Atari Anthology (PS2)

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Sut1
Posts: 789
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Atari Anthology (PS2)

Postby Sut1 » February 9th, 2014, 5:13 pm

I've posted a few times about games from an era I'm not overly familiar with so I thought this compilation would be a good starting point for me. I understand the no trackball etc, but since I never played them with one, it shouldn't affect me too much. Here's a brief rundown on what I've played thus far.

Asteroids Arcade - Definitely an all time classic, I've only ever briefly played this before but challenging myself for high score got me addicted. Brilliant game. A+

Asteroids Deluxe Arcade - I can see why this was never as popular, by trying to make it more difficult they have completely unbalanced the gameplay. Still worth a go, but far more frustrating than it's predecessor. C-

Battlezone Arcade - Initially I couldn't see the fuss with this game, but it definitely grew on me and is surprising atmospheric. Once I tinkered with the controls to make them for FPS like I couldn't tear myself away. B+

Black Widow Arcade - This is OK, not one of Atari's classic's can't help feeling there is a large element of luck required and some cheap AI. C-

Crystal Castles Arcade - This is the first 'classic' I disagree with, don't find the game particularly enjoyable but to be honest I've always had an issue with the 3D isometric viewpoint on fast arcade games, I had the same issues with Congo Bongo. To me it's an upmarket Pac-Man clone but not as fun. C-

Space War 2600 - OK to pass a couple of minutes, but it didn't make me want to buy an original cart and the space shuttle variations are just plain boring. D-

Air Sea Battle 2600 - Fun for two players, although very basic. Again wouldn't buy an original cart but with this one I could play again. C

I'll pass more thoughts on as I work through the compilation - Gravitar next once I can get through Asteroids Deluxe's challenges grrrrr.

Astrosmasher1
Posts: 1107
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Atari Anthology (PS2)

Postby Astrosmasher1 » February 14th, 2014, 3:12 am

Okay thanks for your thoughts on this compilation.  I have it on xbox.  Until a few years back it saved your scored which I thought was pretty cool.  Also the xbox one plays on 360 and still gets plugged in every now and again.

The thing about Crystal Castles is that it was another of those track ball games.  Without it, the game is nowhere near as much fun.  With the trackball it is an A plus pac man clone. 

Asteroids deluxe is legendary for being a cheat.  They put the wings on the ship which made sure most rocks would hit you.  Also each wave had a set of ships that would attack towards the end of the wave.  This was to stop people leaving one asteroid and just shooting the small saucers and amassing loads of lives.  It did that with aplomb but failed to make the game enjoyable.  d- for me.

Leo1
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Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Atari Anthology (PS2)

Postby Leo1 » February 14th, 2014, 10:54 am

Surprised you didn't much like Black Widow or Asteroids Deluxe. Have you given Red Baron a try? I doubt you'll love it since most just consider it okay, but it's a favorite of mine.

The Xbox version is great with its 1080i HD capabilities (The vector games look amazing on a HDTV thanks to this) and the arcade borders to frame everything. And before Xbox Live was discontinued, it had full online leaderboard functionality. On the PS2 version, sadly it didn't support HD so the borders are more a hindrance than a positive and you'll want to turn them off and zoom in if you haven't already done so.

There are a couple of interesting bonus games in the excellent extras section if you go digging. An adaptation of Combat with AI and the Tempest 2600 prototype. Neither are great games, but they're neat to check out none the less as curiosities. I think Combat AI was promising if the homebrew programmer had kept at it. And arcade Tempest includes Tempest Tubes, a popular hack from back in the day that mixed the game up, which can be enabled in the options menu.

So be sure to give that a spin if you're a Tempest fan.

[QUOTE=Sut]I understand the no trackball etc, but since I never played them with one, it shouldn't affect me too much.   [/QUOTE]

All the arcade games here that would benefit are available on the Playstation with track ball support minus Liberator in case you ever get interested enough to track down a couple of those early compilations and a Nyko track-ball.

While many compilations I own multiple versions of, I never bought the PS2 version of Atari Anthology. There's a chance it might support that track-ball. I've never seen anyone actually say that they've tried it and these same developers are responsible for the earlier Playstation compilations that did support it.

Sut1
Posts: 789
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Atari Anthology (PS2)

Postby Sut1 » February 14th, 2014, 2:29 pm

Thanks for the information.
You can see with Asteroids Deluxe the increased challenge has just unbalanced the game, thanks for the insight regarding the wings, I didn't notice but you do get hit by asteroids hell of a lot more than the original.

I've briefly played Red Baron, I like what I see, almost a Battlezone in the sky ?

Also thanks for the heads up on the Combat/Tempest extras I will try them out.

