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One of the best game compliations ever

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: July 03, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This a a great release for Sega Dreamcast owners. The ATARI ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION is compilation of 12 Atari ARCADE games. These are not emulations of 2600,5200 or 7800 Atari games. These 12 games are perfect emulations of 12 classic arcade games that you are sure to have nostalgic feelings for.

The games are as follows:ASTEROIDS, ASTEROIDS DELUXE, BATTLEZONE, CENTEPEDE, CRYSTAL CASTLE, GRAVITAR, MILLIPEDE, MISSILE COMMAND, PONG, SUPER BREAKOUT, TEMPEST, and WARLORDS. Did any of these game titles evoke fond memories? Can you remember the arcade you were in and the sounds of these games? If you are such a person, get the ATARI ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION is a must buy title!

You also get slideshows on each game. The slideshows show the cabinet and also some of the papers that arcade owners got with the machines as well as magazine ads for the games. Plus, it shows the artwork and what the 2600 and 5200 cartridges looked like.

Almost all of these games are highly addictive and I remember playing most of these in the arcades. All of the games are simple to learn and a lot of fun! Highly recommended!

Nice collection of classic arcade games

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: July 02, 2001
Author: Amazon User

These games are some of the best games ever seen in arcades. Back in those days you had to rely on great gameplay, not great graphics. Of all the games on this CD, Tempest is my favorite. It is considered the most popular arcade game in history, and I know why. But all the other games deserve mention, too. Centipede is a top-quality shooter, Asteroids is another fun shooter (with some nice vector graphics), Millipede is the sequel to Centipede with tons of added features (and more enemies), Gravitar is a VERY challenging game, Crystal Castles is a fun game with fantastic isometric graphics (a trackball or mouse should be used with Crystal Castles), Pong is the grandfather of arcade games (it's still very fun after almost 30 years), and Super Breakout takes Pong's "ball and paddle" format to the next level in a very entertaining way. I think this is the only Atari collection available for Dreamcast, so if you want classic Atari games on Dreamcast, then get this quick.

Atari Lives!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: June 22, 2001
Author: Amazon User

After the recent acquisition of Atari from Infogrames, the classics have been popping up here and there. This latest release contains some of the best arcade classics with excellent gameplay. Warlords, one of the first 4-player arcade games, is worth the price of admission alone. And with the Dreamcast's innate ability to handle 4-player games, this is definitely one to pick up! Of course, this is assuming Infogrames will not skimp out on the 4-player ability! By the way, Infogrames has officially changed their name to Atari. So, hopefully, we will see more of these classic compilations.

All Hail Vector Graphics!!!!!!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: September 05, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I live in New York, and there's actually no shortage of retro gaming emporiums selling reconditioned or brand new consoles and games from the "Silver Age" of the mid-to-late '70s. But I'm also lazy, and never quite got up the energy to invest in yet another system, albeit the one I grew up with, and home to the greatest games of all time. So I take the shortcut back in time, snagging all the great retro titles for my GameBoy (which I bought simply so I could play Missile Command and Defender), PC & Dreamcast. This collection is leaps and bounds above all others, in terms of the quality and recognizability of the games, and is dead-on in recreating the original arcade experience, right down to the original cabinet art.

These are the games that made gaming so addictive--Tempest, Centipede, Battle Zone, Asteroids, and so many others. I had em all when I had a 2600, and I am thrilled to be playing them again (especially Tempest--kept my wife up all night to those breeeeeeeeops and hyperspace jumps). The sole occasional drawback is the Dreamcast controller, which is great for some games (like Tempest or Centipede) but is woeful with others (Breakout & Pong especially). The old Atari paddle would be so much better, though I can't see Sega (or a 3rd party company) producing a custom peripheral for a budget-priced title.

As if all this wasn't enough, the game has a DVD-style gallery section, with tons of old Atari ads, buttons and stickers, which you can zoom in on to incredible detail (how come my Terminator 2 DVD can't do THAT?????). Plus there's an insightful video interview with the creator of Atari--really takes us back to the geek-ridden origins of the computer games world.

