King of the Arcade Review (Xbox Series S)

by Jim Smale · Published June 2, 2023 · Updated June 2, 2023

For our King of the Arcade Review, where we step into the neon-lit world of King of the Arcade, where the 80s never died. Take on the role of Mac McCormick, a former arcade champion who has fallen on hard times, as he fights to save Castle’s Arcade from a hostile takeover by the ruthless landlord Jimmy Joysticks and the seven members of his arcade gang.

King of the Arcade Review Pros:

Decent graphics.
5.7GB download size.
1000 Gamerscore.
Mini-game compilation gameplay.
Two game modes – story, and private arcade.
The story mode revolves around you helping your boss fight off a hostile takeover of the arcade by beating the opponent’s games.
Online leaderboards for the games.
When in the arcade you are free to walk around.
The story mode challenges can be done in any order you like.
Simple familiar controls for each game.
Retro arcade atmosphere.
All the games are played as a fullscreen experience.
In-game cutscenes.
Nods to other games Franchises and movies.
You can skip cutscenes and interactions.
All games are a take on famous games like Duck Hunt and Streets Of Rage but they go by a different yet obvious what it is name.
A nice little trip down memory lane.
You can play mobile games.

King of the Arcade Review Cons:

The voices all sound like a text-to-speech program is being used, it’s fine but also not.
You don’t always get told the controls or objectives of a game.
The controls are not all perfect the driving is really loose and the timing of shots in basketball is delayed.
No camera view distance button so it can be hard to navigate the arcade at times.
The games do t have a restart button and instead you have to leave and then return to the game.
Some of the games are very tedious to play.
A lot of the QTE instances require precision or a restart.
The light gun-based games do not play well at all.

Related Post: Dark Quest 3 Review (PlayStation 4)

King of the Arcade:

Official website.

Developer: Super-Villain Games

Publisher: Super Villain Games

Store Links –

Xbox

7/10

Graphics - 7/10
7/10

Sound - 7/10
7/10

Accessibility - 7/10
7/10

Length - 7/10
8/10

Fun Factor - 8/10

7.2/10

Summary

I see what they are going for here and I appreciate it a lot but it’s the actual gameplay of the games that let it all down. There isn’t one game that plays really well it’s either bad or just barely passable and it’s just frustrating more than anything. Like I say it has like 40 games and some are good and some are bad but as a package, it could have been a huge deal. I mean who doesn’t want to wander around an arcade and have every game playable, have most of the games using an online leaderboard, no it’s not the idea that’s the downer it’s just the loose not always obvious controls that let nearly every game down. Light gun games are too sluggish to work as intended, rhythm action games or any precision-based one have a weird button input lag, and driving games are so loose it’s like you have trolley wheels on ice going downhill whilst having your eyesight impaired by a rampant raccoon who has decided that your left nostril is its new mate. I hate having to sound so negative but it’s just not fun, tighter controls and you have a real winner but for now, I’m going to keep my coins and stay home.