ArcadeSD Multigame PCB (Vertical Mode) Review

FrizzleFried

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About a month ago Darin from Phoenix Arcade (www.phoenixarcade.com) announced that he would be shortly offering a programmable multigame PCB for sale. It wasn't long or hard to determine that this new programmable multigame PCB is the next generation multigame PCB from Clay Cowgills company. These are the same folks who produced the Arcadeshop Programmable Multigame board that was sold for a number of years at Arcadeshop but had been discontinued a while back.

I personally own two Arcadeshop boards, and while I had some gripes regarding the end-of-cycle handling of things for that particular product, I've always recommended the Arcadeshop board over any competitor when it came to quality, accuracy of emulation, menu, sound, etc... will I now be able to recommend the Phoenix Arcade ArcadeSD Programmable Multigame board? The short answer is... YES. If you want to know why... keep reading.

The PCB itself is red (at least mine is) and, I imagine due to moving the memory to a SD Memory card, actually a bit SMALLER than the already diminutive Arcadeshop PCB.. cutting the depth by about 1/2 inch or so...

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You no longer need a serial cable to program the board. Gone is the power supply necessary to program the board away from the arcade cab. What you have left is... an SD Memory card. Simply mount the PCB with easy access to the board form the coin door and updating is just a matter of reaching through and removing the memory card... taking it to your PC... adding games as necessary... re-installing the card in the board via the coin door and powering on. Done! When i initially programmed my board, I couldn't locate a few ROMS and I was chomping at the bit to get to testing it out so I programmed without those games... I later decided to go looking for the ROMs and managed to locate most of them. I updated the SD memory card, re-programmed the PCB and all it did was add the new games. High scores that were there remained. It was easy as pie.

Another nice feature is that you can setup your games options BEFORE you write to the SD memory card. If you're not much for going through the different setup screens for each game while sitting at your cab, it's VERY simple to set those options via your PC and the ArcadeSD.exe program. The same goes with general options (coin value, home/arcade mode, etc.).

Overall I was impressed with the ArcadeSD.exe program and how well it worked. If you have a folder with thousands of ROMS, including multiples of the same ROM (different versions, etc)... simply direct the program to that folder and it will pick and choose the correct ROMS to use. Did it work 100%? Nope... I ended up with about a dozen games that I evidently didn't have exact matching ROM versions for. I ended up finding all but 3... two hacks (Galaga 2000 and Galaga Enduring Freedom) and Pac N Pal. For the life of me I can't find the right version of Pac N Pal to work... but it's not a huge loss as Pac N' Pal isn't the best of games (and I am sure I will locate the right ROM some day).

Getting this thing going was a breeze. This is exactly what I did:

(1) Removed Arcadeshop PCB
(2) Installed ArcadeSD PCB
(3) Formatted my SD Memory Card with FAT (not FAT32) on my PC
(4) Inserted formatted SD Memory Card in to ArcadeSD PCB.
(5) The game PCB ran through a little procedure on powerup... I then powered down the PCB and removed the memory card.
(6) Plugged the memory card in the PC... ran ArcadeSD.exe and input my ROM folder. The program found a ton of games. I set it to vertical mode and I programmed the available games to the SD memory card.
(7) I plugged in the memory card to the PCB and fired up. After a minute or two of programming (all with on-screen indicators) ... the menu popped up. DONE!

At first I couldn't use the trackball. After discovering the CONTROLS screen by hitting P2 start I then set P2 for trackball and the trackball worked.

The first "problem" I noticed was that my Atari LED lamps weren't working (P1 and P2 should flash). I double checked all settings and tried alternate settings to no avail. I've since reported the issue to Clay and he's responded that he was able to reproduce the issue and that there is, indeed, a problem and that it will be shortly rectified. Until then I will have to live with flashless LED's.... :)

I immediately went to playing games. First I wanted to check out my one of my all-time favorites... Excitebike. See, I owned an actual Excitebike but sold it because the damn thing doesn't save high scores or (more importantly IMHO), track times. Well guess what... Excitebike on the ArcadeSD Multigame Board SAVES HIGH SCORES... AND TRACK TIMES! I know some of you are going "huh? Excitebike is a horizontal game!" ... well, it's one of a number of "horizontal" games that have been converted to work well on a vertical monitor. Others include: Liberator, Soccer, Golf, Star Luster, Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros, Missile Command, and more!

