Flack
11-22-2004, 01:22 PM
Like millions of other 30-year-olds, I grew up with an Atari 2600 in my living room. And, like many other veteran gamers, I still love the little thing. I and many others like me spent time each week searching thrift stores, flea markets, and pawn shops for trinkets of my past. A joystick here, a game cartridge there ... it's like being in a world-wide videogame treasure hunt.
But maybe you're not that guy. Maybe you had an Atari 2600 as a kid and outgrew it. Maybe you're nostalgic and just want to sit down and play a few of those games again, without going through the hassle of finding a working 2600 and getting a piece of old hardware to work with your new television. Or maybe you're a younger gamer, and want to find out what all the fuss was about two little white paddles and a square ball bouncing back and forth between them. If you're interested enough in Atari games to fork out some cash but don't see it as a lasting hobby, then Atari Anthology for the PS2 and Xbox is probably for you.
Atari Anthology contains 80+ games. About 60 of those are direct ports of original 2600 games. The remaining 20 or so titles are actual arcade games. Note that the word Atari in the title has a double meaning -- not only are the games FOR the Atari system, but these are all games BY Atari as well. You'll find no Activision, Parker Brothers or Colecovision games within.
The "stellar" menu system (because it deals with outer space, not necessarily because it's terrific) divides the games up into nine categories. Classic video games take up one of the choices; the other eight are categories of Atari 2600 games (adventure games, sports games, etc). The categories make finding games easier, and is a better solution than forcing players to scroll through a lengthy list. The menu system is reminiscent of the Star Wars DVD menus, where each genre of games is apparently stored in a different solar system and every selection has you whisking around the galaxy. While easy enough to navigate, the spinning of and zooming through constellations gets old pretty quickly. The nine categories are as follows:
Adventure Games contains some of the earliest graphical RPGs around, including Adventure, Haunted House, and all three Swordquest games.
Action Games contains many of the systems most recognizable games, including Outlaw, Flag Capture, Circus Atari and the system's launch title, Combat.
Arcade Originals contains several actual videogames, including Asteroids, Centipede, Tempest, and Missile Command. There are also several lesser known titles, such as Liberator, Red Baron, and Black Widow.
Arcade at Home contains several arcade games which were ported to the Atari 2600. Here you'll find the home version of games like Asteroids, Centipede, Video Pinball, Breakout and more.
Mind Games houses several of the console's more strategic titles, including 3D Tic-Tac-Toe, Video Chess, and Surround (which predates TRON's Light Cycles by several years).
Sports Games includes all the classic man-to-man titles, including bowling, football, baseball, and even golf.
Racing Games include Night Driver, Slot Racers, Sprintmaster, Steeplechase, and Street Racer. This is one area in particular that reminded me how many good 3rd party titles there were for the 2600.
Space Games contains games like Space War, Star Raiders, Star Ship and the classic Yars' Revenge.
The final category, Casino Games, includes Blackjack, Casino, and Slot Machine.
Each game contains bonus material, beginning with scans of the manuals, boxes, and cartridges themselves. More experienced players will be able to unlock additional bonus materials, including FMV videos.
The games also include different variations for additional replay value. These include a trippy mode (where everything color cycles and leaves tracers), time challenge, time warp (in which the game's clock cycles randomly speed up and slow down), hot seat (a strange mode where your game is interrupted every few seconds with a different game!), and double speed. Maybe it's just me, but I didn't really see any of these as being lasting features I would use later on down the road. In fact, I found most of them annoying very quickly. One thing I didn't find annoying was the included descriptions on the menu of each games' choices. Atari 2600 games often came with several different difficultly level settings. Back then, the only way to know which did what was to refer to the manual. Atari Anthology fortunately spares us that paper hunt, and shows what each variation does right on the menu screen.
Atari Anthology's game selection appears to draw heavily from the system's early titles. Many of the later games in Atari's library for one reason or another simply aren't here. Games like Moon Patrol, Galaxian, Berzerk, Joust, and even Pac-Man are all superior to many of the games that appear here.
Another problem veteran gamers will notice are the controls. Try as they might, no joystick (analog or digital) will ever replace paddles. Period. Circus Atari, Breakout, and Warlords are difficult if not impossible to play with a joystick.
