Galaga Quarter Arcade Review - A Classic in 2024

A Galaga Quarter Arcade close up showing a lit Marquee and game playing.

The Galaga arcade machine was released in 1981 as a sequel to Galaxian by Namco; it was created by Japanese developer Shigeru Yokoyama.

A classic fixed space shooter from the golden era of arcade machines, it’s now been re-created as a 1:4 scale replica of the original arcade, let’s have a look.

Unboxing

The packaging is lovely with a see-through front cover; you get an instruction manual, which is tastefully done with sprites from the game and the Galaga branding.

Also included is a plug charger to charge the lithium-ion rechargeable internal battery.

Attention to detail

A Galaga Quarter Arcade angled view showing the orginal cabinet art and lit marquee.

This is the second quarter arcade I’ve purchased from Numbskull Designs, and it doesn’t disappoint, the attention to detail is where it's at.

Made from solid wood to give a premium feel, every painstakingly minute detail has been recreated, from the shape of the cabinet to the light-up marquee, the detailed side art and the air vents its all here in a QTR of the original size.

A Galaga Quarter Arcade back view showing the orginal cabinet structure.

The dimensions for the cabinet are 430mm/16.9in (h) x 160mm/6.29in (w) x 210/8.26in (d).

The game

A Galaga Quarter Arcade front view showing the orginal Galaga ROM playing.

The cabinet includes the original arcade ROM on a bespoke emulator; this proves a 100% accurate emulation.

On starting a game, the nostalgic Galaga theme plays and sounds better than ever with through the cabinets good speak quality (3W speakers).

The screen is good quality, and bright multi-coloured stars shimmer beautifully against the black backdrop to reinforce you’re in space without distracting from the action.

A Galaga Quarter Arcade front bottom view.

This is Galaga feels and then some, it is an enjoyable game to play with its simplicity, and it still holds up in 2024, controlling your starfighter, shooting the aliens to complete the stages and pushing for your highest score.

I’ve already mentioned the theme music of Galaga; I’d forgotten how great the sound effects are in general, from the diving aliens to the firing of missiles, their iconic sounds.

The controls

As per the original, you have a left/right microswitch joystick and fire button to fiend off the alien onslaught, one-player/two-player start buttons, as well as the coin operating buttons at the front of the cabinet.

The controls feel responsive, I’ve played micro arcade machines before, where that’s not the case. I think the 1:4 scale is the perfect size where you get the portability size benefits, but it's still playable and a good user experience.

Verdict

A Galaga Quarter Arcade front view showing the orginal Galaga ROM playing from a distance.

I couldn’t recommend the Galaga QTR arcade any more highly, with the Numbskull quarter arcades, you get premium top quality, it’s all about recreating the original arcade experience but to a quarter of the size.

With this comes the premium price tag, but these machines are aimed at the retro gaming fan who is more willing to pay the price to get that best-in-class retro gaming experience.