New Wave Toys Missle Command X Replicade | Bring The Arcade HOME

In this episode, we unbox and test out the New Wave Toys Missle Command X Replicade cabinet.

Ever since I saw the New Wave Toys lineup of arcade cabinets at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo in 2019, I absolutely fell in love with them. The quality, not just of the games but of the workmanship, was absolutely terrific. I'm thrilled that I have several of these in my collection now, Dragon's Layer, 1942, and Q*Bert, and was thrilled when I saw their latest on my front door, the Missile Command X Replicade.

Standing at 11.6 in tall, it is the exact same scale as their previous generation systems. Out of the box, you get the cabinet itself, a micro USB charging cable, an instruction manual, and even a little packet with tokens. The attention to detail has not been spared, and I love when they include the tokens. They don't do anything, they're just super neat.

Taking the Missile Command out of the box, first things first is the fact that the outer box looks like a shipping container box. It has things on there such as do not fork, this side up, etc, and just really helps set the mood. As someone who's been involved with scale radio controlled cars and models over the years, I eat this right up.

One of the unique things about this particular Missile Command cabinet is a filter that they have added over the regular LCD display. It's designed to give the LCD a CRT sort of look, and it's really quite interesting. It reminds me of something straight out of the '70s, and it's perfect in it's execution. The one bummer, unfortunately, is that unlike scanlines you can't turn this off. It is part of the cabinet.

The back of the unit features a power button, volume rocker switch, micro USB charging port, and a power LED. Two things that I'm not thrilled about here on the back of the cabinet. The first is the fact that this uses Micro USB versus USB-C. USB-C is a much more resilient connection that doesn't tend to break as easily. The other disappointment was the lack of an HDMI output, the first one that I have gotten from New Wave Toys that doesn't have this. That means the only way you can play is on the cabinet itself.

To play the game you have a rollerball on the right-hand side, and three fire buttons on the left-hand side of the control deck. The rollerball is unique in that it's really smooth and precise, something I really appreciate. It has been so long since I've played the arcade version of Missile Command I forgot that you had three fire buttons, one for the left, center, and right cities to defend. As such, the strategy is a whole lot more different than what I'm used to playing on the Atari 2600. It's challenging but fun.

Talking about the gameplay, one of the things that I respect most about New Wave Toys is the fact that they use the arcade accurate ROMs licensed from the original creators when building their machines. That means that you get as close to an authentic experience in a scaled down cabinet as possible. The lights and sounds were all amazing, and perfectly accurate as far as I could tell. I also loved the light-up marquee on the top of the cabinet which just sets this apart a little bit more.

Why it RoX:
- Arcade accurate performance
- Precise controls
- Light up Marquee
- Brilliant performance from the trackball
- I know it's dumb but I love the tokens

What could be improved:
- Micro USB for charging
- No HDMI output
- Some people may not like the CRT filter over the display

Should you buy one?
I'm a huge fan of New Wave Toys and their scale cabinets. Their craftsmanship and attention to detail is simply remarkable. Missile Command is a classic in the arcade world, and this is a perfectly accurate recreation in 1/6 scale. There's definitely room for improvement, I'd love to see them finally make the jump to USB-C, and the fact that this was the first unit of theirs that I have tested that did not have the HDMI out came as a bit of a surprise. I don't know that the intended audience for this will mind, and I will say if you are a fan of the original this is something you should definitely pick up.