Williams Arcade Classics
Arcade emulation from GT Interactive

This emulator is a bit different for a couple of reasons.   First, unlike most other emulators that are freeware products, this one is a commercial product developed by Digital Eclipse, and marketed through GT Interactive.   GT Interactive is a long established gaming company bringing us such hits as Duke Nukem and Unreal.  They have also done other arcade game work, as they have published home translations of many arcade games such as Area 51, NBA Hangtime, and the Mortal Kombat Trilogy.

This emulator is several years old, and is written for DOS.   However, it runs just fine under Windows 9x.

Screen capture of Stargate (Defender II)

The other unique aspect of this emulator is the history that is included.  The CD is filled with video interviews with the original creators of these outstanding coin-op classics.  This is an often overlooked feature, and it is a welcome breath of fresh air.  If you want to know more about the story behind Defender, Eugene Jarvis himself pops up on your page, and starts talking about the trials and tribulations of creating coin-op games in the early 80's.

Williams Arcade Classics Main Menu

One other cool feature:  When you run this emulator, you hear the sounds of the arcade as full motion video brings you into an arcade to the back wall where six arcade machines reside.  Clicking on the image of the Joust machine in the video launches the Joust emulator.  The whole package is very polished, and it is just what the classic gaming fan wants to see.

     
Screen captures of Defender, Joust, and Robotron: 2084
Click on image to enlarge

This emulator features six of the classic Williams arcade games:

Defender
Stargate (Defender II)
Joust
Robotron: 2084
Sinistar
Bubbles

Go to the GT Interactive homepage

This is a commercial product that can be purchased in retail software
stores, or through the GT Interactive web site.