After being delighted by Excitebike, I had high hopes that all games would have high score saves. Unfortunately, that isn't the case. There are many games that still do not save high score. I am hoping that the issues with them saving high scores will be addressed and I am firmly convinced they will be. Some games that saved high scores on the AS board doesn't in this version (yet). Again... I am sure that many of these games will get a high score makeover at some point.

Emulation on the other hand, seems to be pretty spot on. There are a couple of things here and there that could be addressed (Donkey Kong 3's missing sounds from the AS board are still missing here, Scrambles "explosion" sound appears to be a hair loud (to me), Time Pilot's intro music seems a hair too "fast") ... but nothing terribly bad. I did encounter a single "shot" that remained on screen until the end of the first "wave" during a Gorf game... for example... but I am sure, again, that anything that comes up will be addressed.

As for the service mode options... basically you get the same options you got when you were first programming the SD memory card on your PC plus a few "cab only" options like monitor tests, controller tests, etc. I REALLY like the voltage meter built right in the main service menu. When i fired up I was at 5.18v which was a bit hotter than I like so I dropped it down to 5.07. The menu's are pretty straight forward. If you have a trackball, make sure you enable trackball as your P2 control or it won't work.

Now on to the games list...
 
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Here is a list of the games on the board and whether or not it saves high scores, etc. I tried every game out on this list at least once. Some I am not very good at so I was unable to determine if high scores were saved or not because I was unable to achieve the high score list...

In no particular order:

Super Pac Man - Plays just like it did on the AS board... great! Unfortunately it doesn't save high scores any more.
New Rally X - Plays great, but seems a hair loud. Saves high scores!
Lizard Wizard - A new game to the board. I'd never played it. Saves high scores!
Cosmic Avenger - I only ever played the Colecovision version. It seems to play as normal. Saves high scores!
Congo Bongo - Plays great, but it doesn't save high scores.
Scramble - Plays great. Explosion sound seems a little loud. Saves high scores!
Super Zaxxon - Plays like it did on the AS board...great! Saves high scores!
Zaxxon - Just like it's brother it plays great and saves high scores!
Xevious - Game play is good... I am not sure if it's me or the version I normally play but this one seems a little "slow" perhaps? Not 100% sure. Unfortunately it doesn't save high scores.
GAPlus - A great addition to the board!!! The sound seems a little "off" from the verison I play on MAME... could be MAME though? Unfortunately, at this time it doesn't save high scores.
Sinistar - Awesome game... but demands a 49 way stick to play right. HS aren't working... I thought they were in the AS board though?
Centipede - Plays great. Unfortunately the high scores don't save... not even the top 3 as I got highest score and it wasn't saved. Bummer. I hope this is addressed as this is my host cabinet. :)
Millipede - Same as Centipede but I suck so I can't get in to the top 3 to see if it saves the top 3. I can say it doesn't save the from 4 on for sure.
Missile Command - Plays great (even in vertical mode!) and it saves high scores!
Crystal Castles - Plays great. Saves high scores!
Liberator - Plays great... but like the AS version... it doesn't save high scores.
Carnival - Plays great and high scores are saved.
Burgertime - Plays great and high scores are saved.
Crush Roller - Plays great. High scores work ...sort of. The highest score is saved... but no initials.
Excitebike - Plays great (even on vertical monitor) and high scores and high track times are all saved!
Space Invaders - Plays OK (I like the original) and high scores are saved.
Space Invaders DX- See above... High scores saved.
Pooyan - Plays great... there is still a slight graphical glitch when shooting the 3 beginning balloons on level 2... the shadow of the first character of the point value shows up black but there is no character there (only 50pt value not 3 digits) so it looks odd... no big deal though. High scores saved!
Moon Cresta - People complained about the AS version of this... but I don't know enough about it to say whether this version plays great or not. It's not a great game IMHO so I don't really play it much. High scores work BUT they're not instantly showing... about 10 seconds in to the demo they "update"...
Moon Patrol - Plays great... high scores are saved.
Galaga - Plays great. High scores saved!
Ice Climber - Plays great... can't tell you if high scores save or not because I suck at the game and can't get on the board. :(
Eyes - Plays great and high scores save!
Frogger - Plays great... top high score ALWAYS starts at 4360... but the high score list saves... small bug I'm sure as this worked for AS board before.
Mappy - Plays great. High Scores work.
Jr. Pac Man - Plays great. High scores work.
Mach Rider - Another game that I suck at. I can't tell you if high scores work or not. Sorry.
Gorf - Plays decent. High scores don't work.
Mr. Do! - Plays great. High scores work.
Mr. Do!'s Castle - I didn't play this game... I'm looking at my notes and I have nothing... :( I'll have to hit it up tonight.
Pinball - Funish game... unfortunately high scores don't work.
Ms. Pac Man - Plays great and high score works!
Pac Man - Plays great and high score works!
Pac Man Plus - Plays great and high scores work!
Pengo - Plays great and high scores work!
Qix - Plays great and high scores work!
Golf - I suck... the game sucks... I can't tell you if the high score works or not. Sorry.
Soccer - See above. Crappy game... IMHO and I can't get a high score to test.
Tetris - plays great but high score doesn't work.
Crash - Plays great but high score doesn't work.
Galaxian X - Plays fine but the high score doesn't work.
Galaxian - Not sure if the high score works or not as I can't get on the board.
Grid Lee - Fun game... unfortunately the high scores don't save.
Mario Bros - Great game... works awesome vertically... high score works too!
Dig Dug - Plays great. High scores work!

