Let’s go back to an older age in gaming, almost but not quite to the very start. The company that pushed the industry into the spotlight was Atari, a name once synonymous with gaming but has fallen by the wayside in recent times. Atari had its roots in 1971 when Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney created the arcade game, Computer Space, which while a failure, played a key role in the eventual creation of Pong and the golden age of gaming. And as Atari turns 50 years old, we have Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration, a collection of not just classic Atari games spanning multiple eras, but also a comprehensive history of the company in what may be the real draw here.
Gaming history is now being taken far more seriously and as such, we have one of the most in-depth looks at a key part of that history. Anniversary Celebration covers everything from Atari’s history organized across five chapters that are divided by time periods and topics such as the coin-op roots, the early console success and of course the gaming crash.
What is included here are everything from interviews with developers done in a documentary format, to box covers, advertising, synopsis inclusions and more. This is not done with a unified voice either and many of the interviewees often contradict each other while recollecting about the past, which actually helps give us some more detail in a way. No subject is off-limits, from the open drug use at Atari, to various conflicts people had and it makes for a truly fascinating viewing experience.
As for the games included, there is a wide variety but many games associated with classic Atari or certain systems are missing for licensing reasons. Do not expect E.T. here, or Pitfall, or Alien Vs. Predator for Jaguar. In addition, the arcade titles do not include anything from after 1984 as that Atari became a separate company whose assets are currently owned by WB Games. What we do have though are some truly classic games that vary in how they stand the test of time.
Every Atari system possible is featured here, from the computers to the Lynx and while many games will not appeal to modern players, there are some that stand out. Games from the arcades, from the Atari 2600, 5200 and 7800 are here, as is a selection from the Atari Jaguar. The latter is significant because Digital Eclipse managed to get an Atari Jaguar emulator working right, something others have tried and failed at, and it runs perfectly, which is a feat worthy of praise.
As for the games, titles like Adventure laid the groundwork for almost every action-adventure game to follow but have aged a bit too much for new players to come in and enjoy them. In a recent video, Shmup Junkie was ranking Konami shoot ’em up games using a tier list and used the term H tier for games that are historically important but are hard to enjoy today, and that is where Adventure lies. Then we have a classic like Breakout which inspired so many imitators and the basic concept can still be enjoyed well enough, even if the game is a bit dated.
What stands out well in the collection are the shoot-em-ups, which Atari excelled at. Games like Tempest, Centipede and Millipede all hold up so well today, but the game that holds up the best is from the Atari Jaguar. Tempest 2000 is one of the best games ever made in the shoot ’em-up genre and it still feels as amazing to play now as it did when the game was first released. There is no rust on this experience and unlike most of the Jaguar inclusions like Cybermorph or Atari Karts, there is a lot of fun to be had here.
Atari Karts feels like the developers could have made a great experience, but it needed far more polish, while Cybermorph was just not feasible with the tech that was on hand. But earlier titles do hold up well as well, such as Miner 2049er, with various incarnations as well as several prototypes being released here for the first time. These prototypes represent an unseen part of Atari’s history and some stand out as truly amazing.
While the prototype arcade game, Akka Arrh is interesting if not exciting, the other prototype game Maze Invaders is one of the best takes on the maze game genre and plays like a dream. It feels second only to Nintendo’s Devil World as perhaps the best maze game ever and would have been remembered as a truly incredible arcade game. Also included are several console prototypes such as Millipede on Atari 5200, Real Sports Basketball on 2600 and the Howard Scott Warshaw-developed Saboteur, which was a unique game that takes a while to master.
In addition to the classic games, there are also six new games that pay tribute to the classics. Neo Breakout starts off as simply Breakout until the first level is done before shifting to a bold new experience, much like Space Invaders 95, while Haunted Houses reimagines the 2600 game (also included here) that helped kick off the survival horror genre and manages to be a fun experience as well. Quadratank is a new take on Combat ( also included) that takes a bit of time to get used to, while VCTR-SCTR is a tribute to classic vector games like Asteroids, Tempest, Lunar Lander( all included here) and more and manages to capture what made those games great. While the rest of the Swordquest games are included in this collection, the Atari Reimagined section includes a finished version of the fourth game Airworld, which had been in development but never released, meaning the saga is finally finished. Lastly, there is Yars’ Revenge Enhanced, a remake of Howard Scott Warshaw’s classic (included here) that manages to take the experience and upgrade it for modern audiences in a way that shows why the original was so loved and is still fun today.
Another neat inclusion is the Atari Touch Me handheld, which can actually be used in TATE mode on Nintendo Switch and use the touch screen as intended. There are also six unlockables in the collection that become available when beating certain requirements in select games. The games can also be arranged in a variety of ways, in order to make finding the one you want to play easier.
Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration may not be the most comprehensive collection of Atari games due to the aforementioned licensing issues, with many systems missing the big third-party games, but what we have here is as close to comprehensive as we can get. The Atari Reimagined games are a welcome treat, as are the unreleased prototypes, and the history of Atari sections alone makes this a must-get. Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration is highly recommended because it is a deep look into gaming history and why Atari was so beloved and shows the right way to make a retro collection. Some come on and play some Atari today.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided