Play Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits Online

Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits came out for the Super Nintendo in 1996, published by Williams Entertainment Inc. It was a solid collection of arcade ports at a time when compilations like this were becoming more common on home consoles. The package includes Defender, Joust, Robotron: 2084, and Sinistar, all originally released in arcades by Williams Electronics.

You control a variety of ships and characters across the games, shooting aliens, rescuing humans, or jousting against enemy knights riding buzzards. The main objective in each is to survive as long as possible while racking up points, often against relentless enemy waves. Signature mechanics include the two-directional scrolling and smart bomb drops in Defender, the unconventional flight and egg stealing in Joust, and the frantic dual-stick style shooting in Robotron. The pacing is intense and the difficulty is steep, just like the arcade originals. It feels like a direct, honest translation of that quarter-munching challenge to your living room.