0 to Z of Playstation 1 Games - Atari Anniversary Edition Redux

Atari Anniversary Edition Redux is a collection of classic Atari coin op games celebrating the 30^th anniversary of Atari, the collection was released in one form or another over a three year period form 1999 to 2002, released first as Atari Arcade Hits 1 in 1999 and Atari Arcade Hits 2 in 2000 for the PC and in the same year the complete collection consisting off all the games from the two volumes was released called Atari Greatest Hits. The collection was developed like previous Atari collections covered by Digital Eclipse Software and published by Atari rights holder Infogrames.

July 2001 saw the collection now named Atari Anniversary Edition release for the Dreamcast with a Playstation release in North America towards the end of the year now named Atari Anniversary Edition Redux, both versions were largely the same but for two changes.

The Dreamcast and Windows releases of the collection had Crystal Castles and Millipede as part of the collection, both of which had been a part of previous Arcade collections on the Playstation. The Playstation version though would feature Black Widow and Space Duel in their place instead.

March 1^st 2002 saw the Playstation version release in Europe, that same month the collection was released on the Game Boy Advance in North America, again the collection undergoing a name change to Atari Anniversary Advance, the collection released in Europe for the GBA in February 2003.

First in the collection is the classic Asteroids, with the player taking on the role of a spaceship pilot lost in an asteroid belt. With the player using the ships photon cannon to blast incoming asteroids, as well as the occasional flying saucer that moves across the screen.

The player can rotate the ship either left or right, facing any direction, the ships cannon fires in which ever direction the players ship is facing, when the players ship is overwhelmed and destroyed they have an additional three backup ships available to use.

Asteroids come in three different sizes small, medium and large, the latter two will break up into smaller asteroid when destroyed, while small asteroids disintegrate when shot. Player ships can be destroyed by either being shot or by colliding with asteroids, the latter can be avoided by a hyperspace warp but this runs the risk of destroying your ship as well.

Asteroids Deluxe gameplay wise is identical to the original Asteroids released in 1979, this edition released in 80/81 has a few tweaks though, the first switching of the vector graphics in favour of bitmaps, the onscreen objects now appear to have a blue tint.

Another change hyperspace has been changed in favour of a shield which is depleted when used, asteroid also now rotate and the addition of a new killer satellite enemy that when destroyed breaks up into three smaller ships, these ships will automatically home in on the players ship, the game also ups the difficulty from the original.

Battlezone is credited with being the first big first person perspective game to receive mass appeal, first person perspective games had been around since the early 70s however it was Battlezone’s 1980 Arcade release and its home computer release in 1983 which saw the genre take off.

In Battlezone the Earth has been invaded, you are in control of a tank leading the defensive effort driving around in a first person perspective shooting other tanks, planes and UFOs. The game makes use of a radar to show the player enemy targets and distance, the games also has a cover based system with object used for strategic cover.

Black Widow is an top down action shooter first released back in 1983, the game revolves around the player controlling as you might have guessed form the name a Spider that is trying to protect its web. The arcade version the left joystick was used to move around while the right was used to shoot in different directions that the various bugs in the game are coming from to attack your web

Certain enemies can only be destroyed by luring them into attacking other enemies, there is also a Bug Slayer that assists the player in eliminating the various hostile bugs, there is a down side to using the Bug Slayer though with it reducing the total number of points the player can earn on a level as well as preventing the player from achieving the number of lives needed on the more difficult later levels.

The various creatures that attack the Spiders web also lay eggs on the web these can be pushed off the web to eliminate the enemy egg before it hatches, doing so will also reward the player with points. Interesting but not corroborated fact about Black Widow arcade cabinets, many were repurposed Gravitar cabinets after its lack of commercial success, the cabinets had Black Widow side art added over the original Gravitar artwork.

Up next from 1981 we have Centipede, a wave based game, the player is trapped in an enchanted forest with only a magic wand to fend off the hoards of insects that inhabit the forest. Using the Playstation controller pressing buttons to shoot sparks at the approaching hoard, holding the buttons will result in a rapid fire attack

The game has several different enemies Spiders, Flea, and the Scorpion these have specific roles for example the Spider will attempt to distract the player from the Centipede as well as destroying mushrooms, the main one is the Centipede which attacks in a total of 12 waves, starting with the centipede having a head and eleven body segments. As the player progresses the centipede will shrink by one segement, however an additional centipede head will attack with eventually by the 12th wave a total of 12 centipede heads will attack the player.

