Games for Lunch: Atari Classics: Evolved

In a nutshell: I can't really summarize it better than the title.
6/17/2008 5:54 PM | 0 Comments | Page 1 of 3

Developer: Stainless Games
Publisher: Atari
Release Date: Nov. 20, 2007
System: PSP
ESRB Rating: E
Official Web site

0:00 I think I've played most of these arcade "classics" at some point during my Chuck E. Cheese-saturated youth, so I'm looking forward to a portable, nostalgic romp. Already, I'm enamored by the clear case that surrounds the UMD disc.

0:01 Nice, simple menu design. First up is Battlezone, which I actually haven't played in the arcades. The game's already making a liar out of me!

0:03 I'm navigating a green field from a first-person perspective. There are some occasional holographic green obstacles, but the field is pretty empty. My vehicle handles like a tank, which I suppose is appropriate.

0:04 In addition to the radar, the HUD tells me when there's an "enemy in front" or an "enemy to right," etc. Good thing, because it's hard to tell the enemy tanks from the regular obstacles.

0:05 The game seems to be sending only one tank at a time, and if they end up behind me, I'm toast. This may have seemed revolutionary when it first came out, but now it just seems kind of dull. I do like the updated techno soundtrack, though.

0:06 There are 11 games to get through, so I've got to keep moving. Millipede is up next. I predict I'm going to miss the arcade game's trackball.

0:07 Turning the system 90 degrees makes the PSP's widescreen replicate the tall displays from the arcade cabinet. A very nice touch, though the system is kind of awkward to hold this way.

0:08 I just remembered something -- I really suck at Millipede! I lose all my lives in about a minute! Let's try that again.

0:10 I buckle down and last an entire TWO minutes this time! The spiders and ladybugs keep getting me from behind while I focus on the encroaching millipede. How sad is it that I can't survive more than two minutes at a game this old? I know they were designed to keep munching quarters, but still, I'm supposed to be a professional!

0:11 Warlords is up next. Think four-player Pong meets Breakout.

0:14 Loving the bright, psychedelic graphics and the driving backbeat. I'm not a great Warlords player, but the computer is even worse in Wave 1.

0:17 I manage to take out two players single-handedly in Wave 2, which leaves the remaining player practically undamaged and free to take me out. This game has aged quite well -- good, fast-paced action. I earned an "award" for having four balls of my color in play. Everybody wants to be Xbox Live's Achievements these days.

0:18 Pong is next. Yes, they're still re-releasing Pong roughly a million years after it first came out.

0:19 Cute -- I can change the graphical theme between a ping-pong table, a pinball table or an air-hockey table. There's also a Tron-style version of the original game.

0:20 Starting off with air hockey, complete with appropriate sound effects! It's a little odd not being able to move my paddle forward or backward, as I would on an air hockey table. I win 11-2, but I barely have to hit the puck because the computer misses even the starting serve.