Looking at gaming today and putting it up against the games of 20 years ago is pretty amazing. Who would have ever thought as we were guiding a 4 bit pair of eyes through a dark house in Haunted House for the Atari 2600 that we would actually have movie quality games that would scare us so bad that that we couldn’t sleep? Did you ever imagine as you played the original Dungeons and Dragons: Cloudy Mountain for the Intellivision that you would one day be joining thousands of other players online for some intense RPG action with games like Everquest or Dark Age of Camelot? I know that I sure didn’t and back in those days you just couldn’t beat the stuff that was available for the Atari 2600, Intellivision, and Coleco game systems … it just didn’t get any better than that. Well, time keeps moving on, and Activision has released Activision Anthology for the GBA system to allow old fogies like me to head back in time to a day where it was cool if you liked A-Ha and movies like Krull were unbelievable cinema masterpieces.

Activision Anthology is a collection of over 55 Atari 2600 games, all perfectly emulated and ready for you to take on the go. Included are a bunch of old favorites like Barnstorming, Pitfall, Frostbite, Enduro, Kaboom, Spider Fighter, and Keystone Kapers, and in this assortment you also have some titles that have never been released before on any Activision compilation like Baseball, Bridge, Bloody Human Freeway, and Robot Tank … just to name a few. In addition, you also get some “homebrew” titles that were recently done like Skeleton (FPS on the Atari … interesting concept), Video Euchre, and Vault Assault, and there is even a programming cart inserted called Venetian Blinds (which was used during the Atari vs. Activision lawsuit) and a couple of prototype games that were dug out of a salvage yard back in 1998.

Activision Anthology was originally released on the PS2 quite a few months ago (my copy was “borrowed permanently” recently) so owners of that version will see a lot of familiarity between the two versions. There are a couple of differences aside from the prototypes and whatnot mentioned above though, the first of which being that the carts (while still being displayed on the rotating rack) are all lined up and listed out in alphabetical order to make it easier to pick out the one that you want to play.

Another change that was made, and probably the biggest one of all, is the fact that the patches that can be unlocked are a lot more challenging to obtain (for you kids out there, we could mail in pictures of our high scores and get COOL IRON ON PATCHES FOR OUR DENIM OR MEMBER’S ONLY JACKETS!). In the PS2 version, it seemed like some games like Space Shuttle would give you the unlockable patch just for playing the game, while others simply required a low score total. In the GBA version, you have to do things like completing Barnstorming in 33 seconds or under or obtaining 40,000 points at sector 14 in Beamrider … basically things that can be done but will probably take repeated attempts to obtain.

Overall, there’s not a lot to say negative about Activision Anthology, especially considering that they were able to take a ton of classic gaming titles that have stood the test of time and shove them all on one handheld cart for your on the go enjoyment. For you older and classic gaming fans out there who remember watching He – Man and G.I Joe then tossing your favorite Atari cart in before doing your homework or eating dinner, the trip down memory lane just doesn’t get any better than this.

Gameplay: 8.5
Activision Anthology features one of the best Atari lineups available, complete with some cool box art, original instruction manuals, and a few prototypes and never before released games. The high scores can also be saved into the cartridge for ever and ever for you to brag about endlessly, and the unlockable patches (I still have Keystone Kapers thank you very much) are neat to back and look at after all these years.

Graphics: 8.0
The Atari games are perfectly emulated from back in the day, and even things like the menu screen are built to reflect the 80’s feel with the rotating Atari rack, color / B/W options, and high scores or unlocked patches being posted on a sheet of notebook paper up on a tack board.

Sound: 8.0
Mostly you will obviously hear the blips, bleeps, and distorted buzzing and crunching sounds of Atari games. While actual soundtracks were not placed on the game, I have to give them some major credit for actually writing 4 music tracks that sound exactly like some 80’s music, a couple complete with the synthesized lyric sounds. Really cool stuff.

Difficulty: Medium
It depends on the game, level and what you are trying to do. These games were written to be played until you lost all your in game lives or your thumbs fell off, one of the two, so many of them did not have an actual ending … the games just got harder as you progressed.

Concept: 8.1
Classic games still prove to be a blast, and the Activision Anthology is one of the best collections of old Atari games that you can find out on the market.

Multiplayer: 8.0

You can even link two GBA’s together and play multiplayer … WOOHOO! Reminds me of the Friday night “spend the night at a friend’s because he just got Pitfall for his birthday” stuff we used to do growing up.

Overall: 8.2

While I’d love to give this a 10, I have to think about everyone here. Basically, those of us who remember and loved these games will have hours of fun with it, and the added carts and prototypes just add to the enjoyment. Kids today may not like it as much since it’s not cell shaded and it doesn’t contain actual rock bands performing in the background, but even my 9 year old spent about a good 45 minutes on it before moving to something else the other day. I have hope for the younger generation though, since I spotted a kid about 10 years old wearing an Astrosmash t-shirt who stated to me when I mentioned it … “Dude, it’s our roots … if it wasn’t for games like this I wouldn’t be standing here buying Zelda right now”. Brought a tear to me eye I tell ya.