Customer Reviews

Data East Arcade Classics

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I love arcade compilation. I don't care what company it is, I'll buy an arcade compilation. I bought both Taito Legends games even though I never stopped to play them at the arcade. I got both Capcom arcades and glad I bought them.

Then I heard Data East was coming out with an arcade compilation. I was more excited about Caveman Ninja more than anything else. Second on my list was Bad Dudes. This was supposed to be coming out at the same time as Bioshock 2 and as much as I loved Bioshock, I was more excited about this.

I had to order it through Amazon because the game was hard to find. What did I think of it as I finally played it? Disappointment. It wasn't all bad. It's just that why is it that such games like Bad Dudes and Secret Agent can have unlimited lives at the same spot but with Caveman Ninja, the one I anticipated the most, start you off at a save point where nine times out of ten you would have to face the end boss all over again.

I even played it on 2-player and let me tell you, if you and your partner dies at the same time, it's about the same thing as one player. You will start back at a certain point. We managed to beat it but I'll probably never play it again or stick with Joe and Mac for SNES.

The other games were good. I enjoyed Bad Dudes, Secret Agent and I was surprised that I liked Magical Drop 3 and Wizard Fire. The rest of the games are pretty much filler. That's how these companies work it. They showcase their popular titles and then litter it with smaller arcade games that most people never cared about in the first place.

I don't regret buying Data East Arcade Classics and I advise that anyone is thinking about purchasing, don't hesitate. This is a hard game to find and could probably be a collection item in the future. I'm still waiting for Konami to come out with a true arcade compilation for the consoles. Bonus if they include Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Simpsons! One can dream...

Length:: 7:04 Mins

I review mainly 3rd party games for the Wii. To see more of my reviews go to youtube.com/wiiviewr

I've been waiting a LONG time for some type of Data East collection to be released. In the 90's, Midway/Williams started the trend by releasing a collection of arcade hits for the Playstation 1. Then Namco followed suit by releasing a series of Namco Museums also for the PS1. Other popular arcade companies such as Capcom, Taito, and SNK also had theirs.

Finally now, we get Data East's long buried collection of arcade hits. I like this collection a lot except that I would have liked to have more than just 15 games. Remember, certain collections on the PS2 had well over 30 games. Of course, you get the standard unlockables such as soundtracks and galleries as well as the ability to pause, save, and load at any point during the game.

Games that I would like to see for a second collection include Karate Champ, Joe & Mac Returns, Diet Go Go, and Dunk Dream 95. Some licensed games that I would also like to see, but doubt it will ever come out, include Robocop 1 & 2, Captain America & The Avengers, and The Real Ghostbusters. If you are a fan of 80's & 90's arcade games, then get this collection and relive the times.

Like with the PS2 Midway Arcade classic trilogy and Namco here's another great classic collection for us long ago arcade players of the early 80's and 90's for us to have and play again fondly. Like the previous mentioned games this one probably wont appeal to the younger generation of players who've grown accustomed to games like Modern Warfare an the like, but when I play Burger time and the other games it does take me back fondly to those memories of yesteryear like with the Midway arcade classics do and while the graphics are of course outdated I still love them regardless. The multitude of games here is amazing and for twenty dollars a real bargain for any classic game player or collector, the extras an the like are also very neat but for myself I just want to play these games like I did before when you counted how high your score was rather than just finishing the missions and continuing to your next wave point. So for any player who remembers the 80's-90's arcade games here's a great one to own but for any new generation gamer or those still on the line I do advise checking out a demo or going to a game store to try it to see if it's one for your game library.....

When I first saw this game, my warm memories of these old Data East titles (especially "Bad Dudes" and "BurgerTime") made me realize this would be a must-buy game for my collection. And despite some stumbles, it's absolutely worth it! It's easy to criticize from a modern context the way many of these games are a bit sloppier than many of us who played them in arcades years ago might remember... sticky controls, patchy hit detection, and unfair numbers of enemies who swarm you relentlessly from every angle, giving you no chance to last even five seconds without taking some amount of damage. In the context of yesteryear, these were deliberate game designs meant to turn these games into profitable, quarter-munching arcade cabinets. Today, it just makes the games frustrating. But to balance that out, these perfect emulations provide you with a limitless supply of "virtual" quarters, so you can keep on playing through to the end without bleeding your wallet dry! This may remove some of the inherent challenge that draws players to video games, but collections like this are designed more to evoke warm memories of the old days from us older aracade-going folk than to really appeal to newer, younger gamers... although they, owe it to themselves to give games like this a spin in order to appreciate gaming's awesome past!

Now, on to the games. I knew "Bad Dudes" and "BurgerTime" would be my main reasons for buying this disc, and their retro-riffic appeal has not diminished! I was also delighted to discover "Heavy Barrel," a frantic military shooter, and "Burnin' Rubber," which was later ported to the NES as the classic "Bump n' Jump." "Wizard Fire" and "Secret Agent" are also delightful action games that were new discoveries for me. There are some duds to be found here, for sure... "Express Raiders" is awful and "Crude Busters" is just a sloppy version of "Bad Dudes," but the quality games on this collection more than make up for them.

