Atari 10-In-1

One of the earliest examples of tat I went out and purchased is the Atari TV Games, more commonly known as the Atari 10-In-1. It was produced in 2002 by DC Studios for Jakks Pacific and uses titles licensed from Infogrames before they started trading under the Atari banner full time. The shape of the case is based on the Atari CX-40 joystick (which ironically is itself more iconic than some of the games that have been included) but the addition of a compartment for the four AA batteries that drive everything and some selection buttons have added a few pounds to the midriff, meaning that although looking at the thing is enough to stir rose-tinted childhood memories for a lot of thirty somethings it just doesn’t quite feel “right” in the hand. And on powering up that sense of things not being quite kosher is reinforced because the resolution of the menus immediately shouts that this isn’t some kind of ASIC-based Atari VCS, the front end screens are far too high a resolution so they’re [shocked intake of breath] remakes… or more accurately, they’re ports of the original games that have been reprogrammed to work with a licensed NES On A Chip system.

The menus themselves are at least well presented, a copyright notice screen is followed by the main menu and, after selecting a title, a text screen explaining the basics of play and game-specific controls appears before handing over to the action. The menu contains dishes that are mostly recognisable Atari originals, the ten games being Adventure, Asteroids, Breakout, Centipede, Circus Atari, Gravitar, Missile Command, Pong, Volleyball and Yar’s Revenge, all of which are all reproduced with varying degrees of faithfulness to the originals. As titles go, that list is a somewhat mixed bag; Asteroids is easier on the eyes than the VCS original (the flicker of it’s interleaved graphics being all but removed by the more powerful NOAC hardware) but at the same time the game itself is also radically easier to play to the point where the only real challenges are staying awake and the onset of some kind of repetitive strain injury.

Atari 10-In-1 - playing Yars Revenge

And I’d have to say that the publisher’s decision to include both Breakout and Pong can only be driven by the historical weight of those names, neither was designed for joystick control and the conversions have become somewhat inflexible so Breakout now suffers from overly sensitive movement and the previously fine control over the ball is all but lost. And since the unit doesn’t have the option of another controller for a second player, Pong has been equipped with a shiny new AI-driven opponent, but apparently one that simulates a disinterested two year old who is pretty much going through the motions until you become bored, at which point he’ll presumably reclaim the television for “In The Night Garden”.

But despite some unusual choices of title, a few ham-fisted modifications to get games working and the faux nature of the hardware generally, it isn’t all bad news; apart from the near legendary Adventure Easter egg being “broken” (the room itself is present but the message corrupted) it does retains it’s playability and Yar’s Revenge is equally enjoyable, marred only by some slowdown of the pyrotechnics at the end of a level after the Quotile has been destroyed. Add to those two the rather fabulous Circus Atari (which has also been converted from paddle to joystick control but hasn’t been damaged in the process in the way that Breakout seems to) and for the ten or thereabouts quid the unit currently costs second hand from Amazon or eBay, its pretty much worth the money for those three alone and having Centipede, Gravitar and Missile Command there is a bonus; the truly phenomenal hits such as Space Invaders or Raiders Of The Lost Ark are noticeably by their absence (no doubt because the rights aren’t held by Atari) but I’d say the selection of titles present is more hit than miss.

Atari 10-In-1 - playing Circus Atari

Of course, the primary market for this unit is the aforementioned thirty somethings who have some vague memories about their misspent youth and want to relive parts of it; despite a few corners being cut here and there, the Atari 10-In-1 manages ring those nostalgic bells pretty well and at the same time is still be enjoyable for those of us whose memories are a little less vague on how the games were because we’ve played them more recently.