My first games-in-a-stick

[Brian R.]

I finally caved in and bought one of those games-in-a-controller thingees that have been out for so long and have multiplied like rabbits - I went with the Namco Ms Pac-Man collection.

 

I had avoided these for so long because for almost all of the games, I either have them on an Atari console (or several) or MAME on the PC. And also because from most of what I saw, the games were just messed up - whether they were supposed to be arcade versions or reproductions of 2600 games - the video and/or audio often were messed up.

 

But I remembered toying with a Ms. Pac unit at Best Buy and was impressed that it looked, sounded and felt nearly 100 percent accurate. So, armed with a 20 percent off coupon for TRU, I decided to get one. And I'm glad I did. Nice variety in the games - maze, shooting, platform, racing. There's just something about sitting down in front of the TV with an arcade style joystick that just can't be matched.

 

It's like having five arcade machines in my apartment. I'm gonna sound old here, but I doubt today's kids get it. When I was a kid, you'd have to go to an arcade to play games like this.

 

What's a bummer is that the one with Pac-Man on it, and also Dig Dug, just doesn't seem as good. The sounds are really screwed up.

 

Any thoughts on any of the other ones?

[Feralstorm]

I think the Ms. Pac stick is the best of the "arcade" sticks (that I've played)

 

Others I've experienced first-hand:

 

Atari Flashback (1): not worth the money, as most of the games on it are sloppy ports.

Pac-Man 5-in-1: Games play pretty well, but sound is rather off (I like this version of Rally-X better than arcade in MAME)

Atari Paddle (1 player) good ports overall. I like Arcade Warlords

C64 DTV: Joystick itself feels a little off, but games themselves are true C64 code, if not everyone's favorite choices.

[sku_u]

The only one I bought that I found worthwhile is the Space Invaders Collection one. The controls are surprisingly smooth.

[keilbaca]

The only one I bought that I found worthwhile is the Space Invaders Collection one.  The controls are surprisingly smooth.

859680[/snapback]

 

I hated that one. Yeah, Space Invaders was nice, but I wanted to play Qix and Phoenix, mainly Qix. It lagged sooo bad when it came to drawing the squares, I got pissed, gutted it and turned it into an Atari 2600 controller.

[vdub_bobby]

The only one I bought that I found worthwhile is the Space Invaders Collection one.  The controls are surprisingly smooth.

859680[/snapback]

 

I hated that one. Yeah, Space Invaders was nice, but I wanted to play Qix and Phoenix, mainly Qix. It lagged sooo bad when it came to drawing the squares, I got pissed, gutted it and turned it into an Atari 2600 controller.

859750[/snapback]

I've got the Atari (Jakks) 10-in-1, which is pretty lame.

I've also got the paddle one, which is pretty cool, I think. I've played plenty of Breakout/Super Breakout/Circus Atari and arcade Warlords on that one.

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

I've got the Atari (Jakks) 10-in-1, which is pretty lame.

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I have it too! I have only played two games of it so far though:

 

Adventure: I've beaten it once on all three levels. It's ok I think, but I never really liked the original.

 

Asteroids: This is quite fun. I exhausted a complete set of batteries on this version. Somehow it's even more fun than the flickery original.

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[Brian R.]

I'm still having a blast with this Ms. Pac controller. My favorites are definitely Ms Pac and Galaga, but I'm surprised by how much I'm enjoying Mappy.

 

Pole Position is OK. I just wish I could get past a lap or two in the race. How many does the race run? Four? Is it possible to finish?

 

The game I like least is Xevious. Slow, tedious, boring - in gameplay and visuals. I'm not even sure what the point of the game is. Just lousy. Well, one dud is OK, and the others more than make up for it.

 

I just wish instead of Xevious this thing had a good reproduction of Dig Dug on it. The one on the PacMan controller is messed up, just like PacMan is.

[tillenterprises]

I'm still having a blast with this Ms. Pac controller. My favorites are definitely Ms Pac and Galaga, but I'm surprised by how much I'm enjoying Mappy.

 

Pole Position is OK. I just wish I could get past a lap or two in the race. How many does the race run? Four? Is it possible to finish?

 

The game I like least is Xevious. Slow, tedious, boring - in gameplay and visuals. I'm not even sure what the point of the game is. Just lousy. Well, one dud is OK, and the others more than make up for it.

 

I just wish instead of Xevious this thing had a good reproduction of Dig Dug on it. The one on the PacMan controller is messed up, just like PacMan is.

861580[/snapback]

 

If you like the Ms. Pac one, you should buy the WIRELESS version. I just picked one up at Walmart, and the control on Ms Pac is much better! Plus- they added Bosconian and New Rally-X (probably because they screwed up the control on the Pac-Man stick- no diagonal movement, which they corrected on this version) It is also cool to be wireless- although it uses more batteries. I also love the Space Invaders one and the Atari paddle ones. The one to avoid is the Konami Arcade one- they used the crappy NES versions of the games, not the original arcade versions.

