Activision Anthology takes you back to the glory days, for old-school arcade action!
REVIEW
PITFALL NUFF SAID! ok it has PITFALL and PITFALL II the only reason I bought this in the first place..
my only problem with it is I have yet to find an option to turn off the new 80s music soundtrack they've added over the original game music.. that gets kind of annoying.. like yuo're playing your old 2600 with the stereo on...
now if ony we had MOM' I'M THIRSTY BRING ME SOME KOOL AID... .GET YOUR OWN KOOL AID... being yelled over it ocasionally..
but It's worth it just for the two above mentioned games.. though KEYSTONE KAPERS was one of my faves as well
With Activision Hits Remixed, gamers can be a flying ace, a race car champion, a tennis star and a space pioneer all in one afternoon. Revisit the golden age of video games, by playing over 40 of the biggest Atari 2600 titles. The titles that took gaming from a simple hobby or diversion & helped it become a major industry are all here: Pitfall, Kaboom!, Chopper Command, Stampede, Keystone Kapers and more -- all collected here on your PSP. Relive the dawn of home console gaming while on the go!
REVIEW
More Atari classics. Remixed? Try "Rehashed!" Still fun though. This is yet another version of the Activision collection of games originally designed for the Atari 2600 Video Computer System back in the early 1980s. Like those versions, this serves as a nice museumpiece to showcase these old games, featuring advertising and art for manuals, boxes and patches. Like the Playstation 2 version, about an album's worth of pop music from the era (optionally) plays in the background while you play, as if you had a boombox by your television set (as the interface implies you would).
Activision's games had a well-deserved reputation for:
- Originality: Unlike many games of the era, they did not rely on licensed familiar characters or arcade licenses. These creations were innovative, quirky, and usually very fun.
- Technical excellence: Despite being fast action games, none of these games displayed the flickering so often seen in other games designed for the primitive VCS. They use bright colors, fast scrolling, and other effects previously thought impossible.
- Replayability: Activision's games were a forerunner of XBOX Live's "Achievement" system, where you could earn embroidered patches by reaching certain goals or scores in their games. In the 1980s, you would need to take a photograph of your television and mail it to the company. This collectionsimulates this by keeping a bulletin board with all of your patches. No, you don't get to put them on your jacket, but at least you don't need a Polaroid camera, either.
The emulation of the games in this collection is very good, as we have come to expect from retro experts at Digital Eclipse. All games run at full speed with accurate sound. When stretched into fullscreen mode, the graphic filtering softens the edges of the pixels, which is attractive but makes everything look a bit fuzzy. I would have liked the option to keep everything sharp and jaggy. Alternatively, you can run the games in a window with an ugly but functional "heads-up display" that displays your control options in an intuitive way. This mode makes some of the more complex/abstract games like Space Shuttle much easier to follow since you don't have a paper manual for reference.
A few Imagic games are thrown in for good measure (Demon Attack, Atlantis, and Moonsweeper), which are great. It's always good to have more games on this sort of thing, but it's possible that Activision doesn't have the rights to all of them.
Conspicuously absent from the collection are the fan-made "homebrew" games that appeared on the GameBoy Advance, Windows, and Macintosh versions of this game. They were weird, creative, and fun ... but they aren't here. That's a disappointment, but the Activision games stand on their own.
If you're a fan of the old Atari games and you have a PSP, you'll want this collection, but if you already have another version, this one doesn't bring anything new. If you're too young to know what Atari and Activision were all about, this would teach you, but be warned: these games are OLD and it's probably more like a trip to a museum than to a modern game store! Once you look past the ancient technology, however, you'll find a bevy of well-designed, fun, simple games here, perfectly suited to quick bursts of play.
Activision Anthology: Remixed has over 75 games from the golden age of console gaming. Experience those early days of arcade games -- all over again, or for the first time!
REVIEW
Might be nice if it worked! BE WARNNED!!! This software did not run properly on any of my Vaio computers. Andof course once opened, you own it! Wow, what a joke.
Get into the gaming groove with over 75 rad games from the Atari 2600 days and rock out to hit tunes of the decade. Tons of nostalgic fun - play all of your favorites in wild and wacky enhanced gameplay modes. Blast back to the '80s with Activision Classic Games!
REVIEW
Perfect emulation of the old Activision games. Interface is sloppy. The good:
If you like the old Activision games for the Atari 2600, this is the software for you. The emulation is exact and includes pretty much all of the original Activision titles.
The game allows you to use the keyboard, mouse (to simulate paddles) or a gamepad and it all works well.
The bad:
The retro 80's interface is more of a pain than anything. You have to use the keyboard to select the games, and then have to go through multiple steps to get there. A simple list of games to select would be better.
Also, there is no documentation on how to play any games, and worse, you can select which game mode you want (the same as the game select on the old 2600), but there is no documentation on what the games are, so I hope you still have your old 2600 game documentation.
Activision Anthology is a jam-packed compilation with 40 arcade classics that older and younger gamers will love!
