MyArcade’s newest retro gaming handheld is on the cusp of release at the end of the month, after being initially revealed all the way back at CES 2025. Called the Gamestation Retro, this series of releases (handheld, console, and minicade) echo their Atari range from a couple years ago, bundling a large number of games in single device. Unlike the prior GameStation releases, the Retro range will feature games from Capcom and Namco, with Jaleco and Piko titles thrown in to bump the included game number.
Because MyArcade is a mediocre retro company, they’ve been very poor at marketing and still haven’t released a full, final, game list. GenXGrownUp had hands on last January and I (painstakingly) copied the shown titles, correlating them against a handful of package images (where I could, nobody seemed to care about the Piko offerings). With release just a couple weeks away, GameStop seems to have put up a more up to date title list, possibly copied from final packaging. I’d still caveat it that the list MIGHT not be final until we seen in hand samples. If the GameStop list is following a packaging list, the “alphabetical reset” is breaking up arcade titles and home console iterations.
Relative to prior lists I’ve seen, there have been a few changes, and more than a few oddities remain. Despite marketing, Pole Position is still absent in any form, and the Capcom selection is still odd in a lot of places. I’m not sure how the licensing situation is working, if that is an impact on the Capcom range.
My thoughts on the selections:
Namco-
While having a lot of usuals, I appreciate they DID got some solid deep cuts in there, relative to the usual suspects. Compared to what I recall from CES, they dropped a couple of early Dragon shooters, Splatterhouse 2, and Legend of Valkyrie (boo!). But Rolling Thunder 2 arcade and Rolling Thunder 3 are new to me for this selection.
Capcom-
I mean, more than a dozen Capcom games, and you got a pretty decent range of titles. But some of these selections are just…strange. No entries from G&G, but they get the Game Boy Spin off? FIVE entries for Street Fighter 2? All six NES Mega Man games are…fine, I guess, but then why include Wiley Wars? Why Mighty Final Fight at all? Other licensed stuff managed to get Breath of Fire and Mega Man X and it feels like there’s a LOT of redundancy with those two franchises. Depending on licensing, we could have gotten Street Fighter Alpha, Darkstalkers, Saturday Night Slam Masters, much less the G&G franchise. Console wise, there’s the aforementioned Breath of Fire and Mega Man X, but also Gargoyle’s Crest.
Again, on the weighted average, it’s pretty good stuff. But it feels oddly weighted, and the omission of G&G really stands out.
Jaleco-
I DO appreciate that, instead of the old AtGames days of piles of generic, no name, games used to fill out a marketing call out, MyArcade HAS tapped some actual known developers. Jaleco‘s selection is a solid supplement to the headliners. Jaleco’s sports range is pretty solid, and they have some nicely unique titles. Definitely some hidden gems in here.
Piko-
Piko offers a LOT of titles, but quality can vary. I don’t see any particular standouts, but the games they bring DO help expand the depth of the device’s library. Platformers, brawlers, fighters, racers, sports, shooters and even a couple RPGs. Again, nothing I would call device defining, and I think the above players have better offerings in each genre, but again, the number and variety help give the device some depth it might not other wise have. The Immortal was on early lists and seems to have disappeared.
All told, is it worth $200? I’m not sure. A vast majority of titles are available on other platforms (especially with Jaleco and Piko getting a LOT of exposure on Evercade, whose new Nexus model is launching same day at the same price), and while there is clearly solid value, it remains to be seen if MyArcade delivered on the quality of the play experience.