Well, the answer to that very question depends both on the games and whether you were around when these games were the "in thing".

Classic Arcadia Collection consists of six of the earliest (and some believe the best!) games ever seen: Invaders, Axiens, Muncher, Missile, Crazy Er*Bert (I never did understand why the star was there. Is Er*bert a swear word, or something?), and Grebit. For all those who quietly snigger at games like these whilst loading up Blasterzombiephaze, just remember that these games were the predecessors to all the techojunk floating around.

So... The games. Graphically and sonically. these games won't astound you. On the plus side though is the fact that, that from a programmer's point of view, the whole selection is very tightly designed. For anyone who's never played any of these oldies, here they are one by one.

This is the standard shoot-'em-up (I can't believe I'm explaining Invaders). Take away all the phazers, smart bombs, thrusters, etc and you're left with something like the screenshot. The block of ships at the top move left and right, gradually getting lower, and your mission is to kill them. Basically.

As a faithful representation of an all-time classic, this has to be worth a second look.

In the history of shoot-'em-ups, this came next. It involves the same old Space Invaders stuff (no doubt something to do with it being a straight conversion of Galaxians!), but with the invaders bombing down the screen with the intention of severely hurting you. There's enough extras here to make this a darn playable game.

You've seen it on the covertape, you've played it to death. Now buy an official version and play that to death as well.

Muncher is nice as a Pac-Man clone but it doesn't really gel. Come to think of it, maybe the original didn't either...

This one involves an alien race attempting to blow you to smithereens. And, erm, that's it. If you're looking for fast fun and excitement then this game is definitely one to be avoided.

This was known as 'The Game That No-One Could Control' and it's just as blimmin' difficult today.

The easiest way to describe this game is as an isometic beat-'em-up on a mountain. [You have to change the colour of the blocks by jumping up and down on them - Ed]

It's too confusing, and it really isn't much fun. Another duff one, methinks.

If you've ever played Frogger, then you'll understand Grebit. The idea is to guide your frogs across a busy road, and to the safety lily pad on the other side.

Frogger is as Frogger does. It wasn't all that thrilling then and, well, you can work out the rest yourself.

So we've seen a bundle of old classics, some good, some bad. But whether a collection such as this is worthy of a re-release is debatable. In the end, it's got to be subjective. Remember though that this stuff started it all.

Graphics 69%
They're faithful to the originals but, still, they're not exactly impressive.

Sonics 63%
Don't expect miracles here either - the odd beep or rasp is all you'll get out of these.

Grab Factor 86%
As with all the early stuff, their simplicity will definitely grab you. These were here first, remember!

Staying Power 75%
The fascination will wear off, but not before you've played some of them to death.

Overall 80%
A nice package giving faithful covers of the old classics. Worthwhile for posterity, and fun.