Atari is perhaps one of the most nostalgic brands out of the 1970s and 80s, but just because something was good thirty years ago doesn’t mean it holds up well in the present. In a fit of enthusiasm, I purchased the entire Atari’s Greatest Hits game pack for the iPad this week and set about testing old games from my childhood. On the plus side, the game controls translate reasonably well to the touch screen. On the minus side, many of the titles I remember so well – Frogger, Qbert, Pitfall – are not included in the pack. And the ones that are included? Most of them are downright terrible.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the Atari selections. Broadly speaking, the categories cover racing games, battles (usually in space), sports, quests, and word and brain games. The racing games don’t give you much control over your vehicle, something I remember from the joystick versions as well. The orchestrated battles like Asteroids are okay, but simplistic. The sports and quest games are so limited in functionality, that even progressing through levels or matches isn’t very rewarding. And the word and brain games, which shouldn’t be difficult to carry over to a new platform, are unbearably slow because of functions like having to cycle through the alphabet to choose a single letter.
Of all the games I tried, the only ones I really enjoyed were Centipede and Pong. Both are simple to play, and don’t suffer from the lack of a sophisticated UI. They’re also fast-paced enough to be addictive, at least for a little while.
Bottom line: If you’re going for a retro kick, download the free Atari app (Pong is included), and then pick a game or two at the 99-cent rate. Don’t buy the whole package unless you’re really dying to move stick figures or pixel-art spaceships around on a touch screen. Save your money instead and pick up one of a gazillion other, better game apps available on iTunes.