Arcade1Up - Pac-Man 40th Anniversary - Review!

RetroRalph·video·7m 18s·analyzed·May 15, 2020

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.019

TL;DR

Arcade1Up Pac-Man 40th Anniversary cabinet reviewed: strong design/controls, volume issue flagged.

Summary

RetroRalph reviews the Arcade1Up Pac-Man 40th Anniversary cabinet, praising its game selection (7 titles including Pac-Man, Pac-Mania, Super Pac-Man, Pac-Land, and Galaga), control quality, and aesthetic design. He identifies a volume issue at the default setting and notes the high-score saving mechanism requires proper game exit to preserve scores, but overall rates it highly for style and gameplay variety.

Key Claims

The cabinet includes seven games: Pac-Man, Pac-Man Plus, Pac and Pal, Pac-Mania, Super Pac-Man, Pac-Land, and Galaga
high confidence · RetroRalph, game selection overview early in review
The volume on the cabinet is significantly higher than expected at default setting (level 1), and RetroRalph alerted Arcade1Up to this issue
high confidence · RetroRalph, audio quality section and conclusion
The joystick is a high-quality clone of the Sanwa JLF with slightly different restrictor gate and micro switches
high confidence · RetroRalph, joystick analysis section
High scores are only saved if the player properly exits the game using the hold-player-one-button method; shutting off the cabinet mid-game will not preserve scores
high confidence · RetroRalph, demonstrated with gameplay and menu system explanation
The cabinet consolidates previous Arcade1Up Pac-Man and Galaga cabinets into one unit, similar to the 20th anniversary Miss Pac-Man Galaga cabinet
high confidence · RetroRalph, space-saving commentary
The cabinet features T-molding on the control panel edge and a light-up marquee
high confidence · RetroRalph, design details section
No emulation issues were detected during gameplay testing
high confidence · RetroRalph, game performance assessment
The control panel uses upgraded Sanwa-clone joystick and button replacements that can be easily swapped with components from DIY Retro Arcades
high confidence · RetroRalph, controls section and conclusion

Notable Quotes

“The joystick they decided to use looks very similar to a Sanwa JLF. It feels pretty darn good. I call this a pretty darn good high quality clone of a Sanwa JLF.”
RetroRalph @ Joystick analysis section — Assessment of a key component quality; indicates manufacturer is using upgraded arcade-standard parts
“Now one thing to notice is something new here it says press and hold the player one button for five seconds to return to the main menu and to save a high score.”
RetroRalph@ 1:40 — Critical feature for long-term gameplay experience; unusual mechanic that requires user awareness
“I already talked to Arcade1Up about this. I don't know if this is something that I at least alerted them to it. So they're aware that the volume seems to be higher than normal.”
RetroRalph@ 2:22 — Industry communication: reviewer directly contacted manufacturer about defect, indicating responsive relationship
“So I think that's really cool from a space savings perspective. Also, if you're a fan of Pac-Man and Galaga, you kind of have one cabinet together.”
RetroRalph@ 4:54 — Market positioning: product combines two popular franchises into single unit
“Style-wise, it's a 10 out of 10.”
RetroRalph@ 5:14 — Overall aesthetic rating; indicates strong design execution despite minor layout wishes
“I wish they would have flowed the wood grain all the way down the side of the cabinet. So you get down to the riser and then it's a blank space.”
RetroRalph@ 4:16 — Constructive design criticism; indicates detail-oriented quality assessment

Entities

Arcade1UpcompanyRetroRalphpersonDIY Retro ArcadescompanySanwa JLFproductPac-MangameGalagagamePac-Man PlusgamePac-ManiagameSuper Pac-MangamePac-LandgamePac and Palgame

Signals

?
community_signal: RetroRalph maintains direct communication with Arcade1Up for product feedback and issue reporting
medium · RetroRalph explicitly states he contacted Arcade1Up about the volume issue and notes 'they're aware of it so hopefully we see some sort of response from them'
$
market_signal: Arcade1Up consolidates previous separate Pac-Man and Galaga cabinet products into single SKU, improving space efficiency for home consumers
high · RetroRalph states: 'they added Galaga to it...now you have two distinct Arcade1Up cabinets that have consolidated into one...really cool from a space savings perspective'
?
announcement: Arcade1Up releases Pac-Man 40th Anniversary cabinet consolidating Pac-Man series and Galaga into single unit with 7-game library
high · RetroRalph reviews newly released cabinet; game list confirmed (Pac-Man, Pac-Man Plus, Pac and Pal, Pac-Mania, Super Pac-Man, Pac-Land, Galaga)
?
product_strategy: Cabinet uses upgraded Sanwa-clone joystick and button components suitable for long-term use and easy aftermarket replacement
high · RetroRalph notes: 'pretty darn good high quality clone of a Sanwa JLF' and 'you could upgrade those really easily...from a place like DIY retro arcade'
?
product_concern: Volume default level significantly higher than expected; RetroRalph alerted Arcade1Up but issue remains at time of review
high · RetroRalph states: 'the volume is a lot higher than it used to be' and 'I already talked to Arcade1Up about this...So they're aware that the volume seems to be higher than normal'

Topics

Product Design and AestheticsprimaryHardware Quality (Joystick/Controls)primaryGame Emulation PerformanceprimaryAudio Quality IssuesprimaryHigh-Score Persistence MechanicsprimaryProduct Consolidation and Space EfficiencysecondaryArcade Cabinet Upgradability and Aftermarket Partssecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.78)— RetroRalph is enthusiastic about the product overall, giving it a 10/10 for style and praising game variety, controls, and emulation quality. The tone is constructive rather than critical; the volume issue is presented as a solvable problem that has been escalated to the manufacturer. Minor aesthetic wishes (full wood-grain flow, full-cabinet T-molding) are expressed as 'wishful thinking' rather than defects. No hostile or dismissive language detected.

