Game Pass subscribers get to play a range of bona fide retro classics on Xbox thanks to Antstream Arcade.
The effective Netflix of retro gaming, Antstream Arcade, has been slowly building its presence across several platforms over the past few years. However, launching over 50 old school titles — branded as Retro Classics — on Xbox Game Pass is a huge move.
Collaborating with Activision and Blizzard, the collection brings Pitfall!, Kaboom!, Commando, and Mech Warrior 2 to Xbox consoles. You can also access them on the Xbox app on PC, and via streaming on supported hardware (such as LG and Samsung Smart TVs, Amazon Fire TVs, and Meta Quest headsets).
The initial list of “constantly expanding” titles has been listed by IGN as follows:
Activision prototype #1 (aka Activision Game #1)
Atlantis
Atlantis II
Barnstorming
Baseball
Beamrider
Bloody Human Freeway
Boxing
Bridge
Caesar II
Checkers
Chopper Command
Commando
Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood
Cosmic Ark
Crackpots
Decathlon
Demon Attack
Dolphin
Dragster
Enduro
Fathom
Fire Fighter
Fishing Derby
Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist
Freeway
Grand Prix
H.E.R.O.
Kaboom!
Laser Blast
MechWarrior
MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat
Megamania
Pitfall II: Lost Caverns
Pitfall!
Police Quest 1
Pressure Cooker
Riddle of the Sphinx
River Raid
River Raid II
Robot Tank
Sky Jinks
Space Quest 2
Space Quest 6
Space Treat Deluxe
Spider Fighter
Star Voyager
Tennis
The Adventures of Willy Beamish
The Dagger of Amon Ra
Thwocker
Title Match Pro Wrestling
Torin’s Passage
Trick Shot
Vault Assault
Venetian Blinds
Zork I
Zork Zero
Frostbite
Quest for Glory 1
/table
A look at the Retro Classics on Game Pass
Click to play the Retro Classics trailer:
All the usual Antstream features are included, like cloud saves, global leaderboards, new challenge modes, and multiplayer tournaments. Retro Classics is a Game Pass-only feature, and the existing Antstream Arcade library remains available. In fact, now is a good time to sign up to its full catalogue of 1300+ titles, as a limited time offer accompanies this announcement, of just £9.99 / $9.99 for the first year.
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Christian Cawley is a writer and editor who covers consumer electronics, IT, and entertainment media. He has written for publications such as Computer Weekly, Linux Format, MakeUseOf.com, and Tech Radar.
He also produces podcasts, has a cigar box guitar, and of course, loves retro gaming.