[Brian R.]

I'm still having a blast with this Ms. Pac controller. My favorites are definitely Ms Pac and Galaga, but I'm surprised by how much I'm enjoying Mappy.

 

Pole Position is OK. I just wish I could get past a lap or two in the race. How many does the race run? Four? Is it possible to finish?

 

The game I like least is Xevious. Slow, tedious, boring - in gameplay and visuals. I'm not even sure what the point of the game is. Just lousy. Well, one dud is OK, and the others more than make up for it.

 

I just wish instead of Xevious this thing had a good reproduction of Dig Dug on it. The one on the PacMan controller is messed up, just like PacMan is.

861580[/snapback]

 

If you like the Ms. Pac one, you should buy the WIRELESS version. I just picked one up at Walmart, and the control on Ms Pac is much better! Plus- they added Bosconian and New Rally-X (probably because they screwed up the control on the Pac-Man stick- no diagonal movement, which they corrected on this version) It is also cool to be wireless- although it uses more batteries. I also love the Space Invaders one and the Atari paddle ones. The one to avoid is the Konami Arcade one- they used the crappy NES versions of the games, not the original arcade versions.

861621[/snapback]

 

I saw the wireless version at WalMart. But it's price is about twice what I paid for the wired Ms Pac.

 

What's neat about the wireless one is how they kinda made the controller look like one of the old cocktail table games. I remember playing those in restaurants.

 

Something I've been wondering about is how long can I expect the batteries to work in my wired unit?

 

BTW, I've seen some of the reviews at Amazon bitching about the controller for playing Ms Pac. I haven't had a problem with it. Maybe you just need to be careful to push in the right direction, and not diagonally. I think when I first used it I had a problem doing down, but I quickly realized the problem was I was holding the unit crooked. Hasn't been an issue since.

Edited May 25, 2005 by Brian R.

[tillenterprises]

I have both the wired Ms. Pac stick and the wireless version, and the wireless version has much better control for Ms. Pac-Man. The stick seems "tighter", and I never miss the corridor that I'm trying to move in- the direction and response is right on with the wireless one. Plus- it's cool to be able to sit across the room and play it without a wire running from the TV. That being said, both the wired and wireless versions have the best home version of Pole Position! I've always sucked at the arcade version, but I really like the twisting joystick steering on the Ms. Pac sticks, and can really rack up the score.

[seventh sage]

I had a Jack's 5-in-1 which included Yar's and a few others.

The first couple days it was great, I really loved it, and I thought I got a great deal for $20. The clerk at GameStop couldn't get rid of their stock, so I figured I'd give it a go.

 

After a few days, the picture began to display pixels in weird places, and then after maybe 1 hour total of play time, the picture became worse and was just about unplayable.

 

I thought maybe I had some bad luck, a faulty one maybe, but then I thought that might've been the reason they weren't selling. They might've all been from a bad manufacturedstock.

 

It broke only after about a week, and I'm usually very gentle with my joysticks (lol), so that wasn't the problem.

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

After a few days, the picture began to display pixels in weird places, and then after maybe 1 hour total of play time, the picture became worse and was just about unplayable.

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Uhm... but you know that those things run on batteries?

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[jlh2600]

They are clearing all these things out like mad. Circuit City has the two player 13in1 paddles for 15 bucks now (though the one playver version has been under twenty for some time).

 

I imagine as we get closer to July, they will really be blowing them out.

[Brian R.]

They are clearing all these things out like mad.  Circuit City has the two player 13in1 paddles for 15 bucks now (though the one playver version has been under twenty for some time).

 

I imagine as we get closer to July, they will really be blowing them out.

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The ones with the poorly emulated 2600 games don't interest me. It's the arcade-authentic games like the Ms Pac collection that I want. And I'm still enjoying the Ms Pac collection.

 

About Ms. Pac, I've been able to get to the third maze, but not past it. At best I've cleared the third maze once, and end on the third maze the second time.

 

Is there a fourth maze?

 

I know the game goes like this:

First maze: Twice

Second maze: Three times

Third maze: How many times? Three? Four?

Fourth maze: Is there one?

[keilbaca]

Yes there is a 4th maze, quite interesting. Its the same as the arcade, and i dont have any shots up here...

 

I went to toys r us yesterday and i finally played on the infamous ms. pac stick. As much as the other ones suck, I must say that this one is by far the best one (didn't play the wireless one, although I loved the fact that it looked like a real arcade stick. I am most likely gonna pick one of these up and do a small project with it. Like a mini arcade or something. The game I was impressed with the most was Pole Position. Folks, this is by far the best controlling Pole Position game for ANY system at home. You will only find better at the arcade. Turning the knob made it perfect.

