Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration is arguably the greatest retro collection ever made - largely because it's as much an interactive documentary as it is a video game collection. Now, nearly three years after the original launch of the collection, developer Digital Eclipse is prepping for new DLC that tells another important chapter of Atari history: the company's partnership with Pac-Man developer Namco.
Atari 50: The Namco Legendary pack is due to launch later this year, with multiple versions of Pac-Man, Galaga, Galaxian, Dig Dug, and Xevious, along with archive materials and documentary footage including interviews with many of the OG devs of the era.
Perhaps most notable is the inclusion of the Atari 2600, 5200, and 8-bit computer versions of Pac-Man, which "marks the first ever re-release of these games for consoles." The 2600 version of Pac-Man is pretty infamous for its flickery graphics and limited gameplay to the point where it's a regular contender on 'worst games of all time' lists, right up there with ET.
The 2600 version of Pac-Man was the product of a solo developer named Tod Frye, who worked 80-hour weeks to build the game in just over six months for Atari, offering a stark reminder that developers have endured crunch on impossible projects since the dawn of the industry. While it got dismal reviews from critics of the time, it sold well over 8 million units, making it by far the best-selling 2600 game, and the best-selling game period of the pre-Nintendo console era.
These days, 2600 enthusiasts will offer some defense of this port of Pac-Man, but there's a reason the vastly superior port of Ms. Pac-Man is the one on all the best Atari 2600 games rankings. But that's why I'm so glad to see the OG Atari Pac-Man here, too. It's one of the most important bits of Atari history, and even if there are better ways to play Pac-Man these days, I'm thrilled to see it getting the full documentary tribute.
Many of the best NES games would end up reaching greater sales heights, but you can't ignore the OG.
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