Do you prefer the recharged games or the original version's ?

[JPF997]

My Atari game collection on  my PS5 is pretty extensive, I have all the recharged games, the Atari 50 collection, the flashbacks volumes from 1 to 3, pong quest, Atari mania, kombinera,  Mr run and jump etc . I'm finding myself playing the recharged games far more often than the classics, for every thirty  minutes or so of recharged gameplay I play like 5 minutes of the original version's in comparison, so I wanted to ask the people of Atari age what do you prefer playing, the classics or the remake's, I believe in general both are great options, what matters most of course is that we are all playing Atari today!

 

 

[donjn]

These recharged games are objectively better "games" however the nostalgia of the older versions are unbeatable.

Why do people always have to compare and there has to be a "winner"? Enjoy both.

[desiv]

I rarely play "recharged" games and rarely have...

I know there are more modern versions of Pacman, but I don't play them.  One could (successfully) argue that some of the variants were recharged versions, and in that...  my favorite Pacman variant is still Ms Pacman...  

I like ports, but not generally ports onto much more powerful systems that "add things" to the game...  In fact, some of my favorite ports are of games put onto systems that shouldn't (or can't) do the original justice...

I really like a few of the ZX81 Pacman ports...  I've never bothered with a Windows version of Pacman...

... unless you count Ms Pacman on MAME...  

 

That said, I know that's me.  Others love those, and that is great...  I'm sure many of them are better versions of those games...

 

 

Are there holes in my choice?  Probably...  I am sure there are some games where I have loved a recharged version.  Can't think of one now, but I'm sure it has happened...   

 

[donjn]

I have a couple of these Recharged games, and while they are fun, they scream a bit too much ADHD.

There is always techno music, and stuff in the background, etc.

 

 

 

Edited September 14, 2023 by donjn

[jerseystyle]

I’m still hoping that the Amico Breakout comes out for something. I liked the developer (they did the Bit.Trip) series and their take on it looked interesting.

 

Also am a huge fan of T4K, but not sure if that counts as recharged. I like the aesthetic of the recharged games, for sure. I need to play around with them more.

[+jgkspsx]

On 9/14/2023 at 11:57 AM, donjn said:

These recharged games are objectively better "games"

Not at all. Caverns of Mars and Yars’ Revenge were both far far better games in the original forms. Asteroids too. Gravitar was too hard originally but while it might be my favorite of the series it feels much much too easy now.

Pretty much all of the originals had a purity and an intensity that is lost in the Recharged games, especially the more recent ones that have dialed back the challenge somewhat from insane to just hard. I think they’re both great but in different ways.

 

But with that out of the way here are my picks for which I’d rather play:

 

Asteroids < Recharged

Black Widow = Recharged

Breakout <<< Recharged

Caverns of Mars >> Recharged

Centipede < Recharged

Gravitar < Recharged

Missile Command < Recharged 2021

Missile Command << Recharged 2023

Quantum <<< Recharged

Yars’ Revenge >>>> Recharged

[jerseystyle]

1 hour ago, jgkspsx said:

Not at all. Caverns of Mars and Yars’ Revenge were both far far better games in the original forms. Asteroids too. Gravitar was too hard originally but while it might be my favorite of the series it feels much much too easy now.

Pretty much all of the originals had a purity and an intensity that is lost in the Recharged games, especially the more recent ones that have dialed back the challenge somewhat from insane to just hard. I think they’re both great but in different ways.

 

But with that out of the way here are my picks for which I’d rather play:

 

Asteroids < Recharged

Black Widow = Recharged

Breakout <<< Recharged

Caverns of Mars >> Recharged

Centipede < Recharged

Gravitar < Recharged

Missile Command < Recharged 2021

Missile Command << Recharged 2023

Quantum <<< Recharged

Yars’ Revenge >>>> Recharged

Your notation is confusing me- are those greater/less than symbols?  If so, either your math is drunk or I am.

[Video]

I definitely like recharged (sequels) better than originals. That said, the original will always hold a spot in my heart due to usually being THE original. 

 

Also never understood "recharged" anyways. It would be more appropriate to just call them sequels, and they've existed since the beginning of gaming. Breakout getting super breakout, and later arkanoid, I played the crap out of that bitd. Someone already mentioned MS pacman, which was technically a hack (and the reason you never see it on modern permanent collections, which is a pitty) space invaders 91, tempest 2k (and 3k, and 4k) even more modern games, like super Mario bros. Their all just step ups from the original titles, adding minor or major updates to classic favorites.

 

There's no particular right answer, play what you like, but its pretty awesome to get the option of playing the original, especially Atari originals as many used alternate controls that simply don't exist on more modern consoles. (Driving and paddle controls simply don't exist on more modern consoles, which is a pitty, as its often the best way to play many of these classics)

[leech]

I'm in love with the Yars Recharged one.  Though I never really played the original.  Asteroids is awesome in any form, I'll play the recharged, or 7800, or A8 version... Though I still want a vector screen for MAME and the games like Asteroids / Major Havoc, etc. 

