Atari Recharged: Volume Two

Genre: Compilation / Arcade

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

.

Review:

Atari Recharged: Volume Two is a 2024 Compilation of five games from the Atari: Recharged line of re-imaginings of classic games, separately released from 2020 through 2023 on multiple platforms.

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

Game	Genre	# of Players	Score
Berzerk: Recharged	2-Stick Shooter	1-2 Co-Op (Local), Online Leaderboards	C
tl;dr Berzerk: Recharged is a 2-Stick Shooter that re-imagines an arcade classic, but what it reimagines it to is repetitive and dull. You have much better options than this game.
Caverns of Mars: Recharged	Arcade / Roguelike	1-2 Co-Op (Local), Online Leaderboards	C+
tl;dr Caverns of Mars: Recharged is an Arcade-style game with Roguelike elements inspired by the classic Atari PC game, though it takes multiple liberties with the gameplay in this successor. Many of these changes are great, and the risk-reward of trying to avoid taking damage while being mindful of dwindling fuel is excellent. It’s a shame that this strong gameplay is marred by a Roguelike mechanic that punishes you more than it helps you. As a result, this game is merely a decent game that seems like it could have been much better.
Gravitar: Recharged	2D Space Shooter	1-2 Co-Op (Local), Online Leaderboards	C+
tl;dr Gravitar: Recharged is a 2D Space Shooter inspired by the classic Atari arcade game, and while it does update the gameplay a bit to be a bit more reasonable in its challenge, it’s still difficult enough that not everyone will enjoy it. However, for those who crave a challenge within this genre, this may be worth trying out.
Missile Command: Recharged	Arcade	1, Online Leaderboards	C-
tl;dr Missile Command: Recharged is a reimagining of the classic ‘80s Arcade game where players blast away incoming bombs with missile strikes. The presentation here is great, the new progression mechanics are nice, and the great classic gameplay still works well today. However, the game’s ridiculously high difficulty spikes almost immediately, and the inflated price makes this game seem like far from a good value. There’s some fun to be had here for a select audience, but most players are better off skipping this.
Yars: Recharged	2-Stick Shooter	1-2 Co-Op (Local), Online Leaderboards	A-
tl;dr Yars: Recharged is a 2-Stick Shooter inspired by the Atari classic Yars’ Revenge, but this game far surpasses its inspiration, using elements from that game to craft an excellent boss rush-style 2-stick shooter where players must whittle down enemies’ defenses. Regardless of whether or not you’ve played the original, this is an outstanding Action game, and at only $10 it’s an easy game to recommend.

In short, every last game in this collection is mediocre except Yars: Recharged, which is absolutely brilliant. Yeah, you might get some fun out of Caverns of Mars: Recharged or Gravitar: Recharged, but Yars; Recharged is by far the star of this collection, and it’s not even close.

However, a good deal can really mitigate a lot of that unevenness, so that leads to the next question I always ask in these bundles, how good a value is it? Well, at the normal price, each of these games separately sells for $10, while the bundle sells for $40, saving you $10, which is decent but not fantastic given the middling quality of most of these games. Unfortunately, things don’t get any better when you add up the sale prices, as current sale prices have both this bundle and the separate releases adding up to $22. Actually, getting the releases separately when they’re on sale is technically 4 cents cheaper.

With that being the case, I cannot recommend this bundle. The only game here that I think is worth getting is Yars: Recharged, and the savings are not enough to justify getting the rest. In fact, if you wanted the best deal on all of these games, your best bet is to wait for a sale and buy them separately. However, I would still say you’re better off ditching the majority of this bundle and buying Yars: Recharged on its own.

tl;dr – Atari Recharged: Volume Two is a Compilation containing Berzerk: Recharged, Caverns of Mars: Recharged, Gravitar: Recharged, Missile Command: Recharged, and Yars: Recharged, all re-imaginings of classic Atari era hits. Unfortunately, of this batch of games, the only one that’s truly must-play is Yars: Recharged, and this bundle doesn’t even offer enough of a savings to make it worthwhile to get the entire batch. Because of this, I suggest you skip this bundle and just get Yars: Recharged.

Grade: C-

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}

^{This month’s sponsors are Ben, Ilya Zverev, Andy Miller, Homer Simpin, Johannes, Francis Obst, Gabriel Coronado-Medina, Jared Wark, Kristoffer Wulff, and Seth Christenfeld. Thank you for helping to keep the reviews coming!}