A subscription service known as Antstream Arcade, which releases free and legal streams of classic arcade games, has now come to Xbox. Its vast library includes up to 1300+ classic games and now Xbox owners have the chance to play any one of those 1300+ titles. Some of the more notable games include Pac-Man, Double Dragon, Joust, Burger Time, and Mortal Kombat.
Some of the games are less notable, take for instance, the Amiga barbarian game Sword of Sodan. This game offers a bloody (perhaps too bloody) and rough-edged gameplay experience. The game is also noted to be as equally difficult as it is bloody and violent. Continually, the sprites are depicted to be larger than life and strong energy radiates from its grunt-like characters.
Other games include an Indiana Jones-esque 1990 arcade game called The Cliffhanger: Edward Randy. This game includes a fast-paced storyline and a rapidly advancing platformer design.
Some of the features unique to Antstream’s service is the addition of challenges that are unlocked as you progress through the vast array of games. These are called medals and they include: Scoring points in a single life, defeating opponents within a timeframe, and earning upgrades on a character. These medals give players the opportunity to play classic games in unique ways and the chance to earn achievements that would otherwise be unavailable in the original editions of these games. Additionally, these medals can be tracked. This means that you can see how you fare against your friends as you compete to have more medals than them. Not only can you compete against your friends in this respect but you can also see how you fare against other players via the leaderboard. In the leaderboard, you can see how you stack up against players from all over.
Some of the drawbacks to Antsream’s service include the inability to map controls. Each game has set controls and they cannot be rewired. What this means is that players cannot map specific buttons on their controllers. Say, for instance, you want the ‘kick’ button to be mapped on the ‘A’ button or the ‘punch’ button to be mapped on the ‘B’ button. Every game will not allow you to do so. However, the game maps those controls stay that way and cannot be changed.
Antstream’s list of classic games is exciting news for Xbox owners. With so many games to choose from, surely every gamer can find one to enjoy.