Comparison

Classic Marathon Infinity vs ArcEmu

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Classic Marathon Infinity

Experience the epic conclusion to a classic sci-fi shooter trilogy. Engage in single-player campaigns with exploration, puzzles, and combat, or test your skills in intense multiplayer battles. Features enhanced graphics and sound.

Highlights
  • Single-player campaign with story and missions
  • Multiplayer cross-play support
  • Enhanced HD graphics
  • 3D positional sound
  • New weapon: KKV-7 SMG
  • 25 main levels and 5 hidden levels
Read full description

Rage hard.. Marathon Infinity® is the climactic conclusion to Bungie's groundbreaking Marathon® Trilogy. Learn the the truth about the events of Classic Marathon® and Marathon: Durandal® first hand in "Blood Tides of Lh’owon", the single player portion of Infinity. ENHANCEMENTS • High frame rate support • Updated HD Sprite set • 3D positional sound with HRTF • Texture parallax mapping • Multiplayer cross-play with Linux, Mac, PC, and Steam • Fan soundtrack by Talashar FEATURES • 25 levels divided into four chapters • 5 hidden levels • missions include exploration, puzzles and extermination • "Carnage is as easy as point and shoot." ~Marathon Manual • introducing a new weapon: KKV-7 10mm SMG Flechette submachine gun ===== to.be.a.vidmaster ==== What does it mean to be a Vidmaster? It is being balanced in the calm center of a whirling and untouchable tornado of destruction, while showers of grenades patter harmlessly around you and bullets crawl toward you in slow-mo. It is when your brain develops a new bundle of nerves whose only function is to re-route impulses directly from your eyes to your finger muscles, so that you can twist and snap off a rocket long before you’re conscious of the yellow blip in your motion detector. It is when the difference between a roomful of alien warriors and a carpet of them is a matter of seconds. The word "vid" entered the Marathon lexicon during development of the first game, to distinguish the excellent players (particularly in net games) from the fodder. The Oath of the Vidmaster was inscribed into the skip-levels dialog (Command-Option-Begin New Game), to remind players of the highest level of excellence they could aspire to: "I pledge to punch all switches, to never shoot where I could use grenades, to admit the existence of no level except Total Carnage, to never use Caps Lock as my 'run' key, and to never, ever, leave a single Bob alive." To do these things is to invite maximum peril, and requires one to play the game as hard and unrelentingly as possible, at the highest level of skill; to play as a Vidmaster. These three games, the Marathon® saga, are the best training and testing ground for Vidmasters. You can play against aliens alone or in a networked group through more than 80 levels. But the true challenge is surviving in one of the 50 included netgame arenas against other people. It is in such trials by fire that mighty Vidmasters are forged. Rage hard.. ===== BUNGIE™, MARATHON® and the Bungie and Marathon logos are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Bungie, Inc., used with permission.

About

ArcEmu

Experience retro gaming on your Apple Watch, iPhone, and iPad. This emulator supports Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance cartridges. Enjoy features like multiplayer, cheats, and customizable controls.

Highlights
  • Game Boy, GBC, GBA emulation
  • Multiplayer support
  • Cheat codes
  • Customizable on-screen controls
  • Save State sharing
  • iCloud support
Features
Read full description

ArcEmu brings retro game emulation to Apple Watch. It also works on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV, delivering a seamless gaming experience across your Apple devices. Supported Consoles - Game Boy (.gb) - Game Boy Color (.gbc) - Game Boy Advance (.gba) - Pokémon Mini (.min) - Nintendo Entertainment System (.nes) - Super Nintendo Entertainment System (.sfc and .smc) - Atari 2600 (.a26 and .bin) Main Features - Accurate, high-performance emulation powered by the mGBA and Ares cores - Game Link Cable support with online multiplayer for up to four players* - Cheat-code support with a built-in database of popular codes** - Frame-independent emulation at 30 or 60 FPS - Multi-touch and Digital Crown support on Apple Watch - Support for all screen orientations on iPhone and iPad - Precise, thoughtfully designed on-screen controls - Customizable control position and transparency on iPhone and iPad - Fast-forward at 2×, 4×, or maximum speed - Slow motion at 0.5× speed - Touch-based light gun controls for NES and SNES - Custom color palettes for Game Boy games - Button hold/sustain feature - Accelerometer support - Gyroscope support on iPhone and iPad, with Digital Crown input on Apple Watch - Haptic feedback on iPhone - Game controller support with customizable button mappings - ZIP archive support - Automatic saving - Save-state sharing between devices - iCloud support for ROMs and save states - ROM sharing through iCloud using share codes - Support for Apple Watch devices configured with Family Setup - ROM sorting and search Apple Watch Compatibility - Apple Watch Series 4 or later - Apple Watch SE or later - Apple Watch Ultra or later ArcEmu does not include any games or ROMs. You can import compatible ROM files from your iPhone and store them in iCloud. Your Apple Watch can then download them directly from iCloud. On an Apple Watch configured with Family Setup, ROMs can be downloaded from iCloud using share codes. Games Featured in the Screenshots - Acorn Grove: https://gibbongl.itch.io/acorn-grove - Anguna: https://gauauu.itch.io/anguna - Hauntsfield: https://alliemackie.itch.io/hauntsfield - µCity Advance: https://skylyrac.itch.io/ucity-advance * Requires a Game Center account. ** Cheat codes may cause unexpected behavior or affect game stability and save data. ArcEmu is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Nintendo. Nintendo and the names of its game systems are trademarks of Nintendo Co., Ltd.

