Atari Anniversary Edition

by Atari

Product Features

• Includes 12 Genuine Atari Arcade Hits! Product Information Atari, the name synonymous with the video game revolution, presents the ultimatearcade collection. Each Atari title is faithfully reproduced down to the last detail, and each oneis just as easy and fun to play. Includes 12 of the bestic Atari games with all the fast action, sights andsounds you remember! Asteroids , Asteroi

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00005JD6L
• Item Weight: 4 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: July 3, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,271 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

It's been quite a few years since Atari changed arcade gaming forever with its innovative coin-op classics. To celebrate Atari's heritage, Infogrames is releasing the Atari Anniversary Edition, a wonderful CD-ROM that contains 12 perfectly emulated arcade coin-op games for your high-scoring pleasure.

Anniversary Edition contains full versions of Asteroids, Asteroids Deluxe, Battlezone, Centipede, Millipede, Crystal Castles, Gravitar, Missile Command, Pong, Super Breakout, Tempest, and Warlords. All feature cabinet screen border artwork straight from the arcade (you know, like the flying space debris that was painted onto the Asteroids screen), and the game programmers have coded an alternate mode for each game that spiffs up the graphics and alters the levels a bit.

The games play just about how you remember them, with a couple of exceptions. Battlezone is awkward without two arcade joysticks, Tempest is difficult to control without a dial interface, and Crystal Castles is darn near unplayable on PC hardware. One also wonders why Gravitar was even included, as it's hardly a classic. However, Missile Command, Asteroids, Centipede, and Warlords are each worth the asking price of the collection.

For convenience's sake, the game plays straight from the CD or can be installed. Installation yields better performance overall and gives you all the extras, such as mouse pointers, desktop themes, a screen saver, and Atari wallpaper. Unfortunately, antipiracy programming means you can't play the game without the CD in the drive. The CD also features some 38 minutes of interviews with Atari founder (and Pong creator) Nolan Bushnell. His remarks are enlightening and interesting, to say the least. The developers also crammed a bunch of artwork and promo material on the disc that'll drive the retro archivists nuts.

Atari Anniversary Edition is the perfect way to fill your office with coin-op classics without throwing out your back, or breaking your bankbook, by collecting the arcade cabinets themselves. It's tailor made for the retro fan but accessible enough for anyone to play, and it's the perfect introduction for kids today who are ignorant of video gaming's glorious past. --Bob Andrews

Pros:

• 11 of the 12 are bona fide classics
• Perfect emulation, plus artwork and screen borders
• Almost 40 minutes of interviews with Atari founder Nolan Bushnell

Cons:

• Gravitar still isn't very good
• Crystal Castles, Tempest, and Battlezone are all difficult to play using non-arcade controls

Product Description

Includes 12 Genuine Atari Arcade Hits!Product InformationAtari the name synonymous with the video game revolution presents the ultimatearcade collection.Each Atari title is faithfully reproduced down to the last detail and each oneis just as easy and fun to play.Includes 12 of the best classic Atari games with all the fast action sights andsounds you remember! Asteroids Asteroids Deluxe Battlezone Centipede Crystal Castles Gravitar Millipede Missile Command Pong Super Breakout Tempest WarlordsThis game contains essential features for every enthusiast including aninterview with Atari founder Nolan Bushnell and images of classic Atarimemorabilia.Product Features Video interviews with original game designers images of noteworthy memorabilia original press releases and more. Desktop theme collection (mouse pointers system icons font screen saver wallpaper).Windows Requirements Windows 95/98/Me/XP/Vista Pentium 133MHz or higher 16 MB RAM No hard disk space required. Game will play directly from game disc 4X Speed CD-ROM Drive Windows 95/98/Me-compatible SVGA video card (2 MB or higher)* Windows 95/98/Me-compatible sound card* DirectX 5.0 (DirectX 7.0a included on CD) * indicates that device should be compatible with DirectX version 5.0   or higher.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The exact same games, only on a different system!, September 23, 2001

By 

Doug Thompson "laffnstock" (Grayslake, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Atari Anniversary Edition (CD-ROM)

Now you can relive those carefree days when you had a pocketful of quarters! This doesn't come with 6, but 12, 12(!) classic arcade games! See what happened in the years these games came out in the instruction booklets included in this package: Mount St. Helens eruption (uh-oh), popularity of polyester suits, the death of Elvis, Governer George Wallace assassinated and paralyzed, Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust" becomes a hit on the charts, MASH, Don McLean's "American Pie", A mass wedding for 2075 couples at the Unification Church's Sun Myung Moon, the opening of EPCOT in WDW, and a ton more!