 

The game has a total of four difficulty modes from Novice up to Expect as well as several different game modes, one player, two player alternating, player change occurs when the player character gets bitten. The game has a duel competition where both players appear on screen at the same time,  this mode has individual scoring and shots from players will paralyse the other player if it hits them.

The final mode is team play, again both players appear on screen this time however each players score is combined, unlike the previous mode shots fired at the player from the other player will not paralyse them.

Released in 1982 and using vector graphics Gravitar is a multi directional shooter, the game uses the same rotate and thrust controls that Asteroids uses, the game was the first of over 20 designed and produced by Mike Hally.

The game starts the player in a fictitious solar system with a selection of planets to choose from, when the player moves their ship towards the planet gravity from the solar systems star will pull on the ship pulling it towards the star, the same occurs on the planets the player can visit, with the gravity from the planet pulling the players ship downwards.

Like Asteroids, Asteroids Deluxe and Space Duel, Gravitar uses a similar five button control system two rotate the ship, one button to shoot, one for the ships thrusters and one for both the tractor beam and force field.

Once the player has reached a planet the perspective changes to a side on view as the player progresses along the level they must shoot red bunkers, these bunkers will be firing at the player, if the player is hit by the enemy fire, crashes into the terrain the player will lose a life, if the player runs out of fuel that is an immediate game over, additional fuel can be picked up during the course of the level, fuel appears as blue fuel tanks.

Once the player has destroyed all the bunkers on an individual planet, then that planet will be destroyed, moving on to the next and doing the same, this continues until all planets in the solar system are destroyed, upon completing of a solar system a new solar system will be loaded.

The game has four phases or universes the first is as above, the second which is accessed after completing 11 planets or completing the reactor three times, in this universe the gravity will be reverse, instead of dragging the player downward to the planets surface the gravity will instead push the players ship away.

The third and fourth universes change as well in the third universe the gravity will restore its self to normal however this time the surface of the planet will be invisible, the fourth and final universe has reversed gravity while the landscape remains invisible.

Pong is a 2D sports game based around Table Tennis also known as Ping Pong designed by Allan Alcorn Pong was first released back in 1972 . Atari co founder Nolan Bushnell based the idea of an electronic Pink Pong game on the Magnavox Odyssey, this would later result in a lawsuit by Ralph Baer the inventor of the Magnavox Odyssey and his employers.

Gameplay wise this being one of the first games ever made things are pretty simple, with the player controlling a paddle that is moved vertically across either the left or right side of the screen, either facing off against the computer or another player this aim is to hit the ping pong ball past the opposing players paddle, with each player aiming to score eleven points to win the game.

Space Duel is an arcade multi directional shooter and is a descended of the original Asteroids, with the Asteroids replaced by colourful geometric shapes like pinwheels, and diamonds. the game has an Almost identical control scheme to Asteroid Deluxe with the player having five buttons with two to rotate the ship either left or right one to shoot, one to activate the thruster and a final button to activate the ships force field with the aim to shoot all objects on the screen to complete a level.

Super Breakout is a game that features similar gameplay to the original Breakout, with the aim being to destroy all the bricks by using a paddle to hit a ball into the blocks. The game does have three additional modes as well as the original Breakout mode.

Progressive is the first new mode, in this mode the bricks gradually move closer and closer to the player, the speed of the ball also increases as you progress. You also have a mode called Double Breakout this mode give the player a second paddle however you have a second ball to deal with as well.

The final mode is Cavity, with the player starting with the standard one ball however two additional balls are trapped within the blocks and are released when the bricks that surround it are destroyed.

Missile Command has the player taking on the role of a commander of a missile base, the planet is under attack from an alien race called the Krytol, they are attacking cities on the planet using a verity of weapons and ships.

 

The player must shoot down these weapons and ships, firing missiles at them trying to prevent anything getting through and destroying your cities, each level the player is limited on how much ammo they have making accuracy key, once all six cities are destroyed it is game over.

Tempest from 1981 a Sci-Fi shooter, which uses wire frame graphics. The games story is based around humanitys use of Hyperspace Wireways a method of interstellar travel. Each wireway is taken on in turn and has a network of lines guiding the player and aliens.

The player remains on the outside of the Wireway shooting inwards at the aliens which move closer to the player, coming into contact with these aliens is fatal. Some aliens move sideways needing forward planning to deal with them.

The player also has the use of a Super Zapper a weapon that can only be used once per level, the weapon clears all current enemies but will not score the player any points. This version of Tempest is an unofficial modification of the original called Tempest Tubes the mod was created by Duncan Brown in 1982.

