I’ve believed for a long time that the games industry doesn’t value its history the way other media does, and collections like this serve as a shining light that perhaps this attitude may change in the future.
Not every Atari game stands up today as a playable masterpiece, and that’s just fine. Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration provides just about the best contextually driven system for playing and appreciating classic retro games that I’ve ever hit, and it’s an absolute must-have for any gamer of any age. I mean, Tempest 2000 is worth the price of admission alone, but along the way, you’ll learn a lot about gaming history, gaming development and even the weird and wonderful deals and dodgy antics that Atari got up to in its golden age.
"Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration" is a unique and amazing look at the dawn of the video game industry, with Atari at the forefront. This is no collection unlike any other... 103 games, emphemera, photos, video interviews, flyers, promo materials, top secret files & more! This collection includes games from the Atari 2600, 5200, 7800, 8 bit computer line and YES, Jaguar and Lynx games (for the first time!) Digital Eclipse built an emulator for the project, even! This is the NEW standard for how all such collections should be in the future, and even though it took 50 years to get there, I'm glad that Digital Eclipse was at the help. Mike Mika & Stephen Frost and team have done a great job here with this amazing game! Digital Eclipse also created 5 new 'Reimagined' games from the ground up, which are amazing! These are: Quadratank, Haunted Houses, VCTR-SCTR (my favorite), Yars Reimagined, Neo Breakout (so fun!) and SwordQuest: Airworld (which was never completed over 40 years ago!) The videos includes are on an 'interactive timeline,' which begs you to explore the highs and lows of Atari's stellar 50 year history, from the arcade origins to the 90's and beyond! It's pretty amazing stuff. Check out my full review on my website ballistikcoffeeboy or on YouTube under the same name. Grab your copy today! Available for: Switch (standard and steelbook edition), PS4, PS5, Xbox, Steam, and soon also on the Atari VCS! Price is $39.99 for standard, $49.99 for the steelbook edition! A++
Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration isn’t just a treasure trove of hard-to-find titles, it’s a love letter to gaming’s history. Besides simply playing these classics — some of which have been updated with improved graphics — you get a rich history lesson about the company. Candid interviews provide a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at what it was like working at the company and give you insight into the development of these older games. This context allows you to view these classics in an entirely new light.
Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration offers a completely new, very fun way to explore several decades of Atari arcade machines, consoles, handhelds, and PCs.
This is not a collection of fantastic games, but a fantastic history lesson about gaming's most important company. Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration is a journey that begins from the distant '70s, with Pong and the 2600, goes through the 7800 and Jaguar eras, and actually concludes… today, as besides all the classic titles, small documentary-like videos, and so on, this even includes reimagined titles, plus unreleased prototypes - and more. Digital Eclipse crafted a rightful tribute to a legendary pioneer.
Fifty years is a long old time to remain even slightly relevant in the games industry, and whilst this package probably wont win too many new fans, it gives retro fans a great walk down memory lane.
Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration is about as definitive an Atari celebration as you can get. It doubles as both a game collection and an extensive history lesson on one of gaming's forefathers. Not every title is a winner, but in the end, younger players will gain a better appreciation for Atari's contributions and how far gaming has come.
The retrospectives are fun and may be almost worth the price of admission, especially as somebody who has played a lot of these games when I was about ten our so.
As for the games themselves... well, I really wanted to like them better, but there are a number of issues.
* Conspicuous omissions. I now realize why some of the usual suspects (Space Invaders, Defender, Pac Man) aren't included... they weren't originally Atari products, so I guess they can't be bundled here. Still wish I'd realized that ahead of time.
* A good portion of the games were originally released for the paddle controller. I'm thinking Super Breakout, Demons to Diamonds, etc; also I believe that Tempest 2000 also had a potentiometer. In any case, the joycon stick is too sensitive. Gradual pressure should gently move the onscreen paddle in Super Breakout. But if I do more than think about the joystick on the switch, the paddle jumps straight across the room. I can see there is a way to change the responsiveness of controls, but it's not immediately clear which (if any) would help here.
* Even if the original had a joystick control, I'm walking on eggshells with the joycon stick. The original Atari 2600 joystick was all-or-nothing for each direction. Maybe I just need to get used to it, or maybe I was born too early, but I don't expect the sprite to move unless I have the joycon stick all the way to the N/S/E/W/NE/SE/SW/NW. Otherwise I'm again clear across town when I'm only expecting to go a block or two.
I'll pick it up again when I'm bored... meanwhile I welcome any suggestions on how to calibrate the controls, in which case I may change my rating.
SummaryIt has been five decades since a small team in Silicon Valley first combined their creativity, curiosity and passion into making video games and hardware. The result of their efforts was Atari, one of the most recognizable and enduring entertainment and pop culture brands in the world.
Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration takes players...