi-page overview of strategies for the anthology's games. For the Sega Genesis port, Dan Filner converted ''Defender'', ''Defender II'', ''Sinistar'', and ''Robotron'' as well as adapted Vavasour's selection screen, whereas George Phillips converted ''Joust''. Digital Eclipse approached Filner, who was employed at Equilibrium, Inc. at the time, about working on the project and provided him a Genesis development kit as well as the source code for ''Defender''. After reviewing the code, he began to cross-translate the original Motorola 6809 assembly code into assembly code for the Genesis's
Motorola 68000 The Motorola 68000 (sometimes shortened to Motorola 68k or m68k and usually pronounced "sixty-eight-thousand") is a 16/32-bit complex instruction set computer (CISC) microprocessor, introduced in 1979 by Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector ...
microprocessor. Filner completed the port of ''Defender'' in two weeks, after which the company successively assigned him to convert ''Stargate'', ''Robotron'', and then ''Sinistar''. Peter Phillips and Terry Coatta adapted the audio to the Sega Genesis. Monroy again created the selection screen's artwork and external company Image Impressions converted the bulk of the title's visuals for both 16-bit ports. Williams promoted the Super Nintendo and Genesis ports at the 1996 E3 trade show, announcing a fall 1996 release window. A port to the Sega Saturn was released under a different title, ''Midway Presents Arcade's Greatest Hits'', also in 1996. Ayre again produced the title, with Vavasour serving as the assistant producer and consultant for arcade hardware. John Stookey from Midway Home Entertainment was the associate producer. Digital Eclipse asked Filner to program this port as well. Given the technical differences between the Genesis and the Saturn, the company elected to emulate the arcade games, a task Filner had no experience with. Digital Eclipse staff coached him on how to approach the project. In 1997, Tiger Electronics released a version titled ''Williams Arcade Classics'' for its handheld console, the Game.com, which includes all the titles minus ''Bubbles''. Similar to the Saturn release, the Dreamcast port was published under a new title in 2000: ''
Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits ''Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits'' is an arcade game compilation released for the Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, and Game Boy Advance. Games included Two volumes were released. The first volume was released for the Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, and Game Boy ...
Volume 1''. Ayre was again the executive producer, with Michael Bilodeau and Marcus Lindblom serving as producers from Digital Eclipse and Midway Games, respectively. Programming was led by Dale Van Mol, while Vavasour was the technical director and emulation programmer. The credited artists include Monroy, Sebastion Hyde, and Boyd Burggrabe. Although the Dreamcast release includes the same content as the earlier PlayStation and Saturn ports, the Nintendo 64 version of ''Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits Volume 1'' swapped ''Defender II'' and ''Bubbles'' for ''
Spy Hunter ''Spy Hunter'' is a vehicular combat game developed by Bally Midway and released for arcades in 1983. The game draws inspiration from the James Bond films and was originally supposed to carry the James Bond brand. The object of the game is t ...
'' and '' Root Beer Tapper''.


