I don’t even know where to start with AtGames Legends Ultimate home arcade cabinet, because its functions and functionality are almost daunting. With more than 300 games out of the box and additional wireless alerts, turning it on just poses an option crisis. Where does one even start with so many games? But outside the preinstalled library, an internet subscription service is available that provides many more titles. In fact, when I got here for analysis, AtGames has upgraded the device with an additional 47 Taito games.
It took a while to understand the vast library of the games, but finally I was able to distinguish wheat from the chaff. The AtGames Legends Ultimate is a fantastic home arcade with surprising additions, fresh and wonderful, and feels more like a filler.
A Review of Legends Ultimate
Games
The AtGames Legends Ultimate has 300 games to explore from the first boot-up. What I did not expect was that all of the games included are consoles. Many of the games have consoles and arcades available for play. It’s a curious preference, since I myself have no confidence in playing a lower edition of Missile Command Atari 2600 while I can play an original arcade on precisely the same console.
It’s still cool to go from the arcade of anything like Lunar Lander and pick up, say, Disney’s The Lion King’s version of SEGA Genesis straight away. Like I said, it doesn’t make any sense, but it doesn’t have an emphasis to distract from my fun.
Games run from the early 1980’s to classics such as Asteroids, Space Pirates, and Tempest, to the Atari of 2600 gaming like Adventure (and even its follow-up!) all the way to NeoGeo gama, like King of Fighters in 2003 (more on that later).
I have to admit that playing the old arcade games, some of which I actually played as a wee lad in real arcades, is terrific. For anyone like me, emulation is more than satisfactory. I didn’t note quirks that had been counterproductive to the experience. Unlimited free play was a child’s fantasy, and with so many arcade games in my hands I felt like the kid from Silver Spoons (look it up).
On console games, I’m a bit cooler. Although my first interest of home gaming was the Atari 2600, I don’t really like its games. For a second, it’s certainly good to replay them, long enough to remind me “Oh that’s right, these games are kind of bad,” but it’s about all the fun I can carry. The SEGA Genesis games are a strange addition. In my life I never thought, “Man I wish I could play this with arcade controls.” At the same time, as chaotic as the video games, it’s always enjoyable to play and add a layer of extra variance.
Controls of Ultimate Legend
Legends Ultimate supports the controller – you can plug in an Xbox controller and it functions without further configuration. The trap fits only in the UI and in the Arcade Net utility games. It’s a curious decision, one I don’t understand, because it would be much easier to play console games. I’m going to send Aladdin and The Lion King are actually really appropriate for arcade checks, but games like The Immortal? I didn’t expect? Not too many. Not so many.
With respect to the built-in controls, there is no game in the line-up without arcade precise control choices. There is a joystick and controls, perfect for most games, as well as a trackball and even a magnificent pair of games like Tempest.
Much of the standard is outstanding. The octagonal joystick is great for the included games and looks incredibly stable and abuse-resistant. The keys are clicky and sensitive. If you play the volume down, you can finally hear the springs and switches doing their magic. They feel like they’re going to beat. Perhaps the most fun controls of all are the spinner knobs. They have a marvellous weight, glide comfortably in their spin. There’s a tiny finger on the face to rotate the button, and the sides are structured to spin with the whole palm.
Compared to the other buttons, the single trackball in the middle is a failure. Where the others sound pretty good, the trackball is almost frightening to use. It doesn’t miss or get lost in the play process; it works very well with games such as Centipede. But it doesn’t feel as good as the rest of the buttons. There is a lack of smoothness there, as if it has so much resistance inside the shell, and I wonder how long it takes in contrast to the rest of the control deck.
Assembly of Legend Ultimate
AtGames Legends Ultimate was a snap together. In fact, I found it a little easier to assemble considering its larger size than the Arcade 1up cabinets, but the advantage is small because the two can easily be assembled with just one person. I took about 45 minutes from unpacking to powering and the instructions were succinct and simple to obey.
There was a segment at the end of the side panel notes, but it was not included in the edition I was sent to study. Since they are simply decorative, finishing touches, they have no relation to my opinion: assembling is not more complicated than any other piece of furniture put together.
UI and features of Ultimate Legend
The user interface is very basic, if not a little tedious. When you’re here, it’s pretty easy to get around, but it takes a bit of effort sometimes. You must press the menu button instead of just pressing on it with the joystick, for example, if you want to jump to a side navigation bar on the pick game screen. It’s easy enough, but not the menu icon. It’s not actually branded at all. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to find out that the one odd button in the middle is the menu button.
There are options for ArcadeNet at the top of the screen, payment for BYOG support, game library, and settings. These are picked with the joystick and you can reach where you want to be by fast clicking the A icon.
My main concern is that there are almost so many games.
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The number of options available in the menu settings is robust. Besides the normal stuff, there are even choices for users. Designed on a Raspberry Pi platform, the Legends Ultimate is a perfect package for coders, hackers and anyone else who wishes to take advantage of the system’s depths. Any involved online forums explore the… off-label capability of the Legends series if you wish to make homebrew adjustments.
My greatest concern is that nearly all games are so many. I know that sounds stupid, but without the Atari 2600 version of the Missile Command I feel like I should have done that if the much superior MAME version were already there. There are also occasions where both the arcade version and the 2600 version are included, and I cannot understand that anyone would want to play lower classic versions while the originals are right there. It would be like bringing in a legendary brick-oven pizzeria for a slice of Domino’s pizza.
Bring Your Own Game
In addition to the 300 included titles, AtGames allows “Bring Your Own Game” to download your favourite PC-based video game directly to the Legends cabinet, such as Steam, from PC streaming streaming channels.
I installed the app for local broadcasting on my gaming PC and changed the firmware for arcade using the instructions. After choosing the icon from my computer’s BYOG menu, I was shocked to find that not only selected games from my PC were streaming… my PC was streamed in complete. In other words, the AtGames Legend has turned into a remote terminal in which I could access my Windows desktop using trackball and a “A” command. It was much more than I planned and it was kind of different, but still pretty cool. I wanted to give my game library a go and picked the Mad Taxi Steam version to allow my wireless link to be adequate, and visual output dropped on DSL levels to YouTube sub-2011. Ah right, oh well.
You can also download games from AtGames itself, although the server consumption costs $1 per hour. If you wish, you can buy extra time and “bank” but I see no need, considering the 300 games that are inserted into the cabinet and the pace at which AtGames introduces new content.
Ultimate Legend Gameplay
With the entire range of controls integrated into the deck, arcade games play as expected and even strange console integrations work with arcade stick controls remarkably well. I found no visible pause in any power, and any button-push was immediately reported. Even the trackball’s rude feeling had little effect on gaming, it just felt bad.
What amazed me was how much my children were attracted to this magnificent arcade machine. They liked to play the classics and explore the various games and forms of power. It is a fun way to show them which arcades depicted with precise controls in a precise type factor.
Judgment
The AtGames legends does too much, if you have spare space and the funds to cover the expenses, it’s worth the investment. It’s the type of addition to your home where people can comment totally when they see it first, and its large range of games attracts more people.
