Taking it Old School: Arcade Hoops Review

The idea of the video arcade has so permeated the culture that even though online gaming and teen promiscuity has replaced long hours at the coin-op, many of the same old franchises simply transferred to a new medium. Even the pre-videogame world had established arcade centers furnished with excitement rallies like ski ball, pool, and a strange form of all-ages gambling often called “fascination.” These “real life” alternatives to virtual characters have endured and now the integration of traditional and digital gaming are firmly established in the American consciousness. This includes shooting hoops for money.

Skyworks new iPhone game, Arcade Hoops, is exactly what it sounds like. The game is a digital mock up of the arcade system that allows you a certain amount of time to shoot baskets enclosed in a netted fence. The game gives you two modes, the Classic Game and the Progressive Game. The Classic Game gives you the standard arcade back board that stays stationary, while the Progressive Game has the backboard starting out close to you and then makes it move backward periodically. The gameplay requires you to use the touch screen to guide a hand shooting a ball into the basket. The reality is that you guide the ball from the hand in a strait line into the basket.

The game is somewhat addictive, as was the arcade version. The games only last from thirty to ninety-nine seconds, which makes it the perfect distraction for killing time. It is also nice that you can essentially do this with one hand if you would like as the software remains very responsive to the touch screen.

It seems that the main flaw with Arcade Hoops is that there is just not much there. There is a nicely created background for the “arcade hoop system,” but it would be nice to have more. Even a series of levels or some type of online two-player option would be really great. Here you just have the repetition of the exact gaming process that is not very challenging and can be essentially mastered by always dragging your finger in a strait line while guiding the basketball. The Progressive Game is much more challenging, but it still has a long way to go before it becomes Splinter Cell.

The game is fun if that would be your style of arcade play. You are given a high score list to keep you interested, and even a few alternate audio tracks. For $1.99 it is a good choice, but do not expect more than what you will end up with. The likelihood is that you will know ahead of time if this game is your style or not. Six and a half out of ten stars.