Atari 50 - Anniversary compilation that also provides historical context and commentary per game

[MattyP]

5 minutes ago, rgraves said:

 

I'm sure I read some back-stroy on that recently that basically said the developer(s) had a dis-agreement with Atari and basically gave them the rough version of the game to publish as a protest against not being paid or some such.....I'll try to find it again!

Just been reading up on Fight For Life.. the lead developer worked on Virtua Fighter in AM2 - one of very few non-Japanese people! Sounds like it did have lots of potential but well Atari was a mess at the time. Apparently a copy got sent out to the press for preview and it was mis-labelled "For Review Only" not preview. Oops. 

[dave7g]

Can't buy it on playstation or steam. 

[MattyP]

9 minutes ago, Flub said:

I hope this runs on Steam Deck. I'd like to play T2K again

Can't see why it won't its coming to the Switch and has a perfect interface for such devices.

[womblingfree]

Four player Warlords is still a genuinely great game.

[Fry Crayola]

15 hours ago, MattyP said:

Physical copies can be picked up from base for £28. Still never understand why digital games are more expensive than their physical counterparts even though they are using more resources. 

 

You're not comparing like for like - you have a digital copy for RRP, and a physical one reduced through the choice of retailer.

 

CD Keys were selling the digital version for £26, for example. 

[MattyP]

https://www.arcadeattack.co.uk/francois-bertrand/

 

Interview with lead developer of Fight For Life... reading through some of that sounds like the title reflected the end stages of development for the game... Surprised it ever got a release!

[MattyP]

8 minutes ago, Fry Crayola said:

 

You're not comparing like for like - you have a digital copy for RRP, and a physical one reduced through the choice of retailer.

 

CD Keys were selling the digital version for £26, for example. 

Indeed.. however still amazes me that the retailer can get physical disk and sell a physical copy cheaper than a digital store. But I get it the retailer can charge what they want so there is more room to shift margins for them. I guess in the end the official stores will always charge RRP so best shop elsewhere if you aren't happy with the price. At least we have the option I guess. Even for digital keys at the moment.

[MattyP]

 

Trevor McFur in the Cresent Galaxy... on the Jaguar. Never played this one back in the day.. but I mean..wow... The Japanese were making things like R-Type or Gradius.  I am guessing the influence here is from the Wing Commander Series... think Wing Commander III featured furry people too...  Its amazing this was made in 1993 TBH. It does feature rendered objects in it I guess. Eric Grinner who coded it - amongst other Jag games had been at Atari since 83 and was a good Centipede player too!

 

Think on par - a few games pending - the Jag was a pretty low point for Atari. Such as shame as the tech was really good but Atari were clearly in a mess.

 

I did take the leap of faith though and remember trading a SNES with some games in for a US Jag and Tempest 2000. Heavenly.  Later I picked up0 Alien Vs Predator and Doom for it. Arguably three of the best games released on it. Although AvP was a bit on the slow slide after playing  Doom it was very atmospheric. Think I had Iron soldier for a bit too but never really got on with that game. Loved the little overlays through for the keypad. Think it generally had lots of good ideas and lots of potential. Just timing as always and lack of funding. Sad to see Atari go out on the Jag to be honest. 

 

At least it left us with Tempest 2000! Thanks Mr Minter and Atari ....

 

 

[SeanR]

Good news!

 

 

[MattyP]

25 minutes ago, SeanR said:

Good news!

 

 

Yep great to see the man himself giving it his seal of approval. I played a fair bit of T2K already and it "feels" right. Loving the music all over again. Just such a sublime combo of visuals. gameplay and music. For me its worth the asking price for this alone!  Think its best remake of Tempest that has ever been made.

 

Just checked the prices of Jag hardware out... WOW they have gone up in price!  Remember these been flogged off for as little as £39 back in the day at Game!!!! Bet people who buy these might be a bit disappointed when they finally get to fire it up and play some games Although I expect most will end up being ornaments or stuck in the box in the cupboard... 

 

This is why I'm so happy this is out. Great way to play the game I loved on that machine. Might double dip on the PC version and see if someone hacks together a spinner control for it! 

 

[MattyP]

UPDATE:-

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1919470/Atari_50_The_Anniversary_Celebration/?curator_clanid=40527942

 

Out on Steam...£30.99.

