Atari Anniversary Advance

Genuine Atari arcade games in your pocke

By Yahoo! Shopping User  May 18, 2002 | 3 out of 3 found this Atari Anniversary Advance review helpful

Infogrames has successfully shoehorned six of Atari's most recognizeable arcade games into a tiny cartridge for the Game Boy Advance.Asteroids, Battlezone, Centipede, Missile Command, Super Breakout, and Tempest are all accurately represented here. T...hese are not remakes of the original games, but the ACTUAL ARCADE PROGRAMS running under an emulator! Digital Eclipse is responsible for the development, and if you've played any of their classic arcade game emulations before, then you have an idea of the high quality of this package. The graphics and sounds are pretty much as you remember them, though the sound on Centipede seems a bit off.The games play just like the arcade games, because they ARE the arcade games. All the old tactics and tricks from the arcades will work here. Fans of the classics will surely relish the authentic time-tested gameplay. However, younger gamers or those accustomed to the depth of modern video games might find these games somewhat simplistic. Even so, they still serve as good "diversion" games, in the same way that a quick game of Tetris is good for occupying a few spare minutes.There are some drawbacks to the emulation engine. The most evident limitation is that of screen resolution. Although the original arcade games were released over 20 years ago, the monitors had a higher resolution than the GBA. Digital Eclipse did an admirable job of scaling the graphics to fit a 240x160 screen, but the text is difficult to read at times.Also, the arcade games often used analog spinners and Trak-Ball controls, so some adjustments were made to make the games playable with a joypad and four buttons. The controls on Missile Command are a bit slippery, but apart from that they did an excellent job.There are some nice added touches to the emulation. Centipede, Super Breakout, and Tempest can be played in "portrait" mode, which enables you to rotate the GBA 90 degrees and play using a vertically-oriented screen, just like the original arcade games used! You can easily switch between "landscape" (the horizontal orientation that you usually use with GBA games) and "portait" anytime during the game with a touch of the Select button. With the other three games, tapping Select switches to alternate control schemes.Rounding out the package is the Atari Trivia Challenge, exclusive to this GBA cartridge. It's a simple multiple-choice trivia game with questions about the featured games and the Atari company in general. The questions are interesting, although the database of questions isn't enormous. It's a nice break from blasting aliens.Overall, this is a superb package for classic gamers, as well as anyone who wants a few simple "pick-up-and-play" games. Read more Less