How good is Activision Anthology for GameBoy Advance?

[Room 34]

OK, I'm thinking about getting Activision Anthology for GBA, but I feel burned by the mediocre versions of the games in Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits. I think the Namco Museum collection is a lot better, but still not a great experience. (The games at least look and feel right, but since most are vertically-oriented in the arcades, they're either shrunken down or they scroll, both of which detract significantly from the gameplay for me.)

 

I want to hear some serious scrutiny of the Activision Anthology before I plunk down any cash for it. How good is the emulation (if it IS emulation) or recreation of the gameplay? How are the controls? Did they have to do anything funky with the games visually to fit the screen?

 

Also... if anyone's interested, I'd be willing to trade GBA versions of both Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits (if I didn't already discourage you from this one too much) AND Need for Speed Porsche Unleashed in exchange for a copy of Activision Anthology. (PM me for that... BTW, I also have the boxes and manuals for the games, in mint condition, and am looking for the same.)

[+Random Terrain]

Check out this thread:

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=39322

 

You have to really like Activision games to enjoy it. I don't like enough Activision games to stay interested. I have also come to realize that I hate tiny screens, so that's another problem. If you like tiny screens and Activision games, you'll probably love it. Now if it was the Imagic Anthology, I'd learn to live with the tiny screen.

[Room 34]

Sorry... I should've searched for an old thread. Too early in the morning.

 

Thanks for the link!

[Flojomojo]

It's great. Get it. Don't think. One of the best GBA games out there, IMHO.

[figgler]

It's great.  Get it.  Don't think.  One of the best GBA games out there, IMHO.

 

Yup.

 

Don't forget it's got several homebrews on there too. Skeleton + on the bus? Damn straight

[joeybastard]

There's a few clinkers but overall I think it's great. Pressure Cooker on the train to work is one of the great joys of life.

[128bytes]

Get it. It's one of the few GBA games I own and I play it a lot. It's fun for the patch unlocking alone! Great selection of homebrews (Space Treat Deluxe, Climber 5, Vault Assault, Oystron, and others) too...

[128bytes]

To answer your other question: It's emulation. Real Activision ROMS. Buy it and you will possess a full, legally purchased, set of Acti ROMS in your palm.

[128bytes]

There's a few clinkers but overall I think it's great.  Pressure Cooker on the train to work is one of the great joys of life.

 

Joeybastard, have you ever played the Pressure Cooker theme on the guitar? The song rocks.

[joeybastard]

There's a few clinkers but overall I think it's great.  Pressure Cooker on the train to work is one of the great joys of life.

 

Joeybastard, have you ever played the Pressure Cooker theme on the guitar? The song rocks.

 

I have screwed around with lots of videogame songs including Pressure Cooker. I always liked the short phrase repetition of old game music, in fact Moon Patrol was one of my inspirations to learn to play guitar.

 

Game show themes are the same way. The Card Sharks theme played fast with distortion sound %@#$@ great

[+Random Terrain]

Game show themes are the same way.  The Card Sharks theme played fast with distortion sound %@#$@ great

This is very off topic, but what you said there reminds me of when I got a Rick Springfield album from the library back in the mid 1980s and when I heard the instrumental song, S.F.O., I played it at a higher speed on the record player and that improved the song greatly.

[+FujiSkunk]

Activision Anthology isn't all that great if you're a stickler for details. The games are emulated, so the original code is there, but the emulation is slow and choppy. Some games suffer from this more than others. H.E.R.O. in particular is unplayable, in my opinion.

 

Having said that, it is a good package to buy if you're just looking for legal copies of all the games, including several homebrews.

[MegaManFan]

All I can say is when I want a quick fix of Frostbite or Megamania, it's really hard to beat. I always wonder why people complain about small screens - it's not like you're going to play a portable system 20 feet away from your face. If you hold it up with your hands the normal distance from your eyes, it's no different from reading a book, and particularly on the latest GBA SP generation the screens are particularly bright and clear, especially compared to the original (and much clunkier) Advance.

 

In short, two thumbs up for the GBA Activision Anthology. In some ways I enjoy it much more than the PS2 version (Pitfall II was so buggy in that one it drove me nuts).

[+Random Terrain]

I always wonder why people complain about small screens - it's not like you're going to play a portable system 20 feet away from your face.  If you hold it up with your hands the normal distance from your eyes, it's no different from reading a book, and particularly on the latest GBA SP generation the screens are particularly bright and clear, especially compared to the original (and much clunkier) Advance.

Could it be that not all eyes are the same? Whatever you think is a 'normal distance' is only a normal distance for you and those with similar eyes. We are not all 'blessed' with nerdly nearsightedness. With or without glasses, I have never been able to have things too close to my eyes. I need things to be at least an arm's length away. That's why I can read text on a computer screen better than a book or magazine.

 

Maybe the PSP's screen will be a better size for me. Still won't change the fact that I like Imagic games better than most Activision games.

[MegaManFan]

I thought you didn't need glasses any more after changing your diet... but anyway I've got a pair of lenses just like anybody else, and the GBA SP has +never+ bothered me. And I'm somewhat pickier than most about screens and clarity - I'm sitting in front of a Sony high res flat screen 17 inch which I use for work all day long. Believe me, clarity matters, and the SP has it.

[JB]

and particularly on the latest GBA SP generation the screens are particularly bright and clear, especially compared to the original (and much clunkier) Advance.

No way. The SP is WAY worse than the original.

There's a serious reflection problem that generates a ghost image stepped up about a quarter inch above the real one, the light washes ALL the detail out, and it's too dark to play without the light.

None of these flaws are present on the original GBA in my experience.