REVIEW
A blast from the past. This is a somewhat difficult cartridge to review, because reactions to it will vary so widely. If you're young enough that none of the titles I'll mention ring a bell, consider this a three star cartridge that should be your first choice if you ever want to try a retro compilation. For anyone who grew up with an Atari 2600 in the early to mid 80's, however, this is a five star cartridge that should be among the first 10 that you get for your Game Boy. What you have, basically, is a handheld Atari system with 34 of it's best known games, plus extras, on one cartridge. Simply astonishing.
The four games featured on the front packaging are among those you'll probably be playing most often. In Freeway you help a chicken cross a highway. In Chopper Command you pilot a Chopper and, well, shoot the heck out of anything airborne that moves while avoiding crashes and return fire. In River Raid, you make your way down a river blasting enemies while avoiding shooting refueling tanks that you need to use.
There are other games you'll like too, but one rules above all the others. Mario. Samus. Alucard and the Belmonts. Before them all, there was Pitfall Harry - and countlessof us grew up trying to get our Indiana Jones like hero through a jungle alive, those triple-crocodile jumps the bane of our young gaming existence.
There are some extra pluses and minuses. Those used only to games like the colorful Mario ports will find the screen a bit dull, but that was the Atari coloring of the time. Return fire bullets were small, which means that on the Game Boy they're Really, Really Small. Again, that's the system and the games. Finally, fans of the popular Kaboom!, the game featuring the dreaded Mad Bomber, should be aware that the controls don't lend themselves to the game very well - perhaps the only instance in the cartridge.
Now, however, for the pluses. You get a menu screen resembling an Atari cartridge deck, and can view the original box art and instructions - enough to give you a smile in itself. And - here's the big one - the cartridge retains records of high scores, which was the whole point of the Atari era. If you get a high enough score, you can even get a virtual patch resembling the ones you could send away for in the 80's if you provided Activision with a snapshot of your TV screen with a score of a certain level.
If you want to relive those days on handheld, then this cartridge is a must for you.
Editorial ReviewFor those of you with fond memories of the Atari 2600--the granddaddy of home video game systems--this retro collection of first-rate titles from Activision is a must-have. This comprehensive disc features a whopping 30 games, including hits such as Pitfall, one of the best games ever made for the Atari 2600, and lesser-known (with good reason) titles such as Cosmic Commuter. As an added bonus, you can listen to audio CDs during gameplay. We recommend music from the early 1980s for the full "turn back the clock" effect.
But if your video gaming experience doesn't date back to the early Reagan era, you should probably take a pass on A Collection of Activision Classic Games for the Atari 2600. By today's standards, the Atari 2600 is about as technologically dated as you can get, and the rudimentary gameplay and primitive graphics and sounds of its games aren't likely to win over any new fans. --Joe Hon
Pros:
Comprehensive collection of first-rate Atari 2600 games
Ability to listen to audio CDs while playing games
Cons:
Little to no appeal outside of older fans of video games
REVIEW
Just Meh. What you're really getting here for your buck is Pitfall and, maybe, Keystone. What I want to know is: Did anyone feel even a little nostalgic to play anything else on this disc? Barnstorming? Boxing?! C'mon, for the price, you think they throw in at least Berzerk or Yar's Revenge. Buy it if you just have to play River Raid one more time, but if you're just in the mood for some retro game goodness, get Midway's Arcade Greatest Hits vol. 2 instead. Who needs Chopper Command when you have Spy Hunter, Joust 2 and Moon Patrol?
Choose your car, grab the wheel, and send Mattel's miniature machines come racing into your Wii with Hot Wheels: Beat That! Players can choose from 30 awesome cars authentically modeled from the design specs of official Hot Wheels car models as they compete against friends or the computer AI on an assortment of tracks that run through bedrooms, backyards, and similar neighborhood settings. Each course offers multiple loops, drop-offs, ramps, and jumps, as players race across multiple laps in a variety of life-sized environments to make it first across the finish line! ESRB Rated RP for Rating Pending.
REVIEW
A favorite at our house. We don't even own this game yet, but we soon will. We have rented it several times. My 5 year old loves it. It did take him a little time to figure out the controls. The tracks are creatively made, they roam through a childs room, as if a kid were to put up the track himself. Seems like a good game, and one of my 5 year olds favorites!
