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PS2-Activision Anthology

Posted: February 12th, 2017, 3:22 pm
by matmico399
For those who grew up in the 2600 era and for those that luv playing retro games from the second gen this is highly recommended.

As far as I know this features every single Activiision game from the 2600. Of course there are some bummers included (as with every collection series)....but this one is a butt licker. I can't believe I got this off EBay for ten bucks plus shipping. From traversing the jungles of Pitfall, to the rapid fire action of Chopper Command this is one great collection. Never before released on a collection (at least at the time) are the classics of Robot Tank, which Dave got away like a bank robber with as a kid (read his 2600 review, hilarious) Space Shuttle and of course the somewhat rare but fantastic Pitfall 2. I think Pitfall 2 was capable of showing what the 2600 could do when pushed to the limit. Fantastic game!

And remember these classics Us of some forty age

-H.E.R.O
-Ice Hockey
-Kaboom!
-River Raid
-River Raid 2
-Skiing
-Stampede
-Tennis

My top 3 would be

3 Ice Hockey
2 Pitfall 2
1 Keystone Kapers

For the price and value unreal!

Re: PS2-Activision Anthology

Posted: February 14th, 2017, 8:44 pm
by Atariboy
Nice to see yet another person discover this fine collection.

The Activision lineup sadly isn't quite complete though. It's missing the pair of Ghostbusters titles, Rampage, Double Dragon, Kung Fu Master, several prototypes and tech demos, Skate Boardin' by Absolute, and the bulk of the Imagic library that now falls under the Activision ownership umbrella. The missing Activision titles with license issues were mostly duds though, and at least Commando made the cut thanks to Capcom allowing it free of charge (The best of the licensed games that Activision made).

Interestingly, several of these like Skate Boardin' and the missing Imagic titles were planned for the never implemented internet connectivity feature. That's why there are so many empty cartridge slots in the tower and a telephone on the desk, but Sony put the kibosh to the feature at the last minute.

About the only flaws I ever saw was I'd of liked a way to input high scores and initials with the top 5 scores saved for each game (I think they got halfway there with the highest score recorded in a notebook for each game), a few badge unlocks were buggy, Pitfall and Pitfall II had some noticeable but minor emulation issues, and Enduro's commercial was left off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ0YCsFkvI8

Probably the closest we've came to the perfect classic gaming compilation so far.

Re: PS2-Activision Anthology

Posted: February 19th, 2017, 12:33 pm
by Atarifever
This sounds amazing. I had no idea such a great compilation existed.

I think Activision should really do one of these now while they're at the height of their power in the industry, and have the rights to so much stuff and the ability to make anything they want. They could put out a nearly full collection, with online multiplayer, the Imagic stuff, and a full "Activision museum" part. The Badges could each unlock an achievement or trophy now too. I'd also love to see them do a "modern skins" feature just for fun (and obvious easy press for a collection). A COD themed Robot Tank, a Destiny themed H.E.R.O., etc.

Why they don't lean more on their history (especially on a slow year like the one they have coming up) is beyond me. They have a history (yes, I am aware it is a broken one) that includes some of the first hits in console gaming and essentially being the first ever third party developer, while also owning the rights to Spyro and Crash from the PS1 era, and while having Skylanders and COD to cover most kids and teenagers today. They should be selling themselves on their history in the same way Sega, Nintendo, and Sony do.

Re: PS2-Activision Anthology

Posted: February 19th, 2017, 2:00 pm
by Robotrek
Atarifever wrote:This sounds amazing. I had no idea such a great compilation existed.

I think Activision should really do one of these now while they're at the height of their power in the industry, and have the rights to so much stuff and the ability to make anything they want. They could put out a nearly full collection, with online multiplayer, the Imagic stuff, and a full "Activision museum" part. The Badges could each unlock an achievement or trophy now too. I'd also love to see them do a "modern skins" feature just for fun (and obvious easy press for a collection). A COD themed Robot Tank, a Destiny themed H.E.R.O., etc.