 

 

I've heard people complaining about lighting, but I don't see a problem(no pun intended).

...

Unless I'm playing Circle of the Moon, which I don't think was ever playtested on a real system.

[+Random Terrain]

I thought you didn't need glasses any more after changing your diet...

That's why I said, "with or without glasses, I have never been able to. . ." Since I changed my diet, my eyes don't hurt and things look more like they used to, but I still can't have stuff too close to me. Never have been able to do that with glasses or without them.

 

 

II've got a pair of lenses just like anybody else, and the GBA SP has +never+ bothered me.

And again, that's great for you and those who have similar vision, but not everyone sees like you do. I'm more far sighted.

 

 

And I'm somewhat pickier than most about screens and clarity - I'm sitting in front of a Sony high res flat screen 17 inch which I use for work all day long.  Believe me, clarity matters, and the SP has it.

When I have played it in the car (in the day), I still have to have the light on which gives every game a bluish tint. That sucks, plus, the screen has a bad reflection problem. I'm having to constantly adjust the angle of the game because the reflection of me is stronger than the game image. I have a small color TV and it has no reflection problems. Forget about clarity if you can't see the screen because of the reflections and the color is never right because of the bluish light you always have to keep turned on.

 

The GBA SP is great to have as an emergency light, but I wouldn't cry if I never played another game on it.

[pmpddytim]

Activision anthology is pretty much always in the GBA slot on my DS (I like the DS screen(s) better than the gba sp one, much sharper). Some of the games are not perfect but most of them are very good. The added homebrews are a great touch and it has quite a bit of interesting reading about the Activision history.

 

Another two thumbs up from me.

 

Now if only Atari would make an anthology with around 80 games on it and Imagic would make a good gba cart I would be set.

 

-Tim

[Room 34]

OK, I bought it. Haven't played it yet.

 

I saw it downtown at EB Games but I was not going to pay $26.99 for an opened copy with their *@(% price sticker on the box.

 

I was at the Mall of America tonight, and no sign of it anywhere. Of course, the fact that two of the mall's game stores have closed within the last month was not a good sign. But I checked at the sole remaining Gamestop, plus Sam Goody and Sears, and no sign of it.

 

I already knew the big Best Buy in Richfield didn't have squat for GBA, so I went to the hidden gem -- the mini Best Buy in Edina, and there, tucked away, was one remaining copy for $19.99!

[vb_master]

Buy it now, nuf' said.

[Room 34]

I am eager to play it but I have to wait until my 2-year-old goes to bed. I am trying my best (and so far, succeeding) to keep him from even knowing I own the GBA Sp at all... the results could be disastrous!

[Albert]

OK, I bought it.  Haven't played it yet.

 

I saw it downtown at EB Games but I was not going to pay $26.99 for an opened copy with their *@(% price sticker on the box.

 

My pet peeve with stores like this (and I worked at EB a long time ago) is how they take one game out of the box, so they can put the empty box out on display. When i worked there, we would always shrinkwrap the empty box and put the price sticker on it. Then when a customer buys the last copy, at least they get a box that's in relatively good condition without a price tag permanently affixed to the box.

 

I will never buy the last copy of a game like this from EB or another store. These display copies were the ones we would take home to play, and I don't doubt that EB still allows employees to do that. Then they turn around and sell these opened, used games as if they're new.

 

I was at the Mall of America tonight, and no sign of it anywhere. Of course, the fact that two of the mall's game stores have closed within the last month was not a good sign. But I checked at the sole remaining Gamestop, plus Sam Goody and Sears, and no sign of it.

 

The Mall of America had more than one Gamestop? I know it's a big mall, but that does seem a bit overkill. Although the last time I was at the Houston Galleria I noticed it has more than one Starbucks.

 

..Al

[bergbros2]

I think Activision Anthology is a perfect fit for the GBA with 60+ pick up and play games. Though not perfect emulation, there are games that still are playable after all of these years. I am surprised that I like Private Eye, Pressure Cooker and Keystone Kapers are still good. Some are horribly dated like Starmaster and Pitfall! Some you just really can't play on the GBA like Decathalon and Kaboom!! (Sorry, this game was meant for paddles). But still, for $20 there is much quality to be had and a much vetter value than 85% of the junk put out on the system. Now if they only included Imagic games, this would have been all of that and a ba of chips.

[Room 34]

My pet peeve with stores like this (and I worked at EB a long time ago) is how they take one game out of the box, so they can put the empty box out on display.

Yes, very annoying. Of course, as a GameCube owner, I've gotten used to the fact that they usually ONLY have one copy of any game I want, so I will ALWAYS end up with the stickered-up box. (But at least with the Cube games, I can take Goo Gone to the case without worry; I don't think I would EVER buy a GBA game there.)

 

The Mall of America had more than one Gamestop?

Yes, there used to be two. There are a few other stores that have multiple locations in the mall, although several of those have consolidated. There are also a lot of low-end closeout/99 cent type stores in the mall now. It's huge, but it's pretty crappy. I don't go there because it's the biggest mall in the country; I only go because it's the closest mall to my house.

 

Although the last time I was at the Houston Galleria I noticed it has more than one Starbucks.

I counted at least FOUR Caribou Coffees at the mall tonight. Those things are spreading like weeds at the place. I used to think that bit on the one Simpsons episode where every space in the mall turned into a Starbucks was absurd, but these days it seems plausible.

[Room 34]

OK, well I've played a few of the games in the anthology now, and so far I am pretty impressed. The ones I played all felt slightly sluggish (especially H.E.R.O., which I found disappointing), but they are really quite good... far superior to the crap on the Midway collection.