I build my computers from scratch. I fix and improve stuff around the house. Simply, I love a good project. That’s what I found so appealing about AtGames’ Legends Ultimate arcade cabinet.
That’s not to say this $600 machine is about to challenge the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series S/X for market dominance. It’s large, for starters. At five-and-a-half feet tall and two-and-a-half feet wide (but notably less than two feet deep), it’s not exactly apartment-friendly. It’s also specifically for fans of older things, with a library of 300-plus built-in games, almost all of which were released in the ’80s and ’90s.
⚡ Mashable Score
4.0
That gigantic games library
Don’t get too excited by that large number, either. The full list of titles has highlights, but much of what’s on offer is either relatively unknown or hasn’t aged well. Being able to thumb through and play from a selection of Atari 2600 games that spans eight pages is cool… until you actually play them and realize that games like this may be better off in a museum.
There’s still some good stuff, though. You get all three Super Star Wars releases from the SNES era, a handful of Genesis titles based on classic Disney films (Aladdin! The Lion King!), arcade faves like BurgerTime and Bad Dudes, and several different flavors of Tetris, to name a few.
The list has grown too; thanks to built-in WiFi connectivity, AtGames is able to add more to the library over time. In the month or so I’ve spent testing a cabinet that was helpfully provided for review, I’ve seen the release of a Taito game pack that added, among other things, the absolute classic, Space Invaders, as well as a personal favorite in Elevator Action.
Really though, the library is just a starting point. One of the Legends Ultimate’s top features is its ability to expand. From moment one, you can create an ArcadeNet account and stream a generous library of Neo Geo games via a service that is currently in beta and free to use. That freebie status surely won’t last forever, but being able to immediately dive in with Metal Slug X is a nice bonus.
Separate from that is the “BYOG” menu – Bring Your Own Games – which is sort of a catch-all for the other expansion features Legends Ultimate supports. Some of it is for-pay streaming, with a relatively small handful of games available (roughly $1 per hour, with discounts applied when you buy a bigger bundle of hours).
One of the Legends Ultimate arcade’s top features is its ability to expand.
What will likely be more appealing to most, though, is the ability to load and play games directly from an attached USB stick. It takes a little doing both to find the files you need and then make them play nice (and look nice) with the Legends Ultimate. But that’s part of where the tinkering comes in – it’s easy enough to find how-to instructions, but actually getting those files prepped with art and everything is quite a process.
This sort of thing is also firmly in legally gray territory. Most classic arcade and consoles games aren’t readily available anywhere in 2020. But you don’t have to look hard to find the ROM files you’d need to get them working on a Legends Ultimate. There’s a sizable community of people who are committed to preservation on the web, and part of that means squirreling ROM libraries away in easily accessible places.
The legality of such efforts is an ongoing discussion. We don’t endorse piracy here, but it’s not clear that the sharing of ROMs for zero financial gain actually qualifies as such. It remains a complicated issue, and if those are waters you’d rather not wade into then the Legends Ultimate cabinet probably isn’t for you.
The fact remains, though, that being able to essentially load a customized library of 1,000-plus gaming classics onto a USB stick and run them through an arcade machine is a big selling point here. There’s even a built-in third-party app, CoinOpsX, that comes pre-installed and greatly simplifies the conversion process.
Building your dream arcade
There’s also physical tinkering to be done. The cabinet itself is relatively easy and painless to assemble – even easier than Arcade1Up’s hardware, for those who have experience. The upper part of the cabinet, containing the 24-inch, 1080p screen and most of the computing hardware, is pre-assembled. You just have to put all the pieces together, a process that took me less than an hour with minimal help.
It doesn’t have to end there, though. The light-up marquee features fairly boring Legends Ultimate branding, but you can replace it with the right equipment and minimal technical knowhow. Just as the cabinet is easy to put together, so too is it easy to take apart and upgrade.
That also goes for the controller board, which sports two joysticks, six buttons per stick, two rotating controllers (for games like Pong) and a large trackball (for games like Missile Command). I haven’t had any problems with the controls so far, but a more discriminating retro gamer might feel differently.
Image: adam rosenberg
Such was the case for our friends at PCMag, with K. Thor Jensen pointing out in his review that the built-in joysticks don’t do especially well with diagonal movement, which may be a problem for fighting game fans especially. But Jensen was able to order replacement sticks on Amazon and install them easily – which is of course already giving me upgrade ideas of my own.
The control board also sports a built-in HDMI port as well as two USB ports, one of them a higher speed 3.0 port that you’ll need to use if you’re adding a library via USB stick. But that USB 3.0 port coupled with the HDMI also means you can plug in other mini-consoles (think an NES Classic) and play them using arcade controls. Alternatively, you could use built-in Bluetooth to access, say, a Raspberry Pi without directly connecting it. Both USB ports are also great for connecting other controllers, allowing you to accommodate more than two players.
All of these features fall definitively into the “advanced users” category, though. Compatibility headaches are unavoidable once you start getting into building a custom library, so you’ve got to be willing and ready to troubleshoot any problems away. But it’s easy enough to get things working if you’re patient and willing to put in the time.
That flexibility is what helps to make the Legends Ultimate cabinet so appealing. It’s not something I’d call a crowd-pleaser, but it’s an appealing entry point for newcomers to this niche realm of arcade-cabinets-at-home entertainment. Not as attractive as the loving recreations offered by a competitor like Arcade1Up, but far more flexible with its expansion-friendly library and packed controller board.
The same kind of package would likely cost several hundred dollars more, at least, for similar, custom-built alternatives. (Unless you’re really DIY and build something completely from scratch.) Given all of that, the $600 Legends Ultimate cabinet is especially appealing for beginners looking to add an all-in-one arcade to their home, provided you have the space.