Why they don't lean more on their history (especially on a slow year like the one they have coming up) is beyond me. They have a history (yes, I am aware it is a broken one) that includes some of the first hits in console gaming and essentially being the first ever third party developer, while also owning the rights to Spyro and Crash from the PS1 era, and while having Skylanders and COD to cover most kids and teenagers today. They should be selling themselves on their history in the same way Sega, Nintendo, and Sony do.


Activision *kind of* did that with a game called Arcade Zone on the Wii. It's a generic party game collection (that's only fun with other people) but it DID feature remasters of Freeway, Kaboom!, Megamania, and Atlantis. It was basically the original games with new graphics, though Atlantis had a cross-hair (making it boring), and Kaboom! was too easy. Though ironically, Freeway had the new ability to move left and right. I'd assume modern skins would be great. It'd be a better idea for them to just PORT the games over. It'd take no time to write these games nowadays. And with the press of a button, you could have newer visuals and sound effects. It'd also make it easier to save high scores, and have multiplayer.

Re: PS2-Activision Anthology

Posted: February 21st, 2017, 8:59 pm
by Atariboy
Atarifever wrote:This sounds amazing. I had no idea such a great compilation existed.


Not only does it exist, but it also appeared on the Game Boy Advance as Activision Anthology and the Playstation Portable as Activision Hits Remixed. So lots of ways to enjoy it, not even including the companion PC/MAC versions or more recent mobile collections.

About the only way one could go wrong with an Activision collection was with that old PS1 release.

Re: PS2-Activision Anthology

Posted: February 21st, 2017, 11:30 pm
by Robotrek
Atariboy wrote:
Atarifever wrote:This sounds amazing. I had no idea such a great compilation existed.


Not only does it exist, but it also appeared on the Game Boy Advance as Activision Anthology

About the only way one could go wrong with an Activision collection was with that old PS1 release.


As the owner of both, I can tell you, at least the PS1 collection has the correct speed. Muffled sound affects, but good speed.

The GBA version makes every game run 10% or so slower, and it kinda gets annoying.

Re: PS2-Activision Anthology

Posted: February 22nd, 2017, 12:58 am
by Atariboy
Sadly, they couldn't quite get to 100%. The 2600 is a much more challenging system to emulate than even something more modern and powerful like the NES, and the GBA hardware wasn't quite up to the task. But it still works well.

Amazing in fact what they did. Many games run at 100% and those that weren't, still ran at 90% speed. Not bad for two programmers, less than four months development time, and with a 16 MHz processor with 256K of RAM to work with.

Activision's PAL conversions were running ~18% slower than the NTSC versions back in the day, for a speed comparison. So you're still better off on the GBA than Europeans were back in the day.

Re: PS2-Activision Anthology

Posted: December 1st, 2017, 6:15 am
by Ozzybear
I know it’s a typo but it made me laugh . In the original post , I’ve never seen a game described as a butt licker lol sorry I had to point that out !!

Re: PS2-Activision Anthology

Posted: December 15th, 2017, 1:21 pm
by CharlieR
Robotrek wrote:
Atariboy wrote:
Atarifever wrote:This sounds amazing. I had no idea such a great compilation existed.


Not only does it exist, but it also appeared on the Game Boy Advance as Activision Anthology

About the only way one could go wrong with an Activision collection was with that old PS1 release.


As the owner of both, I can tell you, at least the PS1 collection has the correct speed. Muffled sound affects, but good speed.

The GBA version makes every game run 10% or so slower, and it kinda gets annoying.


I have the ps2 version, and I need to get back into it. Is the GBA version that much worse because of that?

Re: PS2-Activision Anthology

Posted: December 18th, 2017, 8:18 pm
by Robotrek
CharlieR wrote:
Robotrek wrote:
Atariboy wrote:
Not only does it exist, but it also appeared on the Game Boy Advance as Activision Anthology

About the only way one could go wrong with an Activision collection was with that old PS1 release.


As the owner of both, I can tell you, at least the PS1 collection has the correct speed. Muffled sound affects, but good speed.

The GBA version makes every game run 10% or so slower, and it kinda gets annoying.


I have the ps2 version, and I need to get back into it. Is the GBA version that much worse because of that?


Feels a lot worse. Pitfall is agonizing. But if you don't play these games religiously, it isn't a HUGE deal.