Make no mistake about it, Antstream Arcade on Xbox is a significant moment for game preservation.

It comes at a critical moment too, following a recent survey which suggests as many as 87% of retro games are lost to time. The study, in joint collaboration between the VGHF and Software Preservation Network came to the conclusion that many games are considered  ‘critically endangered’.

Remakes are one thing and a great way to re-release games with historical significance, but there are so many games that don’t have that privilege and are nigh on impossible to play now, unless you go through emulation or even the pirated route.

So along comes Antstream Arcade and its collection of over 1,300 games. A platform with a subscription service that hosts games from as far back as the Spectrum, to as recent as PS1.

Flicking through, it’s clear a lot of love has gone into the curation of this, and for an oldie like me, there’s some absolute crackers in here that I haven’t played or even thought about in years. Certainly not with an Xbox controller.

Sure, it’s far from an exhaustive list with quite a few notable omissions and there’s certainly an argument to be made here that the platform primarily caters to gamers from the 80s and early 90s.

There’s also not much in the way of major licensed games and obviously no first party releases, but if you want a legit way to play all the Dizzy games, Monty on the Run, and forgotten classics like Speedball 2, Cannon Fodder, and Head over Heels this is dreamworld stuff.

I grinned like a Cheshire cat looking through the Commodore 64 games I’d long forgotten about. The New Zealand Story. Rodland. The CJ series. Games that have zero chance of being picked up again for remasters but still have the same level of charm and style that I fell in love with all those years ago.

I don’t even need to download them, I can just search what I’m looking for and play. You can even favourite releases so you don’t lose them and they’re right at the top whenever you load.

For the most part, Antstream handles streaming well and that’s across all the various platforms. Some games did chug a little bit and for games like Mortal Kombat, a brief stutter can make a big difference. Equally, some of the more challenging early platformers require lightning fast reflexes and the controls going slightly rogue or a brief blip in action can make a big difference.

Even when you’ve got no downloads going in the background, it does feel like the service suffers a bit from interruptions, but I’ve no doubt the experience will be fine-tuned in the weeks ahead. They’re already talking about an updated UI later this year.

Speaking of UI, there’s probably the main bugbear I have right now. Everything feels disorganised and there’s a ton of content hidden within the algorithm. Cover art takes ages to load in when scrolling and the similar games feature just isn’t working the way it should right now. When Fantasy Land Dizzy isn’t recommending any of the many other Dizzy games on the system, you know something’s off.

Conveniently, if you find a game you love and want to play but want to play it on another format, you can change it within the game page. Unfortunately, if you do that and want to back out to the search screen, you have to press B numerous times to go back through your versioning history. Silly errors like that do make things a bit chaotic and convoluted.

The biggest thing, though, is the main screen doesn’t break out categories by system. Sure, it lists releases by genre, which is helpful, but you also see a lot of repetition and the string is only so long, so you miss a lot of the platform’s biggest treasures unless you use search.

Fortunately, search can take you through recommendations based on what you’ve played. You can also search by system, by publisher, genre etc. Though I almost wanted to see a full alphabetized list of games on the platform,to see everything at a glance.

The platform itself, however, is this constant stream of activity through its regular tournaments which alternate between games and provide different activities. This is such a good way to get you to play games you would never normally have touched. You can also friend people, compare scores against each other and even work together on some of the challenges. Tournaments also have gems as prizes which can be used to play any game you want in free mode and enter challenges.

Challenges, meanwhile, are quick-fire events that have a short time limit on them and you can dive in to try and fulfill the objectives. They can be anything from beating a boss to progressing as far as you can in a game, to doing something within a time limit. It’s a cool way to experience familiar games in different ways.

As for features like Quick Resume, it kind of breaks the UI and because AA is an ever-refreshing platform with new tournaments, game updates, and daily logins, you usually miss out on a lot by not force closing and re-opening the app each time. And it can also interfere with inputs on some games.

On the whole, Antstream has a solid foundation to build off of. I never thought I’d be able to play Simon the Sorcerer on my Xbox. Now I can. Equally, there’s games missing here I’d love to get on the service. Heimdall, Shadow of the Beast, Flashback, Cruise for a Corpse.

I also feel like there’s a distinct lack of licensed games which made up a huge portion of retro libraries across all the systems which Antstream really need to tap into. Games like Rambo, Platoon, Batman Caped Crusader, Robocop and even Megadrive classics like Quackshot.

To that point, you could argue if you didn’t grow up around the C64/Spectrum/Amiga or early Arcade era, Antstream doesn’t quite offer enough to entice you for an annual or lifetime subscription yet. I can see that. To a similar point, it’s fair to say there’s a number of games on here that have not aged well and don’t control particularly well. It’s true, but also immaterial as the nature of the platform is about preservation, whether the game is good, bad or completely indifferent.

But the regular activity on the platform and the way it connects you to games is really refreshing. The quality of gameplay is solid and there is something for everyone on the system.

I’m excited to see how this grows when the new UI is added, when we find out what other games they’re working on, and inevitably when the platform ends up on PlayStation and is playable on the go with Switch.

For now, we’ll be looking at a different game weekly via a regular column and keeping a close eye on the service to see what’s coming up.

If you’re still on the fence, my advice? Look at the list of games on there and if any catch your eye, get involved. There’s almost certainly something in here you know of or played as a kid and want to experience again. And if not, there’s a treasure trove of games you’ve probably heard of but not got the chance to experience. Now’s your chance.

We need game preservation services and platforms like Antstream and Evercade more than ever now. And there’s never quite been a collection like this on any console before. It’s the perfect time to show support.

Antstream Arcade is now available on Xbox. There’s an Annual Subscription where you can get access to all games for £29.99 or a lifetime pass subscription for £79.99.