Activision Anthology: Remix Edition – PC – Review

With
games with fantastic graphics and deep gameplay like Half-Life 2, Max Payne 2
and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time hitting the market, it can be tough to
remember a simpler time when all you needed was a joystick with one button and a
few chunky pixels onscreen to have a great time. Enter Activision with their
Activision Anthology: Remix Edition, a collection of seventy-five titles ported
straight from the glory days of the Atari 2600.  The games are direct ports of
their original incarnations, with diverse titles ranging from Pitfall to Ice
Hockey to Freeway.  While modern gamers weaned on PlayStations and Xboxes may
find the variety here to be too simplistic and boring, gamers looking to relive
the olden days should pick up this interesting bit of nostalgia.

 

The
Anthology has a pretty impressive number of games, 75 to be exact. There are the
well-known heavy hitters (Pitfall, River Raid) and some lesser known games (Subterranea,
Frostbite). There are really fun games (Commando, Demon Attack) and a few
throwaways (Venetian Blinds). All in all, Atari fans should find something that
they like in this heap of games.

 

The
game does a fantastic job of adding a real 80’s quality to the atmosphere.  The
main menu is set up as a bedroom with a great 80’s vibe: There is an old-school
TV with the turn knob on the desk, a cassette revolver holding games to its
side.  It has a definite look and feel that does a great job of putting you back
in time.

 

As you
play the various titles and earn high scores in certain games, you can unlock
different secrets to make the gameplay more interesting.  You can unlock
gameplay modes that will make the screen warp, move and blur as you play the
games, making for a bit more of a challenge.

 

The
graphics are very simplistic, as you’d expect. The games are exact ports from
the Atari, meaning that anyone looking for great graphics (even looking for
original Nintendo quality) should probably look elsewhere, this is as simple as
you can get. The menu has a very unique look to it, however, capturing the 80’s
look very nicely.

 

The
sound is a mixture of old-school bloops and bleeps and real licensed tunes from
the 80’s. This was very wise on the developer’s part, due to the fact that Atari
games didn’t really have music. So instead of sitting in silence (well, except
for said bloops and bleeps), you get to rock out to a plethora of tunes like
“Eye in the Sky” by the Alan Parsons Project, “I Ran (So Far Away)” by Flock of
Seagulls and “Parents Just Don’t Understand” by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh
Prince.

 

If you
are an old-school gamer who played Atari back in the 80’s and were looking to
recapture the good ol’ days, then Activision Anthology: Remix Edition should be
something worthy to check out. However, if you are from the PlayStation
generation and have no idea what “records”, “pet rocks” or “Hall & Oates” are,
then you’d do well to not try to indulge in a time before yours.

 


Reviewer’s Scoring Details


Gameplay: 7.0

This is as basic as it gets. The interface is simple and easy to use, and the
games are just as you remember them.


Graphics: 3.5
The
graphics are certainly ugly by today’s standards, but c’mon, most of these games
are well over two decades old. The important thing is they’re carbon copies of
the originals and that’s all we need.


Sound: 7.5
The
bloops and bleeps are what you would’ve found in the Atari days. The use of
licensed tunes from the era was a great touch
.


Difficulty:
Medium


Concept: 7.5

All
of your Activision favorites, just as you remember them! Plus, the game does a
fantastic job of creating an 80’s atmosphere, great for reminiscing.


Multiplayer:
7.0
The
game has a two-player mode that allows you and a buddy to go either co-op or
versus each other, depending on the game.


Overall: 7.0 

Activision
Anthology: Remix Edition is a great little episode in nostalgia for those who
lived Atari’s glory days, but everyone else will probably be too spoiled by this
generation’s high-caliber graphics and deep gameplay to get much out of it.