The Best Atari 50 Games To Play Today
As we discussed in our review, Atari 50: the anniversary celebration is really more of a museum than a gameplay showcase, but there are still plenty of games here to play! So where to start? Here are our picks for the best Atari 50 titles to try.
Note: These options are for the first time to try now. There is undeniably a lot of nostalgic value here! And some are more tolerable if you’ve been used to control schemes in the past. But hey, if you already know where to start? You don’t need us to tell you anything!
The best Atari 50 Arcade game: Warlords
Atari 50The selection of arcade titles was taken from the early days of the company, mainly out of necessity: that division was sold, so later releases were owned by others. However, those years certainly included classics. Like Jobs and Wozniak To explode! Or the grandfather himself, pong!
Our favorite, however, is warlords, a title that thrives in today’s arcade era with an intense multiplayer mode and simple yet intuitive controls. It’s not exactly the original game – as the game is quick to point out, the 2600 version was made first – but it certainly feels like the definitive version. It also benefits from Digital Eclipse’s implementation of the full arcade experience, with overlays and frames to make the action look pretty close to what it was in its original setting.
The best Atari 50 Atari 2600 game: Battle
The 2600 – or Video Computer System for you old timers – is undoubtedly Atari’s most iconic console. As a result, it has seen the most releases overall, and certainly leads to the most inclusions Atari 50. But they are also the ones stuck on any device ready to fire at them! So in many ways, they are not the draw of this collection.
However, if you’re looking for a game that stands the test of time? A two player game of fight back can’t really be defeated. Some later releases of the franchise are included in the Atari 50including a completely new one with a fireman– like a feeling! But there is something about the simplicity of the original. We are the type to often wear things, but fight back shows the appeal of boiling everything down to reading the opponent’s moves.
The best Atari 50 Atari 800 Game: Yoomp!
The Atari 800 had many fans in its day, but the best 800 games in the collection were, well, definitely no of his day. This 2007 fan version is an endless runner, as you bounce through holes in a pipe and stay alive. Like many modern homebrews, Yoomp! uses advanced techniques to look and play better than most 800 era games. Atari 50 makes some oblique references to the homebrew scene, mostly around a Loan player one project, but it’s a fascinating topic and one that we’d love to see brought together and preserved in greater depth.
The best Atari 50 Game 5200/7800: The Dark Chambers
It might seem a little odd to lump these two together, but the 5200 barely had much time to develop its identity, and its presence here is largely made up of arcade ports. And… it’s 2022! Play the arcade version.
The 7800, however, is quite a bit better. Dark room is a Gloves-like a dungeon crawler game, with the added bonus of being able to breathe without your life spinning. Are the controls also not great? Which we only notice because it’s rare in the Atari console library. Don’t accidentally play the 2600 version of the game, which is also here. His… compressedperhaps uncomfortable, holding the platform.
The best Atari 50 Lynx Game: Junkyard Dog
We’ve talked about Lynx before – mostly in the context of its compilations of Evercade titles – and perhaps that context works better for the library than this one. Lynx games need the smallest screen you can find to make a lot of visual sense! More so than its Game Boy and Game Gear counterparts.
However, you can have fun with it junkyard dog? Maybe? The return to Lynx’s companion games is more of a curiosity, and no game in the group counts curious like this weird platformer.
The best Atari 50 Game Jaguar: Storm 2000
It’s not hard to see why Jaguar failed, judged only by those who chose to Atari 50. Although there are some gems in the system that are not included, this is a big part of its presence in the market. And they are not good! We can’t say they’ve aged much, as their loose controls and messy visuals seemed disappointing at the time.
However, we will make a choice: Storm 2000. Surprised? Of course not! Jeff Minter’s psychedelic game has developed a cult following in the years since its release, and has even seen both hilarious and officially licensed sequels. In other words, its look and gameplay are full of style that doesn’t rely on period comparisons to impress. It’s great to see the game more widely available, especially for newer fans, so they can experience more of the series. That’s probably all we’ll get! At least until Digital Eclipse decided to do a Nuon compilation.
The best new Atari 50 game: VCTR-SCTR
If you don’t play Atari 50 for the record, we’re guessing you might be here for some new Digital Eclipse experiences. They definitely won’t make it to the full 2022 game! And they are all over the place in terms of visual and purpose. But many of them are attractive.
Our favorite? VCTR-SCTR. While the rest of the bunch are riffs on an old game, this one is an homage to the company’s larger vector catalog. Switch between Asteroids and Lunar lander is quite frenetic! In a fun way! Uh, usually. That didn’t work out well for us in the end Lunar lander, but remains. We had fun.
Developed by Digital Eclipse and published by Atari, Atari 50: the anniversary celebration launched on November 11, 2022 for $39.99. It’s available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series S/X, PC and…really? Yes, even the Atari VCS.
