classic arcade game

Atari’s 1975 Hi-Way Arcade Game

August 14, 2023 By ausretrogamer

It is always quite interesting when stumbling upon footage of an old arcade game that many of us either didn’t experience or had long forgotten about it. One such game is Atari’s arcade driving game, Hi-Way. Hands-up those who saw or played this game in an amusement centre? We bet not many of you did – but if you did, count yourself lucky, as this was and still is a hard game to find!

Atari’s Hi-Way (aka: Highway and Hyway!) is a black and white vertical driving game where players avoid oncoming cars – just listen to that glorious sound! Produced in 1975, this (almost 50 year old) Atari game was built with discrete logic chips, using transistor–transistor logic (TTL) chips!

source: Andys-Arcade via Facebook

Casio x Pac-Man Vintage Limited Edition Unisex Watch

October 8, 2021 By ausretrogamer

Casio sure knows how to tug on our nostalgic strings! Their vintage classic line of watches brings back the 80s, and nothing screams 80s more than a Casio Pac-Man watch!

The A100WEPC-1B Casio x Pac-Man watch is a collaboration between Casio Vintage and Bandai Namco which aims to immerse you in the nostalgia of one of the world’s first blockbuster video games. Details on the watch glass hint at the exciting chase about to unfold as Pac-Man, surrounded in the square LCD display ghost house, is poised to start running.

Laser engraving on the black ion-plated metal band lays out the game maze. The game begins above the watch face with Pac-Man eating dots as he runs away from the ghosts and continues below the face after he’s devoured a power pellet and turned back to chase them!

The Casio x Pac-Man watch is retailing for AU$299.00! We bet these go fast!

source: Casio Watches

Frogger – The TV Game Show! Ribbit!

September 20, 2021 By ausretrogamer

In case you missed it, there is now a TV show based on the classic Konami arcade game Frogger!

Just like the video game, contestants will require quick thinking and problem solving skills in varied challenges to be crowned Frogger champion and hop away with US$100K! If you like Wipeout (the TV show, not the video game) and enjoy the Ninja Warrior type shows, then Frogger will be right up your alley!

PS: Unfortunately, Peacock TV ain’t streaming Frogger in Australia (Ed: Boo!)

source: PeacockTV

LEGO Ideas – Classic Two Player Arcade Racer

October 15, 2020 By ausretrogamer

The LEGO Ideas keep marching on with more and more cool new ideas which we hope will garner enough support for them to become products we can purchase off store shelves.

This Classic Two Player Arcade Racer LEGO Ideas entrant by BricksDownUnder is another that piqued our interest. The 80s era classic arcade aesthetic and intricate attention to detail is pretty impressive, from the player steering wheels to move their racer left and right on the racing track, to the motorised track moving under the racers to simulate motion, this is pretty darn cool. Oh yeah, there is also a speed changing lever to really get your heartrate going in ludicrous mode – twice the speed for twice the excitement!

Impressed? If you are (and we reckon you should be), go and vote for this pretty cool LEGO Ideas entrant!

image source: LEGO Ideas

Original Film Footage of Mortal Kombat Fighters

August 20, 2020 By ausretrogamer

This was an awesome tweet by History Uncovered! The tweet features original footage that was used to animate the first Mortal Kombat arcade game!

Original footage used to animate the first Mortal Kombat video game 😍 pic.twitter.com/z2ZpaFCZwN

— History Uncovered (@Iearnhistory) August 17, 2020

Missile Command: Recharged – It’s a Blast

March 27, 2020 By ausretrogamer

Atari’s seminal 1980s arcade classic, Missile Command, has now been Recharged and is ready for blasting on your favourite iOS and Android device!

Missile Command has been one of our favourite games to play due to its compelling simplicity and very visceral and satisfying gameplay – aim at the falling missiles, fire and destroy, it doesn’t get better or simpler than that.

Missile Command: Recharged is actually quite well (re)done with beautiful neon visuals paired with cool electronic music that Jeff Minter would be quite proud of. The game also has power-ups, upgrades, and an augmented reality feature, making this game quite a blast (pun intended).

The current Atari cops a lot of stick for milking their original IP, including from us, but this free to play game (with a one time purchase to remove the ads) is a pleasant surprise – it is really well done.

If you want a (free) Missile Command game for your smart device, then you can’t go wrong with Missile Command: Recharged. Get it now!

Metal Slug: The Ultimate History – Book Review

December 5, 2019 By ausretrogamer

The very first game we bought when we got our Neo Geo MVS arcade machine was Metal Slug. That was quite a while ago, and we must admit, we have the series on pretty much every format – the games are that darn good!

Once we had heard that Bitmap Books was going to publish a book on this brilliant gaming franchise, our interests were obviously piqued. Upon receiving Metal Slug: The Ultimate History from Pixel Crib, we noticed this thing was heavy, which is a good thing when it comes to these kinds of publications.

If you have read any of our previous Bitmap Books book reviews, you’ll know what to expect from this published work of art – it oozes quality and quantity. When you hold a Bitmap Books tome in your hands, we guarantee you’ll be smiling from start to finish. Sam Dyer and his amazing team have done a wonderful job in bringing us a fully licensed art book on the Metal Slug series.

With unprecedented access to SNK‘s vast archives, this book contains some of the best high-resolution artwork (including concept artwork) and illustrations, with some being made publicly available for the very first time. Even though it is primarily an art book celebrating Metal Slug, this tome also contains eleven exclusive and detailed interviews with key members of the development team, including Kazuma Kujo, Takushi Hiyamuta, Andoh Kenji and Takeshi Okui, the latter two of which have never spoken about the series previously. These insightful discussions bust myths and reveal the real truth behind the creation and evolution of this esteemed franchise, extensively covering the formation of Nazca and the truth behind Metal Slug Zero – the version of Metal Slug when you only controlled the SV-001 tank. The book also dives into and explores the roots of Metal Slug, looking at Irem titles In the Hunt and GunForce II and how these arcade cult classics influenced what was to come later. This page turner is definitely a must for any fan of the Metal Slug series, and if you are into art, then this book is for you too.