With Evercade going from strength to strength, Atari continuing to release classic games and hardware, and even the beloved ZX Spectrum getting in on the act, it’s fair to say that 2024 will be considered a banner year for retro gaming enthusiasts. Things are about to get even better for PS4 and PS5 users, as retro streaming service Antstream Arcade finally comes to PlayStation devices. In fact, it’s out now! Antstream Arcade is a retro gaming streaming service featuring more than 1,300 classic video games. Also available on PC, Xbox and mobile, the PlayStation version costs £32.99 for an annual subscription, or you can pay a one-off fee of £79.99 for lifetime access to its vast library of games.
In fact, you can actually get the lifetime subscription for just £71.99 by visiting CD Keys and purchasing a discounted £80 PlayStation Store card.
Antstream contains video games from multiple consoles, including the NES, SEGA Mega Drive (Genesis), Super Nintendo, PSOne, and various Atari consoles (2600 etc).
There are also a bevy of arcade games, as well as home computer titles from the likes of the Amiga, ZX Spectrum, C64 and DOS.
You’ve even got a few handheld systems, such as the original Game Boy and Atari Lynx.
Games are streamed via the internet, so you’ll need a decent connection to avoid input lag and get the best out of the service.
I’m not going to post a full review of Antstream Arcade just yet, because I’ve only spent a few hours with the pre-launch version.
Instead, I’m just going to run through some observations based on my limited time with the service so far.
One thing that really impressed/surprised me about Antstream Arcade is just how good the game selection is.
As a fan of the shoot-em-up genre, I was pleasantly surprised to see games like Dangun Feveron, Espgaluda, Pink Sweets: Ibara Sorekara and Muchi Muchi Pork all included in the Antstream Arcade games line-up.
Likewise, while it’s a shame that SEGA arcade racers like Outrunners aren’t included, there are some deep cut super scaler-style racing games, such as Continental Circus and Jaleco Rally Big Run.
That’s on top of hidden gems like The Cliffhanger: Edward Randy and Nitro Ball, as well as bonafide classics like Splatterhouse and the brilliant Bomb Jack – and that’s just the arcade games.
While the SEGA and Nintendo console line-up is missing first-party heavy hitters like Mario and Sonic, Antstream Arcade is full of deep cuts and curios that are well worth checking out. If you’re fascinated by all things retro, then even the games that aren’t particularly great are still kind of interesting.
Another thing that made a good first impression are the limited-time competitions, which appeal to me in the same way as the weekly speed-running challenges featured in Nintendo World Championships NES Edition.
At the time of writing, fans can compete for the highest score in Dangun Feveron, which sounds straightforward until you realise that you only have one life to record your best score.
It’s little twists such as this that makes regular score-based leaderboard competitions that little more interesting.
This does, however, tie into my main criticism of Antstream Arcade, which is that you absolutely need a steady internet connection to make it work.
I noticed a bit of input lag here and there when attempting the aforementioned Dangun Feveron challenge, which isn’t ideal when playing fast-paced games and genres such as shoot-em-ups.
While the games were largely very responsive, I found navigating the main menu to be really slow and sluggish, something which isn’t helped by the fact that the main menu isn’t the best to begin with.
Overall, however, I’m pretty impressed with Antstream, which has a great selection of games and some fun incentives to try different titles.