Atari Classics Evolved review (PSP)

Assuming you are interested only in the arcade emulations on the disc, you will probably get some nostalgic fun out of Atari Classics Evolved. Many of these titles are still appealing in their original form. Centipede and Millipede are still enjoyable to play, as are Asteroids (and its sequel, Asteroids Deluxe), Warlords, and Lunar Lander. Others, like the simple Pong and the ploddingly paced Battlezone, are nice to see from a historical perspective but aren't a lot of fun by today's standards. Tempest, Super Breakout, and Missile Command round out the package, and they're fine on their own, but sadly, even the better games are hampered by control difficulties. Some of these games originally used trackballs, while others used paddles or dials. The analog nub on the PSP can't approximate the quick movement of those controls, so activities like flipping your ship around the Tempest board and moving the Pong and Warlords paddles feel too unresponsive. And in the case of Missile Command, the poor analog controls make the game practically unplayable.

The emulations are generally good, though you should be aware that some of the games require you to flip the PSP vertically to play them. It feels a little odd, but it's a compromise that makes better sense than trying to squeeze the tiny insects of Centipede into an even smaller viewing area. Sadly, the evolved versions of some of these titles are travesties. In fact, you may have already played some of them (Tempest, Missile Command, and Centipede) on Xbox Live Arcade. In many cases, extreme particle effects and overwrought geometrics make it almost impossible to see what's going on (with particular shame on the designers of Tempest, Asteroids Deluxe, and Millipede), and the annoying background music in most of them is incredibly grating. The best evolved versions are those made specifically for the PSP, such as the nice Warlords update and the three Pong variations.

Some of the evolved versions also let two players with two discs duke it out in ad hoc play, though why Atari didn't think to let four players compete in Warlords is anyone's guess. But it's just another example of what makes this package so uneven, and as with the other version of some of these games, Atari continues to punish gamers by offering rewards only to those who play through the mostly inferior "improved" versions. With more content available off the bat, this disc may almost have been worth the price, but with so much chaff to dig through, only the hardcore are likely to find this compilation worthwhile. "You had to be there," indeed.