 

What I'm waiting for is a legit full on SwordQuest RPG... Come on Atari, give that series more love!  I'm not talking about a recharged version either.  Just give us a new RPG with crazy hard puzzles spread out over comics / internet hints or something.  That'd be amazing!  Granted, I don't expect them to have crazy contests... Though would be funny to host some game in their hotel...

[+jgkspsx]

5 hours ago, jerseystyle said:

Your notation is confusing me- are those greater/less than symbols?  If so, either your math is drunk or I am.

Greater than and less than. The more there are the stronger I feel.

[JPF997]

16 hours ago, jgkspsx said:

Not at all. Caverns of Mars and Yars’ Revenge were both far far better games in the original forms. Asteroids too. Gravitar was too hard originally but while it might be my favorite of the series it feels much much too easy now.

Pretty much all of the originals had a purity and an intensity that is lost in the Recharged games, especially the more recent ones that have dialed back the challenge somewhat from insane to just hard. I think they’re both great but in different ways.

 

But with that out of the way here are my picks for which I’d rather play:

 

Asteroids < Recharged

Black Widow = Recharged

Breakout <<< Recharged

Caverns of Mars >> Recharged

Centipede < Recharged

Gravitar < Recharged

Missile Command < Recharged 2021

Missile Command << Recharged 2023

Quantum <<< Recharged

Yars’ Revenge >>>> Recharged

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, here's  how i would rank these games:

 

Asteroids <<< Recharged

Black Widow <<<< Recharged

Breakout << Recharged

Caverns of Mars < Recharged 

Centipede <<< Recharged

Gravitar << Recharged

Missile command=Recharged 2021

Missile command<<< Recharged 2023

Quantum <<<Recharged 

Yars Revenge=Recharged 

 

[AtariLeaf]

I only have asteroids and centipede. Love them both. Quantum is on my radar since I love a tandy coco game called Doubleback

[leech]

I Wonder if Centipede would work with my 5200 trackball and a USB adapter...

[jerseystyle]

4 hours ago, jgkspsx said:

Greater than and less than. The more there are the stronger I feel.

Ah- but you said up above that original asteroids is better than recharged but your notation has the recharged as greater than. Also I spent far too long this morning remembering which symbol is what, haha 

[donjn]

11 hours ago, jgkspsx said:

Not at all. Caverns of Mars and Yars’ Revenge were both far far better games in the original forms.

Opinions, opinions, we all have them!

[roots.genoa]

6 hours ago, jgkspsx said:

Greater than and less than. The more there are the stronger I feel.

It was confusing indeed because you said:

13 hours ago, jgkspsx said:

Caverns of Mars and Yars’ Revenge were both far far better games in the original forms. Asteroids too.

Then:

13 hours ago, jgkspsx said:

Asteroids < Recharged

😅

[jerseystyle]

17 minutes ago, roots.genoa said:

It was confusing indeed because you said:

Then:

😅

Oh thank God someone else saw that. I thought I was having a stroke or something.

[KainXavier]

@JPF997

That's an impressive collection!  Also, I didn't know Atari Mania had been released for the PS5.  I'll have to see if there's a PS4 version.

Regarding the Recharged series, I've picked up two so far, Caverns of Mars and Gravitar. 

Out of the two, I like Gravitar: Recharged the most.  It really highlights what made the original game great.  The only way it could be made better is if there were unlimited lives and/or you could take more than two hits.  (I find that being hit usually knocks you into something else which will then kill you.)

 

Caverns of Mars: Recharged is also good, but it feels like an entirely different game to me.  It plays more like an auto-runner with elements of Downwell mixed in.  I like it, but it's also not what I was expecting when I bought the game.  That and I think removing the Dual Shot and relegating it as a power-up was a mistake.

 

I'll probably pick up Black Widow: Recharged if the issues with Xbox version ever get addressed.  (People are reporting that you can't advance past the title screen after your initial playthrough.)  I'll also buy Yars: Recharged at some point.  (I'm pretty content with Yars' Revenge Reimagined for now.)  I'm also kind of intrigued by Quantum: Recharged.  I don't care for the original but the increased speed and aesthetics remind me of doing Pacifist runs in Geometry Wars.

Lastly, and this is kind of a tangent, but does anyone know someone that sells or can make the Paddle Controller Adapter for an Xbox One controller?  I wouldn't mind getting one for the Switch either.  I would like to be able to play the new paddle games with an actual paddle, and I don't own a 3D printer.

[+jgkspsx]

1 hour ago, roots.genoa said:

It was confusing indeed because you said:

Then:

😅

(That was left over after an edit lol)

[jerseystyle]

2 hours ago, jgkspsx said:

(That was left over after an edit lol)

 

[ledzep]

On 9/14/2023 at 10:05 AM, donjn said:

I have a couple of these Recharged games, and while they are fun, they scream a bit too much ADHD.

