Hamster’s Arcade Archives is doing important work in preserving classic arcade games that most other publishers wouldn’t bother with. Even when the licensing is straightforward. Take Bandai Namco, for example. Pac-Man is a game that the company finds worthwhile to preserve, because it’s iconic, continues to sell robust numbers of units, and has some valuable IP at the centre that can be used for merchandising and licensing purposes.
Yes, Pac-Man will forever be preserved by Bandai Namco. Quester, however, will not. And that’s where Arcade Archives steps in.
Quester is a block-breaking arcade game, similar to Taito’s Arkanoid or Atari’s Breakout. You control a paddle at the base of the playfield, and need to use it to bounce a ball at various angles up the playfield to remove an arrangement of blocks. If the ball moves past the paddle, you lose a life.
There are a couple of features that aim to build excitement into the experience. The ball actually moves pretty fast, and by default, the paddle moves slowly enough that on reasonably sharp angles, it’s likely the ball will outpace your ability to get the paddle in position. You can accelerate the paddle, however, which makes it very fast, and that can help you keep up with the ball… with a significant risk that you’ll overshoot the mark and the ball instead.
There are also power-ups that can increase the size of the paddle, place a barrier at the bottom of the screen to make it impossible to lose a ball for a while, or create a “multiball” effect. On the other hand, there are “enemy’ meteors that, if touched, will cause the paddle to get smaller.
There are also bricks that can cause the ball to get faster or slower, and those fast blocks quickly became the bane of my existence, because they turn Quester into a truly brutal exercise in twitch reactions. Like so many classic arcade games, Quester is one that requires a lot of practice to get good at. Unlike so many, there’s no moment where you’ll feel good before hitting the wall of difficulty. Right from the first stage, Quester is demanding, and that will make it frustrating to many.
The presentation is lovely, especially when you get up to levels themed after Pac-Man or Galaxian. But ultimately, Quester is a Breakout clone that struggles to differentiate itself from the original. We’re talking about the game’s industry here, of course, and clones of breakout hits are nothing new, but it does perhaps explain why, unlike Pac-Man, Bandai Namco hasn’t done anything to preserve this game.
Which brings me back to Hamster. Arcade Archives is doing an exceptional job in properly preserving games that would otherwise be left to dodgy emulators or lost to time. Quester might not be the best arcade game you’ve ever played, but it is a moment in gaming history, and it’s enjoyable enough. I, for one, am glad it’s available on modern platforms.
