Genre: Compilation
Developer: Digital Eclipse
Publisher: Midway
Year: 1996
Platform: Sega Saturn
“Midway Presents Arcade’s Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 1” is a compilation of classic Atari arcade games developed by Digital Eclipse and published by Midway for the Sega Saturn. Released in 1996, this collection brings together six iconic titles from the late 1970s and early 1980s, offering players a chance to experience the golden age of arcade gaming.
The included games are:
- Asteroids (1979): A space-themed shooter where players control a spaceship navigating through an asteroid field, destroying asteroids and avoiding collisions.
- Battlezone (1980): A first-person tank combat game set in a wireframe 3D environment, allowing players to engage in strategic battles.
- Centipede (1981): A vertically scrolling shooter where players defend against waves of insects, including the titular centipede, using a trackball controller.
- Missile Command (1980): A game where players protect cities from incoming missiles by launching counter-missiles to intercept them.
- Super Breakout (1978): A paddle-and-ball game where players break bricks by bouncing a ball off a paddle, aiming to clear all bricks on the screen.
- Tempest (1981): A tube shooter featuring vector graphics, where players control a claw-shaped shooter moving along the edge of a geometric tube, eliminating enemies.
The Sega Saturn version of this compilation includes full-motion video (FMV) documentaries featuring interviews with the original developers, providing insight into the creation of these classic games. The collection utilizes emulation to accurately reproduce the original arcade experiences, preserving the gameplay and graphics as closely as possible.
Critics have praised the compilation for its faithful emulation and the inclusion of developer interviews, offering both nostalgia for longtime fans and educational value for newcomers interested in the history of video gaming. However, some have noted that the standard Sega Saturn controller may not be ideal for all the included games, particularly those that originally used trackballs or paddles.