[Flub]

This seems to be flawless on Steamdeck (Only tried T2k so far). It has opengel and directx options on startup and both seem to work

[Wiper]

 

 

 

[Anne Summers]

So do we know how they fixed the problem of Jag emulation yet? Have Atari managed to do something that has eluded the homebrew and emulation coding scene for decades and make a decent Jag emulator at last? Did they have access to some info or resources that the fan community hasn't had, or something like that? Interested to know what the story is here. 

[Unofficial Who]

1 hour ago, Anne Summers said:

So do we know how they fixed the problem of Jag emulation yet? Have Atari managed to do something that has eluded the homebrew and emulation coding scene for decades and make a decent Jag emulator at last? Did they have access to some info or resources that the fan community hasn't had, or something like that? Interested to know what the story is here. 

 

Looks like although my Jag experience is limited to playing Tempest 2000 in a museum.

 

This sort of collection is like catnip to me. Despite having Atari Vault I bought this as soon as it released. It reminds me a lot of SNK Classics, a lot of the games are outdated or just plain bad but the history is going to keep me playing for hours. Emulation seems pretty good too with filters that are perfect.

 

Highlights so far.

 

-Tempest 2000. Enough said.

-Jaguar emulation. Most of the titles on offer are legit bad but it gives me such a nostalgia kick for this period, reading Edge on the train home before playing a round of Guardian or something on the CD32.

-They've finally nailed the glow of vectors on non-vector screens.

[Unofficial Who]

Although to start off on the wrong foot the port of Pong is faithful to the original but it lacks the AI opponent that was added in a previous compilation (now delisted) Atari Vault. This is hardly a deal killer, Pong is really only of historical interest at this point and those that really want to play against an AI can find plenty of examples elsewhere such as Atari Vault if you bought it or the Shuttlecocks machine in Arcade Paradise.

 

Quadratank is more interesting though, a 2022 reimagining of Atari's Tank from 1974 (and probably more familiar to those of us who played the Atari home version Combat from 1977.) It's clumsy by design using tank controls and I had a bit of fun with it although I suspect playing it alone on a PC is missing the point. This is really a game that should be played on a console with a group of old game players. This does provide AI and the AI is pretty brutal not needing to struggle with the controls.

 

[Unofficial Who]

Breakout is another game which is more for historical interest than playability. And there's a long and storied history about it's creation and how the work by a young Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak led to it inspiring the design of the Apple 2 and influencing the design of Space Invaders. You can read up about it here

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakout_(video_game)

 

There are so many clones of Breakout that the original seems a little dull. I've always found the bat in the arcade version of Breakout too small to be comfortable. I don't see myself playing this for too long.

 

 

However this compilation also includes Neo Breakout, another 2022 remake. And it's a pretty neat enhanced version of the original with each screen presenting a challenge and various power ups and power downs without copying later games like Arkanoid. The most interesting new idea is "colour chaining" for bonus points where when you hit the same colour block more than once it creates a combo which is recorded at the bottom left of the screen and tallied up at the end of the round. My only complain here is that the bat feels a little slow.

 

It also has a mode called Battle Breakout and this answers my complaint about no AI in Pong. Battle Breakout is Pong combined with Breakout. Instead of playing like traditional tennis both sides are separated by a wall in the middle of the screen. If you hit the wall in the middle of the screen it adds bricks to your opponent's side. If you or your opponent miss a ball the wall moves closer to the loser's side. This creates a sort of frantic tug of war where you're trying to push the wall over to their side. It's a simple yet clever rule change that makes the basic Pong formula more interesting.

 

 

 

[Nathan Wind]

Vectr Sectr is brilliant. A trip through early arcade history in delicious vector graphics. The segues between stages are great. This is a really nice package actually, a lot of love has gone into it. The last thing anyone needs is yet another collection of ROMs they already have and so this is exactly what these compilations need to be offering now, it feels like a new benchmark.

 

And yes, the Jag stuff runs perfectly well.

 

Edit - that’s the biggest missed opportunity. I understand how difficult licensing can be but it was a great opportunity to show that the Jag isn’t as worthless as people think. There are around a dozen genuinely excellent games that could have made the cut and really shown it off, but we got Cybermorph and Trevor McFur.

[Kramer]

An early-onwards 80s arcade player here. Strangely, I rarely think of Atari when I think back to what I actually played - except Atari's Star Wars.

