Retro Atari Classics

Last updated

Retro Atari Classics
Retro Atari Classics Coverart.png
Developer(s) Taniko
Publisher(s) Atari
Composer(s) Allister Brimble, Anthony N. Putson
Platform(s) Nintendo DS
Release
  • EU: March 11, 2005
  • NA: March 16, 2005
  • AU: March 18, 2005
Genre(s) Various
Mode(s) Single-player

Retro Atari Classics is a collection of Atari video games for the Nintendo DS developed by American studio Taniko and released in 2005 by Atari. The game features classic Atari games as well as remixed versions of each of the selections. The game's development faced challenges of working with the then-changing prototype Nintendo DS hardware. The game received mixed reviews from critics.

Contents

Gameplay

Retro Atari Classics is a compilation game that includes 10 different arcade games from Atari's library. Included games are listed below. [1]

Retro Atari Classics includes a "remix" mode which includes updated visuals by graffiti artists for the classic games. [2] The games have been modified from their originals to support both DS screens and include a touch screen. [1]

Development

Development on Retro Atari Classics began before the Nintendo DS had been released. [3] The prototype DS that developer Taniko worked with only had a single screen for six months. [3] Developer Omar Cornut, who was part of Taniko's programming team for the game, later recalled, "A month before they announced the DS, they told us, 'Oh, by the way, there's a second screen on the DS. Enjoy remaking your game.' The game was rubbish, but was interesting." [3]

For the remix versions of the games, Atari hired a number of famous graffiti artists for the designs, including Shepard Fairey who designed OBEY Giant. [4] [5] The title was originally announced by Atari in December 2004. [6] A preview of the game in the same month by GameSpot 's Ricardo Torres noted that the DS-specific features were still being tweaked by the developers. [7] A March 2005 preview from GameSpot's Justin Calvert noted that the only game which forced players to use the touch screen was Tempest. [8]

Reception

According to Metacritic, the game received average reviews with a 51/100. [9] CNET's Zennith Geisler called the older games "boxy and dull" and noted that the remixed versions "are bright, gaudy, and cheap." [11] GameSpot's Jeff Gerstmann criticized the reprogramming that the classic games went through, noting that the controls were inferior to the original versions. [2] Gerstmann also noted that the remix versions artwork "isn't implemented very well" and said that the collection was "the sort of game that's unpleasing to every possible audience." [2] Nintendo Life's Sean Aaron commented that many of the DS versions of the original arcade games as "disappointing." [10] Both Gerstmann and Aaron singled out Centipede as being especially worse in comparison to their arcade counterpart. [2] [10] IGN 's Craig Harris also criticized control scheme decisions, noting that Mission Control was much more difficult because of the limitations of the chosen control scheme. [1] Eurogamer 's Kristian Reed felt that Atari's decision to require all players to own the cartridge to engage in multiplayer ruined any potential it had for being fun. [12] Reed also criticized the remix artwork, saying it was "hideous graffiti-strewn abominations that attempt to lend the package some sort of misguided street cool." [12]

Related Research Articles

<i>Asteroids</i> (video game) 1979 video game

Asteroids is a space-themed multidirectional shooter arcade video game designed by Lyle Rains and Ed Logg released in November 1979 by Atari, Inc. The player controls a single spaceship in an asteroid field which is periodically traversed by flying saucers. The object of the game is to shoot and destroy the asteroids and saucers, while not colliding with either, or being hit by the saucers' counter-fire. The game becomes harder as the number of asteroids increases.

<i>Pong</i> 1972 arcade game

Pong is a table tennis–themed twitch arcade sports video game, featuring simple two-dimensional graphics, manufactured by Atari and originally released in 1972. It was one of the earliest arcade video games; it was created by Allan Alcorn as a training exercise assigned to him by Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell, but Bushnell and Atari co-founder Ted Dabney were surprised by the quality of Alcorn's work and decided to manufacture the game. Bushnell based the game's concept on an electronic ping-pong game included in the Magnavox Odyssey, the first home video game console. In response, Magnavox later sued Atari for patent infringement.

<i>Mario Bros.</i> 1983 video game

Mario Bros. is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo as an arcade video game in 1983. It was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi, Nintendo's chief engineer. Italian twin brother plumbers Mario and Luigi exterminate creatures emerging from the sewers by knocking them upside-down and kicking them away. The Famicom/Nintendo Entertainment System version is the first game produced by Intelligent Systems. It is part of the Mario franchise, but originally began as a spin-off from the Donkey Kong series.

<i>Galaga</i> 1981 arcade game

Galaga is a 1981 fixed shooter arcade video game developed and published by Namco. In North America, it was released by Midway Manufacturing. It is the sequel to Galaxian (1979), Namco's first major video game hit in arcades. Controlling a starship, the player is tasked with destroying the Galaga forces in each stage while avoiding enemies and projectiles. Some enemies can capture a player's ship via a tractor beam, which can be rescued to transform the player into a "dual fighter" with additional firepower.

<i>Dig Dug</i> 1982 video game

Dig Dug is a maze arcade video game developed by Namco in 1981 and released in 1982, distributed in North America by Atari, Inc. The player controls Dig Dug to defeat all enemies per stage, by either inflating them to bursting or crushing them underneath rocks.

<i>Xevious</i> Vertical scrolling shooter arcade game released in 1983

Xevious is a vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game developed and published by Namco in 1982. It was released in Japan and Europe by Namco and in North America by Atari, Inc. Controlling the Solvalou starship, the player attacks Xevious forces before they destroy all of mankind. The Solvalou has two weapons at its disposal: a zapper to destroy flying craft, and a blaster to bomb ground installations and enemies. It runs on the Namco Galaga arcade system.

