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Datasoft/US
Gold
48K
cassette £8.95
1 Player
Joystick
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Four classic arcade games - POLE POSITION,
MR DO, DIG-DUG & PACMAN - all on one tape is the latest offering from
US Gold. In actual fact this is a compilation of some old Atari hits from
the past which have been reviewed previously in their individual form, so
only a brief summary is now required.
POLE POSITION needs no introduction. It's
the computer race game which sets the standards for all other race games
and, with the exception of Activision's brilliant US ROAD RACE, still
leads the field. However, it's inclusion in this set may turn out to be a
bit of a white elephant as it's given away free these days with just about
every Atari computer package.
DIG-DUG is identical to the Atari Rom -
hardly surprising really seeing as it is the Atari Rom downloaded onto
cassette. The forerunner of the popular tunnelling games, it's an
enjoyable version of the arcade original but not a very authentic
conversion. It could have been better, I feel.
The exact opposite applies to MR DO. This
is possibly the best conversion of an arcade game that I've seen so far on
a home computer. Identical to the original, equally as playable and you
don't have to keep banging money into the machine for the privilege!
PACMAN rounds off the quartet. To put it
bluntly, this game is a dinosaur and that pesky little dot-gobbler should
have been pensioned off years ago regardless of how cute some people think
he is! Old Atari hands will already have this game and I doubt if any new
owners would want it except as a collector's item (or antique more
like!!). As with DIG-DUG, Datasoft have taken the Atari Rom and downloaded
it onto cassette. It's one redeeming feature - purely from a collector's
point of view - is that Datasoft have added animated sequences between
certain rounds of play to bring it in line with the version of Pacman
released for the now defunct 5200 games machine. Incidentally, all pro-Pacman
letters should be addressed to the editor!
Four great games in their day then, but I
have a slight suspicion this compilation may struggle to find a market.
POLE POSITION and maybe even MR DO are capable of holding their own
amongst the mass of new software releases but, to my mind, ARCADE CLASSICS
has been released a year-or so too late.
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