Get Into The Gaming Groove With Over 75 Rad Games From The Atari 2600 Days And Rock Out To Hit Tunes Of The Decade. Tons Of Nostalgic Fun - Play All Of Your Favorites In Wild And And Wacky Enhanced Gameplay Modes. A Cool Retro Room Navigation Screen Gives The Full 80s Experience. Blast Back To The 80s With Activision Classic Games!includes The Following Games:boxingbridgecheckersdragsterfishing Derbyskiingfreewayice Hockeypitfall! 2: The Lost Cavernsrobot Tankkaboom!demon Attacklaser Blasttennisatlantisbarnstormingchopper Commandstampedekabobberthwockergrand Prixmegamania: A Space Nightmarepitfall!river Raidtomcat F14river Raid 2baseballskyjinksspider Fighterstarmasterbeamridermoonsweepercrackpotsdecathlondolphinendurofrostbitekeystone Kapersoink!commandoplaque Attackpressure Cookerprivate Eyetitlematch Pro Wrestlingseaquestspace Shuttle: A Journey Into Spacecosmic Commuterheroatlantis 2climber 5cosmic Arkdragonfirevideo Euchrefathomfire Fighterlaser Gatesno Escape!okieoystronquick Stepshootin Gallerybloody Human Freewayvault Assaultvenetian Blindswing Warstar Voyagersubterraneatrick Shotskateboardinskeleton+sky Patrolsolar Stormspace Treat Deluxeriddle Of The Sphinxactivision Prototype 1activision Prototype 2system Requirements:windows 98se Me 2000 Xppentium Ii 450mhz Processor (pentium Iii - 550 Recommended)128mb Of Ram (256 Mb Ram Recommended)270 Mb Free Hard Disk Spaceagp With At Least 32 Mb Video Carddirectx 8.1 (provided On Cd)this Product Is Not Sponsored Or Endorsed By Atari Or Its Affiliates
Get into the gaming groove with over 75 rad games from the Atari 2600 days and rock out to hit tunes of the decade. Tons of nostalgic fun - play all of your favorites in wild and wacky enhanced gameplay modes. Blast back to the '80s with Activision Classic Games!
REVIEW
Nice piece of retro gaming. Gamers of my generation (thirtysomething), among others, fondly remember the Atari 2600 console. Come on, you remember it - the black joystick with the bright red button, the black console with four switches and a slot for game cartridges... the clicks, bleeps and bloops of games like Pitfall, Atlantis and Megamania: A Space Nightmare? If you do, then the Activision Anthology will bring a smile to your face; among the many other recent efforts to revive classic video games, MacPlay has published this collection of 75 games for the retro gamer in all of us.
So with a certain nostalgia, I installed and fired up the Anthology, and I was a bit surprised at the main menu: a fairly good approximation of the room of the neighbor kid in my neighborhood who actually had an Atari. (Well, the actual room wasn't so clean, with quite a few more pop cans strewn about.) Also surprisingly, the main screen greets you with some appropriately retro music - in my case, "Eye in the Sky" by the Alan Parsons Project. The music plays on as you choose and play a game from the rack; it's all tongue-in-cheek, of course, with tracks from my middle school days by groups like 'A Flock of Seagulls and' 'Whodini.'
The game emulation is perfect, except that you don't have to load up cartridges and flick that reset switch, and in a very short time I found myself trying to remember if you get more treasure faster in Pitfall by starting off running to the left, and if the underground shortcuts were worth the effort it took to jump over the scorpions. Of course, I don't have the old black joystick I was used to, although you can hook up a modern stick if you wish (I don't have one, and just used my keyboard).
So, you ask yourself, aren't these old games too easy and slow... don't they get boring quickly? The programmers have taken an interesting approach to this concern by mixing up these old school, aggressively blocky-looking games: if you wish, you can play the games in various "enhanced" game modes to up the challenge. For example, if, like me, you find Demon Attack too easy, you can set the game to play in "cube" mode, in which the game is set onto the faces of a spinning cube in the middle of the screen. As the manual says, "only the most mentally dexterous player will be able to compensate for the movements." Umm, yeah. There are several other modes that distort and add to the visuals of the original game ("disco," "bungee," and a stomach-turning mode dubbed "whirl," among many others).
Additionally, you can save games, keep high scores, and as you play along you can even unlock "patches" of previous versions.
My overall impression? MacPlay continues to impress me with their willingness to release a broad variety of titles, some quite mainstream and popular (the Baldur's Gate series, the supremely classic Fallout series) as well as games like this with pure retro appeal. True, some of these details of products like this will be lost on all but the true aficionado, but obviously none of these games are meant to compete graphically with modern offerings - this is a product intended for the old-school gamer who wants to resurrect a bit of gaming history, with a few new twists.
I encountered no bugs in my use of the Anthology, although the main screen interface takes some getting used to and isn't always intuitive, as it mainly employs the arrow keys and has none of the point-and-click mentality that we Mac users not only expect but, well, have encoded in our DNA. I find the collection to be an overall well-done offering; the added details do bring an enjoyable and added nostalgia to these games. The system requirements (400 Mhz G4) are modest, and the price is appropriate. I recommend this anthology for anyone who, like me, grew up in the arcades of the 80's and loves to emulate old games on modern hardware.
AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! This game is awesome. I bought this game with my daughter and we wanted to check the reviews, but there were none. My daughter decided to open it anyway and she played it for 5 hours straight, no breaks. OMG! She says that it's really addicting and that even at the hardish times, she says that it's still fun for a challenge. And just a tip, when you are done playing and want to stop and when you go to "exit to map" or "exit to menu" it will say "every thing that wasn't saved will be gone", when it saves-a hippo's head wil spin on the left, that's when it's saving.
