Microsoft Arcade
| Microsoft Arcade | |
|---|---|
 Return of Arcade Anniversary Edition box art | |
| Genres | Arcade game |
| Publishers |
Microsoft Namco |
| Platform of origin | Windows, Macintosh |
Microsoft Arcade is a series of classic arcade game compilations, the first of which was released in 1993 on a single 1.44MB floppy. Available for both Microsoft Windows 3.1 and the Apple Macintosh, it contained versions of Tempest, Battlezone, Asteroids, Centipede, and Missile Command. Although the games were very similar to the original games in both appearance and gameplay, they were newly written versions, not ports of the original arcade game code. Each game allowed certain customizations not available in the original arcade game, i.e. the number of lives and bonus levels. The Microsoft Help files included with the games contained history of the development of the original arcade versions of the games.
Two follow up versions were released. The first was Microsoft Return of Arcade, released in 1996 and containing Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Galaxian, and Pole Position. The second follow-up, released in 1998, was called Microsoft Revenge of Arcade and contained Ms. Pac-Man, Mappy, Rally-X, Xevious, and Motos. Officially, both of these follow-ups required Windows 95 or later, though the demo for Return of Arcade is a 16-bit program that requires only WinG to run in Windows 3.1.[1]
In 2000, to celebrate Pac-Man's 20th anniversary, Microsoft re-released Return of Arcade and added Ms. Pac-Man (as presented in Revenge of Arcade) to the roster of games. None of the other games from Revenge of Arcade were included. This updated package was called Microsoft Return of Arcade: Anniversary Edition.