It's like an arcade, minus the pocket full of quarters and the other people crowding you away from the machines. In all, a dozen Atari chestnuts are included: Asteroids, Asteroids Deluxe, Battlezone, Centipede, Missile Command, Super Breakout, Tempest, Space Duel, Warlords, Gravitar and its later conversion, Black Widow. Also included are the original cabinet artwork, video interviews with Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, and glimpses of lots of rare memorabilia. (Infrogrames/Atari, 2001 - for Playstation; also available for PC, Dreamcast and Game Boy Advance)

When Hasbro Interactive sold the Atari name and properties to Infrogrames, it seemed like they would be doing one of two things: nothing, or using the Atari name to launch a new line of games that were decidedly not Retro Revival material. As it turns out, they did a bit of both, releasing Playstation, Dreamcast and Game Boy Advance versions of an Atari classics package that had already been released for the PC (and they re-released it for the PC as well).

The Playstation edition, titled Atari Anniversary Redux in an effort to let consumers know that it wasn't the same as the Atari Arcade's Greatest Hits compilation released in 1998, actually doubles the number of games included in that earlier package, and adds other goodies. Where the Arcade's Greatest Hits Atari collection features video interviews with ace Atari designers Ed Logg and Dave Theurer, Atari Anniversary Edition Redux interviews Nolan Bushnell about Atari's origins.

The really nice thing, game-wise, about Atari Anniversary Edition? Options. For vector games, you can choose between fine-line graphics and broader lines, which is handy for those of us whose TV sets (like ourselves) aren't getting any younger. The "cabinet artwork/control panel" framing graphics can be switched on or off, and I usually wind up turning them off so I can have the game full-screen. If there are background graphics (Warlords, Asteroids Deluxe), you can switch those off too, or change their brightness underneath the actual game graphics. For those who insist on those bells and whistles, they're there, but for those who want to cut the crap and just play the games, that option is available too, and I like that. Controls can also be reconfigured.

The slideshow of memorabilia, vintage flyers, pins, unreleased cartridges and so on is nice, but takes a while to thumb through. Another portion of the game, a somewhat extraneous excerpt on Atari's origins from Leonard Herman's Phoenix, is useful for those who haven't read it, but given the somewhat narrow audience for this kind of release, it's likely that anyone picking up Atari Anniversary Edition Redux will already know that story.

Overall, it's a nice package that hasn't gotten nearly enough praise from the classic gaming community (in my opinion). Atari Anniversary Edition has been slammed by some critics for being a regurgitation of an existing PC package, but for Playstation and Dreamcast owners, it's a godsend - hopefully Infrogrames hasn't been scared away from further classic Atari compilations.

Rating:  A whole dollar - trade it in for more quarters, you'll be playing this game a lot.

Reviewed by Earl Green
theLogBook.com editor/webmaster