Atari Flashback Classics Review – PlayStation Vita

Many people’s first introduction to video games was with an Atari but not myself. I didn’t grow up playing Atari games as I didn’t get my first video game system until I was given a Sega Genesis. However, even if like myself you didn’t own an Atari you probably have heard of many of the games that were on there such as Pac-Man, Pong, Asteroids, etc. I’ve played versions of all of those at some point in my life now but if you’re one of those people who haven’t or if you want to revisit those classics there is a package where you can do just that. Over the past couple of years there have been several volumes released on the current generation consoles bringing many of these classic games back. If you’ve wanted to play them on the go though Atari Flashback Classics on the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation Vita (reviewed here) might be the best deal you can find.

Atari Flashback Classics is a huge package of 150 games that will really take you back. Yes all of the games that were part of the 1-3 volumes on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are all here in this single package on the Vita and Nintendo Switch. For this review I’ve listed all 150 that you can find included.

1. 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe 2600
2. A Game of Concentration 2600
3. Adventure 2600
4. Adventure II 2600
5. Air Raiders ™ 2600
6. Air-Sea Battle 2600
7. Aquaventure 2600
8. Armor Ambush ™ 2600
9. Asteroids 2600
10. Asteroids Arcade
11. Asteroids 5200
12. Asteroids Deluxe Arcade
13. Astroblast ™ 2600
14. Atari Baseball Arcade
15. Atari Basketball Arcade
16. Atari Football Arcade
17. Atari Soccer Arcade
18. Atari Video Cube 2600
19. Avalanche Arcade
20. Backgammon 2600
21. Basic Math 2600
22. Basketball 2600
23. Black Widow Arcade
24. Blackjack 2600
25. Bowling 2600
26. Brain Games 2600
27. Breakout 2600
28. Canyon Bomber 2600
29. Canyon Bomber Arcade
30. Casino 2600
31. Centipede 2600
32. Centipede Arcade
33. Centipede 5200
34. Championship Soccer 2600
35. Checkers 2600
36. Chess 2600
37. Circus Atari 2600
38. Code Breaker 2600
39. Combat 2600
40. Combat 2 2600
41. Countermeasure 5200
42. Crystal Castles 2600
43. Crystal Castles Arcade
44. Dark Cavern ™ (Night Stalker) 2600
45. Demons to Diamonds 2600
46. Desert Falcon 2600
47. Destroyer Arcade
48. Dodge ‘Em 2600
49. Dominos Arcade
50. Double Dunk 2600
51. Fatal Run 2600
52. Final Legacy 5200
53. Fire Truck/Smokey Joe Arcade
54. Flag Capture 2600
55. Football 2600
56. Frog Pond 2600
57. Frogs and Flies 2600
58. Golf 2600
59. Gravitar 2600
60. Gravitar Arcade
61. Hangman 2600
62. Haunted House 2600
63. Holey Moley 2600
64. Home Run 2600
65. Human Cannonball 2600
66. International Soccer ™ 2600
67. Liberator Arcade
68. Lunar Lander Arcade
69. Major Havoc Arcade
70. Maze Craze 2600
71. Maze Invaders Arcade
72. Micro-gammon 5200
73. Millipede 5200
74. Millipede 2600
75. Millipede Arcade
76. Miniature Golf 5200
77. Miniature Golf 2600
78. Missile Command 5200
79. Missile Command 2600
80. Missile Command Arcade
81. Monte Carlo Arcade
82. MotoRodeo 2600
83. Night Driver 2600
84. Off the Wall 2600
85. Outlaw 2600
86. Pong Arcade
87. Pool Shark Arcade
88. Quadrun 2600
89. Race 2600
90. Radar Lock 2600
91. Realsports Baseball 5200
92. Realsports Baseball 2600
93. Realsports Basketball 5200
94. Realsports Basketball 2600
95. Realsports Boxing 2600
96. Realsports Football 5200
97. Realsports Football 2600
98. Realsports Soccer 2600
99. Realsports Tennis 5200
100. Realsports Tennis 2600
101. Realsports Volleyball 5200
102. Realsports Volleyball 2600
103. Red Baron Arcade
104. Return to Haunted House 2600
105. Saboteur 2600
106. Save Mary 2600
107. Sea Battle ™ 2600
108. Secret Quest 2600
109. Sentinel 2600
110. Sky Diver Arcade
111. Sky Diver 2600
112. Slot Machine 2600
113. Slot Racers 2600
114. Space Attack™ 2600
115. Space Duel Arcade
116. Spacewar 2600
117. Sprint Arcade
118. Sprint Master 2600
119. Star Raiders 5200
120. Star Raiders 2600
121. Star Strike™ 2600
122. Starship 2600
123. Steeplechase 2600
124. Stellar Track 2600
125. Street Racer 2600
126. Stunt Cycle 2600
127. Sub Commander 2600
128. Super Baseball 2600
129. Super Breakout 5200
130. Super Breakout 2600
131. Super Breakout Arcade
132. Super Bug Arcade
133. Super Challenge ™ Baseball 2600
134. Super Challenge ™ Football 2600
135. Super Football 2600
136. Surround 2600
137. Sword Fight™ 2600
138. Swordquest: Earthworld 2600
139. Swordquest: Fireworld 2600
140. Swordquest: Waterworld 2600
141. Tempest 2600
142. Tempest Arcade
143. Video Olympics 2600
144. Video Pinball 2600
145. Warlords 2600
146. Warlords Arcade
147. Wizard 2600
148. Xari Arena 5200
149. Yars’ Return 2600
150. Yars’ Revenge 2600

