Activision Anthology

Activision Anthology
Cover art for the PlayStation 2 version
Developer(s)	Barking Lizards (PS2) Contraband Entertainment (PS2) MumboJumbo (Windows) MacPlay (Mac) Aspyr (GBA) Nikkō Europe (digiBLAST) Digital Eclipse (PSP) Code Mystics (mobile)
Publisher(s)	Activision
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2, Windows, Macintosh, Game Boy Advance, digiBlast, PlayStation Portable, iOS, Android
Release	PlayStation 2 NA: November 25, 2002 [1] EU: March 6, 2003 Windows/Mac NA: October 6, 2003 GBA NA: December 8, 2003 DigiBlast EU: December 31, 2005 PSP NA: November 8, 2006 EU: February 9, 2007 AU: February 14, 2007 iOS/Android NA: August 30, 2012
Genre(s)	Various
Mode(s)	Single player, two player

Activision Anthology is a compilation of most of the Atari 2600 games by Activision for various game systems. It also includes games that were originally released by Absolute Entertainment and Imagic, as well as various homebrew games. The Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X versions are titled Activision Anthology: Remix Edition, and include the most games. The PlayStation Portable version is titled Activision Hits Remixed.

The game features the original gameplay of the Atari 2600 emulated on modern systems. After achieving high scores in some of the games, the player can unlock special modes ^[2] where the colors are distorted, or the game is projected on a rotating cube as added difficulty.

Activision Anthology uses a virtual child's bedroom as the main menu. ^[2] The player can select several viewpoints to check high scores, choose a video game cartridge from a rotating stand, change the background music on a virtual tape deck, or change game settings while being zoomed in on a virtual Atari 2600. The virtual tape deck features several licensed 1980s music tracks. The music from the virtual tape deck can be mixed with the Atari 2600 game audio so both are audible to simulate playing the game on TV while having the tape running in the background.

Six Activision-produced Atari 2600 titles were not included in Activision Anthology, likely due to outside ownership of their respective licenses. The excluded games are Commando , Double Dragon , Ghostbusters , Ghostbusters II , Kung Fu Master , and Rampage , although Capcom did give Activision rights to put Commando in the PlayStation 2, Windows, and Mac OS X versions of Activision Anthology. Ghostbusters II was cancelled before Activision could release it, but Salu released it in Europe under their name in 1992. The Absolute Entertainment title Pete Rose Baseball was renamed Baseball.

Portable versions

The Game Boy Advance version has the most games out of the portable versions, including seven homebrew games that do not appear in any of the other versions. It does not include the 19 Imagic games or Commando, nor does it play music during gameplay. It does have four custom 1980s-style music tracks that play in the menu screens, however.

The PlayStation Portable version includes three of the Imagic games, Atlantis , Demon Attack , and Moonsweeper, nearly all of the Activision games, full-speed emulation, and the 1980s songs featured in the PlayStation 2 and computer versions, but does not include Commando, the four Absolute Entertainment games, games exclusive to the other releases, or the homebrew titles. The PSP version also lacked the possibility to save high scores and unlocked extras, so when the player quits out of the game, all progress would be lost.

There was also a version released on mobile phones with three titles. It included H.E.R.O. , Pitfall! , and River Raid .

A version for the digiBlast was released on December 31, 2005, which included 5 titles. These titles are H.E.R.O. , Tennis , Megamania , Grand Prix, and Demon Attack .

Activision Anthology was released for Android and iOS devices on August 30, 2012. The game Kaboom! is offered as an initial free game, while the rest of the games were offered as an in-app purchase. These versions include the Imagic game Dragonfire , but do not include the homebrew games, the games by Absolute Entertainment, or Commando. These versions also do not contain any of the licensed 1980s music.

Game list

There are a total of 76 games in each version combined. Certain games do not appear in some versions and are mentioned accordingly.

