#oneaday Day 31: Flashback

It may sound strange, but one of my most anticipated new games that is currently winging its way to me is Atari Flashback Classics for Switch.

For the uninitiated, this is a compilation of 150 old Atari games, encompassing arcade releases, Atari 2600 games and, for the first time in a bundle like this, Atari 5200 games. I already own the first two volumes of Atari Flashback Classics on PS4, but having all of these games plus a bunch more readily available on Switch is something I'm very excited about. You can find out more about the package here on Atari's site.

Firstly, I'm simply excited about these games because I love revisiting ancient classics. The 2600 was just slightly before my time, so I always find it interesting to check out the games that led to the experiences I grew up with on the Atari 8-bit. The Atari 5200, meanwhile, was effectively a consolised version of the Atari 8-bit computer range (although not quite so much as the later XEGS, which literally was an Atari 8-bit computer designed to more closely resemble a console) and as such has a number of games that outright are games I grew up with. And it's always cool to see arcade-perfect ports of both classics and lesser-known titles.

Secondly, I'm excited to cover the package in an Atari A to Z series of videos alongside my 8-bit and ST episodes. Thus far I've seen relatively limited coverage of the package online, and the majority of it is surface-level "these games are old and don't hold up very well" criticism that doesn't appear to be making much of an effort to engage with them. Sure, some of those games don't hold up very well, but in those cases they weren't much good in the first place. (see: Basic Math) Meanwhile, there are a bunch of games that do hold up extremely well, particularly if you have the opportunity to play them with a friend.

This latter aspect may make the video production process a little more challenging, as for titles like Combat and company, it will be important to have someone alongside me playing along rather than simply playing the game solo. I will do my best to try and rope someone into helping out, however, and I think there's scope for a lot of fun to be had. Last time I hosted a "gaming day" for my local friends, some of the most popular games on the agenda were the Atari 2600 titles — particularly RealSports Soccer, which even the most vociferous football haters among us had a blast with thanks to its unusual and highly entertaining mechanics.

Sadly for my European readers, Atari Flashback Classics for Switch doesn't appear to be getting a release in our home territory — PQube, who distributed the previous bundles for Xbox One and PS4, haven't been approached by Atari this time around for whatever reason — so I've had to import a copy from the States. And the physical release seems to be oddly limited, too, so I had to source one from a seller on eBay rather than a regular retailer. Still, it's on the way now, and for those who don't mind going digital, apparently it's straightforward enough to set up a US eShop account, too.

Anyway. This should be with me sometime this month (hard to be precise with mail from overseas — though apparently the package is already in the UK, according to tracking) so please look forward to my videos on it… because I'm really looking forward to making them!