Image Source: Gamespot
Look, retro is all the rage at the moment, but in my humble opinion, I don’t reckon the Ataribox will be the big hit that they probably think will be.
(And, just to be clear, I LOVED my Atari… absolutely loved it, but that was in 1982)
Why? I hear you ask…
Put simply, the games were great for their time, but they’ve dated really, really badly… I’m speaking mainly about the graphics here.
The thing about the NES and SNES Mini is that, even though the graphics are pretty lame by today’s standards, they were MUCH better than the Atari’s. There’s still some kitsch appeal with the Nintendos, and our proposed Commodore 64 mini.
That’s what I reckon, anyway. The Atari games, in this day and age, simply look lame,
Case in point. Here’s 10 classic Atari games that just don’t look good anymore.
Space Invaders
Defender
Missile Command
Enduro
This was revolutionary at the time, because it came with a “steering wheel” type paddle. It preluded the steering wheel controller by quite a few years.
However, there’s a heap of retro racing games I’d play over this one.
Combat
Superman
Frogger
BUT, again, looking at it is just enough for me. I think if I played it, I would get pretty bored pretty bloody quickly.
Asteroids
Just has no appeal now to me.
Adventure
However…
You are a square on a screen. That’s it. I would rather play a reboot of Defender Of The Crown rather than this.
ET
So, I really have gone out of my way to bag out quite a few of the games that defined my gaming destiny. Which I reckon is probably a little negative.
That said, I just don’t think people my age will have the same interest in this sort of retro. The games were simple, fun and addictive… but that was in the early ’80s. Gaming has come a long way since then.
However, in the spirit of fairness and objectivity, here are three Atari 2600 games I probably would give a little time and effort to.
River Raid
Pitfall
It was sort of an open world combined with a side scroller. And it was awesome.
Empire Strikes Back
One thing I will say for the new Atari… I like the way they’re implementing new hardware in an old retro box. It looks super sexy and from what I understand, it will be handling new games as well as the old.
I’ll be as happy as anyone if its raging success proves me wrong. But I just don’t think it will take the way the other minis have and will.
The Commodore 64 Mini, on the other hand…
Written by: @dantheinternut