Reception

''Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits'' received a mixed reception, with each platform release receiving different responses. The early computer and PlayStation releases were generally well received, but the last release on the Dreamcast was criticized more. Staff for ''IGN'', ''
Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...
'', and ''
GamePro ''GamePro'' was an American multiplatform video game magazine media company that published online and print content covering the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software. The magazine featured content on various video ...
'' drew comparisons to '' Namco Museum Vol. 1'', which was released in North America for the PlayStation the same year. Reviewing the PC version, '' Next Generation'' magazine staff praised the "arcade-perfect" conversions of the compilation's games, particularly the retention of the
software bug A software bug is a design defect ( bug) in computer software. A computer program with many or serious bugs may be described as ''buggy''. The effects of a software bug range from minor (such as a misspelled word in the user interface) to sev ...
s, which the reviewer felt were among the best features of the arcade originals. They noted the titles' historical importance to the video game industry and expressed admiration for the settings mode as well as the bonus multimedia material. The magazine staff also reviewed the Macintosh release, rating it a point lower than its PC counterpart. The reviewer noted the accurate reproduction and how enjoyable the games are, calling them "six of the greatest arcade classics", but wrote that players would lose interest after about half an hour. The PlayStation version received overall positive reviews. Critics for ''
Electronic Gaming Monthly ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews. History The magazine was fou ...
'', ''GamePro'', and ''Maximum: The Video Game Magazine'' praised the arcade-perfect emulation of the games and the strong selection, generally concurring that most of the included games are classics that remain immensely fun. ''Electronic Gaming Monthly''s four critics—Andrew Baran, Mark Lefebvre, Mike Desmond, and Sushi X—lauded the games' nostalgic enjoyment and accurate reproduction. However, Lefebvre noted that the original sounds are "scratchy and irritating". While all four recommended the compilation for arcade fans, Desmond commented that those unfamiliar with the games might not enjoy them. ''IGN''s staff echoed similar statements about the emulation quality and the appeal towards older fans versus unfamiliar players. Tommy Glide of ''GamePro'' described ''Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits '' as a "true collectible" for retro gaming enthusiasts; conversely, he noted that younger players might be scared off. Glide considered all the games except for ''Bubbles'', which he called "unique but mundane", a great value. ''Maximum''s reviewer praised the replay value and challenge of all the games sans ''Bubbles'', noting that those aspects elevated ''Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits'' above many of the PlayStation titles at the time. Developers from
Iguana Entertainment Iguana Entertainment, later known as Acclaim Studios Austin, was an American video game developer based in Austin, Texas. The company was founded in 1991 by Jeff Spangenberg, previously lead designer for Punk Development, and originally locat ...
ranked the PlayStation port as their sixth most wanted game in ''
GameFan ''GameFan'' (originally known as ''Diehard GameFan'') was a publication started by Tim Lindquist, Greg Off, George Weising, and Dave Halverson in September 1992 that provided coverage of domestic and imported video games. It was notable for it ...
'' magazine's July 1996 guest section of its "Most Wanted" feature. Writing for the ''
Fort Worth Star-Telegram The ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' is an American daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and Tarrant County, the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. It is owned by The McClatchy Company. History In May 1905, Amon G. Car ...
'', Malcom Mayhew noted the games' historical impact on modern games, praising the titles for their challenging yet fun gameplay. However, he described ''Bubbles'' as an exception, calling it lame. Reviews for the Genesis version were more mixed. Four ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' reviewers—Shawn Smith, Dan Hsu, Crispin Boyer, and Sushi-X—were enthusiastic about the arcade-perfect conversions and enjoyed the games but questioned ''Bubbles''s omission. Smith scored the game the lowest of the four and expressed surprise that such a title would take long to release. While he noted the insignificance of a selection screen, Smith commented that the developers didn't appear to have spent much time on it, describing the screen as "lame". Hsu and Boyer both praised the individual games' gameplay but recommended playing ''Robotron'' with a six-button controller as the standard three-button controller made the game too difficult. Sushi-X considered the collection a technical achievement and expressed excitement at the ability to play these arcade titles on the portable Genesis Nomad. ''GamePro''s Captain Cameron criticized the gameplay controls, calling them "hit-and-miss", and the compilation's lack of extras compared to ''
