It's possible that younger video game players may not remember the likes of Battlezone, Asteroids, and Super Breakout. But Midway's latest installment of Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Atari Collection 1 - is an outstanding tribute to the once great gaming empire. Bringing together six classic games that launched entire video game genres (and stole countless quarters from gamers), The Atari Collection 1 is a wonderful trip down memory lane. This collection features Asteroids, Battlezone, Centipede, Super Breakout, Missile Command, and Tempest. These conversions to the Playstation are true to their arcade counterparts and are still a blast to play.
Graphically - what more could you ask for? Being true to their arcade versions, the programmers didn't change one thing. Through the use of Midway's arcade emulator and graphical menu, players are treated to a full 3-D replica of each coin-op machine. First timers can see what these old machines looked like back in the day. Click on the game you want, and you're ready to play. Everything has been reproduced exactly - the smooth vector graphics of Tempest to the multicolored mushrooms of Centipede. There are no changes between the home and the arcade. If it was in the game, it's on this disc.
Gameplay is where The Atari Collection truly excels. You can feel your fingers start to twitch as you load up a game of Tempest, or when you get ready to defend cities from nuclear devastation in Missile Command. Overall, the control is bit rough with the Sony controller, but not impossible. With games like Tempest and Centipede, the use of the Sony Mouse is definitely the way to go, though a spinning knob controller would make for a killer accessory.
Added bonuses to this compilation are the game's histories and interviews with their respective designers and producers. Each game has an index attached to it that contains FMV interviews, still pictures, and other bits of trivia. This is great stuff.
Is this title for you? It is if you don't expect texture mapping and dynamic light sourcing. Simply, Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 1 represents a time in gaming when all that "cool stuff" didn't matter. What mattered was good, honest, fun gameplay. To that end, this title delivers.