Now, if Infrogames can team up with LucasArts to port the old Star Wars arcade game to Dreamcast, my life would be complete...

Technology is wonderful...isn't it? Isn't it?!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: August 09, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Being an avid gamer since day 1, I've owned [or still own] most every game console created for the home market, along with spending most all of my money in my youth on playing games at arcades. Foolishness, surely.

It's only natural, then, that nostalgic retro-types such as myself are drawn to repackaged originals from the arcade for use on home systems.

Having invested probably $1500 [from my youth] in this newest release from Atari, I figured dropping an additional 1% of that amount on the Dreamcast disc would be money well spent. I was right :)

The games are dead-accurate in their being ported-over to the DC and the added super-bonus of getting all of the vintage magazine ads and the like on the disc is just the icing on the cake. Being able to pan & scan those items, along with cartridge labels and original boxes is just icing on top of icing. It's almost perfect!

The downsides? Control with the analog stick on the DC can be tricky compared to the number of original Atari controls it's supposed to replace from the upright cabinets of 20 years ago. I find the games are better navigated [albeit only slightly so] with the digital D pad. Although game mags give this disc top honors for sound, I have to say that if you're using a hi-powered entertainment system like I do, you might find the sounds closer to that of so many fingernails going down a chalkboard: it's simply horrible when amplified to normal listening levels. I expect that if it was only piped thru the TV's speakers that it might be tolerable. But get too much chaos on-screen while playing Millipede and the aforementioned fingernails begin their full-tilt wailing. Dogs in the neighborhood begin baying and yelping. And I'm talking about normal listening volume where you could have a conversation with someone in the room with you. The screeching is horrible. My DC works flawlessly with all other games, and the Atari disc is new. I can't explain why it has this blemish but it makes my ears feel like they want to bleed.

Simply put: 4.5 outta 5 stars.

Don't expect audacious sound from your entertainment system, however, if you have one. And the screen is viewed MUCH BETTER if you disable the 'control panel' and 'cabinet' views that appear on your screen automatically as well; you get much more playing area with these disabled.

The Effing Bomb

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: July 06, 2001
Author: Amazon User

OK, so not for everyone -- twitchy little ... fifth-graders ... need not apply, and obviously, nothing for the die-hard rpg lover here.

Still and all, Atari was a player -- the Warlords call is a great one, battlezone probably qualifies as the first FPS, the ports here are quality, the only thing that suffers is the control -- crystal castles without a trackball sort of bites it.

If you like games, and not FMV or framerates or surround sound, these are great. They've stood up well, and for [the price], you can't lose.

how could they?

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: July 29, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Its the authentic arcade emulations I've always wanted, except every game runs way to fast. Most are not even playable. The lack of mouse support for the rotary controler based games is absolutely unforgivable. Sloppy programming and careless implementation do not a good aniversary make. I sincerely hope Infogrames does a better job with its future use of the Atari brand.

Great But More Of The Same.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: July 30, 2001
Author: Amazon User

UPSIDE: As a retro gamer myself, I find the games in this anthology very close to the arcade. Tempest is my favorite though I miss the knobby thingy for precise movement control, and the trackball for games like Centipede and Missile Command. Anyway, this Atari compilation for the Dreamcast is by far the best to come out.

DOWNSIDE: Isn't it about time to release other classic Atari arcade games? Games like: STUN RUNNER, STEEL TALONS, etc.?

WoW!! but not here

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: July 30, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This is the ultamate collecton of games with the folloing:Asteteroids,Asteroids Deluxe,Battlezone,ECT. IF you like collectting systems{Like me}get this anywere but here....

no controllers or trackballs or paddles

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: August 18, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I liked everthing

except where do I get the right controllers. Tempest is great but pong is hard to play with an analog stick. also breakout is too hard and warlords you can't move fast but that is not a problem on tempest if you know what you are doing.

I really like it but it does not save anything.no saves..

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