There were two major problems I encountered with this title. One was the difficulty in reading some of the text, particularly in the emulated arcade games. I won't bag on the title too hard because (A) you can play them without reading it, and (B) I'm using a projector so maybe something it getting lost in the translation, but it still looked pretty weak. The other problem I encountered was within some of the games itself. I'll use Asteroids (2600) as an example. In the two minutes I played, I flew directly through an asteroid not once but twice. Another time, I blew up when I was close, but had not yet touched, an asteroid. I hate to base a review on the old "where there's smoke there's fire" addage, but it did make me wonder if bugs had crept into other games on the disc as well.
Also of note is the fact that the arcade games, by default, appear "zoomed out" and inside a simulated arcade bezel. You'll have to dig through menu screens to find out how to zoom in and where to disable them should you want to play these games full screen.
Bottom line, is it worth the $19.95 asking price? You bet, especially for those who don't still own an Atari 2600. With the recent interest in retro gaming, an Atari 2600 itself could run you more than this title costs, and that's without the games.
Complete Game Listing
Classic arcade hits:
Asteroids
Asteroids Deluxe
Battlezone
Atari Black Widow
Centipede
Crystal Castles
Gravitar
Liberator
Lunar Lander
Major Havoc
Millipede
Missile Command
Pong
Atari Red Baron
Super Breakout
Atari Space Duel
Tempest
Warlords
Atari 2600 titles:
Atari 3D Tic-Tac-Toe
Atari Adventure
Atari Air•Sea Battle
Asteroids
Atari Video Cube
Backgammon
Battlezone
Blackjack
Bowling
Breakout
Canyon Bomber
Casino
Centipede
Circus Atari
Combat
Crystal Castles
Demons to Diamonds
Desert Falcon
Dodge ’Em
Double Dunk
Flag Capture
Football
Fun With Numbers
Golf
Gravitar
Hangman
Haunted House
Home Run
Human Cannonball
Atari Math Gran Prix
Atari Maze Craze
Millipede
Miniature Golf
Missile Command
Atari Night Driver
Off the Wall
Atari Outlaw
Quadrun
Radar Lock
Realsports Baseball
Realsports Football
Realsports Tennis
Realsports Volleyball
Sky Diver
Slot Machine
Atari Slot Racers
Atari Space War
Sprintmaster
Star Raiders
Atari Star Ship
Steeplechase
Stellar Track
Atari Street Racer
Atari Submarine Commander
Atari Super Baseball
Super Breakout
Atari Super Football
Atari Surround
Swordquest: Earthworld
Swordquest: Fireworld
Swordquest: Waterworld
Video Checkers
Video Chess
Video Olympics
Video Pinball
Yars’ Revenge
But maybe you're not that guy. Maybe you had an Atari 2600 as a kid and outgrew it. Maybe you're nostalgic and just want to sit down and play a few of those games again, without going through the hassle of finding a working 2600 and getting a piece of old hardware to work with your new television. Or maybe you're a younger gamer, and want to find out what all the fuss was about two little white paddles and a square ball bouncing back and forth between them. If you're interested enough in Atari games to fork out some cash but don't see it as a lasting hobby, then Atari Anthology for the PS2 and Xbox is probably for you.
Atari Anthology contains 80+ games. About 60 of those are direct ports of original 2600 games. The remaining 20 or so titles are actual arcade games. Note that the word Atari in the title has a double meaning -- not only are the games FOR the Atari system, but these are all games BY Atari as well. You'll find no Activision, Parker Brothers or Colecovision games within.
The "stellar" menu system (because it deals with outer space, not necessarily because it's terrific) divides the games up into nine categories. Classic video games take up one of the choices; the other eight are categories of Atari 2600 games (adventure games, sports games, etc). The categories make finding games easier, and is a better solution than forcing players to scroll through a lengthy list. The menu system is reminiscent of the Star Wars DVD menus, where each genre of games is apparently stored in a different solar system and every selection has you whisking around the galaxy. While easy enough to navigate, the spinning of and zooming through constellations gets old pretty quickly. The nine categories are as follows:
Adventure Games contains some of the earliest graphical RPGs around, including Adventure, Haunted House, and all three Swordquest games.
Action Games contains many of the systems most recognizable games, including Outlaw, Flag Capture, Circus Atari and the system's launch title, Combat.
Arcade Originals contains several actual videogames, including Asteroids, Centipede, Tempest, and Missile Command. There are also several lesser known titles, such as Liberator, Red Baron, and Black Widow.
Arcade at Home contains several arcade games which were ported to the Atari 2600. Here you'll find the home version of games like Asteroids, Centipede, Video Pinball, Breakout and more.
Mind Games houses several of the console's more strategic titles, including 3D Tic-Tac-Toe, Video Chess, and Surround (which predates TRON's Light Cycles by several years).
