In my first For the Love of Atari blog post back in January 2024, I mainly talked about how I rediscovered Atari and retrogaming in general, after not having played those games in over a decade. Now, after having written the blog for a year and a half, I'd like to reflect on my new adventures in both playing and writing about retrogaming, as well as thoughts on how Atari has been successful in reinventing itself and reinvigorating this fun gaming subgenre.
When I began to make retrogaming a part of my life again several years ago, I started by playing a lot of Atari 5200 titles. This was because the 5200 SuperSystem was the last console I owned as a kid, and because I still had a lot of those cartridges. And my general feeling has been that the majority of 5200 games are quite good and still hold up well today, with many of them being either very accurate reproductions of classic arcade titles (such as Galaxian, Centipede, Space Dungeon) or high-quality original titles like Countermeasure. My personal favorites are Space Dungeon, which is an exclusive to the 5200 console, and the Penguin-on-ice game Pengo. The former is incredibly challenging and takes advantage of a special (and somewhat rare) controller holder which allows the 5200 controllers to be utilized in the best way possible. And Pengo, a "cutesy" arcade game I admit to not remember having played at the mall as a kid is just plain fun, with the right level of increasing difficulty. And thus far I'll pick Miner 2049er from Big Five Software as the most difficult game I've played on the console. All in all, I'm thoroughly enjoying the Atari 5200 once again as an adult.
After firing up and using the 5200 for a while, I decided to purchase an original Atari 7800 console and the newer Atari 2600+. I never owned a 7800 back in the day, but now I really enjoy playing games on this system, which looks essentially like a physically smaller version of the 5200. It has the same sleek look of its bigger cousin and of course does double duty by being compatible with both Atari 7800 and 2600 games and controllers. And with the plethora of 2600 compatible controllers to choose from, this is a big plus. While on the 7800 games front, I had always wanted to play Galaga (my 'go-go" arcade game as a kid) on a console. And Atari's home version for their advanced system is faithful to the Namco classic, while at the same time having some slight differences in gameplay and feel. However, my favorite 7800 title has without a doubt been Food Fight, which is an amazingly addictive game which duplicates the arcade experience perfectly.
And as for the newer Atari 2600+, which also plays most 2600 and 7800 titles, it presents a good example of the main strength in Atari's strategy with its new "+" line of products. That is, their new consoles and games are all designed to be both forward and backwards compatible, which keeps their old product lines relevant and allows retrogamers to seamlessly use whatever hardware and software they like. And this is all in line with their laser focus on nostalgia, while at the same time introducing new products. And of course, the 2600+ has a modern HDMI connection built in (as does the 7800+), a larger cartridge slot, as well as some stylistic bells and whistles like an Atari logo which lights up. I've enjoyed owning this console primarily because of its striking similarity in looks to the original Atari 2600 VCS. Playing my old cartridges on it rekindles great memories of the classic Video Computer System.
And finally, I'd like to mention that over the last couple years I've enjoyed the flexibility of also being able to play most classic Atari console games using emulation. Whenever I find time for retrogaming (never as much as I'd like), I try to make a conscious effort to play both my favorite titles and ones I haven't played before. And since I do a lot of work on the computer, sometimes I'll simply plug in a joystick and do some gaming. Emulation is simply another alternative for whenever I might not have time to fire up one of my trusty consoles. And I personally think it's great that many of these games are available this way, because it undoubtedly exposes them to more people.
All in all, I've been thoroughly enjoying my retrogaming experience, in terms of playing, collecting and also writing this blog. It's a great hobby, and I'm delighted that the folks running Atari have so successfully brought the company back into the public consciousness. I'm also looking forward to what Atari has upcoming in this exciting time which represents a true retrogaming renaissance.