Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration

I’ve played plenty of retro collections that either just give you a library of games alone, or accompany the games with a bunch of box shots and manuals that you often have to unlock through play, all thrown together under a menu almost as an afterthought. Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration is nothing like those game collections. I thoroughly enjoyed making my way through each chapter - the videos are fascinating and playing the games after learning about the story behind them made me see some old favorites in an entirely new light. Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration is a game-changer – it’s the way all future retro game collections should be made.

Atari 50 from developer Digital Eclipse provides a proper path down memory lane with video interviews, old commercials, and a cornucopia of information to dig into about Atari’s history, the good and the bad. The inclusion of early Atari games, arcade experiences, the Atari computing systems, Lynx, and Jaguar are just icing on a well-baked, delicious cake.

For game buffs, or Atari fans, this collection is a no-brainer and if there is any collection that could be considered a must-have, this is it.

Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration is an absolute masterclass in how to fashion a retro compilation, all the while providing both contemporary and older gamers with an immediately accessible and immaculately produced window into the halcyon days of one of the video game industry's most prolific pioneers. This is the preservation of video game history done right and Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration is the best retro compilation ever made, bar none.

50 years of memories. 50 years of being the king. I love how the 50th Anniversary Collection shows the ups and downs, and exposes the vulnerabilities, of one of the greatest companies of all time. Although some games could go, and I would love to see some DLC. Digital Eclipse deserves a round of applause for this as well. You love documentaries, and you love games, so here's both. And you're going to love it.

As a long-time gamer who's stuck in the past, I must say that Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration is one of the best compilations ever produced. From its expansive museums to its wide variety of classic games and hidden gems, it really is the cat's pajamas.

If you're an Atari fan, it's hard to imagine a compilation put together with as much attention to detail and love for the subject. Sure, the games aren't always that good but even for us as UK gamers who never much cared for Atari, there are some gems on here to play and plenty of extra material to check out. This is retro done right.

While many of the included games may border on unplayable from a modern perspective, the painstaking attention to detail in Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration is extremely easy to appreciate. The museum-like carousel of content, from interviews through to original artwork, is presented so handsomely that you can’t not get swept up in Atari’s dramatic story. And the fact that there over 100 of the company’s most famous titles, emulated excellently with their original instruction manuals available to pore over, adds playable context to a lot of the content. This is just an impressive overall experience that will appeal to those who lived through the rise (and fall) of Atari, as well as younger players eager to learn a little more about one of the industry’s true pioneers.

As an interactive museum exhibit, Atari 50 is quite successful, if with a clear point of view. As a labor of love, it’s filled to the brim with everything Digital Eclipse could fit. Whether it transcends “well-crafted curiosity” status, though? That’ll depend on your nostalgia for a library of games that has some trouble standing the test of time.