By Anthony Swinnich on August 7th, 2005

Indeed, it’s no surprise to see the title come out, but that’s not to say this title isn’t surprising in itself. It seems that almost everywhere this title could have made it self worth a purchase, it did something wrong. There are countless errors in the accuracy of the games, and in their executions of using the DS feature set as well. Plus one of the main features, the "remixed" versions of the games, is largely ugly and senseless. Atari has skimped gamers greatly with this title, and it’s a shame because the pieces were in place for a great title.

Someone Tell Atari "Retro Does Not Mean Crappy"

Retro Atari Classics has ten games included on it, some slightly worthwhile, while some are a complete and total mess. Here, in no particular order, are all the games included: Asteroids, Breakout, Centipede, Gravitar, Lunar Lander, Missile Command,Pong, Sprint, Tempest, and Warlords (OK, you caught me; they’re in alphabetical order). These ten games are some of the most influential ever, and it’s depressing that most are so poorly represented.

Honestly, the only games out of the entire bunch I continually play are Breakout, Centipede, and Missile Command. But to suggest that someone should buy this collection for these three games alone is madness. I can enjoy a Breakout interpretation on almost any electronic device; just ask my High School Algebra teacher why I failed his class even though I always had my graphing calculator out all the time.

While fun, Centipede, like many of the games on the compilation, is a slightly inaccurate version of the real thing, thus decreasing the "retro-factor" this title tries to provide. The screen is zoomed in, making the playing field smaller, and while it doesn’t ruin the game it definitely isn’t the same. The same problem applies to Asteroids though the controls in that game are broken as well.

Missile Command is still the same game, and it’s probably the only one on the entire compilation to use the touch-screen in a positive way. Poke where you want to shoot; it doesn’t get much more basic or accurate than that. The other games have their fair share of problems as well, but I really don’t feel like keeping you here reading for a couple of hours.

Waste of Resources

Not only is Atari wasting the time of gamers who wanted an accurate collection of these games, they’re wasting the time of those who wanted to experience something new. The "remixed" versions have art drawn by famous graffiti artists, and the games look different. That’s it. Nothing else has changed. There’s no music added, which would have worked well with the "hip-hop" theme they seemed to be going for, and there’s also no gameplay depth added either, leaving the term "remix" in this situation up to interpretation.

To be honest, sometimes the new art design makes the games harder, and in some cases unplayable. Gravitar is a prime example of this; what was once a simple display of a black background with white detailing has become a muddled mess of colors on a white background.

The wireless multiplayer would have also been a nice addition; I love playing Pong against people. But you can’t play Pong against each other with just one cartridge. That would of course only make sense. Instead it requires that both players have a copy of this game. A complex game like Meteos allows for single-cartridge multiplayer, so not allowing it for something as simple as Pong makes no sense. This applies to Sprint, and Warlords as well.

To be honest and blunt, Retro Atari Classics is not worth $20 of your hard earned dollars. It’s barely worth ten. It uses the DS’ capabilities to little success, and there’s no incentive to play; everything is unlocked right away, and most of the games suck. There are plenty of better games on the DS to invest your time and energy into. Don’t fall victim to this game.