That breaks down to 50 games... of the 50, 28 save high scores for sure, 1 of them sort of saves high scores (Frogger). Again, I am sure some of those not saving high scores will be fixed. I'd like to suggest that fixing them be pretty high priority as high score saving is one of the touted features of the board set and is very important to many collectors out there (some, such as I, have even resorted to selling machines that wouldn't save high scores (see my Excitebike reference above).

Which brings me to the NUMBER ONE feature of this boardset...

SUPPORT. This product includes support for more games in the future as well as current game fixes, etc... that is HUGE when it comes to these kinds of products. That is what the 60-in-1 and 48-in-1 Chinese boards severely lacked... for example. Support.

Finally consider the fact this product is $100 cheaper than the last iteration (AS PCB = $379 + Serial cable + power supply = $400 vs $300 for the ArcadeSD) and you have a winner IMHO.

...and to think I've not even covered the fact that you can load both horizontal and vertical games on the board and swap it between two cabinets if you so choose to...

Bottom line... if you're looking for a quality multigame board, look no further than the ArcadeSD board available at Phoenix Arcade. www.phoenixarcade.com

KLOVAPPROVED.jpg
 
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I failed to mention that I also had an issue with the included MP3 JUKEBOX software/game. Granted, I did only install Five Finger Death Punch which may be a little too much for the game but what happens is that a bunch of notes start falling then... it locks up. The music continues, but nothing else happens. Again, it may be my MP3s... it was the only album I had on the PC in MP3 format and I will try with something a little less... uh... brutal and report back.

;)
 
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Centipede - Plays great. Unfortunately the high scores don't save... not even the top 3 as I got highest score and it wasn't saved. Bummer. I hope this is addressed as this is my host cabinet. :)
Galaga - Plays great. High scores saved!
Ms. Pac Man - Plays great and high score works!

Thanks for the detailed game-by-game breakdown. Mine is in the mail! (can't wait for it to arrive).

As your host cab is centipede, am I correct to assume you tested all of these with a trackball (no joystick)? Or do you have a custom CP? If so, what is your control arrangement (wondering what controls you tested, 4-way? 8-way? 2-buttons? 3-buttons?).

Galaga: can you select regular and/or fast-shoot? Does it have the attract mode bug present or fixed? Can you do the no-shooting trick on it?

Ms Pac: can you select regular or speed-up?

What about: Arkanoid? Donkey Kong? Super Breakout? Time Pilot?
 
Thanks for the detailed game-by-game breakdown. Mine is in the mail! (can't wait for it to arrive).

As your host cab is centipede, am I correct to assume you tested all of these with a trackball (no joystick)? Or do you have a custom CP? If so, what is your control arrangement (wondering what controls you tested, 4-way? 8-way? 2-buttons? 3-buttons?).

Galaga: can you select regular and/or fast-shoot? Does it have the attract mode bug present or fixed? Can you do the no-shooting trick on it?

Ms Pac: can you select regular or speed-up?

What about: Arkanoid? Donkey Kong? Super Breakout? Time Pilot?

Not sure about the Galaga attract mode bug but you can choose fast or normal speed bullet and turbo mode on and off.

EDIT:


In all the Pacs you can select NORMAL, FAST, or BUTTON. Button is cool because it plays normal unless you press and hold the button.

Arkanoid - Not sure about saving because I suck at it and can't get on the HS board.

Donkey Kong - How can I miss this one... it plays great... saves high scores... and has the proper run sounds.

DK Jr - Same... plays great saves high scores.

