Atari Recharged Collection 2

Genre: Compilation / Arcade / 2-Stick Shooter

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local), Online Leaderboards

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Review:

(Note: The games in this bundle are also included in the physical-only Atari Recharged Collection 1 + 2 Dual Pack Edition bundle, along with Asteroids: Recharged and Breakout: Recharged. These games are also included in Atari Recharged: Volume One, along with all of the above named games plus Quantum: Recharged.)

Atari Recharged Collection 2 is a physical-only Compilation of two re-imaginings of classic Atari games, Black Widow: Recharged and Centipede: Recharged, released separately in 2021, and collected here in this bundle released on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 in 2022.

I have separately reviewed these games. Here is what I thought of each of the games in this collection:

Game	Genre	# of Players	Score
Black Widow: Recharged	2-Stick Shooter	1-2 Co-Op (Local), Online Leaderboards	B-
tl;dr Black Widow: Recharged is a 2-Stick Shooter inspired by the Atari classic. This version improves the presentation, makes progression more fluid, and adds temporary power-ups, but otherwise leaves the original formula largely intact. The result is a game that’s a tad too repetitive for long play sessions, but that makes for a fun time-waster.
Centipede: Recharged	Arcade Breaker	1-2 Co-Op (Local), Online Leaderboards	B-
tl;dr Centipede: Recharged is an Arcade-style game inspired by the Atari classic. This version “improves” the presentation, makes progression more fluid, and adds temporary power-ups, but otherwise leaves the original formula largely intact. The result is a surprisingly compelling reimagining of the classic, albeit one with a presentation that lacks all of the charm and personality the original game had.

In short, I thought both games here were a pretty solid, though Black Widow: Recharged is a bit repetitive and Centipede: Recharged lacks a lot of the charm of the original game. But despite these flaws, both still pretty good!

However, that leads to the question of whether or not this package is a good value, and at $35, when the original games are $10 each, and frequently go on sale for $5 each? No, absolutely not. Unless you are the sort of person who absolutely demands to get your games in a physical release, you shouldn’t even look at this release – it is simply a terrible deal – this is literally a 75% price increase over the standard price of the digital versions.

In the end, if we just look at Atari Recharged Collection 2 to judge its value in terms of the games included here, it looks pretty good, with both games being solid, if imperfect, new takes on the classic games they’re based on. But once you look at the dollars and cents, you should be running far away from this release unless you absolutely need to get your games in physical form.

tl;dr – Atari Recharged Collection 2 is a physical-only Compilation containing the 2-Stick Shooter, Black Widow: Recharged, and the Arcade-style game, Centipede: Recharged. Both are solid re-imaginings of classic Atari games, but that hardly matters because the price of this package is at least 75% higher than getting the digital games separately. Unless you absolutely must get your games in physical form, skip this.

Grade: C

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