Recently I’ve caught the retro gaming bug. Well, maybe I’ve always had it, however, it’s affecting me more now than ever. It got to a point where I caved in and bought my first collection of classics from the long lost arcades of old.
The first title consists of three games, Pong, Asteroids, and Yars’ Revenge [official site] (which is also the name of the game). Pong is the game that started it all and is actually very difficult when playing against the AI. I always get beat, but at least I’ve managed to score four points so far. Now I just have five points to go for my first win. Asteroids is tons of fun. So much so that I challenged Revolver to better my score of 16,010. He has been unsuccessful to this point. Yars’ Revenge is the more complicated game of the bunch from yesteryear. I actually needed the manual at one point to know what I was supposed to do.
Another collection I picked up was Namco Museum [official site]. It includes such classics as Ms. Pac-Man, Galaxian, Galaga, Dig Dug, and Pole Position. Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga certainly don’t need an explanation. Galaxian may need one, though. It was the prequel to Galaga and isn’t as fun as it’s successor, but is still a good time. Pole Position was a favorite of mine that can still be found in some hotel game rooms. It has been awhile, but I don’t remember having to qualify for a race in the game. Maybe it was removed in Pole Position II and possibly that’s the game I remember more. Dig Dug was one game I didn’t play much of previously and I didn’t think it would be that exciting. I was wrong as it was chosen a number of times over the other four games.
A third collection on the way from eStarland.com is Atari Anniversary Advance [official site] (also known as Arcade’s Greatest Hits: Atari Collection 1 [official site] for the PlayStation). Six games are available in this package and they are: Battlezone, Centipede, Missile Command, Super Breakout, Tempest, and Asteroids (for the second time). Centipede and Missile Command are the most memorable. I’ve played clones of Super Breakout (on the TI-85) and Tempest (found within Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas), but never the originals. Nosbig is a fan of the former and it’s fun to watch Revolver play the latter. Like Dig Dug in the previous collection, Battlezone was one I never played much of before, but surely it will be fun just like the rest.
All three of these collections are on the Game Boy Advance. I feel that these types of games are better suited for the portable system because of the quick play sessions that are typical of them. They’re all great fun and you won’t regret purchasing any of them.
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