 

Furthermore, the first time I played an Atari 2600 was on a 1988 holiday to Canada. The games didn't hold up to the NES, the family I was staying with also had.

 

However, this collection is fantastic. A few holes in the catalogue, presumably due to licensing, but otherwise it's a brilliant package.

 

Emulation/options/configurable controls all good. Digital Eclipse have put a lot of love into the timeline style UI.

 

It puts quite a few retro packages to shame and should be the standard bearer going forward.

[Uncle Nasty]

17 hours ago, MattyP said:

Yep great to see the man himself giving it his seal of approval. I played a fair bit of T2K already and it "feels" right. Loving the music all over again. Just such a sublime combo of visuals. gameplay and music. For me its worth the asking price for this alone!  Think its best remake of Tempest that has ever been made.

 

 

Ended up scrolling through Jeff Minter's Twitter, made me smile.

 

If he rates this compilation it must be bloody good. Good Christmas nostalgia pickup, I reckon.

[Calashnikov]

Jeff Minter’s account is the best thing on Twitter. Any time I remember this and visit for a big ol’ scroll I end up feeling compelled to order a curry.

[Anne Summers]

As someone who's been out for a curry with Jeff and Giles, I can recommend the experience. 

[Calashnikov]

Wow, that’s legit an actual dream of mine. I once used stalking skills to figure out exactly which curry house it is in Wales that he goes to. Might make the trip and get him to sign my naan some time 🍛🐑 

[Mr Majestyk]

I met Jeff at a replay event and got to shake his hand and thank him for making the best games on my childhood computer (Atari 800xl). The guy is an absolute legend. 

[Fry Crayola]

11 hours ago, Unofficial Who said:

They've finally nailed the glow of vectors on non-vector screens

 

There's someone who should play Rasternauts...

[Unofficial Who]

57 minutes ago, Fry Crayola said:

 

There's someone who should play Rasternauts...

 

I should have expanded on that in that I meant with the emulation of games like Asteroids on these Atari compilations. Atari Vault came close. I need to look up Rasternauts now...

[PikaStu]

It's a real shame there's such a small selection of Jag games. I assume Chequered Flag, Doom and AvP are tied up with licensing issues, but surely Kasumi Ninja could've been included for shits and giggles instead of the unfinished Fight for Life?! Apart from Tempest 2k, the games are pretty laughable. I mean Club Drive?! It makes the C64 port of Hard Drivin' look like a masterpiece  

 

I'm still interested in picking the collection up, for the interviews and the remakes. Maybe the PC version will get hacked to import your own Lynx and Jag ROMs.

[Unofficial Who]

Just now, PikaStu said:

It's a real shame there's such a small selection of Jag games. I assume Chequered Flag, Doom and AvP are tied up with licensing issues, but surely Kasumi Ninja could've been included for shits and giggles instead of the unfinished Fight for Life?! Apart from Tempest 2k, the games are pretty laughable. I mean Club Drive?! It makes the C64 port of Hard Drivin' look like a masterpiece  

 

I'm still interested in picking the collection up, for the interviews and the remakes. Maybe the PC version will get hacked to import your own Lynx and Jag ROMs.

 

I'd love to see them add more as DLC, they did that for Atari Vault and in the past Namco has had Ms PacMan as an optional (paid for) extra since it's not their game.

[Fry Crayola]

11 minutes ago, Unofficial Who said:

 

I should have expanded on that in that I meant with the emulation of games like Asteroids on these Atari compilations. Atari Vault came close. I need to look up Rasternauts now...

 

Ah, don't, you deserve better.

[Unofficial Who]

6 hours ago, Nathan Wind said:

Vectr Sectr is brilliant. A trip through early arcade history in delicious vector graphics.

 

Just gave it a shot and it's brilliant. When I was a kid and only had a 2600 I really wanted that sort of multi part game you saw on other platforms so would switch cartridges in and out to create my own narrative. Pole Position was racing towards mission control, Missile Command and Space Invaders would get swapped in and out for various stages.

 

Vectr Sectr reminded me a lot of what was in my head completed with Major Havoc style transitions. So far I've seen nods to Asteroids, Asteroids Deluxe, Battlezone, Tempest, Lunar Lander and maybe a bit of Solaris? All done in glowing vectors. A high point in the collection.