Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

Quattro Arcade offers a quartet of distinct action experiences packaged into a single unlicensed NES cartridge. From side-scrolling platforming to top-down maze navigation and jet combat, each title brings its own rhythm and challenges. Players can seamlessly switch between single-player runs or team up in two-player modes, lending the anthology a flexible arcade feeling that’s rare on the NES library.

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In C.J.’s Elephant Antics, you guide a bomb-tossing pachyderm across Parisian rooftops, Swiss chalets, and Egyptian sands. The controls are tight and responsive, letting you chain parachute descents into well-timed bomb throws. The two-player cooperative option enriches each level’s platforming puzzles, as you and a friend coordinate jumps, gliding maneuvers, and enemy clearances to reach the next checkpoint.

Stunt Buggies shifts perspective to an overhead maze full of renegade vehicles and hidden explosives. The core objective is simple—collect all bombs and escape—but avoiding roaming buggies and dead ends turns each level into a brain-teaser. The tight time limits and occasional power-up drops keep the tension high. In two-player mode, you can either collaborate to clear the maze or race to gather bombs, adding a competitive edge.

F-16 Renegade introduces alternating overhead and behind-the-jet views. The overhead stages demand quick reflexes to dodge anti-air fire, while the third-person segments offer a more immersive dogfighting experience. Weapon upgrades, smart bombs, and extra lives scattered throughout build a satisfying progression curve. Although the two-player mode is strictly competitive, it fuels repeat sessions as pilots vie for top dog status.

Finally, Go! Dizzy Go! casts you in the role of the egg-shaped hero Dizzy, navigating colorful mazes in forests, pyramids, and underwater realms. Collecting fruit unlocks doors and reveals secret passages, with every world introducing new hazards and tile-based puzzles. The cooperative mode transforms the adventure into a fun buddy-puzzle romp—working together is practically mandatory to solve timed switches and avoid deadly traps.

Graphics

Despite being unlicensed, Quattro Arcade’s visuals make the most of the NES’s limited palette. C.J.’s Elephant Antics features lush backgrounds in Paris and Egypt, with detailed sprite animations for the bomb toss and parachute glide. While some textures appear repetitive, the overall art direction conveys a surprising level of charm for an unofficial release.

Stunt Buggies relies on a minimalist top-down style, but the use of contrasting colors helps each maze feel distinct. The buggies themselves have a crisp, chunky design that’s easy to spot at a glance. Though there’s little environmental detail beyond walls and pathways, the clarity of graphics aids gameplay, ensuring you never get lost amid cluttered visuals.

F-16 Renegade’s split perspectives stretch the NES hardware. Overhead stages display detailed runways and enemy formations, while the behind-the-plane view delivers simple but effective horizon lines and plane sprites. Frame rates occasionally dip during heavy action, but the particle effects for explosions and weapon fire remain satisfyingly punchy.

Go! Dizzy Go! stands out with its bright, cartoonish palette. Each realm has its own distinctive tileset—from the murky blues of the underwater levels to the sandy browns of the pyramid. Dizzy’s sprite animations (running, jumping, fruit-collecting) are smooth, and environmental hazards like spikes and moving platforms are clearly delineated, minimizing guesswork and unfair deaths.

Story

Far from weaving a single overarching narrative, Quattro Arcade stitches together four self-contained premises. C.J.’s Elephant Antics tells a lighthearted tale of an escaped zoo pachyderm making his way home through iconic landmarks. The plot is straightforward, serving mainly as motivation to progress through each themed stage.

Stunt Buggies offers only the barest backstory: hijacked mazes filled with hostile vehicles and a need to gather bombs in order to flee. This minimalism actually plays to the game’s strengths, letting players focus on puzzle-like maze runs without narrative distractions.

F-16 Renegade leans into its comic-book scenario of a rogue professor and a looming World War III. The premise of hacking into USAF networks and commandeering an F-16 adds a cinematic flair you won’t find in the other three titles. Brief cutscenes and mission intros supply enough context to invest you in each sortie.

Go! Dizzy Go! reprises the classic Dizzy formula: rescue friends from the evil wizard Zaks by collecting fruit across bizarre realms. While the story is familiar, it provides a cohesive skeleton for the varied level designs. Two-player teamups even allow one Dizzy to trigger switches while the other explores, creating emergent narratives in each maze.

Overall Experience

Quattro Arcade excels as a budget-friendly option for NES enthusiasts craving variety. The four distinct games pack different genres—platformer, maze-puzzler, shooter, and hybrid—into one cartridge, ensuring there’s always something new to try. The inclusion of two-player modes in every title significantly extends replayability and keeps sessions lively.

While none of the individual games reach the polish of first-party NES classics, they each have unique hooks that hold your attention. Difficulty can spike unpredictably—especially in late Stunt Buggies mazes and the overhead dogfights of F-16 Renegade—but the generous checkpoint systems help mitigate frustration. For players seeking a collection of bite-sized action games, these quirks feel more nostalgic than annoying.

Graphical and sound compromises are par for the course with unlicensed cartridges, but the overall package remains commendable. Each title has its own visual flair and catchy chiptune soundtrack, and the varying genres keep the experience from growing stale. Casual players and retro collectors alike will appreciate the silliness of an elephant hurling bombs one moment and dogfighting jets the next.

In summary, Quattro Arcade is a solid anthology that punches above its unlicensed pedigree. Its strength lies in variety—there’s little else on the NES that offers four playable games with cooperative or competitive two-player modes in one convenient cart. If you’re willing to tolerate occasional rough edges in exchange for eclectic gameplay and retro nostalgia, this hidden gem is well worth hunting down.

Retro Replay Score

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