<i>Time Pilot</i> 1982 video game

Time Pilot is a multidirectional shooter arcade video game designed by Yoshiki Okamoto and released by Konami in 1982. It was distributed in the United States by Centuri, and by Atari Ireland in Europe and the Middle East. While engaging in aerial combat, the player-controlled jet flies across open airspace that scrolls indefinitely in all directions. Each level is themed to a different time period. Home ports for the Atari 2600, MSX, and ColecoVision were released in 1983.

<i>Paperboy</i> (video game) 1985 video game

Paperboy is an arcade action game developed and published by Atari Games and Midway Games, and released in 1985. The player takes the role of a paperboy who delivers a fictional newspaper called The Daily Sun along a suburban street on his bicycle. The arcade version of the game featured bike handlebars as the controller.

<i>Urban Champion</i> 1984 video game

Urban Champion (アーバンチャンピオン) is a fighting video game developed and published by Nintendo in 1984. It was first released for the Famicom and Nintendo VS. System for arcades in 1984, and later released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America and Europe in 1986. It was inspired by the 1984 Game & Watch game Boxing. It is Nintendo's first 2D fighting game, eventually followed in 1993 by Joy Mech Fight, released exclusively in Japan for the Famicom.

<i>Mace: The Dark Age</i> 1997 fighting arcade game

Mace: The Dark Age is a fighting video game released by Atari Games for arcade machines in 1997 and later ported by Midway Games to the Nintendo 64. Like many fighting games of the time, its style is marked by extreme violence, with characters graphically slaying defeated opponents. Utilizing 3dfx Voodoo chips for the hardware, the game received attention for its cutting-edge graphics and turned Atari a profit in the arcades. Critical response to the gameplay was much less enthusiastic.

Namco Museum is a series of video game compilations developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment for home video game consoles. The first title in the series, Namco Museum Vol. 1, was released for the PlayStation in 1995. Entries in the series have been released for multiple platforms, including the Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS and Xbox 360. the latest being Namco Museum Archives Vol. 2, released in 2020.

<i>Namco Museum Battle Collection</i> 2005 video game

Namco Museum Battle Collection is a 2005 video game compilation developed by Tose and published by Namco for the PlayStation Portable; the first Namco Museum since the PS1 series to be developed in Japan. It includes 21 games - four of these are brand-new "arrangement" remakes of older Namco games, while the rest are emulated ports of Namco arcade games from the 1970s and 1980s. These ports include an options menu that allows the player to modify the in-game settings, such as the screen orientation and number of lives. Players can send one-level demos to a friend's console via the "Game Sharing" option in the main menu.

Donkey Kong is a video game franchise created by Shigeru Miyamoto and owned by Nintendo. It follows the adventures of a gorilla, named Donkey Kong, and his family and friends consisting of various primates. The franchise primarily consists of platform games—originally single-screen action puzzle games and later side-scrolling platformers. The first is the 1981 arcade game Donkey Kong, debuting the main antagonist Donkey Kong and the hero Mario, in an industrial construction setting. The game was a massive success and was followed by two sequels released in 1982 and 1983. In 1994, the franchise was relaunched with the platformer Donkey Kong Country, in which Donkey Kong is antagonized by a variety of anthropomorphic enemies, mainly the Kremlings, a clan of crocodiles led by King K. Rool, who has stolen the Kongs' banana hoard.

<i>Lunar Lander</i> (1979 video game) 1979 Atari vector arcade game

Lunar Lander is a single-player arcade game in the Lunar Lander subgenre. It was developed by Atari, Inc. and released in August 1979. It was the most popular version to date of the "Lunar Lander" concept, surpassing the prior Moonlander (1973) and numerous text-based games, and most later iterations of the concept are based on this Atari version.

<i>Namco Museum DS</i> 2007 video game

Namco Museum DS is a 2007 video game compilation developed by M2 and published by Namco Bandai Games. The game features 7 arcade games previously published by Namco along with a Nintendo DS version of the Nintendo-developed title Pac-Man Vs.

<i>SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1</i> 2008 video game

SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 is a video game compilation created and published by SNK which includes sixteen Neo Geo games. The compilation was released on the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and the Wii. In Australia, it was only released on the PlayStation 2.

<i>Atari Greatest Hits</i> 2010 video game

The Atari Greatest Hits series is composed of two compilations of retro Atari arcade games & Atari 2600 games ported to the Nintendo DS. While listed on the Atari web site as free for iOS & Android, Atari Greatest Hits has been removed from both app stores.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Harris, Craig (March 16, 2005). "Retro Atari Classics". IGN. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Gerstmann, Jeff (March 25, 2005). "Retro Atari Classics Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on April 30, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Williams, Mike (May 12, 2017). "Wonder Boy: Omar Cornut Is Building His Own Miracle World". Archived from the original on May 12, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  4. ↑ Harris, Craig (December 13, 2004). "Retro Atari Classics". IGN. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  5. ↑ IGN Staff (January 10, 2005). "CES 2005: Hands-On: Retro Atari". IGN. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  6. ↑ Surette, Tim (December 15, 2004). "DS goes old school with Atari Retro Classics". GameSpot. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  7. ↑ Torres, Ricardo (December 10, 2004). "Retro Atari Classics Hands-On". GameSpot. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  8. ↑ Calvert, Justin (March 7, 2005). "Retro Atari Classics Feature Preview". GameSpot. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  9. 1 2 "Retro Atari Classics". Metacritic. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  10. 1 2 3 Aaron, Sean (August 1, 2010). "Review: Retro Atari Classics (DS)". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  11. ↑ Geisler, Zennith (June 23, 2005). "Retro Atari Classics DS review: Retro Atari Classics DS". CNET. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  12. 1 2 Reed, Kristian (March 17, 2005). "Retro Atari Classics". Eurogamer.net. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.