Infogrames' resurrection of the ancient Atari brand has resulted in the re-release of a number of collection titles from the companys illustrious back catalogue. Recently the Atari Anthology was released on PS2 and Xbox. Now Nintendos nascent DS handheld gets a look in too, in Atari Retro Classics.
Ten classic Atari titles are featured: mushroom patch insect defence sim Centipede; Earth protection-themed shoot-em-up Missile Command; multi-directional masterpiece shoot-'em-up Asteroids; two-player arcade tennis classic Pong; the addictive bat, ball and block action of Breakout; top-down racer Sprint; vector graphics shooter Tempest; medieval siege defence experience Warlords; the courage-requiring shoot em up Gravitar; and rare space landing simulator Lunar Lander.
The collection, developed by Taniko, takes full advantage of the DS stylus, adapting the controls of the original versions. Its possible to play the games in all their original simplistic glory, but you also have the option of choosing to play them in Remix mode. This livens them up in new and funky skins designed by none other than world famous graffiti artists REAS from Brooklyn, Delta from Amsterdam and Obey Giant of LA.
On top of this, the wireless capabilities of the DS make these classics as convenient to play multiplayer as ever, and up to four players can compete, provided they all have their own copy of the game. Its fair to say that the time-honoured gameplay and variety, not to mention the fresh and imaginative new stylings, make this title well worth considering for new DS owners eager to get their collections started.