Now to get critical. Even though it's the collection of games we buy discs like this for, presentation DOES matter. The menu system here is an unintuitive wreck, requiring you to hit all sorts of buttons for navigation that make no sense to any seasoned gamer. Progressing through each game also unlocks various "goals," most of which are pointless and uninteresting like arcade marquees and mostly lame game music, but are also presented afterwards in a way that makes it all difficult to locate and view. You can connect your high scores to your Mii, but this seems to serve absolutely zero purpose after selecting your Mii in the first place; you'll never see it again in any context, and there are no user-specific save files utilized here. Oh, and there is no widescreen support, so most games (and even the title screen, menus and load screens) will have a stretched-out look to them if you're playing on a widescreen TV.

My biggest gripe about this game pertains directly to its game save methods. Yes, you can exit a game and come back to it later where you left off, and yes, you can save your various unlocked goals. Unfortunately for me, after playing and unlocking stuff for over an hour, I revisited the game a couple days later only to find all my stuff completely wiped out. Games in this era have auto-save features, right? Apparently not, because THIS game requires you to exit from every title you play into a sub-menu where you MUST order the game to save your progress and goals, or else it'll all be lost automatically. This may not be a big deal because there's nothing significant here really worthy of saving, but it still burns to watch your goals erased because you sensibly expected the game to auto-save for you. I am perpetually baffled by whatever reasons might exist for this to have not been included.

All told, this collection is very much worthy of purchase--especially if you're an old-school retro arcade gamer like me--for the enjoyment and warm nostalgia that will be evoked by the classic titles it includes (even if you have to take a few duds along with the package). Eventually you'll get used to the manual saves and the unintuitive menu layouts and find yourself just enjoying the pure retro goodness that was your whole reason for buying this in the first place! If you're like me, really, the only lingering question you'll still have in your mind will be: "Why didn't they include Karnov?" THAT was a Data East classic whose absence sticks out like a sore thumb, and Karnov's appearance as a boss enemy in "Bad Dudes" doesn't count!

The CLASSIC BurgerTime for WII.

Need I say more? All the other games are simply a bonus. Excellent value for the money.

As a video gamer who grew up during the 80s, I have visited many arcades and have come to know Data East. They were one of several companies who released several arcade classics during its hey day and many of them have been ported over to several gaming consoles including the NES and Genesis systems. When word came out that they were doing a compilation of some of their best games, I was excited. So here's how this compilation breaks down:

- 15 classic arcade titles from the early 1980s to the mid 1990s ranging from shooters, racing, side scrollers, puzzle, sports and a light RPG.

- In game achievement system where you earn medals for completing various objectives within the individual titles.

- Earning medals unlocks additional content like a hard difficulty mode, arcade banners, original posters/ads and the ability to play individual music tracks from all of the titles.

- 2 player co op support for most titles; some let you alternate between players while high scores are saved on your Wii memory. You can also attach your Miis to your high scores as well.


THE GOOD: All 15 arcade titles are exact copies of what you played while standing in front of the cabinet. Of the top, you will recognize half of these games. The in-game achievements motivate you to unlock the extra content. 2 player support means you can play these games with your friends anytime. The compilation supports the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, the Classic Controller and Classic Controller Pro and the Gamecube controller. And the obvious benefit: no quarters needed! :P

THE BAD: This compilation offers a very, bland presentation. Intro and select menus are very basic and feel like the design was done at the last minute. Once you unlock all the features, that's it; don't expect to find hidden games. As I stated before, you'll immediately recognize half of the games (Bad Dudes, Caveman Ninja, Burgertime, Heavy Barrel, Magical Drop III and Secret Agent AKA Sly Spy) the others aren't so well known and not that great (Burnin' Rubber, Lock'n' Chase and Side Pocket should have been left off.) Forget about their arcade titles based on licensed products because of their potential legal issues, you won't find them here (Robocop, The Real Ghostbusters and Captain America and the Avengers come to mind.)

Data East has produced many arcade games so it remains to be seen if they will release a second compilation. I guess that depends of how well this compilation sells. If you loved arcade games of the past and you liked the games from Data East in particular, go out and buy this. Since this was originally released for $19.99, you can find this now cheaper, whether new or used.

I was excited to get this collection and take a trip down memory lane with burgertime and lock n chase especially. The games work okay and as I remember but a few things stood out to you should be aware. The menu system is less than simple with pressing various buttons on the remote to finally start playing. The other issues (and much more annoying) are the controls and game speed. The burgertime characters move are pretty fast. Much faster than in the original game. The problem with the controls are that they seem awkward, and finicky. You use the cross pad mostly but it was difficult to get the chef to go left and right. This was compounded by the speed of the entire game ( I am assuming not speed corrected for the much faster processor of the wii).
Overall its a great way to get lots of old classic games on a more modern system but not a perfect translation.

Great game for the price you can't never go wrong with these classic game. Sometimes these games give you a hand full of games and you only like some, but the one you love make up for the boring ones. What more can you ask for, if you had all your favorite games then there's no telling how much it'll cost.

I am so glad that this compilation of games finally came out by this INCREDIBLE COMPANY(DATA EAST was always my favotite video game development company)! The games on this compilation are above average (BAD DUDES ROCKS), however, two very essential titles are missing (KID NIKI RADICAL NINJA and KARNOV). Other than that, this is classic gaming at its best!!!Because of this, I gaive this four stars.