Review: Antstream

Introduction

Retro gaming is massive right now! As popular as modern gaming is today, there is something special about replaying games from your childhood and experiencing the joy you felt when you first played them, even if they weren’t the best. Back then, with limited money, every game was cherished and played to death until you saved enough pocket money to buy the next £1.99 game from Mastertronic or, if it was your birthday, the £8.95 big box game from Ocean. As you can probably tell, I am showing my age right now!

Nostalgia and Retro Gaming

I collected retro games and consoles for a while. Despite the warm fuzzy feeling they gave me, I decided to sell them for a few reasons: needing the money, a general lack of space, and the increasing cost of buying retro gaming items.

Alternatives to Antstream

Nowadays, there are many ways to get that retro videogame buzz. Options include mini consoles (like the plug-and-play mini NES & SNES, Megadrive, and PlayStation), miniature home computers (such as the Amiga 500, C64, and the recently released The Spectrum), and the Evercade, which allows you to collect game packs from different publishers. Publishers also release collections for modern systems.

Emulation is another way of playing retro games. Although emulating early systems is relatively easy, some people don’t have the means or knowledge to emulate retro games. Additionally, playing retro games in various ways can be fragmented, leading to spending a lot of money on different systems to play only a handful of games. This is where Antstream has the opportunity to open the retro gaming doors for a wider audience.

Antstream Experience

I’d heard of Antstream before but never actually tried it. Our illustrious leader Dave has had a 12-month subscription and sang its praises, enjoying access to over 1300 games at the touch of a button. In a nutshell, Antstream is a Netflix-style subscription model available for PC, mobile devices, and now PlayStation and Xbox consoles. There are different pricing structures for each device, but I’ll focus on the PlayStation 5, where I used Antstream. You can buy an annual subscription for £32.99 or a lifetime subscription for £79.99.

Booting up Antstream on the console was a retro gamer’s version of heaven! I was bombarded with multiple images on the screen, which immediately tickled my nostalgia bone, so I was excited to see what games were available.

The first thing I did was change my avatar, a treat in itself, as each image is from a famous retro game. I eventually settled on Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja and then moved on to exploring what else was on offer.

Challenges and Trophies

As well as being able to play hundreds of retro games, there are daily and weekly challenges available for specific games, but more on those later.

The main interface is relatively easy to navigate and is split into different sections based on different genres of games, new games, multiplayer games, and there is a section where you can easily find the games you’ve already played should you wish to play them again. There is no background music as you scroll through the menus, which is a missed opportunity and would have provided a nice touch.

The challenges tab adds an interesting twist and gives the player a chance to try different challenges, compete against other players on a global leaderboard, and earn medals.

There are different challenges, including high score, time attack, and boss battles. I tried a few to see how they worked. I played Sly Spy, and the challenge was to hit as many enemies as you could before falling to the ground. The next challenge I tried was Strikers 1945, a vertically scrolling shoot ’em up where the challenge was to score as many points with one life. Another challenge was to see how many points you could get in Space Invaders with one life.

You can also earn trophies, and there is a tab that shows your progress, displaying earned trophies and a percentage of the ones you are still working on. There is also a messages tab that shows any challenge requests or results you have received.

Game Library and Search Options

There is a search option to filter games alphabetically, or you can customize searches by publisher or genre. There are currently 1382 games included with Antstream, and my first instinct was to go through the entire catalogue to see what games were available.

Each game has its box art and also a symbol in the corner indicating which system it is from. Searching through the games can feel slightly daunting, but you can favourite a game you fancy playing later rather than trying to remember it.

When you click on a game, it takes you into a sub-menu showing information about the title itself, any specific challenges for it, global and follower high scores, similar games in that genre, and customizable controls.

Personal Experience

As I was scrolling through the menu of games, I spotted Hungry Horace and thought it had to be the first game I tried, as it was one of the first games I owned on the ZX Spectrum. Within a couple of button presses, I was playing a game that I first played over 40 years ago, and it was amazing. This really showed me the potential of Antstream. While emulation is relatively easy these days, having a very smooth interface and the ability to play games on a modern console at your convenience is extremely desirable.

Next up was Kick Off 2, a game I played relentlessly on the Commodore Amiga. I became so good at it that I could score from a kick-off. Playing it again highlighted just how terrible I am at it now, barely able to dribble the ball, but it was still fun to revisit.

Next was Supercars 2, another game I adored on the Commodore Amiga. Despite being good at it back in the day, I could barely control the car now.

I could go on for ages listing every game I tried, but hopefully by now, you’re getting the impression that I had a really good time with Antstream.

As the name suggests, the games are streamed, so make sure you have a decent internet connection. There are also save states available for each game.

Conclusion

I can see why Antstream wouldn’t be for everyone. For example, there wouldn’t be much incentive to purchase a subscription for someone who has access to a PC and can simply emulate the games. However, if you are a console owner and want to dip in and out to try different retro games you haven’t played for years, then Antstream is the perfect way to do it. Think of it as a Netflix-style service where new titles will appear, and some will leave. The challenges are a nice feature and there are plenty of games to keep you occupied. From my point of view, £32.99 for a year’s subscription is great value, and I shall be dipping in and out of Antstream over the next 12 months for that warm retro hit of nostalgia.

Review by Chris.