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

[matt0]

1 minute ago, MattyP said:

Pretty spot on (from what I remember of the Jag version which granted was played a fair while ago!). 

 

Only thing I did notice is the Game Over screen animation runs a bit fast but game is fine. This is on a Xbox Series S. 

 

Cool, I've only ever played the DOS version so 100% accuracy would be lost on me, just as long as it plays fine.

[smac]

8 hours ago, Darwock said:

I remember mostly playing ‘tank pong’ and ‘invisible tank pong’, but those names are not in the list I found - were these actually sub-games on the ‘Combat’ cartridge?

 

Yes. Tank and plane variations were selectable game variations; the other options probably similar. Space Invaders did similar with 99 variants, I seem to recall (invisible Invaders, anyone?).

 

So you had jets, biplanes, one plane vs 3, with/without clouds; tanks with/without walls, invisible tanks, bouncing shots, etc.

[MattyP]

1 hour ago, matt0 said:

 

Cool, I've only ever played the DOS version so 100% accuracy would be lost on me, just as long as it plays fine.

It does... All the music etc there and perfect. Loving it all over again although seems to be more difficult than I remember 😂

[matt0]

Just now, MattyP said:

It does... All the music etc there and perfect. Loving it all over again although seems to be more difficult than I remember 😂

 

My main memory is that there's a handful of levels where the grid layout is so convoluted that it's impossible to see what's going on, and you either have to build up a huge pool of extra lives to get past them, or strategically plan where you trigger the warp mini game so you skip them.

 

It'll be interesting to go back to it after Tempest 4000.

 

...

 

Also that Combat remake looks decent.

[Calashnikov]

Really great interview with Digital Eclipse lad Mike Mika on the most recent Jeff Gerstmann podcast, talking about this game (skip to 1:04:02):

 

 

I think I’m going to ask Santa for this. Looking forward to dicking about with the games and watching the videos with a nice glass of red and a mince pie 👾 🍷 🥧 🤌🏻

[Calashnikov]

As an aside, immediately following the interview, in his link back to the rest of the show, Jeff Gerstmann also passes comment on Jeff Minter’s excellent curry house Twitter content 😂🍛👌🏻 

[MattyP]

1 hour ago, Calashnikov said:

Really great interview with Digital Eclipse lad Mike Mika on the most recent Jeff Gerstmann podcast, talking about this game (skip to 1:04:02):

 

 

I think I’m going to ask Santa for this. Looking forward to dicking about with the games and watching the videos with a nice glass of red and a mince pie 👾🍷🥧🤌🏻

Great vid and insight into how this collection was pulled together. The passion really shines though on this.

 

It would make an ideal thing to experience over the festive period... Like mentioned in the vid like other media many memories of an era are collections of life things that were happening at the time and playing a certain game or seeing a poster can trigger memories at the time. Of course the festive period is a time when we sometimes reflect and reminisce of what has gone before.

 

Also these games are just so simple but damn addictive. This collection is one of the most fun things I've experienced this year. 

 

 

[MattyP]

https://www.xbox.com/play/media/E3QT23JEBA

 

Messing around on Tempest 2K tonight on this. Managed to notch up nearly 300K on this session.. slowly getting back into the swing of this.... It's been a while.... Need to beat Yak's score!

 

[Calashnikov]

Any word on how this is on Switch? That's the version I've asked Santa for 

[Yartek]

I think it's great on the Switch, no obvious performance issues, played Tempest 2000 in handheld mode and to me, felt jsut as good as the Jaguar version. Sometimes takes a moment to load the higher res images in the history timeline, maybe half-a-second. Not played everything yet, but the thirty or so ones I have are all good.

[geldra]

How sweet is this (if you have a 3D printer)

 

 

if only there was some way to 3d print a spinner mod (I know…).

 

also the oled on the switch must make the vector games (like OG Tempest) really pop. 