 

Got some attention too from other people when I made it to the 3rd and 4th mazes

Edited June 5, 2005 by keilbaca

[Happy_Dude]

I bought a Megadrive 6 in 1

partly because theres 3 games I don't have on it

And partly because it's a real megadrive

 

Is there a list of all these units somwhere?

[keilbaca]

I bought a Megadrive 6 in 1

partly because theres 3 games I don't have on it

And partly because it's a real megadrive 

 

Is there a list of all these units somwhere?

868248[/snapback]

 

Is it a real megadrive? That's aweseome if it is because I played one at Toys R Us and it looked to have a better composite audio/video signal than the genesis did itself. Would be interesting to tear apart and put a cartridge slot in.

[SumerNivek]

You didn't like the Namco 1 stick? Thats the one with Pac-Man. Thats the ONLY one I own and I love it. I guess I never noticed the sound problems. I am not going to buy the Ms. Pac-Man set because I can get that same set on XBox Live Arcade with the ability to post my high scores to the Arcade boards. =) Some nice, arcade-like competition right there!

[Brian R.]

You didn't like the Namco 1 stick?  Thats the one with Pac-Man.  Thats the ONLY one I own and I love it.  I guess I never noticed the sound problems.  I am not going to buy the Ms. Pac-Man set because I can get that same set on XBox Live Arcade with the ability to post my high scores to the Arcade boards.  =)  Some nice, arcade-like competition right there!

868343[/snapback]

 

Yup, the sound on the Namco 1 is royally screwed up. Pac-Man is kinda close, but Dig Dug just sucks. Combine that and it's a deal breaker for me.

 

So there is the fourth maze in Ms Pac. Damn. I'm lucky if I can get to the third maze. And if I make it there, I usually only clear it once.

 

I wish Ms Pac would award another bonus life after 20K, like Galaga does - at 20K and 70K, IIRC.

[Shannon]

The sega stick is pretty good. I got the second one as well but have not had time to play it.

 

Best I can tell the sound is off a little bit, but not bad enough to irritate like the PAC stick does.

[tillenterprises]

I own several of these sticks (I'm a sucker for cool packaging), and out of the ones I own, here's how I would rank them:

 

Must owns (in no particular order):

 

Ms. Pac-man wireless (wireless, and a fixed Bosconian and Rally-X)

Ms. Pac-Man wired

Space Invaders (great control, good emulation, and some obscure titles)

Atari Paddle (2 or 1 player)

Commodore 64 (very authentic play- uses C64 hardware)

 

 

Not bad, but not great, either- for collectibility purposes:

 

Atari Joystick (games are kind of off, but nice replica joystick)

Pac-Man (no diagonal movement on Bosconian, and sound is off)

Tetris (controllers are unique, but kind of awkward to use)

 

 

Avoid at all costs:

 

Konami Arcade (these aren't even the arcade versions- they look like the NES versions!)

[TrekkiELO]

Fourth maze: Is there one?

864820[/snapback]

 

It's dark blue and has an intermission between it and the third maze that shows Jr. Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man and Pac-Man.

 

The Atari 7800 version and best classic console conversion has this as well!

 

Signed,

 

Rick Vendl II

[TrekkiELO]

I own several of these sticks (I'm a sucker for cool packaging),

871225[/snapback]

 

Me too.

 

and out of the ones I own, here's how I would rank them:

 

Must owns (in no particular order):

 

Ms. Pac-man wireless (wireless, and a fixed Bosconian and Rally-X)

Ms. Pac-Man wired

Space Invaders (great control, good emulation, and some obscure titles)

Atari Paddle (2 or 1 player)

Commodore 64 (very authentic play- uses C64 hardware)

871225[/snapback]

 

Agreed, except I'd add both of Atari's Flashbacks when 2 comes out, then Jakk's Activision and Radica's Sega Genesis Volume 1.

 

Not bad, but not great, either- for collectibility purposes:

 

Atari Joystick (games are kind of off, but nice replica joystick)

Pac-Man (no diagonal movement on Bosconian, and sound is off)

Tetris (controllers are unique, but kind of awkward to use)

871225[/snapback]

 

I'd add Sega Genesis Volume 2, then place Jakk's Atari Joystick and Namco Pac-Man under your next category.

 

Avoid at all costs:

 

Konami Arcade (these aren't even the arcade versions- they look like the NES versions!)

871225[/snapback]

 

Totally agree with you on this one!

 

Signed,

 

Rick Vendl II

Edited June 17, 2005 by TrekkiELO

[Songbird]

So any opinions on the two-player Sega sports system? The one with two controllers and NHL 95 and Madden 95?

[keilbaca]

Hmmm, pac-man is a 4 way stick. Sounds like its a cheap way to get a replacement for my arcade, the stick on it is worn... *sighs*