Arcade1up Class of 81 Comparison

This video details the differences between the OG class of 81 cabinet, the new Deluxe class of 81 cabinet, and a real class of 81 Arcade cabinet in the wild.

videos used in the making of this video are credited to @PDX7 and @therealzimm thank you so much for your video reviews of the class of 81 deluxe. please subscribe to their channels.

music credit goes to Karl casey.

[The_Bad_Guy.]

Nice job man! This comparison has to be the only one of it's kind.

[andrewzapata]

The Class of 81 cabinet looks good and is fun to play, no matter which one of the 3 you have.

[RockOut]

Exactly the video I was looking for thank you for your hard work. I hope you post more comparisons.

[therealzimm]

Interesting points about the blue color differences and the large marquee for the arcade. Great work!

[hoonhog]

Great comparison between the cabs good length of video too. Thanks for making the effort in video the full scale OG cabinet.

[PDX]

Seems like the “real” arcade has a more royal blue than ours. Thank you for the shout out 💪 Great video Brian!

[nerdloftgaming]

Nicely done, bud 👍 I thought the MVSX and Dragon's Lair would be my last machines to grab for my collection...but I need a Class of 81 now, too! I would be happy with either or versions, but the new Deluxe form factor is just so stellar!

[multicadematt]

Great video Brian. The new cab is beautiful, but I agree the wise thing to do is wait for a sale. Have a great day.

[swatdoggy]

I have the deluxe, and i play it every day!!

[marcludwick]

There's a Class of 81' cabaret version at the Buffalo Wild Wings near me. It's about 5 ft. tall with a 19" monitor. It's pretty close in size to the arcade1up version with a smaller marquee on it. Maybe that's the size and style they were going after.

[PapaBradsGaming]

I subbed and rung the bell. Great video.

[vaderdavedestephanis]

Excellent breakdown bro!
I personally don't mind risers and i own a fullsize Golden tee fore and pinball along with 4 A1ups and no problems with riser, his blacks do look better but i like the screen more upward!

[arcadetalk]

I see what you mean about the shade of blue they used on the OG and the deluxe. The deluxe looks real close to the right blue. I subbed too.

[tedadamgreen]

I think there is fun to be had in every model of The Class of ‘81 … even the Countercade that I have.

The gameplay is similar in all …

That said, if you want EXACTLY the original actual arcade game, the get it, period.

But for people like me, the Arcade 1ups are a welcomed product at a price point and form factor we can live with.

Have fun everyone

[videogamevegas]

KaoticBPR,

Now I haven't seen the Legacy Class of 81 in person, but I've heard the monitor is great and I'm glad you have one, so I can hear your perspective. I have the Namco Legacy Pac-Man with 12 games and it's supposed to have the same model of BOE monitor. Now the Deluxe Class of 81 is supposed to also be rocking the same model BOE monitor, but here's the problem. The model of BOE monitor can't display correctly at that more recessed angle found in the Deluxe cab. Now I think the Deluxe cab design looks cool, mimicking more the commercial design, but I wouldn't sacrifice picture quality just to get a different shaped cab and a better looking marquee. I feel I would be doing you a disservice if I didn't let you know what's up.

As the clips of the Deluxes you show in this video, you can see the screen uniformity issues that produce a moving washout as the camera moves around the cabinet. I really wanted to upgrade my Legacy Pac-Man with the Deluxe version, mainly because it had two extra games I wanted, but because I watched so many videos showing the screen issue on the Deluxe, and the fact that many were glossing over it, not mentioning it at all, or trying to say the monitor was perfect, I decided to see if I could find these Deluxe cabinets in person to see for myself. I was able to find the Class of 81 and Pac-Man Deluxes, as well as the Pac-Man XL. And I hate to be the barer of bad news, but these screen uniformity issues are real.

Again, from what I've heard, the picture quality on the Class of 81 Legacy is stellar. I would hate to see you downgrade the great cabinet you already have by picking up a "Deluxe" version that Arcade1Up couldn't be bothered to put a proper model of BOE monitor that could handle the new recessed angle of the design. I don't want to write a book here, but if you have the time, I recommend checking out a chapter in my review for the Namco Pac-Man Legacy Edition, titled Picture Quality. It will explain more about my experience and what's going on.

Now we all aren't the same, and something that may bother me, may not bother another person, but I greatly encourage you to see the Class of 81 Deluxe in person before making a decision to buy and view the screen from all angles and distances. I think you'll be greatly surprised at how well your Legacy performs light years better than the Deluxe when it comes to picture quality. I hope this helps.


vgv

[farmerstephen]

Also, looking at the “real” machine, I keep thinking how amazingly accurate an XL version could look. The XL cabs even have bigger marquees just like the real class of 81! The real arcade is 68 inches tall; the XL cabs are about 67 inches tall. The real cab is about 24 inches wide; XLs are like 22.5 feet niches wide, etc…dimensions match up very well!

[Bobbypinker]

I bought the same exact joystick you did, and it was just as low as yours. The real control deck is much shallower than the A1Up, so a real joystick isn't tall enough. I ended up swapping it out for something suited to A1Up.

[TheAdmiralkrunch]

The ROM used on the GEN 1 Galaga (NON LIT MARQUEE) is WAY BETTER than the ROM used on the newest version of DIG DUG, MS. PAC MAN.... Or any other cab.

[farmerstephen]

Great comparison bud, man. Do you think a third party will make a bigger, “oversized” marquee for the 1up deluxe?? Of course it can’t be too big but I think 1up could have made it a little bigger, a little oversized without disrupting the viewing angle.

[TheCornerCade]

Hey buddy I was told to come here for the hylo hack! Can you help!? 👊🏼🙏🏼