 

[MattyP]

11 hours ago, geldra said:

How sweet is this (if you have a 3D printer)

 

 

if only there was some way to 3d print a spinner mod (I know…).

 

also the oled on the switch must make the vector games (like OG Tempest) really pop. 

 

Cool! I was just pondering over something like this the other week! I expect someone might come up with a spinner mod for the PC at some point. 

[Qazimod]

I kind of ignored this collection thinking it would be a bunch of VCS stuff, so I didn't know about the Jag and handheld titles. I played Tempest 2000 during one EGX visit, and I've emulated it a few times, but it would be nice to own it on a collection.

 

I'll definitely consider picking it up in the future.  

[MattyP]

10 hours ago, Qazimod said:

I kind of ignored this collection thinking it would be a bunch of VCS stuff, so I didn't know about the Jag and handheld titles. I played Tempest 2000 during one EGX visit, and I've emulated it a few times, but it would be nice to own it on a collection.

 

I'll definitely consider picking it up in the future.  

Its great having it (Tempest 2K) easy to access for me it was worth the price of this collection alone! It's been a while since I played this but it's addictive as ever. Also the rest of the collection too... The neo games are great. Fantastic really well done. One of the best retro collections I've experienced 👍

 

It's one of those titles that will probably end up in a sale at some point no doubt but I'm far too impatient and well enjoying it now!

[geldra]

12 hours ago, MattyP said:

Cool! I was just pondering over something like this the other week! I expect someone might come up with a spinner mod for the PC at some point. 

 

 

How about an official solution?  (No Switch compatibility regrettably, would totally get one for T4000 and this collection)

[bignige]

11 hours ago, geldra said:

 

 

How about an official solution?  (No Switch compatibility regrettably, would totally get one for T4000 and this collection)

This seems to be USA only which is a total pain.

[strider]

Shameless plug

Thursday’s issue of Retro Gamer (240)has a Making of this compilation

An Atari-themed calendar

50 Years Of Atari feature

Shameless plug finishes

 

 

[MattyP]

10 minutes ago, strider said:

Shameless plug

Thursday’s issue of Retro Gamer (240)has a Making of this compilation

An Atari-themed calendar

50 Years Of Atari feature

Shameless plug finishes

 

 

Well thanks for the heads up! I was wondering when RG would be covering this thought there might have been a review in the last issue! 

 

 

[strider]

9 minutes ago, MattyP said:

Well thanks for the heads up! I was wondering when RG would be covering this thought there might have been a review in the last issue! 

 

 

Sadly not. We didn’t get it early enough for Thursday’s issue. Is in the following.

[deerokus]

This is really awesome. An interactive documentary/museum, so well done. Can't wait to see them do this for companies I have more personal nostalgia for.

[MattyP]

16 hours ago, deerokus said:

This is really awesome. An interactive documentary/museum, so well done. Can't wait to see them do this for companies I have more personal nostalgia for.

Hoping they cover off the 8-bit computer era.. so bunch of emulated machines and games with similiar levels of detail and interviews etc with devs of the era...  

[MattyP]

The neo games on this are great! Vctr-Sctr  in particular is one that stands out. It mixes a few different vector game types up... 

 

Must say this is the most fun I've had on my console since getting it Just love the pick up and play aspect - many of the games (especially 2600 ones!) whilst having simplistic visuals are actually well designed and addictive... Yars Revenge for example... the concept is simple but the gameplay defo has one more go aspect. The reimagined version has lovely visuals too.  Quadratank looks fun with multiple players.. old school style sat on a couch together!

 

Great attention to detail on this too especially noticeable on the vector games where they have emulated the glow of a vector screen etc. 

 

Wasting lots of time on this...  

[Protocol Penguin]

Just a read about this compilation – pretty amazing to think that this is the first time Tempest 2000 has been commercially available since 1994, given its legendary status!

[geldra]

On 19/11/2022 at 23:24, geldra said:

 

 

also the oled on the switch must make the vector games (like OG Tempest) really pop. 