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.022

Hey babe. Hey. Whatcha doing? Just playing Pac-Man. This is too small, it's so hard to play on. Oh really? Oh sorry babe. We'll be right back. All right, here it is, guys, the Pac-Man 40th Anniversary Edition Cabinet. So when you boot up the cabinet, you're going to get the game selection screen. And on this game selection screen, you're going to have seven games to choose from. It's Pac-Man, Pac-Man Plus, Pac and Pal, Pac-Mania, Super Pac-Man, Pac-Land, and Galaga. Now, we're going to go into Pac-Man real quick. The menu system is super easy. You just press A which is actually the red button on this cabinet. When you do that you get the game control menu so this shows you all the options on this particular game. They're going to be different for each game. Now one thing to notice is something new here it says press and hold the player one button for five seconds to return to the main menu and to save a high score. So when you're playing the game you need to press and hold the player one button to make sure that your high score is saved. So if you die and then you want to save that high score make sure you exit the game and you don't shut the cabinet off. So to start the game, you just press player one or player two if you have two players. Now something I noticed right away the second I started playing is the volume is a lot higher than it used to be. Now they've installed these new slider bars on these particular games, so you can adjust the volume, but it's only on one and it's really loud. So I'm going to say you're probably not going to want to put this any higher than one. And, you know, I already talked to Arcade1Up about this. I don't know if this is something that I at least alerted them to it. So they're aware that the volume seems to be higher than normal. At least it does for me. I don't remember it being this loud. Now, I'm going to die really quick here so you guys can see how my high score will be maintained. So right now we're at 1950, right? I'm going to die again. Okay, now that it's game over, my final score was 2,110. Now, if I were to shut off the cabinet, it won't maintain that high score. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to press and hold player one. Just give it like five seconds and it should go back to the main menu. All right, it's going back to the main menu. Now, to make sure that I validated that it maintains that high score, I'm going to go back into the game. And I should actually be the high score that's listed. Yep, 2110. So it will not maintain that if I don't exit the game that way. If I actually shut the game off, you're out of luck there. Alright what about the joystick? So the joystick they decided to use looks very similar to a Sanwa JLF. It feels pretty good. I call this a pretty high quality clone of a Sanwa JLF and I show you the Sanwa JLF for comparison. Now the difference between the Arcade1Up and the Sanwa, it actually has a different restrictor gate slightly different micro switches but I will say the one on the Arcade1Up feels pretty good. So this isn't something I think you'd have to switch out initially, but maybe over time if you wanted to, but the one they provided is pretty good. So another nice touch is actually this strip of T-molding they put on the control panel. We've seen this before in Arcade1Up cabinets, but I appreciate this kind of level of detail. Now, wishful thinking for me would be, it'd be really cool if they put T-molding on the whole cabinet, but I get it, but maybe one day. All right, the other thing I love is the overall look of this cabinet. It's definitely a throwback to the Pac-Man cabaret. I love the shape. I love that the marquee is inset. The only beef I have here is I wish they would have flowed the wood grain all the way down the side of the cabinet. So you get down to the riser and then it's black. Although I love that 40th anniversary thing. It'd be really cool if the wood went all the way down. Tyler Goodman, you know what to do. All right, so what about the game? So there's a great variety of games on this cabinet, and they play really well. So I didn't find any emulation issues. The sound sounded great. The controls are actually really good. And, you know, the variety of games really helps with the long-term value of the cabinet for replay. The other thing that's really cool is they added Galaga to it. So now you have two distinct Arcade1Up cabinets that have consolidated into one. So I think that's really cool from a space savings perspective. Also, if you're a fan of Pac-Man and Galaga, you kind of have one cabinet together. It sort of reminds me of the 20th anniversary Miss Pac-Man Galaga cabinet. All right, guys, it's final thoughts time. So what do I think about this Pac-Man Arcade1Up 40th Edition cabinet? I think it's pretty damn cool. Style-wise, it's a 10 out of 10. Now I did have the issue with the audio did alert Arcade1Up that is a problem. At 1 it's not like blow it out your eardrums loud but it is definitely a lot louder than it should be at 1 so it definitely is an issue and they are aware of it so hopefully we see some sort of response from them on that one pretty soon. It does have two stereo speakers although they're not stereo because these games were mono games but it does have two speakers so that's pretty cool. The light up marquee is really nice. The T-molding on the edge is neat on the control panel and I do love that it saves high scores. If I wasn't clear about this in the video, if you exit the game the proper way it does save your high score and then if you shut off the cabinet and turn it back on your high score will be there. It's just that if you're playing a game in the middle of it or you finish a game and you just shut it off it won't save the high score so I just want to make sure that was clear. I mean outside of that I think it's pretty cool that it has a good game variety. The controls are nice. They used, you know, upgraded controls so they're better quality Sanwa clones and Sanwa button clones which is really great so I think, you know, over time if you wanted you could upgrade those really easily. You could go to a place like DIY Retro Arcades. They have kits you can plug right in but, you know, for this kind of stuff it actually worked pretty well so thumbs up to that. Anyway that's all I got for you guys. Please let me know in the comments below is this a cabinet you're interested in? Are you excited about the 40th anniversary? Are you excited about having Galaga and Pac-Man come together as one? I don't know but you got to tell me if you did like the video please give it a thumbs up. Consider subscribing to the channel if you do subscribe hit the bell and turn notifications on so you can be informed of future videos like this one. That's it for now guys we will see you on the next one. Thank you.