Sports Games includes all the classic man-to-man titles, including bowling, football, baseball, and even golf.
Racing Games include Night Driver, Slot Racers, Sprintmaster, Steeplechase, and Street Racer. This is one area in particular that reminded me how many good 3rd party titles there were for the 2600.
Space Games contains games like Space War, Star Raiders, Star Ship and the classic Yars' Revenge.
The final category, Casino Games, includes Blackjack, Casino, and Slot Machine.
Each game contains bonus material, beginning with scans of the manuals, boxes, and cartridges themselves. More experienced players will be able to unlock additional bonus materials, including FMV videos.
The games also include different variations for additional replay value. These include a trippy mode (where everything color cycles and leaves tracers), time challenge, time warp (in which the game's clock cycles randomly speed up and slow down), hot seat (a strange mode where your game is interrupted every few seconds with a different game!), and double speed. Maybe it's just me, but I didn't really see any of these as being lasting features I would use later on down the road. In fact, I found most of them annoying very quickly. One thing I didn't find annoying was the included descriptions on the menu of each games' choices. Atari 2600 games often came with several different difficultly level settings. Back then, the only way to know which did what was to refer to the manual. Atari Anthology fortunately spares us that paper hunt, and shows what each variation does right on the menu screen.
Atari Anthology's game selection appears to draw heavily from the system's early titles. Many of the later games in Atari's library for one reason or another simply aren't here. Games like Moon Patrol, Galaxian, Berzerk, Joust, and even Pac-Man are all superior to many of the games that appear here.
Another problem veteran gamers will notice are the controls. Try as they might, no joystick (analog or digital) will ever replace paddles. Period. Circus Atari, Breakout, and Warlords are difficult if not impossible to play with a joystick.
There were two major problems I encountered with this title. One was the difficulty in reading some of the text, particularly in the emulated arcade games. I won't bag on the title too hard because (A) you can play them without reading it, and (B) I'm using a projector so maybe something it getting lost in the translation, but it still looked pretty weak. The other problem I encountered was within some of the games itself. I'll use Asteroids (2600) as an example. In the two minutes I played, I flew directly through an asteroid not once but twice. Another time, I blew up when I was close, but had not yet touched, an asteroid. I hate to base a review on the old "where there's smoke there's fire" addage, but it did make me wonder if bugs had crept into other games on the disc as well.
Also of note is the fact that the arcade games, by default, appear "zoomed out" and inside a simulated arcade bezel. You'll have to dig through menu screens to find out how to zoom in and where to disable them should you want to play these games full screen.
Bottom line, is it worth the $19.95 asking price? You bet, especially for those who don't still own an Atari 2600. With the recent interest in retro gaming, an Atari 2600 itself could run you more than this title costs, and that's without the games.
Complete Game Listing
Classic arcade hits:
Asteroids
Asteroids Deluxe
Battlezone
Atari Black Widow
Centipede
Crystal Castles
Gravitar
Liberator
Lunar Lander
Major Havoc
Millipede
Missile Command
Pong
Atari Red Baron
Super Breakout
Atari Space Duel
Tempest
Warlords
Atari 2600 titles:
Atari 3D Tic-Tac-Toe
Atari Adventure
Atari Air•Sea Battle
Asteroids
Atari Video Cube
Backgammon
Battlezone
Blackjack
Bowling
Breakout
Canyon Bomber
Casino
Centipede
Circus Atari
Combat
Crystal Castles
Demons to Diamonds
Desert Falcon
Dodge ’Em
Double Dunk
Flag Capture
Football
Fun With Numbers
Golf
Gravitar
Hangman
Haunted House
Home Run
Human Cannonball
Atari Math Gran Prix
Atari Maze Craze
Millipede
Miniature Golf
Missile Command
Atari Night Driver
Off the Wall
Atari Outlaw
Quadrun
Radar Lock
Realsports Baseball
Realsports Football
Realsports Tennis
Realsports Volleyball
Sky Diver
Slot Machine
Atari Slot Racers
Atari Space War
Sprintmaster
Star Raiders
Atari Star Ship
Steeplechase
Stellar Track
Atari Street Racer
Atari Submarine Commander
Atari Super Baseball
Super Breakout
Atari Super Football
Atari Surround
Swordquest: Earthworld
Swordquest: Fireworld
Swordquest: Waterworld
Video Checkers
Video Chess
Video Olympics
Video Pinball
Yars’ Revenge