Astrosmasher1
Posts: 1107
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Atari Anthology (PS2)

Postby Astrosmasher1 » February 15th, 2014, 6:47 am

[QUOTE=Sut]Thanks for the information. You can see with Asteroids Deluxe the increased challenge has just unbalanced the game, thanks for the insight regarding the wings, I didn't notice but you do get hit by asteroids hell of a lot more than the original. I've briefly played Red Baron, I like what I see, almost a Battlezone in the sky ? Also thanks for the heads up on the Combat/Tempest extras I will try them out.[/QUOTE]
Yeah Red Baron is also my favourite.  Though I have a confession to make.  I used to play it in the arcades as well.

Sut1
Posts: 789
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Atari Anthology (PS2)

Postby Sut1 » March 1st, 2015, 3:29 pm

I've not touched this for a while, I think Crystal Castles made put it down for a while. Now trying Gravitar which I'm not sure about, I can see it's got fun mechanics but bloody hell - it's hard !
The chances of me doing the trippy and double speed challenges are zero on this, it's difficult as is.

Astrosmasher1
Posts: 1107
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Atari Anthology (PS2)

Postby Astrosmasher1 » March 2nd, 2015, 8:00 am

[QUOTE=Sut]I've not touched this for a while, I think Crystal Castles made put it down for a while. Now trying Gravitar which I'm not sure about, I can see it's got fun mechanics but bloody hell - it's hard ! The chances of me doing the trippy and double speed challenges are zero on this, it's difficult as is.[/QUOTE]
Gravitar.  Great game though it is hampered with a steep learning curve.  It is the gravity of the world that you have to cope with.  There was a version on the Atari 8 bit computers that was much better called Thrust.  Same game but this time it was playable. 

Sut1
Posts: 789
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Atari Anthology (PS2)

Postby Sut1 » March 2nd, 2015, 3:41 pm

Ahh I think Thrust was released for the Spectrum as well, I will check that out. For me Gravitar is just on the too difficult side, I don't mind a challenge but I just don't seem to be getting any better at it.

Liberator is just OK, it gets old very quickly and I'm not surprised there was never an home port. Although it would have worked well on the ST/Amiga with mouse control. It's not a bad game, but one I'll probably not choose to play again, plus the challenges were a breeze on this one, unlike Gravitar and Asteroids (which is a bonus).

Next up Lunar Lander !

Sut1
Posts: 789
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Atari Anthology (PS2)

Postby Sut1 » March 4th, 2015, 6:26 pm

Wow - never realised how addicting Lunar Lander is, even more surprising considering its age. Nice change of pace compared to the other arcade games on the compilation this is probably the first non twitch game I've played on Atari Anthology, very engrossing.

Major Havoc is next but I'm gonna play me some more Lunar Lander first.

scotland171
Posts: 816
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Atari Anthology (PS2)

Postby scotland171 » March 5th, 2015, 1:45 pm

[QUOTE=Sut]Wow - never realised how addicting Lunar Lander is, even more surprising considering its age. Nice change of pace compared to the other arcade games on the compilation this is probably the first non twitch game I've played on Atari Anthology, very engrossing. Major Havoc is next but I'm gonna play me some more Lunar Lander first.[/QUOTE]

I love Lunar Lander. 

The arcade version has that big thrust handle on the right that makes it seem so solid and real.  I don't know if there is a cockpit version, but add in some toggles and dials and you could really get immersed.

You'd think NASA could contract out some better shock absorbers.   Oh right, budget cuts.   

The Commodore 64 had "Jupiter Lander", a pretty common cartridge game, and its kinda fun too.  I think Thrust is on the C64 too.

I played the text version of this game in BASIC on several early computers.  I don't recall it being nearly so difficult as the arcade version.  

Wouldn't a fully multidimensional version of this game be fun?  Not just left/right and up/down axes, but forward/back, and the 3 rotational axes as well.   Maybe something like the Star Fury from Babylon 5 where you would move your ship not just to land, but dock, push, pull, retrieve, etc. Or to keep it in the world of nonfiction, link up with a Soyuz spacecraft in orbit.

The Odyssey 2 has a 2 game cartridge with a Lunar Lander'ish game that is very disappointing unless you consider it an educational title.  It does work as a 'my first video game' for kids as both games are very simple and really have no great penalty for failure.  Having games like that are fine, but that was not the intention of this cartridge when it was first retailed. The lunar lander game is called Out of the World (not to be confused with the game of the same name from the early 90s - but I don't see how that would possible). 

Maybe I'll set up the PS2 and give this a whirl on the Atari Anthology.  Nothing like crashing and dying in the icy cold vacuum of space.


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