Top 5 Playable Arcade Tributes in Classic Rare Games

by Lerako on Mar 20th, 2021

Flickering screens and quarter munching – the arcades were the slightly dim domains of the societally different.
Being slightly dim and very much different ourselves however, they were a home to us like any other, and we spent weeks getting to grips with the classics like Pac-Man, Defender, Galaxian and Space Invaders. The dream at the time was to be able to play the arcade at home, capturing the gameplay exactly as it appeared on-screen. While this has largely been accomplished thanks to ports and advancing technology, Rare was delivering their own novel effort of recreating choice arcade scenarios that are wholly playable in some of their classic games as bonus treats. Join us as we revisit our high-scores from yesteryear and experience these retro games all over again.
These are the Top 5 Playable Arcade Tributes in Rare Games.

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#5. BONUS BONES AND BOULDER DASH – MICKEY’S RACING ADVENTURE (GAME BOY COLOR)

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While you might expect a title like Mickey’s Racing Adventure to mostly concern itself with driving about colorful tracks and setting lap records, there’s variety to be found in a series of challenging puzzles to be completed by Mickey’s four-legged companion. Modeled after Arcade titles like ‘The Pit’ and ‘Boulder Dash’, Pluto’s bonus games task the precocious pup with tunneling his way through an underground grotto collecting a number of pink ‘Bonus Bones’. Like its arcade counterparts, digging too close to the boulders will cause them to tumble down shortly after, though this can be triggered like a trap to ground the efforts of Pete’s Bulldog, Butch. While it’s a bit of a detour from the racing adventure, we can appreciate the retro challenge that this game digs up.

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#4. DEFEATING THE GREAT MIGHTY GIRDER GRAPPLE – CONKER’S BAD FUR DAY (NINTENDO 64)

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Players looking to relive the staggering heights of Donkey Kong Arcade on a 64-bit platform without owning Donkey Kong 64 will rejoice to find that Conker’s Bad Fur Day has an ideal set-up in the Pruned sub-chapter of Barn Boys. Tasked with reaching a valve high above the arena below, Conker will need to run along a sloped roof while avoiding the dropping… erm… droppings. Avoiding the barrel-sized jobbies is made easier with your ‘helicoptery tail’ move, and you can also side-step their approach entirely; a feature sorely missing in the Arcade due to the lack of third dimension. If anything, Conker’s Bad Fur Day introduces a higher threshold of realism to the challenge, with an obstacle more likely for an ape to throw, and something you’d definitely need to call a Plumber for.

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#3. PAC-MAN AND PONG IN THE COMBAT SIMULATOR – PERFECT DARK GBC (GAME BOY COLOR)

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Perfect Agents that manage to complete Joanna Dark’s portable campaign with 100% completion will have the ability to play two secret multiplayer modes with friends. Rescuing all of the hostages in each mission will unlock the ‘Classic Arcade’; a large neon maze-like area that takes direct inspiration from Pac-Man – even the placement of Med-Kits and Weapons share the larger spotlights intended for Power Pellets. The second secret feature in Perfect Dark GBC can be found by taking a precise shot at a flying hawk in Sniper Mode. Clipping the bird and completing the challenge in the replay menu will unlock the ‘Air Hockey’ Multiplayer Mode. Additional facades can be unlocked to change the look of the table, but it owes its gameplay and design to the arcade classic, PONG.

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#2. SPACE INVADERS ON GOLDWOOD AND CERULEAN – JET FORCE GEMINI (NINTENDO 64)

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If you’re especially observant, you’ll notice that some of Mizar’s Airborne Squadrons seem to be executing familiar ‘space themed’ military strategies in Jet Force Gemini. On Goldwood, you’ll discover the Stealth Drones silently strafe in a cluster before a single unit breaks from the ranks to lay down some fire before returning – an attack pattern shared with the alien convoys in Galaxian. The cosmic battlezone continues with Vela, where touring a cavern on Planet Cerulean reveals a squadron of Cyclops Drones. Rather than pursuing the Star Twin, these drones will ignore her entirely, soaring through the air like a rollercoaster free from its track. From the ground, you’ll be able to seek out individual units and blast them away from the main ‘trail’, in a similar manner to Centipede.

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#1. BABOON CATACOMB’S PAC-MAN BACKLASH THROWBACK – BLAST CORPS. (NINTENDO 64)

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It’s a race against time in Blast Corps., as you’ll need to tear down anything that stands in the way of the rampant missile carrier before a wanton collision causes nuclear fallout! If this all seems a bit stressful, you’ll have the option to jump into some Side Missions where things become substantially more surreal – like pushing TNT into corner pockets on a giant Billiards table, for instance. If you want to take things back to the arcade however, you’ll find that ‘Baboon Catacomb’ will transform the landscape into a Pac-Man Maze. Controlling Backlash, you’ll have two minutes to collect 224 power pellets… erm, RDU’s whilst avoiding the four patrolling Bulldozers that have been painted to resemble the ghostly Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde. We’ve got Pac-Man fever all over again!

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