With the astounding advancement of technology over the past thirty years, many of the games in Atari Greatest Hits: Volume 1 may perplex contemporary gamers. Yet, for anyone interested in our pastime's rich history, the cartridge is a requisite.
With a handful of 2600 clunkers like Maze Craze and Steeplechase, there's some obvious padding in Atari Greatest Hits Volume 2's roster.
Carry a compendium of Atari history in your pocket with Atari Greatest Hits: Volume 1. A selection of Atari’s arcade games, several Atari 2600 games, and a few rare unreleased games offer a nice schooling of the earlier years of gaming. Arcade games like Centipede and Missile Command, along with a few things packed in an Extras feature, are the highlight of this package. Most of the Atari 2600 games included won’t hold your attention for long, other than when played with someone else using single-card or multi-card multiplayer. Atari Greatest Hits: Volume 1 is a decent collection for retro gaming enthusiasts to take with them anywhere, as well as for the uninitiated wanting a lesson in simple game mechanics.
DHGF: Although Atari’s Greatest Hits, Volume 1 includes a whopping fifty games from Atari’s golden age, only a fraction of them are actually “greatest hits.” A lot of the most popular games like Crystal Castles, Defender, Super Breakout and more are missing, with things like Fun With Numbers taking their deserved spots. The game also doubles on certain titles, giving you both the arcade and 2600 versions of the game, which again are spots that could have be reserved for a wider variety of titles. Still, eighteen of the fifty games are still well worth experiencing, even decades after their original release. Sadly, only older gamers will really appreciate what’s all included here as the vast majority of gamers today weren’t even alive when the 2600 was the system of choice. A lot of these games haven’t aged well at all, but those that have, like Adventure or Haunted House are sure to bring a nostalgic smile to a niche group of gamers’ faces.