That’s quite the list and quite the bargain when you look at the fact that this is only $20. It’s not just the huge lineup of games either as you can tell a lot of though and care was put into this. On the main menu for instance, many of the games are displayed with their full original box art while others display what the actual arcade cabinet looked like both of which are great touches. Also the non-cabinet games have their full manuals included as well that you can read through which is just astounding. They include the option to zoom in on them too so you really don’t have to worry too much about being able to read them on the small screen that the Vita has.

Actually playing the games and whether you enjoy them depends on the game. Obviously with 150 games some are worth playing more than others. As someone who didn’t grow up playing a lot of these games I’d say most of them I didn’t enjoy. There’s a handful that I have played or that I was able to get into despite never touching them before but there were far more that just confused me or that didn’t control well. In that respect, you’ll probably get more enjoyment out of this package if you have played most of these.

A lot of the games have the original Atari controls pop up on the bottom of the screen when you start them to show you where the old controls are mapped to on the Vita controls. It’s also fast and easy to jump into a game and then jump back to the main menu or reset the game if you aren’t enjoying a particular one. You’ll find no load screens here. All of the games are sorted alphabetically but if you wanted them sorted any other way you can’t. It would’ve been nice to click a button to favorite the ones I enjoyed most for easy access.

Being on the Vita the game also has trophies tied to many of the games to work towards. Another neat incentive to play is the fact that all the multiplayer games offer multiplayer support letting you play either ad-hoc or online. The only problem is that there isn’t really anyone else playing online. If you happen to know people personally though it’s great that the option is here so that you could arrange jumping in together. Many but not all of the game also offer online leaderboard support though letting you see how your scores stack up against the rest of the world.

While I didn’t enjoy a lot of the games here I can see how this collection would be perfect for those who are more familiar with the games. I enjoyed diving into Pong, Asteroids, and others but someone else who grew up playing these games will get far more enjoyment out of it. Plus the fact that you are getting 150 games for a bargain price is hard to not recommend even if you just want to see where games were back near the start.

*Atari Flashback Classics is out now on PlayStation Vita and Nintendo Switch. Reviewed on PlayStation Vita. Review key provided by the publisher.

Atari Flashback Classics

$19.99

6.5

Okay

6.5/10

Pros

• Huge Collection of Classic Games to Play
• Pays Great Respect to the Games by Offering Manuals and Original Cabinet and Box Arts
• Fast and Easy to Jump Into and Out of All the Games
• Local and Online Multiplayer Support Offers More Reasons to Play Longer

Cons

• No Way to Favorite or Get to the Games You Enjoy Most Quickly
• Was Unable to Find Anyone Playing Online
• A Lot of the Games Just Weren't Fun to Me to Play

Buy Atari Flashback Classics on PlayStation Store