Activision Anthology (PlayStation 2)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 7.3 (3.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Tim Tracy
• Reviewed on: 11/19/2002
• Released on: 11/19/2002
• Originally published on GameSpot: Activision Anthology (PlayStation 2) Review

Classic gaming compilations have been making their way onto home consoles for quite some time now. Long-established developers such as Namco, Midway, and Atari have been putting together collections of some of their most famous and well-loved games for a number of years, and now, Activision has done the same with a comprehensive compilation of more than 40 games that originally appeared on the Atari 2600. These are brought together in a package that actually has some surprisingly impressive production values, including a soundtrack that features many recognizable '80s songs.

Compilations such as this rely on hardware emulation that enables these games to work in their original form on modern consoles. Some earlier compilations, such as the Namco Museum series for the PlayStation, came pretty close to re-creating the look and sound of the classic games they included, but didn't really offer much else. This package, on the other hand, offers more than any other compilation to date. Scans of original box art and instruction manuals are available for all the games featured here, along with a slick interface that looks like an old game library. You can also unlock various goodies by attaining high scores in certain games, the highlight being the original television commercials that aired back in the early '80s.

Anyone with an interest in classic gaming will find plenty of reasons to pick up this compilation. Even a relatively small selection of these games--which includes River Raid, Pitfall!, and H.E.R.O., to name a few--would arguably have been worth the price of admission. Aside from those, there are dozens of other games at your disposal, ranging from other great games like Kaboom! and Keystone Kapers to far less exciting games like Checkers or Bridge. Yet nearly every game included is worth taking a look at, even if for nothing more than to see (or recall) what early console gaming was like. For posterity's sake, there are even two unreleased games included, Kabobber and Thwocker. Even many years later, a great deal of the games included here are still just as fun as they were way back then. Those who never had the pleasure of experiencing these games when they were first released will find that many of the conventions of today's games were around 20 years ago, which is a testament to what Activision was able to do with the Atari 2600.

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