Namco Museum is a series of video game compilations developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment for home video game consoles. The first title in the series, ''Namco Museum Vol. 1'', was released for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation in 1995. En ...
''. While he opined that the games are "average", Cameron singled out ''Robotron: 2084'' as the best of the five "with its swarming enemies that create genuine suspense." Writing for ''Mean Machines Sega'', Angus Swan and Matt Yeo praised the collection for its nostalgia and lasting playability. While the two described the visuals as “basic”, they praised the graphics' speed and quality replication. Similarly, the reviewers described the audio as "unremarkable" but "crisp". Upon the Super Nintendo port's release, the title debuted on ''
Nintendo Power ''Nintendo Power'' was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Ninte ...
''s Top 20 SNES Power Chart at number twenty based on reader input. Although the magazine's staff described ''Arcade's Greatest Hits'' as a great value for "all-time favorite Arcade games", they rated the title lower than most other titles in terms of audiovisuals, challenge, gameplay, and enjoyment. However, three of the six review staff listed it as an "Editor Pick".
Blockbuster Video Blockbuster may refer to: Corporations * Blockbuster (retailer), a former video rental chain * Blockbuster (Bend, Oregon), remaining store Arts and entertainment * Blockbuster (entertainment) a very successful movie * Blockbuster (DC Comics ...
reported the Super Nintendo port as the console's sixth top rented game in October 1996. Additionally, ''GamePro'' senior editor Lawrence Neves ranked it as the tenth "Can’t Miss Title" of the same month. Rich Leadbetter gave ''Midway Presents Arcade's Greatest Hits'' a strong recommendation in ''
Sega Saturn Magazine ''Sega Saturn Magazine'' (originally known as ''Sega Magazine'') was a monthly magazine from the United Kingdom covering the Sega Saturn, a home video game console. It held the official Saturn magazine license for the UK, and some issues incl ...
'', saying that the gameplay design, originality, and challenge of the included games had held up well. Unlike most of the compilation's reviewers, he argued that ''Bubbles'', though obscure, is solidly entertaining. Reviewing the Game.com port, Brett Alan Weiss of ''
AllGame RhythmOne , a subsidiary of Nexxen, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went public on the Alternative Investment Market, ...
'' noted the "inherent limitations of a black-and-white handheld system" and commended the designers for utilizing the system to its limit. Despite the lack of color, he praised the accurate reproduction of the originals' audiovisuals but called the animation "choppy". Weiss summarized the collection's quality as "hit-and-miss"; he called ''Joust'' a near-perfect emulation while noting that the two ''Defender'' games experience slowdown and that the remaining titles are enjoyable but awkward to control. ''
GamesMaster ''GamesMaster'' was a British television programme which originally aired on Channel 4 from 1992 to 1998. In 2021, it returned for a new series on YouTube and E4. It was the first UK television programme dedicated to video games. Dominik Di ...
'' magazine's reviewer Robin Alway criticized the Dreamcast release, commenting that the extra features were sparse and illustrated a lack of effort on Midway's part. Regarding the games in collection, he commented that ''Defender'', ''Joust'', and ''Robotron'' were the only "all-time classics" while the rest were inferior inclusions. However, Alway noted that older fans would enjoy the nostalgia of seeing the titles. Alex Huhtala of '' Official Dreamcast Magazine'' was also critical of ''Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits Vol. 1'' on the Dreamcast, echoing Alway's disappointment in Midway. Huhtala complained that the same compilation had been on other systems years ago, noting that the developer interviews were five years old. While he praised the accurate emulation, Huhtala described the visuals as dated and noted that the tiny pixels could cause headaches. He acknowledged the titles' historical significance but recommended that players unfamiliar with them should avoid the collection; however, he wrote that ''Defender''s, ''Joust''s, and ''Robotron''s gameplay still hold up against contemporary standards. Huhtala summarized his review noting that the content was not worth the price.


Legacy

Video game historians Henry Lowood and Raiford Guins attributed a resurgence of retrogaming via emulation in part to Digital Eclipse's work on ''Williams Arcade Classics'' in the mid-1990s. The company would go on to produce more compilations on various platforms. Midway later released a
Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...
version of ''Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits'' in 2002. Developed by a different company, Pocket Studios, the collection features only ''Joust'', ''Defender'', ''Robotron 2084'', and ''Sinistar''. The publisher partnered with Digital Eclipse again in 2003 to release '' Midway Arcade Treasures'', a multiplatform anthology of over 20 arcade titles, including the six games from the original ''Williams Arcade Classics''. The company followed it with two additional compilation volumes.


Notes


References

{{Digital Eclipse video games 1996 video games PlayStation (console) games Sega Genesis games Sega Saturn games Super Nintendo Entertainment System games Game.com games Midway video game compilations Video games developed in the United States Digital Eclipse games Single-player video games