Review: Atari 50 - The Wider World of Atari (PlayStation 4/5, Xbox, Switch & Steam) - Defunct Games

Defunct Games reviews Atari 50: The Wider World of Atari, available now as DLC on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Switch and PC.
The first of two planned expansion packs for Atari 50, The Wider World of Atari is a little unfocused and scattered, but it brings with it a lot of history and some truly great games. This is a worthwhile companion piece that introduces us to new faces, dives into the world of homebrew, explores the origins of Breakout and even gives us a rare glimpse at some previously unreleased games for the Atari 2600. While I found a few games to be incredibly hard to control using a standard game pad and I would have liked more games for the Lynx and Jaguar, there’s no question that this is a quality expansion that makes the already great Atari 50 that much better.
NOTE: Defunct Games received a digital code from the developer/publisher of this game for review purposes. For more information about the Defunct Games review policy visit www.defunctgames.com
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#Atari50 #DLC #Review

[@desperatedan3985]

Would love to see my fav game from the Lynx collection and that was Shadow of the Beast👌👌👌👌👌

[@dukejaywalker5858]

How about an Amiga compilation! It was basically a gaming PC.

[@poil8351]

i wonder if we get a few sneaky new dlcs later that shadow drop with some more jaguar and lynx games. a bit like the preivous couple of dlc's last year.

[@peinthegod2310]

I would love to see a dedicated collection based on Treasure! Sure a lot of sega collections have Treasure games in there but I need one focus on only Treasure! I don't think I've ever seen a collection getting a dlc add on like Atari did here. I would definitely love to see more collections getting add ons. Like SEGA Genesis Classics, SNK 40THth Anniversary Collection, add in NEOGEO Stuff, many of the various Capcom, Konami and Namco collections.

[@JenMistress]

Yeah, and trying to find Emulators for Jaguar is hard too. Finally found one for Jaguar CD. It's not great, but better than nothing, so would have been nice for them to put it on this collection. As for the question, think I'll agree with you on SegaCD. There are some very classic, and cheesy titles on there that could be fun to explore in the same way this Atari 50 does it.

[@rbatesmotel]

Cant remember how many times I pinched my palms in the trackball playing Atari Football. Yes I'm sure it does play better on the actual cabinet. Can be a frantic game once you have to start spinning the trackball to outrun the defense.

[@darktetsuya]

this dlc did sound neat I may have to pull the trigger on it just for the new archival stuff. QOTD: I'd definitely second some kinda saturn compilation, especially if they could include some of those great japanese exclusives that weren't released stateside. that or some kinda PCE collection... the mini's are going for like $200 bucks now so we could definitely use a more budget-friendly reissue. I mean what *else* is Konami doing with all of hudson's IPs? another pachislot game that's never coming to the US?!

[@ryanellison1044]

Sega should do a compilation of all their 3d arcade games, with vr modes. It would just be so cool to play virtua racing and daytona in vr.

[@Selatomyr]

BERZERK & FRENZY are the biggest surprises here as they belong to STERN ELECTRONICS! Why are these licensed titles included? Could more ports be coming soon? Like all the PAC-MAN games, et all??

[@LouerTube]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJnHpXd6aLqWmNksi=Po4gHq_oJElvUyeh&t=2993 Answers the question re: Berserk

[@kitestar]

Sega Saturn, hands down

[@superbros64deluxe]

8:01 Well yes but if you look hard enough a couple of Lynx games were emulated on switch outside of Atari 50 such as Chip's Challenge and a collection that was made from the company Epyx

[@LordelX]

Atari 50 is incredible...this expansion is okay. Berserk, Desert Falcon, Red Baron and Submarine Commander are worth it. But the fact that there are no more Lynx or Jaguar games, no 7800 version of Food Fight or Desert Falcon...are painful omissions. The next expansion will feature Intellivision games...meh.

[@DefunctGames]

While I'm not necessarily excited for the Intellivision games, per se, I am eager to see the video and supplemental material that comes with that expansion pack. Assuming they include the commercials and can get interviews from people on both side of the console war, that could really lead to an interesting history lesson.

[@goranisacson2502]

As a European born in 87 Atari has never really been very relevant for me- they existed over here, but looking back it seems to me C64 and other such home computers were bigger over here. As such I'm mostly looking at this from the historical museum-piece perspective, what the interviews and such can teach me. So it's nice to hear they got some good educational material in here, even if it does sting a little that there's not a lot of Lynx or Jaguar stuff here. Though I suppose that when considering what's more likely to be a hit in the target demographic of old Atari fogeys, they'd rather revisit the company's hey-days rather than the well-known failure. A shame in the preservation-perspective, but sadly easy to see why they did what they did. Unless they got a secret third expansion pack planned, perhaps. The dream of seeing Way of the Warrior may not yet be dead ;) ....

