Microsoft Arcade (series)

Microsoft Arcade is a series of video game compilations, released by Microsoft in the 1990s for personal computers. The series featured arcade games produced by Atari and Namco, including Pac-Man titles.
== Microsoft Arcade ==
The first entry in the series, released for Windows 3.1 and Mac in 1993. The compilation features five Atari games: Asteroids, Missile Command, Battlezone, Centipede, and Tempest.
== Microsoft Return of Arcade ==
Microsoft Return of Arcade (マイクロソフトリターンオブアーケード) was released for Windows 95 in 1996, featuring four Namco games:
*Pac-Man (1980)
*Galaxian (1979)
*Dig Dug (1982)
*Pole Position (1982)
All of the game ports appear to be coded from scratch, and do not seem to be based on emulation. Each game also features a drop-down text section detailing the game's history. The Pac-Man port features several additional settings uncommon in other releases, such as adjusting Pac-Man and the Ghosts' speed and "randomizing" the Ghost AI.
=== Microsoft Return of Arcade: Anniversary Edition ===
A re-release of Return of Arcade, subtitled the "Anniversary Edition", was released in 2000 to commemorate Pac-Man's 20th anniversary. This release includes Ms. Pac-Man, as previously released in Microsoft Revenge of Arcade (see below); otherwise, the Anniversary Edition is largely the same as the original.
== Microsoft Revenge of Arcade ==
Microsoft Revenge of Arcade was released for Windows 95 in 1998 (and compatible up to Windows 7), featuring five Namco games:
*Ms. Pac-Man (1981)
*Rally X (1980)
*Xevious (1982)
*Mappy (1983)
*Motos (1985)
Unlike the prior volume(s), Return of Arcade uses proper emulation for each game, even retaining the boot-up screens. All of the games appear to be the same ports used in the Namco History series, a Japanese line of Windows compilations from the same time period.
== Trivia ==
*In the early 2000s, an arcade machine known as the Ultracade was released, featuring bootleg copies of Namco games. In a confusing manner, Ultracade specifically used the Microsoft Arcade series copies of the games; claiming (in a rather large stretch) that this was allowed under the Microsoft license terms. While Ultracade claimed this would make the machine "legal", the practice would almost certainly still constitute piracy.https://web.archive.org/web/20190113001601/https://www.vendingtimes.com/articles/namco-slams-ultracade-use-of-pacman-150?iid=16E840B379AD4A9DA127373802DBF40A
*The original Return of Arcade box art seems to be loosely modeled after the cover to Pac-Attack; the "Anniversary Edition" box uses Ms. Pac-Man artwork based on Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness. The Revenge of Arcade cover appears to imitate the Atari 2600 Ms. Pac-Man artwork.
*Judging by the front of the Revenge of Arcade box, Return of Arcade sold over 1 million copies at retail.
== References ==
Category:Compilations
Category:Games
Category:PC Games