Review: America's Greatest Arcade Hits 3D

By: Kirk Hiner

Genre: Arcade

Format: CD

Developer: Webfoot Entertainment

Publisher: MacSoft

Minimum Requirements: PowerPC, System 7.1, 16MB RAM, CD-ROM

Network Feature: No

3Dfx Support: No

Retail Price: $19.99

Availability: Out Now

The movie theater in Ashland, Ohio still has an original Space Invaders machine in the lobby. I kid you not. It's not that they're going for a retro thing, but more that they just never bothered to upgrade. They also haven't bothered to upgrade the sound system since probably 1982. They did get new seats a couple of years ago, but they've since been carved up pretty good. You'd think that if they were going to improve the theater, they'd've spent their money on something that can't be so easily ruined by a couple of punk kids with the pocket knife they took from their dad's pickup.

Needless to say, I don't go see movies in Ashland. I therefore don't get to play Space Invaders...well, except in emulation. I'm sure that all of you have downloaded and tried out MacMame. I did, and have since given up on it. The constant upgrades became a hassle to download, and it was inevitable that certain ROMs would break with each upgrade of the core program.

But then I saw MacSoft's America's Greatest Arcade Hits 3D at the MacWorld expo, and I just knew I had to give it a try. And I'm happy to report that, compared to the other emulation titles available, AGAH3D fared pretty well.

In my review of Intellivision Lives!, I mentioned how cool it would be if someone were to take those games and update them for today's technology. That's essentially what Webfoot Technologies did. They transferred the basic elements of Space Invaders, Pac Man, Q-Bert and Tetris to games that are more fitting to today's machines.

Although the title may imply it, none of these games require 3D acceleration. Instead, a simple 3D persective and colorful backgrounds have been added, making the games much more interesting to look at. But to properly review this package, each title should be looked at individually.

Alien Invaders

In all honesty, this translation owes more to Galaxian than to Space Invaders. Although the protective barriers are back, the aliens have a more aggressive attack pattern. The early levels begin with the traditional sweeping left and right, dropping one level closer to you each time. The occasional mother ship, in many different incarnations this time (Army balloons, top hats, space ships...you name it), passes overhead, and shooting it causes an object to be dropped. If you catch this object, you're rewarded with different types of ammunition.

Of course, the aliens have different firepower as well. They drop bombs, missiles, homing devices...and some even kamikazee after they've been shot. Different alien ships even have different attack patterns. Some circle the screen, others swoop down at you...but luckily, you're now provided with a jump button. If a homing device won't leave you alone, simply jump above it and let it explode harmlessly beneath you. Just be careful where you land.

Although I do recognize Space Invaders as a classic--it not only helped to launch the video game era, but also spawned a pretty good song by Uncle Vic--I think I'm safe in saying that it hasn't aged well. This updated version breathes new life into it, while faithfully maintaining the feel of its predecessor.

Munch Man

Pac Man had a song too, right? "Pac Man Fever" by Buckner and Garcia. I may have owned that album, but I never liked the game. It was huge, mind you, and I never understood the lines behind the machine as people waited their turn to play while the Donkey Kong machine was already open. And although Munch Man won't generate any lines, it is a bit more fun to play.

This time the maze is in the air, hovering above some fairly attractive landscapes. There are three areas in which you can munch: Fantasy Land, Mystic Mazes and Wild World. I generally stuck with Fantasy Land because that's the name of the strip joint close to Ashland, and I kept thinking I'd get to see...well, I didn't, so nevermind. But each theme is brightly colored and filled with objects for you to collect. Oh, and ghosts, of course.

The mazes are much more complex than in the original Pac Man. They're now filled with objects that toss you in the air or propel in a certain direction, and you need to pick up keys in order to access different parts of the maze. Of course, with a maze this complex, they couldn't possibly show the whole thing at once. Therefore, you can't always tell where the ghosts are or see which sections of the maze you still have to explore. An overhead map such as in Myth would've been helpful here. And the 3D pespective gets in the way a little in Much Man. Although it's certainly more fun to look at, it's also difficult to tell sometimes from where you need to jump (there's that new jump feature again) to reach some of the dots, and quite often you can't see the ghosts until it's too late. Still, this is the first Pac Man incarnation I've found to be even remotely entertaining, and that's quite a feat.

Qube Jumper

Of the four, I think that Qube Hopper translated the best. The original Q-Bert was already as 3D as a game could get in its day, so Qube Jumper really only had to be more attractive. But the programmers didn't stop there. For instance, the music in this game is the best of the bunch. It calls to mind those cheesy synth-themes of "Miami Vice" and "Beverly Hills Cop," a perfect compliment to the bouncy antics of Jumpy.

Speaking of which, I suppose I should explain the game to those who aren't familiar with Q-Bert. Basically, you're this freaky looking thing that hops across a platform of blocks, turning them colors once you touch them. After you've turned them all, the level ends and you advance to the next. As you're jumping around, boulders tumble down to crush you, frogs hop down to turn your blocks back to their original color, some springy snake thing seeks you out to kill you, and so on. You do get some help, though. If you catch a falling hourglass, the bad guys all freeze for a precious few seconds. There are also beachballs upon which you can hop to take you back to the starting block, destroying all the enemies on the board in the process. The levels become more interesting and challenging as the game processes, making this a quite addictive game. Plus, it's got that "cute factor" that'll make it enjoyable for pretty much everyone.

Tetra Madness

And finally, we come to Tetra Madness. Although this version of Tetris is more attractive, it's not really more fun. The controls are too cumbersome, and the board doesn't seem to be long enough to allow you much time to get the pieces turned. And oh, those pieces. Tetra Madness contains many more shapes than the original Tetris, which calls for a more complicated strategy. And not only are there more shapes, but there are...well...goblins, anchors, bombs, weights...all manners of junk. The placement of these is as important as the shapes themselves, as each has its own personality. For instance, goblins either fill in gaps across or down, weights compress columns, bombs explode pieces...you get the idea.

Also different from the original is the way that levels are handled. Once you complete a level, the board is wiped clean and you start over again. Considering the difficulty of this version, that's some welcome relief. But once you get into the higher levels, they start with blocks already filled. Another interesting touch, but not enough to save the game from its bloated self.

As a whole, the software suffers from a few interface problems. First, the game has to be played at 640x480. It resizes itself, of course, but this doesn't do much good on PowerBooks or computers that don't have the ability to resize. And rather than just black out the extra screen space, AGAH3D leaves it visible. The color palate for the game warps the colors all around and proceeds to flash them violently while you play. This is fine if you're into psychadelica, but it's not so great for just playing games. And second, each of the four games installs as its own application. So if you want to quit Qube Hopper and move onto Munch Man, you have to quit the entire application and launch the next game individually. I would've prefered an interface like what's in MacMame where, after quitting a game, you're taken back to a menu that allows you to chose from all the others.

Despite these shortcomings, America's Greatest Arcade Hits 3D is a fairly fun title. The updates to the classic games work for the most part, and they're easily playable by the whole family. Hopefully, this title will be successful and we'll be presented with updates to other classic games as well...just as long as we don't have to suffer through an update to that "Pac Man Fever" album as well. I'm just not sure I could handle it.

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May 26, 2012