[@pmcollectorboy2929]

Still waiting on them to port Cosmic Ark or give it the Recharged treatment.

[@worriorjack]

Expansion… PACK!

[@Jumpsuperfun]

Spectrum

[@DefunctGames]

I would really like that, as that's one of my gaming blind spots. Growing up in the U.S., I didn't get a chance to toy around with the ZX Spectrum. Would like to see the history and play some of the best games. Fill in those gaming gaps.

[@Jumpsuperfun]

@@DefunctGames I grew up watching my brother play, but to be honest i barely remember more than a disney game that was very colorfull and surely childish to learn the alphabet and seeing some car game he had the box for around. So i too am very curious to learn more about it, hopefully with some dev interviews as well and all that juicy stuff, it would be really interesting game preservation.

[@poil8351]

can you do an video about the upcoming tetris forever collection by digital eclipse. it would be intresting to look at some of those unusual tetris games like hattris.

[@CONCRETEJUNGLE-be6ic]

Nice.

[@Openreality]

I love retro, however i draw the line at NES games. I will play Pong, however that's not necessarily an Atari game, it was just on an Atari console.

[@DefunctGames]

Pong is definitely an Atari game. It was developed by Allan Alcorn for Nolan Bushnell, two of the most pivotal players in the formation of Atari. Atari got their start by selling Pong arcade cabinets, and toyed with the home console space by first releasing a standalone version of Pong. Now, lawyers might argue that the idea was stolen, but Atari wouldn't have made it to 50 without Pong.

[@shawnbrent1165]

wish Atari could get Gauntlet on this game compilation

[@DefunctGames]

Would love to see them work out some kind of deal with Warner Bros. to buy back most of those "other" Atari games. WB doesn't seem all that interested in them, and it would be great to see the two Ataris come back together. If that happened, they would need to release a whole new Atari compilation with those classic games they don't own anymore.

[@LuigiMario-ni3rj]

Hopefully they don't glorify and joke about drug use in this expansion, like they did in the original game... I would love to see a Game & Watch Collection, not necessarily Game & Watch Gallery, but as many of the classic games as they can add. It would also be funny to see a digital collection of old Tiger Electronics games. lol

[@migueldias8546]

Atari is still alive because of that "homebrew" community, the name is the "all" legacy. it is the only reason Infogrames (Entertainment) - a French company - bought what was left of Atari (its name and intelectual properties) and decided to change its name to Atari... I feel like you are being manipulated by a very basic marketing strategy...

[@DefunctGames]

Not being manipulated, this is just a good legacy package. I'm hit or miss when it comes to Atari's new game (just look at my review of Yars Rising).

[@migueldias8546]

@@DefunctGames "manipulated" may be the wrong word... I just feel like you are too nice here and giving too much importance to a marketing trick (a.k.a Atari). I bought Atari 50. I agree, it is made in a fantastic way. The information is interesting. It is worth doing it, especially if you have a slight interest in game history... But at the same time, you do it once, and then it is done. It goes on your shelf and you forget about it... Especially because it is too friendly to make the content really that relevant or memorable... There is no perspective, no contradiction, no interrogation... Just a group of friends that had fun doing things... I am glad for them but...

[@DefunctGames]

I feel like that's true of a lot of things. Once I finished playing through the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Disney Afternoon compilations, they went back on the (digital) shelf to collect dust. The same is true with most single-player games, new and old. I played through The Last of Us once and thought it was great, I don't need to devote thousands of hours to it to maintain that opinion. I liken Atari 50 to something the Criterion Collection might put out. Even though I spend the money to collect the physical blu-rays, I know that there's a chance I'm going to watch the movie, watch the extras and then put it on the shelf, where it might sit for decades. I would argue that the stories and interviews from Atari 50 have stuck with me in a way that TMNT or Disney Afternoon never could. And there are some genuinely great games in the package that I could see fans play and replay for years to come. Those early Atari arcade hits are classics for a reason. This DLC does an excellent job of adding interesting topics to talk about, all while giving us new interview clips and some good (and bad) games. I was legitimately blown away by how much fun Red Baron was, especially as somebody who doesn't have a lot of nostalgia for the pre-great games crash arcade and console games.

[@migueldias8546]

@@DefunctGames I see your point. Totally valid. And of course, we are all different, and we all react differently.