 

Can confirm this looks ace on the oled espesh the vector games. And I have to say I think I prefer T2000 to T4000. There’s something about it that makes it a bit nicer to play (think it’s the reduced inertia).

 

A lot of the 2600 games are never getting played like.  
 

Would have loved to see Stun Runner (arc and Lynx), guessing they’re tied up in license hell. 

[MattyP]

So anyone else currently and hopelessly addicted to Vctr-Sctr? Managed to get through to wave 2 - love the tank section (after the landing stage). Great risk/reward mechanics with the blocks and taking out the ships.... Only managed a score of just over 12K which needs to improve... Also noted that the Tempest stage rotates the web as the original coder designed it then reverted back to a static web during playtesting (apparently it was nausea inducing hence reverting back to a static one)

[geldra]

20 minutes ago, MattyP said:

So anyone else currently and hopelessly addicted to Vctr-Sctr? Managed to get through to wave 2 - love the tank section (after the landing stage). Great risk/reward mechanics with the blocks and taking out the ships.... Only managed a score of just over 12K which needs to improve... Also noted that the Tempest stage rotates the web as the original coder designed it then reverted back to a static web during playtesting (apparently it was nausea inducing hence reverting back to a static one)

i had a quick whirl of vctr-sctr. I love the aesthetic, especially the effect underneath your craft as it “takes off”/transitions to the Tempest stage. I’m a sucker for vector graphics and shit like that though. 

[Unofficial Who]

1 hour ago, MattyP said:

So anyone else currently and hopelessly addicted to Vctr-Sctr? Managed to get through to wave 2 - love the tank section (after the landing stage). Great risk/reward mechanics with the blocks and taking out the ships.... Only managed a score of just over 12K which needs to improve... Also noted that the Tempest stage rotates the web as the original coder designed it then reverted back to a static web during playtesting (apparently it was nausea inducing hence reverting back to a static one)

 

I got stuck on the Tempest section of Wave 2 for an age as I'd end up being overwhelmed. However I discovered that when you shoot in the Tempest section it not only shoots straight ahead but also to the left and right segments of the web.

 

Just got to make it through Wave 3 now.

[Unofficial Who]

4 hours ago, MattyP said:

The neo games on this are great! Vctr-Sctr  in particular is one that stands out. It mixes a few different vector game types up... 

 

Must say this is the most fun I've had on my console since getting it Just love the pick up and play aspect - many of the games (especially 2600 ones!) whilst having simplistic visuals are actually well designed and addictive... Yars Revenge for example... the concept is simple but the gameplay defo has one more go aspect. The reimagined version has lovely visuals too.  Quadratank looks fun with multiple players.. old school style sat on a couch together!

 

Great attention to detail on this too especially noticeable on the vector games where they have emulated the glow of a vector screen etc. 

 

Wasting lots of time on this...  

 

I've always found Yar's Revenge simplistic (although it's genius in the design was in making a Star Castle style game that would work on the 2600) and the remake included is...ok.

 

But that might be because the best version of Yar's for me now is the great Yar's Recharged.

 

 

Takes the formula and adds a lot more to it.

 

(Most of the Recharged games are great.)

[deerokus]

It's interesting playing stuff like Missile Command where the home version was necessarily simplified, but actually for the better, it's a lot fairer and therefore more playable than the arcade. I'd never played that version before.

 

Doesn't have that amazing presentation mind. Also, something about the look of 2600 games just draws me right into the pure gameplay.

[MattyP]

9 hours ago, Unofficial Who said:

 

I've always found Yar's Revenge simplistic (although it's genius in the design was in making a Star Castle style game that would work on the 2600) and the remake included is...ok.

 

But that might be because the best version of Yar's for me now is the great Yar's Recharged.

 

 

Takes the formula and adds a lot more to it.

 

(Most of the Recharged games are great.)

Looks great might have to investigate the recharged games!

 

Also to have a look at the inspiration for Yars.. Star Castle...