Atari Mania (2022)

It all just needs a little more polish: the execution isn’t quite tight enough, the pace not quite brisk enough to achieve that addictive, rapid-fire feel of WarioWare. It’s close, and certainly another entertaining idea from Atari, but unless you’re from the era of the 2600 and its ilk, you’ll probably struggle to look beyond the sloppy feel of this otherwise likeable release.

Atari Mania could be a really fun retro game for both old and young, but the developers failed to translate the imaginative concept into fun gameplay. There is a lot of variable content, but the unresponsive controls cause a lot of frustration.

Atari Mania offers a fun trip to the past for those who are a fan of Atari’s lineage. There is a lot of love sprinkled throughout in the form of collectibles, the variety of mini-games, and the look and sound of the game. What you may not like is the lack of explanation on how to play some of the mini-games and the load times. I would say Atari purists should give this the hardest look while those who are less familiar with the brand will at least want to wait on a sale.

iLLOGIKA Studios’ Atari Mania tugs at the heartstrings of old gamers in a good attempt to reignite interest in Atari 2600 games. The way that the game uses older titles to create mini-games is genius, if not straight from the pages of Wario World. The only caveat is that you get some of that 1980s unforgiving difficulty with it, which at times can make the game a bit unfun. It’s still a solid attempt at creating something new with the Atari brand, and certainly one you should check out.

Atari Mania is a great trip down memory lane with a unique twist on the micro-game genre. There are misses here, but there are just as many hits in the mini-games. For kids like me who grew up with these consoles it is fun to see them interpreted in a new way. I wish it was more polished, but this has truly primed me for the massive 50th Anniversary Collection set to release in November.