GROUP TEST ARCADE CABINETSWhat’s the story?
RepliCade cabs make even
Quarter Arcades seem hefty:
this one seems to have gone
through the wash at far too high
a temperature and come out at
a cutesy 1:6 scale.
There’s still space for a 3.5in
display – comparable to what
you got on the Nintendo DS. And
you’ll find a smallish joystick plus
six tappable buttons.
Fine, but Street Fighter II is a
famous two-player game... so ifthis cab wanted to be faithful to
the original, surely it’d have two
sets of controls? Well, it sort of
does. Taking a sneaky sidestep
from full accuracy, the unit has
a plastic door on its rear. Open it
up and you’ll find a compartment
housing a fight-stick that you
can connect via USB.Is it any good?
The first RepliCade, pioneering
shooter Centipede, looked
magnificent, but your bulletsdisappeared into the tiny screen
and the controls were fiddly. So
miniaturising a more complex
game looked like a bad idea... but
we were soon converted.
Even experts may find it hard
to pull off every combo, but we
found the joystick and buttons
sufficient for giving the classic
roster of fighters a kicking – until
the game decided to punch us
solidly in the face.
The two-player option can’t
help but coming across as agimmick – crowding around a
3.5in display feels ridiculous. Yet
viewing angles are great and the
speaker has real oomph.
And, arguably, of all the cabs
on test, this is the best for being
shown off on a shelf – its petite
form won’t take over the house.Price £139 / stuff.tv/RepliCadeSF
O 3.5in display O Internal speaker
O Original arcade ROM
O microUSB/battery
O 350x132x114mm, 1.33kgRepliCade Street Fighter II: Champion Edition X
STUFF SAYS Can you really stuff Street Fighter II into such a tiny form factor? Shoryuken! ++++,
SCHOOL OF EVEN
HARDER KNOCKS
Prod the player-two
coin button to access
game difficulty
settings – and the
tougher Turbo edition.ASSAULT AND
BATTERY
The RepliCade should
give you up to two
hours of thuggery
before it needs a
microUSB top-up.REPLICADE
TEMPEST X
O brave new world,
that has such
gadgets in’t! This
vector-based
masterpiece
transfers to
miniature in
fine form, with
responsive dial
controls and
surprisingly
clear visuals.
$120 /
newwavetoys.comALTERNATIVELY