Atari and Digital Eclipse’sAtari 50: The Anniversary Celebrationis officially out, offering gamers an interactive timeline of retro games from across the iconic brand’s various consoles and platforms. The new title features an impressive collection of over 90 different games, and includes a bevy of associated media that help convey the significance, meaning, and story behind them.
The release of the game of course comes from Atari celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The company beganteasingAtari 50: The Anniversary Celebration’s releaseas far back as June, with a trailer that features clips of interviews with some of the original developers, along with teases of otherwise obscure titles.
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With over 90 different games and plenty of supplemental media,Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebrationis quite the comprehensive retro collection. The bulk of the available title appear to be from the Atari 2600, but there are also plenty from the 5200, 7800, PC, and more. The collection functions as a bit of an interactive museum through its timeline presentation, which intersperses games with related material like interviews, archival images, special source material and behind-the-scenes content. Players are able to select what material they’d like to see, including the ability to just play the games immediately.
Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebrationwill also feature Atari Jaguar games, the company’s ill-fated console from the 1993. Believed to be the first time Atari has included titles from the Jaguar alongside its better-known 2600 and 7800 counterparts, players will finally be able to easily access extremely rare games such asAtari Karts, Cybermorph, andFight for Lifeat large.Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebrationalso includes multiple versions of certain games, likeDark ChambersandSuper Mario-style platformerScrapyard Dog.
Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebrationincludes several modern quality-of-life improvements, with near-instant load times, a save state ability as to not lose progress, and the ability to bring up the original instruction booklets. One of the downsides with the classic Atari collection however is the lack of third-party titles. For example,the infamousE.T. the Extra-Terrestrialthat had a batch of copies unearthed in a landfill a few years ago is missing, as is the fan-favorite Jaguar titleAlien vs Predator.
BeyondAtari 50: The Anniversary Celebration, Atari has also given its most classic console the LEGO treatment, unveiling aLEGO version of the Atari 2600earlier this year. Between these new releases, relaunches of classic consoles preloaded with games, and a growing virtual console presence, retro gaming certainly seems to be thriving.
Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebrationis available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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