One CD holds 6 popular classics: Centipede (Shoot up those bugs and spiders before they get you. Don't get yourself ambushed!), Missile Command (Hurry up and stop these missles from destroying the major cities!), Pong (You've got head-to-head tennis. Don't take your eye off the ball!), Super Breakout (Can you really wipe out all the bricks without losing more than 3 baseballs??), Asteroids (That's a cool game, but why isn't it in color?), and finally Tempest (Oh gawsh, that game is hard!). You need more? There's a second CD waiting for you which contains other classics, though more forgotten: Millipede, Crystal Castles, Warlords (Now THAT'S a duel!), Battlezone (Hope Saddam Hussein doesn't catch you playing that game! Reminds me of the war in the Gulf 10 years ago.), Gravitar (You'll need a special joystick for that game. Otherwise, it is nearly impossible to play, Asteroids Deluxe (Want more asteroid action? Take that!), and uhhhh, that's about it for the games.

Oh, and there are very unique and special features: video interviews, wallpaper, photos of old atari cartridges and artwork, and graphic enhancement (Just click on the arrow next to the game of your choice.) You can also customize the settings of the game: increase or decrease your number of lives, choose the game languages in English, French, Spanish, or German. Or else, if you feel like it, would you enable test mode?

Another feature is that you get just about EVERY sound effect in 44 KHZ MONO wave files. Neat, huh? You can even use them as standard computer and internet sound files! If you're tired of those standard computer sound files (like AOL for example), you can pick one of these video game sound effects of your choice. Cool!

Will Hasbro make anymore emulation from arcade games? Let's find out as time goes by.

ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED FOR EVERY COMPUTER, ESPECIALLY LAPTOPS!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's Atrari! What Else Do You Need To Know?, December 15, 2001

By 

Kevin T. Rodriguez "The Movie Wizard.com Revi... (Citrus Heights, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Atari Anniversary Edition (CD-ROM)

Artari. Every gamer knows this legendary company by heart. Because Atari made the first game ever: "Pong." And with Pong came "Centipede," "Asteroids," "Tempest," and many more! Soon Colcovistion and the dreaded Nintendo would come along and boot Artari out of bussness...but their legendary games will live on forever! Now thanks to Infogames the legacy of Atari lives on! Now you can enjoy 12 Atari classics on your PC for one low price!

Now keep in mind these games aren't state-of-the-art, they're graphics are not buffed out, and the gameplay most of the time only requires the arrow keys and shift key! Yes folks, this is classic gaming at it's best! While new gamers who started out playing games like "Metal Gear Solid" will look at these games in disgust adult gamers who grew up with these game will relive their childhood memories one last time!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very accurate (and playable!) recreations of classic games., November 9, 2003

By 

Thogek (Newbury Park, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Atari Anniversary Edition (CD-ROM)

I've picked up a few modernized versions of classic arcade games for the PC, such as Missile Command and Centipede, and while some are decent games highly reminiscient of the arcade originals (and expanding on them in interesting ways), none of them include accurate recreations of the originals in appearance and behavior. But now...

Atari Anniversary Edition includes twelve 1970s/80s arcade classics, and does a most impressive job of recreating the precise appearances, behaviors, and sounds of the original upright arcade games, right down to the pre-game "insert coin" messaging (but without the need for a pocket full of quarters!). I'm now playing these flashback classics on home PCs -- one P3 500MHz with Windows XP Home, and one P4 2.8GHz with Windows XP Pro -- with no problems.

In some cases, the game controls are a little awkward with the standard PC interface, but... Here're some specific notes on playing the games I that I actually remember from Way Back When:

Centipede & Millipede: Very usable with keyboard and/or mouse controls. I find them quite playable by using the mouse for movement and the keyboard for shooting.

Missile Command & Super Breakout: Usable with keyboard controls, but very awkwardly so. Using the mouse for movement and the keyboard for shooting works pretty well.

Asteroids & Asteroids Deluxe: Work great right from the keyboard.

Battlezone: Quite usable from the keyboard, if a little awkward. (But I found the original game a bit awkward, so...)

(I'm not myself familiar with the original Pong, Tempest, Gavitar, Crystal Castles, or Warlords.)

Of course, you may also be able to add and use joysticks, trackballs, and whatnot -- I haven't tried these.

Actually, my favorite features of this Atari collection are (1) watching my wife's face light up at the authentic sight and sounds of Tempest, and (2) watching my eight-year-old Gameboy-aficionado son spend joyous hours blasting away with Battle Zone and Millipede games three times his age. Priceless.