Screenshots

Classic Marathon Infinity3 screens
ArcEmu4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Classic Marathon Infinity at Free against ArcEmu's $1.99. ArcEmu's advantage is rating (4.9 vs 4.4) and in-app purchases (none vs 10). On ads and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Classic Marathon Infinity is free to download; ArcEmu costs $1.99 up front. Classic Marathon Infinity sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. ArcEmu asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ArcEmu holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ArcEmu has 1.3K ratings behind it against 159, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 74% of Classic Marathon Infinity's written reviews are positive against 95% of ArcEmu's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Classic Marathon Infinity ships an update every 5 months, ArcEmu every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Classic Marathon Infinity versus ArcEmu: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterClassic Marathon InfinityArcEmu
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating4.4 (159 ratings)4.9 (1.3K ratings) — better
Positive reviews74.4% of reviews94.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1591.3K — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.5
Further details — not scored
Size1.0 GB172 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperDome-C Studio LLCRaffaele D'Amato

Customer experience

Classic Marathon Infinity

All ratings160 ratings
Positive85.6%
Neutral5.0%
Negative9.4%
Written reviews86 reviews
Positive74.4%
Neutral9.3%
Negative16.3%

ArcEmu

All ratings1,304 ratings
Positive98.2%
Neutral0.8%
Negative1.0%
Written reviews528 reviews
Positive94.5%
Neutral2.8%
Negative2.7%

User reviews

Classic Marathon Infinity

From 159 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Faithful port of classic game
  • 🎮 Full single-player campaign included
  • 📱 Successfully brought to mobile platform
  • 🎨 Graphics updates and HDR improvements
  • 🔊 Spatial audio and fan-made music additions

Room to improve

  • 🎮 Touch screen controls are cumbersome
  • 🎮 Auto-centering view during movement
  • 🎮 Difficult to aim while moving
  • 🎮 Awkward button placement on screen
  • 🐛 Frequent crashes on various iOS versions

ArcEmu

From 1.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fully functional
  • 🚀 Impressive emulation on Apple Watch
  • 👍 Great emulator for both phone and watch
  • 👍 Seamless save state transfer between devices
  • 👍 Customizable controls and layout

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Compatibility issues with some games
  • 🐛 Audio quality problems on certain games
  • 👎 Limited functionality on Apple Watch
  • 👎 Difficult controls for action-heavy games on watch

Bugs and requests

Classic Marathon Infinity

Reported bugs

15 issues
  • Game crashes on iOS 8 and later versions
  • Crashes when loading specific levels (Level 1, Despair)
  • Cannot progress past end screen
  • Stuck in 'Rage' chapter loop
  • Level 0 to 1 transition crashes
Show 10 more
  • Black screen except HUD visible
  • Cannot open doors
  • Texture rendering issues on Level 3
  • Sky texture rotated 90 degrees
  • Game Center broken
  • App Store purchase features not accessible
  • Screen zoomed in and distorted on iPad Mini
  • Menu covering half screen on iPhone 4s
  • Levels advancing out of sequence
  • Achievements bugged (level progression)

Requested features

16 requests
  • Controller support (Backbone, MFi controllers)
  • Multiplayer/network gameplay
  • Custom map support and community maps
  • Map builder tool
  • Inverted aim option
Show 11 more
  • Adjustable sensitivity settings
  • Field of view customization
  • Auto-center view toggle
  • Run/swim toggle option
  • Rearrangeable on-screen controls
  • Bluetooth keyboard support
  • Bootable from Backbone app
  • Texture filtering options
  • Scenario packs (Marathon Evil, Rubicon, Tempus Irae)
  • Pathways Into Darkness port
  • Desktop/CPU version

ArcEmu

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Occasional crashes
  • Graphical glitches with certain ROMs
  • Save data not transferring properly between devices

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add cheat/GameShark support
  • Improve volume controls
  • Implement fast forward/slow motion options
  • Allow multiple save slots per game
  • Improve Game Boy Color support
Show 1 more
  • Add joystick/button support for Apple Watch

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Classic Marathon Infinity

One-time10
  • Master Chief Mode$0.99
  • Enhanced Reticules$0.99
  • Just a tip$0.99
Show 7 more
  • HD Mode$1.99
  • Not the smallest tip$1.99
  • A good tip$2.99
  • A pretty good tip$4.99
  • An excellent tip$7.99
  • The best possible tip$12.99
  • Better than the best tip$20.99
None

ArcEmu

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Classic Marathon Infinity free?
Classic Marathon Infinity is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ArcEmu free?
ArcEmu costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Classic Marathon Infinity or ArcEmu?
ArcEmu is rated higher. Classic Marathon Infinity averages 4.4 out of 5 from 159 ratings, while ArcEmu averages 4.9 from 1.3K ratings.
Do Classic Marathon Infinity or ArcEmu have ads?
Neither Classic Marathon Infinity nor ArcEmu shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Classic Marathon Infinity or ArcEmu?
Classic Marathon Infinity ships an update every 5 months, and ArcEmu every 2 weeks. Most recently, Classic Marathon Infinity was updated on October 13, 2026 and ArcEmu on October 19, 2026.

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