The final game in this classic arcade collection is the 1982 Warlords, the arcade version is a multiplayer game for up to four players can be played with less players the gameplay which has been described as a combination of Breakout and Quadrapong with the game area split into four quadrants each with a brick castle, the aim to destroy the opposing players castle while protecting your own castle.

 In order to destroy the opposing players castles the players use spinning fireballs which when coming into contact with a players castle will knock off chunks of it, these fireballs also bounce off anything else they touch, these fireballs can be caught and held by the players shield, these caught fireballs can be fired at greater force using the power stone button, doing this however damages the players own castle walls resulting in a cost/benefit decision for the player.

Reviews for this collection are a mixed bunch from a couple of excellent review scores, then taking a rapid drop down to above average scores with a below average one thrown In as well, but as usual we will start with the best which comes from The Video Game Critic who scored the game at the maximum of 100/100.

The review praising the mouse support with the game as well as the ability to save your high scores, concluding with, while the collection brings no new content to the game there is a lot of entertainment and value here as well as fond memories.

GameZone rated the game at a very good 91, calling the collection a lot of engaging fun and a challenge for all ranges of games, they also praised the price of the collection for the amount of quality you are getting concluding with what a bargain for so much fun.

Review scores from here take a fairly significant nosedive from here next up with a 70 we find a couple of publications the first All Game Guide who commented on the value of the collection calling it a heck of a deal for those looking for some old fashioned twitch gaming fun.

The other 70 rated review comes from Game Over Online who called this collection a fine piece of 70s and 80s gaming nostalgia for anyone looking to re-live your childhood video games memories, this collection is sure to get the job done, they also prised the price of the game saying you can’t really go wrong with that.

GameSpot were the next highest review with a 63 with the reviewer saying if you are looking to play these 12 classic (ok maybe Gravitar isn’t a classic) games again your best bet is of course to hunt down the original arcade machines. If of course you don’t have a massive garage or a giant wad of spare cash this collection emulates the 12 games well enough

The final review comes from Meristation, the Spanish publication scored this collection at a below average 42 calling the collection only for veteran games who want to remember the old times but if you have a bit of spare time you can always try those games that started things off and help the industry evolve little by little to the game we have today on the PS2 (translate may not be completely accurate, translation did not handle the review well and this is a best approximation)

This is the part of 0 to Z where is visit four online retailers and see what the availability of the title is, and what price you would be looking at if you wanted to pick this title up, the sites that I will be using for this are Amazon.com, eStarland.com, retrogames.co.uk and Gamedude.com I know the last one is very location specific, but from a podcast I listen to, I’ve heard they have a huge stock of older games, Ebay has now been dropped unless the game is unavailable at other retailers.

So lets get down to business with Gamedude where if you are looking to trade in your copy of Atari Anniversary Edition Redux, then Gamedude will give you $2 for your copy of the game, if on the other hand your are looking to buy a copy from them your will be looking at a $6 outlay.

Retrogames.co.uk currently have two copies of the game available one each of the PAL and North American versions of the game. Starting first with the PAL version which is priced up at £9, this is for a complete copy of the game with an excellent condition disc with a 7.5 disc quality rating.

The second copy on the market at Retrogames.co.uk is the North American version which is priced up at £7, please be aware you need a North American region Playstation to play this copy, this copy is again a complete copy, with a better quality disc with a 10/10 rating for disc quality.

Next we head to eStarland.com where we find just one copy currently on the market, this is a used complete copy of the game and is priced up at $6.50. eStarland.com also offer a trade in for the game and are willing to pay up to $2.50 for a copy of this game, the price will vary depending on the completeness of the copy, a disc only copy will get you 88 cents, if you are missing the manual you will get up to $1.63 while if you missing the case you will get up to $1.75.

Finally we move on to Amazon.com where we find a plentiful supply of the game available with around 100 copies available at the time of writing, starting with the used copies with the first page a mix of incomplete copies or copies that the completeness is not stated.

The second page we find out first complete copy a very good condition copy which can be picked up for $7.98, several more copies around this price point are again incomplete. A like new copy can be picked up for $8.86 once shipping has been added in, still pretty cheap, there are plenty of complete copies available it is just a matter of sorting through.

If you are looking for a new copy of the game you will be looking at around the $19.61 mark once the shipping costs have been added in this converts to £14.59 in the UK and 16.63 in the Euro Zone countries, please be aware this copy is the North American version so a North American console is required to play it. New copy prices currently reach a high of around $40 on Amazon.com.

Written by

P J Gibbon