Game Reviews

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Video Reviews
Written Reviews

Here is a collection of the video reviews that are on the Arcade Heroes Youtube channel, most recent on down. Scroll down for written reviews.

Added 5/28/2020:

Older Reviews:

Need help finding reviews for the latest console or mobile game to hit the market? Well those are a dime a dozen. Arcade game reviews on the other hand are as rare as the balanced budget. As such, here are reviews from myself and some other associates of Arcade Heroes where we take a look at the latest games on the market and give you our honest opinion about them. Focus is primarily on new games which do not receive the same level of review attention that older games already have over the years. The review format is similar to what you find out there and I can’t say I have a schtick of being angry or foul-mouthed about it – I just want to share what I really think about these games. Fortunately as arcades offer a unified front on the hardware this means that we can judge that aspect of the games as well as true arcade games are not the same without that aspect of it.

After the meat of the review I break down some of the aspects of the game into the following categories. We do not use a ratings system as it is far too easy for scores to be decided arbitrarily:

GRAPHICS– How the game presents the on-screen action which can include the screen itself and the type of display used.

SOUND– Sound effects and the soundtrack are just as essential to a game as graphics. Both the game generated sounds and the hardware is considered

CONTROL – Arcades can go in any direction they want to when it comes to controls although many follow a tried and true method like a joystick or a steering wheel, others will attempt to innovate. Those factors as well as effectiveness are considered.

CABINET– The box your game comes in at home doesn’t affect the game itself but that is not the case with arcades. The cabinet design can completely change the feel of a game as it is the platter the game is ultimately presented on. The cabinet can be used not only to attract people to the game but to present technology used in an appropriate, intuitive manner – or not. Differences in cabinet design will also be considered.

ENTERTAINMENT – The overall package of how fun and replayable a game is, along with offered content that makes a game interesting or makes it terrible.

RECOMMENDED?– Whether the game is recommended worth playing (for gamers) or buying (for operators).

THE GAMES

As listed in alphabetical order

Big Buck HD by Play Mechanix/Raw Thrills (Review: 6/15/12)

Cruis’n Blast by Raw Thrills/Nintendo (Review: 6/1/2020)

Dariusburst Another Chronicle by Taito (Review: 6/14/12)

Dirty Drivin’ by Specular Interactive/Raw Thrills (Review: 6/23/12)

FRICTION by Friction Game Studios (Review: 7/4/12)

Lightning Knights by Tikipod/exA-Arcadia (Review: 7/22/21)

Maximum Tune 5 by Bandai Namco Amusement America (Review: 7/21/20)

Operation G.H.O.S.T by Sega (Review: 6/16/12)

Over The Top by Andamiro (Review: 6/23/12)