DK 3 - Same... plays great (save for a missing sound or two) and saves high scores.

I didn't play Super Breakout ... I suck at it too... but I should check to see if it saves high scores... does it even have a high score?

Time Pilot - I missed this? (looks at his sheet)... sure as heck did... another I will add to to the "check" list. I want to say it DOES save high scores... actually... I will say it does because I remember putting a few 100K plus scores on it. HOWEVER... I am not sure if it's a strange revision of Time Pilot but it just seems a hair... off. I can't quite put my finger on it. Fun as hell, but slightly... off. Some of these feelings of being slightly off is due to the fact the games all default to "EASY" mode... be sure to set them proper before saving to the memory card.

To answer the other question above... yes... my Multipede has a trackball and 8-way stick + 2 buttons.

EDIT: It appears I also missed Bagman and Super Bagman. Currently I don't have any info on them as I'm not very good at them and haven't played them. I can say for sure that... they do load up. :)
 
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The LED driver problem Jon had should already be fixed by the time anyone gets a pre-order board from Phoenix Arcade. (I wasn't expecting Darin to ship anything out until the 12th, so when Jon got his a little early he ended up running code that was slightly down revision-- nothing major, but we did fix a few minor things before the "release version" went live today.)

Jon's problems with high scores is a little mystifying. None of the beta testers reported problems with those games saving scores (and we've had it out in test since March) so we need to do some investigation there and see where the issue is.

-Clay
 
The LED driver problem Jon had should already be fixed by the time anyone gets a pre-order board from Phoenix Arcade. (I wasn't expecting Darin to ship anything out until the 12th, so when Jon got his a little early he ended up running code that was slightly down revision-- nothing major, but we did fix a few minor things before the "release version" went live today.)

Jon's problems with high scores is a little mystifying. None of the beta testers reported problems with those games saving scores (and we've had it out in test since March) so we need to do some investigation there and see where the issue is.

-Clay

I can confirm the LED's are now blinking...

:)

I am guessing it's still impossible to leave P1 on when P1 is chosen and P2 on when P2 is chosen? ;)

What I love... it took me all of a couple minutes to update.
 
Can you confirm if the "continue" function on games that have that feature works? Arkanoid is one of my favs but without the continue function I fear I will never get past the indistructable face of "DOH".

I asked in the big thread but it must have been missed by Clay.
 
Can you confirm if the "continue" function on games that have that feature works? Arkanoid is one of my favs but without the continue function I fear I will never get past the indistructable face of "DOH".

I asked in the big thread but it must have been missed by Clay.


I can confirm that CONTINUE works on Arkanoid...

:)

I still can't confirm whether the HS saves or not... i suck so bad I can't get on the hs list...
 
Great! Thanks for checking that out. Not that it's a big deal, but can't you use "continue" on Arkanoid till you have beat the high score table? Or will the game not alow "continues" on the score table?
 
Great! Thanks for checking that out. Not that it's a big deal, but can't you use "continue" on Arkanoid till you have beat the high score table? Or will the game not alow "continues" on the score table?

Every continue starts you at zero... and I got to level 3 or 4 (where the damn gold bricks are) and kept continuing to try to get past the level... no go.

I can't get past 2 levels without continuing.

My best score was like 30K and you need 50K to get on the board.

:rolleyes:
 
Man this has me wishing I had never sold my TMNT cab; it would have been perfect for a lot of these games.

Now I'll be on the lookout for a JAMMA cab - this is really the future of home gaming. With so many boards being combined to make one working one etc, this is a great advance for collectors.
 
Agreed! I really like what I'm seeing and hearing about this board. For the most part I liked the 60-in1 but several issues made me sell it. The lack of high score save tables (the 60-in1 does save the highest score but no initials for each game) and the inop continue function were the biggest problems for me.

I'm having just a little bit of trouble gathering the $300+ from my arcade funds but if a couple of deals I have in the works go through....
:D
 
Frizz another question...are you a Moon Patrol guy? how does it look and play?? how about a pic.....:}

B.
 
This is very cool. I'm definitely going to have to invest in one of these babies. Looks like you are going to have to add another button for Missile Command....

Thanks for the detailed review. Nice work.
 
I would love to see some of the "horizontal" games in the vertical mode. Please post pics of each of them!

I've taken some shots last night and will post a collage at some point today... likely a little later...it's going to be a busy morning for me.

I can also confirm that Clay has fixed the BONUS issue with Excitebike... it now works. (w00t).
 
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