Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits is here!

If you enjoyed games like Defender, Defender II (a.k.a. Stargate), 
Robotron: 2084, Joust, Bubbles, and Sinistar in the arcade, then you'll 
be pleased to hear that all six of these games are available on one 
PlayStation disc!

These are not reprogrammed translations of the arcade games. Rather, the 
original machine code from the arcade games is used, running under an 
emulator. Essentially, you get the WHOLE arcade game, including the 
arcade operators' back door modes!

Well, almost. Despite the fact that they're running under emulation, the 
games still aren't 100% accurate. A few of the sound effects seen 
truncated, which I also noticed in Williams Arcade Classics for IBM 
PC/compatibles. However, something I didn't notice on the PC but did see 
on the PSX is a problem with the screen resolution. Apparently, the full 
vertical screen resolution wasn't reproduced. As a result, a few lines of 
resolution are missing at various points on the screen. This makes the 
graphics and especially the text look odd at times, especially in 
Defender, Robotron, and the arcade operators' screens of all the games.

Other than that, though, the games are all there, and they're just as 
much fun as ever! High scores, controls, and arcade operators' settings 
can be saved to memory card. (At last, Williams discovers the memory 
card!)

Also, there's a history of each game, with text and full-motion 
video clips of interviews of the designers, and a Media Gallery of old 
photos and concept sketches. Some of this stuff is almost as much fun as 
the games!

If you're a fan of these classics, get your hands on this disc!

--
Sal Manfredonia  (hysteria@gti.net)

"Let's be heard!" -- Bob Grant