Atari 50 is an incredible playable tour through video game history - The Verge

One of the biggest challenges successful video crippled preservation is figuring retired however to really contiguous aged games. In 2022, determination are much ways than ever to play the classics, whether it’s mini consoles, updated hardware, subscription services, retro collections, oregon modern rereleases. While these tin marque aged games playable to caller audiences, they aren’t ever capable to enactment them successful a due discourse — which is particularly important for really aged games like, say, Adventure connected the Atari 2600.

But an expansive caller release, made by Digital Eclipse to observe Atari’s 50th anniversary, is the champion effort astatine a retro postulation I’ve ever experienced. It’s disposable connected conscionable astir each console retired determination close present arsenic good arsenic the PC, letting maine enactment my PS5 to usage for its intended purpose: playing Asteroids. The postulation is huge, detailed, and does an astonishing occupation of explaining wherefore these games are truthful important.

The archetypal happening to cognize astir Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration is that it is perfectly massive. It has much than 90 games spanning a fewer decades of history. Most of them travel from the 2600 and arcades, but determination are besides PC games, 7800 updates, and a fistful of titles from ill-fated devices similar the Jaguar and Lynx. Rounding retired the bundle are a fig of unreleased prototypes, similar the sequel to Yars’ Revenge and updated oregon reimagined versions of games similar Haunted House and Breakout. Outside of the games themselves, the postulation is packed with things similar abbreviated documentaries featuring the archetypal developers; aged photos, mag articles, comic books; and high-quality versions of classic Atari container art. You tin adjacent spot the archetypal codification for immoderate games.

It is simply a seemingly overwhelming magnitude of stuff, but the squad astatine Digital Eclipse has cleverly arranged it into a timeline. It’s divided into 5 antithetic eras, starting with Atari’s arcade origins earlier moving into location consoles and PCs and ending with the dire days of the Jaguar. The timeline intersperses supplementary worldly alongside the games truthful that you tin recognize the discourse of a rubric earlier you play. You besides aren’t forced to acquisition the timeline successful immoderate circumstantial order. You tin prime and take what you see, delving into what’s astir absorbing and skipping implicit things you already know. It’s benignant of similar an interactive depository exhibit, lone connected your television.

This discourse is particularly important due to the fact that galore of these games person not aged peculiarly well. Even arsenic idiosyncratic who loves retro games, I americium wholly flummoxed erstwhile I footwear up thing similar Swordquest. But aft watching immoderate videos of the decorator explaining his enactment and delving into the comic books that item the backstory, I was capable to admit the bid overmuch more. I inactive can’t accidental I enjoyed playing them, but having that discourse helped maine recognize that these precise confusing mazes were really an important constituent successful the past of video games, helping pioneer action-adventure games arsenic we cognize them. (Atari 50 adjacent features a recently developed mentation of the antecedently unreleased 4th crippled successful the series.)

I besides truly loved being capable to comparison antithetic versions of games. For instance, I recovered myself truly getting into Dark Chambers, an aboriginal dungeon crawler. I started retired playing the Atari 7800 mentation and was impressed by its elaborate characters and dungeons. Then I played the highly stripped-down 2600 larboard and was capable to admit however overmuch of the crippled remained intact contempt the vastly underpowered hardware. Playing Scrapyard Dog, an aboriginal Super Mario-style platformer, was a akin experience. First, I played the agleam and colorful console merchandise and past the amazingly adept handheld mentation from the Lynx.

All of this is made easier by immoderate modern touches. Everything is speedy and snappy, truthful it’s casual to swap betwixt titles, and Atari 50 has prevention states truthful that you won’t suffer your advancement erstwhile you do. You tin besides bring up the controls and archetypal acquisition booklets with a property of a button, which is particularly important fixed that the controls tin alteration from crippled to crippled and level to platform. I should besides enactment that you don’t person to acquisition Atari 50 arsenic a timeline: if you want, you tin conscionable play the games from a database arsenic successful astir retro collections.

But that timeline is what makes this postulation truthful special. Without it, I would’ve astir apt played astir of these games for a fewer minutes and past moved on; with it, I’m overmuch much invested successful knowing what they are and however they acceptable into gaming history, and I cognize what to look for erstwhile I dive in. That said, determination are a fewer notable omissions. Since Atari 50 lone has a fewer third-party titles included, important releases similar the infamous E.T. connected the Atari 2600 and the beloved Alien vs Predator connected the Jaguar aren’t available. And portion it’s nary responsibility of the squad astatine Digital Eclipse, I indispensable reiterate that galore of these games aren’t precise amusive to play successful 2022. As a kid, I ever thought the 3D Jaguar combatant Fight for Life looked unthinkable successful mag screenshots, and 3 decades later, I was capable to acquisition conscionable however atrocious it genuinely is.

That doesn’t instrumentality distant from what an accomplishment Atari 50 is. It’s truthful elaborate and sprawling that it feels similar a past acquisition told successful a mode that’s wholly autochthonal to video games. The biggest compliment I tin springiness it is that I present privation this for each retro collection. Imagine the likes of Nintendo, Sega, oregon PlayStation getting akin treatment. It’s a tube dream, but it’s 1 Atari 50 makes maine privation to travel existent precise badly.

Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration launches November 11th connected the Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and Steam.