Given there are quite a few games that seem like filler, which might be doing a disservice to Blaze and the Evercade team, this quirky roundup shows there can be more to them than meets the retro-cynic's eye.
Food Fight (Atari Collection 1)
I really wondered what the hell this game was doing on the collection at first, it looked horrendous and seemed unplayable, not helped by the lack of instruction. Then, I got it (and my daughter got it, and there's few more enjoyable scenes than throwing bananas at chefs to a soundtrack of hysteria). The aim is to eat the ice cream before it melts, getting there is something of a challenge as chefs pop out of portals, and you need to get rid of them with the food littering each level. Its all fun, whatever level you play at, with some crazed animations and effects.
Mappy (Namco Collection 1)
I died, oops! I died again, grrrr! What am I doing wrong? I am the police (in mouse form), so surely I should be beating up the robber mice? No! Instead I have to remove the valuables before they can steal them. That sorted, there's the bounce mechanic to figure out and the opening of doors to blow away the robber-rodents. Its crazed mayhem, with new tricks killing me every level. Trying to understand what the hell the game is, and means, without Google, is a challenge of itself but once you get a feel for it, a lot of fun.
Titan (Interplay Collection 1)
Easy to miss under all the big-name 16-bit titles in this collection, Titan takes the breakout concept and plonks your square bat in the middle of the action. Bricks in all directions need to be broken down, and this mesmeric little game feels rather like fishing, do you let the ball (lure) do all the work or do you cast and drag furiously with the bat to beat levels in the quickest time. A shame the scrolling isn't smoother, but still a challenging and quirky curio.
Little Medusa (Mega Cat Studios Collection 1)
Among all the shining brawlers and action games on this cart, Little Medusa stands out for its legendary tales-of-the-Gods charm and the mix of puzzler mechanics. Again, there's lots of early deaths to get over as you and little Medusa learns the ropes of stunning her enemies and then using them as steps over the water to get the stars to complete each level. With blocking stones to guide the enemies into the right lanes, it mixes a variety of ideas and as a retro/modern NES game, there's even some trophies to collect!
Super Spike V'Ball (Technos Collection 1)
While I wait for California Games on the upcoming Lynx cart, Super Spike V'Ball fills the beach sports spot. Again, it takes a few goes to learn the ropes of timing those jumps, spikes, blocks and dives. But when you get going, there's some great rallies and surprising depth in the neat arenas. A shame there's no two-player, but the character selection, motivational messages at the end and world tour mode round out the fun.