@mediamogul That sorted the Channel F (with a bit of tweaking), cheers.
The Astrocade I'd already fixed, and it works fine for every game I've tried EXCEPT Space Fortress (unfortunately the best game on the system), which used to run fine but now goes at about 1fps. I tried using your .RC file instead, but the exact same thing happened.
The really freaky one is the Arcadia, though. I can get it to run no problem, right up to the point where I start any game, at which point it plays them by itself. No matter how I set the controls, the player ship will just lurch around, moving and shooting (or whatever) all on its own, regardless of whether I touch the controls or not.
But here's the REALLY wacky part.
If I boot up Pleiades on the Arcadia, it plays through the first three stages by itself. It's pretty good - it clears them all. So I wondered if I'd (somehow) recorded and then played back a previous game. But THEN, and only then, it gives me back control for the last stage (the one where you steer onto an airstrip dodging the parked ships). Keyboard and joystick both control the ship perfectly.
Once I've steered to the target and completed the stage, the Pi takes over and plays by itself again.
If anyone can explain any of THAT, I'm all ears.