Titles included in the respective versions

TITLE	Original Release	Windows	Mac	PS2	GBA	digiBlast	Android	iOS	PSP	Producer	Comments
Activision prototype #1	—	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Activision	Unknown prototype
Atlantis	1982	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Imagic
Atlantis II	—	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Imagic
Barnstorming	1982	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Baseball	1988	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Absolute Entertainment	Originally titled Pete Rose Baseball
Beamrider	1983	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Bloody Human Freeway	—	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Activision	Originally unreleased version of Freeway
Boxing	1980	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Bridge	1980 [3]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Checkers	1980 [4]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Chopper Command	1982	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Climber 5	—	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Homebrew
Commando	1988 [5]	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Activision
Cosmic Ark	1982	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Imagic
Cosmic Commuter	1984	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Crackpots	1983	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Decathlon	1983	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Demon Attack	1982	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Imagic
Dolphin	1983	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Dragonfire	1982	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Imagic
Dragster	1980	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Enduro	1983	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Fathom	—	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Imagic
Fire Fighter	—	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Imagic
Fishing Derby	1980	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Freeway	1981	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Frostbite	1983	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Grand Prix	1982	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
H.E.R.O.	1984	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Hard Head	—	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Activision	Unreleased prototype [6]
Ice Hockey	1981	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Kabobber	—	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision	Previously unreleased
Kaboom!	1981	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Keystone Kapers	1983	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Laser Blast	1981	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Laser Gates	—	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Imagic
Megamania	1982	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Moonsweeper	1982	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Imagic
No Escape!	—	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Imagic
Oink!	1983	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Okie Dokie	—	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Homebrew
Oystron	—	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Homebrew
Pitfall!	1982	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Pitfall II: Lost Caverns	1984	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Plaque Attack	1983	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Pressure Cooker	1983	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Private Eye	1984	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Quick Step	—	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Imagic
Riddle of the Sphinx	—	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Imagic
River Raid	1982	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
River Raid II	1988	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Robot Tank	1983	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Seaquest	1983	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Shootin' Gallery	—	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Imagic
Skate Boardin'	1987	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Absolute Entertainment
Skeleton+	—	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Homebrew
Skiing	1980	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Sky Jinks	1982	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Sky Patrol	—	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Imagic
Solar Storm	—	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Imagic
Space Shuttle	1983	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Space Treat Deluxe [7]	—	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Homebrew
Spider Fighter	1982	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Stampede	1981	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Starmaster	1982	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Star Voyager	—	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Imagic
Subterranea	—	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Imagic
Tennis	1981	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision
Thwocker	—	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Activision	Unreleased prototype
Title Match Pro Wrestling	1987	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Absolute Entertainment
Tomcat F14	1988	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Absolute Entertainment
Trick Shot	1982	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Imagic
Vault Assault	—	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Homebrew
Venetian Blinds	—	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Activision	Unreleased technology demo
Video Euchre	—	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Homebrew
Wing War	—	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Imagic
TITLE	Original Release	Windows	Mac	PS2	GBA	DigiBlast	Android	iOS	PSP	Producer	Comments

Reviews

Reception

Review scores

Publication	Score
GameSpot	7.3/10 [8]
GameSpy	80/100
IGN	8.5/10 [9]

The game received generally positive reviews and was mainly praised on the Internet because of its spirited homage to the Atari 2600. ^{[ citation needed ]}

Notes

1. "Activision : Corporate Info : Press Releases : ACTIVISION ANTHOLOGY FOR THE PS2 SHIPS". 2003-02-07. Archived from the original on 2003-02-07. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
2. "All Together then: Activision Anthology". 14 December 2018. Archived from the original on 2020-06-21. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
3. Atari 2600 Bridge release
4. Atari 2600 Checkers release
5. "Atari 2600 Commando release". Archived from the original on 2014-03-11. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
6. Reichert, Matt. "Hard Head". Atariprotos. AtariAge. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
7. This is incorrectly listed as SpaceThreat Deluxe in some sources. Space Treat Deluxe is the correct title. Picture of cartridge label Archived 2011-11-06 at the Wayback Machine
8. "Activision Anthology Review".
9. "Activision Anthology". 11 December 2003.

References

• Carless, Simon (2005). Gaming Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools. O'Reilly Media. p. 22. ISBN   0-596-00917-8.
• Kohler, Chris (2005). Retro Gaming Hacks: Tips & Tools for Playing the Classics. O'Reilly Media. p. 378. ISBN   0-596-00917-8.

External links

• Official PSP version website Archived 2006-11-29 at the Wayback Machine
• Activision Anthology at MobyGames
• http://ps2.ign.com/objects/491/491542.html IGN's page of the game
• Activision Anthology review at IGN