{tag [Review]} {tag [PC]}

Joystick Johnny features a pleasant and varied list of arcade classics replicas. There are approximately 25 different games to choose from, including clones of Asteroids, Space Invaders, Pac Man, Frogger, Missile Command, Spy Hunter, and Joust. 

I found that all of the clones perform just like the originals, so the gameplay of Joystick Johnny was enjoyable, but the game doesn’t come with instructions so if you haven’t played a particular arcade classic before, you are forced to decipher it on your own. 

Graphics – 85%
Joystick Johnny really captures the atmosphere of the classic arcade games. It features low-resolution graphics, which are sufficient to achieve that early arcade look and feel. The game does a decent job of representing these classics with some minor changes that were obvious attempts to avoid copyright infringement (like replacing asteroids with pizzas, for example).

Sound – 80%
Joystick Johnny has a generic 80’s-like music mix. Overall, it looks and sounds just like it should for what it is attempting to accomplish. The sound is in stereo, but often monotonous.

Gameplay – 90%
The game contains three arcades in which you need to beat thirteen games in a fixed amount of time. Every time you die, you lose five seconds off of the remaining time; the game is basically a race against the clock. You can adjust the difficulty to allow for more and less time; harder levels will add more bonus points to your score. I found the style fun and challenging but the lack of a “Save” function meant that you had to complete the level before you could stop or regroup.

Gameplay within each arcade clone is similar to the original coin-op classics.  Although I enjoyed them for the most part, the inclusion of in-game instructions would have increased my satisfaction.  Some of the games I had to play two or three times just to discern the goal.

Controls/Interface – 80%
Gamers can use the keyboard, which works well on most of the games, but a joystick gives you the ability to move at angles easier.  But after playing the game with both the keyboard and the joystick, I found the keyboard somewhat easier.

Summary – 84%
I found Joystick Johnny to be a faithful representation of the old 80’s arcade classics and found myself smiling at some of the games that I found inside this package. The gameplay is close to what you remember and Joystick Johnny will obviously have more appeal for people like me, who grew up playing these games in the arcade, oh so many years ago.

(I also was pleasantly surprised that Joystick Johnny was written by indy-designer Joe Lesko, who is originally from Kenosha, WI, which is near the Generation: Gamerz HQ.)

If you have some time to get nostalgic, go to http://www.joystickjohnny.com/ and download your free trial today!