There is always techno music, and stuff in the background, etc.

 

 

 

 

Exactly.  I tried playing a couple of them but they're more or less worthless to me.  The original games that I like were great, some of them are perfect.  They weren't missing anything that these recharged versions thankfully provided.  It's sort of like music, you hear a remake from some band and they do too much, it's a wall of sound and frivolous extra shit that is "more", yes, but not needed.  Some of these recharged games are really ADHD.  I cannot stand the Tempest Xtreme shit games that have the playing field rotating and having moving background star fields or whatever they are.  The constant, shitty dance club music drives me up a wall.  And fuck the unending power-ups and walls of bullets and missiles.  Part of the greatness of the original games was that they were hard, you had to be at least a little bit precise, you couldn't just hose down targets or fire in 8 directions at once.  I think the original Galaxian (or Space Invaders) only allows for one shot to be on screen at once?  Pick your shots, Gen-Zers!

 

If the camera view keeps moving/tilting, dogshit.  If the music won't fucking stop, dogshit.  If you have unlimited ammunition and can fire like a hose, dogshit.  If you get bigger and better power-ups that make you invincible most of the time, dogshit.

 

To look at it from the other direction, did you ever play a game in the arcade, a game you really liked, and think "Man, I wish this game had monotonous, pounding, repetitive music blaring constantly, that would make it so much better." or "Why can't the whole play field be sliding around when I'm moving my controller?" or "This is no fun, I have the same weapons that I started with, I need miniguns spraying 80% of the area in front of me in a fan pattern and grenades lobbed into the other areas!"?  I never did.  Yes, there were a few blander games back then but most of them had the appropriate level of difficulty in terms of limited speed of movement or weapons shots or shields or whatnot.  Gave you a sense of dread when the enemy was getting overwhelming, move move move shot move shot move move shot shot move ffuuuuuck, got me.

 

Xevious is a good example, when you hit that level with the bigger black balls (I can hear Beavis & Butt-Head laughing right now) that explode (hehehe uuhhehehe) and there's a spray of shots in all directions, you have to kill those things (Zakatos?) the second they show up or hope you are between one of the dozen rounds as they spread out, and you still only have your one normal cannon and bomb dropper.  Missile Command has so much going on once you get past the first few levels, there's no need to add anything to what's going on.  I actually like the unreleased Missile Command 2 that was at California Extreme years ago, in an Atari Football cabinet, 2 player simultaneous, except that I think there was only one missile base for each player, it ended up being too easy to get through the levels.  It definitely needed the extra bases (that can be confusing sometimes when the enemy missiles start piling up) and more/harder targets.  But what it didn't need was blaring music or fake camera shake for every explosion.

[JPF997]

3 hours ago, ledzep said:

 

Exactly.  I tried playing a couple of them but they're more or less worthless to me.  The original games that I like were great, some of them are perfect.  They weren't missing anything that these recharged versions thankfully provided.  It's sort of like music, you hear a remake from some band and they do too much, it's a wall of sound and frivolous extra shit that is "more", yes, but not needed.  Some of these recharged games are really ADHD.  I cannot stand the Tempest Xtreme shit games that have the playing field rotating and having moving background star fields or whatever they are.  The constant, shitty dance club music drives me up a wall.  And fuck the unending power-ups and walls of bullets and missiles.  Part of the greatness of the original games was that they were hard, you had to be at least a little bit precise, you couldn't just hose down targets or fire in 8 directions at once.  I think the original Galaxian (or Space Invaders) only allows for one shot to be on screen at once?  Pick your shots, Gen-Zers!

 

If the camera view keeps moving/tilting, dogshit.  If the music won't fucking stop, dogshit.  If you have unlimited ammunition and can fire like a hose, dogshit.  If you get bigger and better power-ups that make you invincible most of the time, dogshit.

 

To look at it from the other direction, did you ever play a game in the arcade, a game you really liked, and think "Man, I wish this game had monotonous, pounding, repetitive music blaring constantly, that would make it so much better." or "Why can't the whole play field be sliding around when I'm moving my controller?" or "This is no fun, I have the same weapons that I started with, I need miniguns spraying 80% of the area in front of me in a fan pattern and grenades lobbed into the other areas!"?  I never did.  Yes, there were a few blander games back then but most of them had the appropriate level of difficulty in terms of limited speed of movement or weapons shots or shields or whatnot.  Gave you a sense of dread when the enemy was getting overwhelming, move move move shot move shot move move shot shot move ffuuuuuck, got me.

 

Xevious is a good example, when you hit that level with the bigger black balls (I can hear Beavis & Butt-Head laughing right now) that explode (hehehe uuhhehehe) and there's a spray of shots in all directions, you have to kill those things (Zakatos?) the second they show up or hope you are between one of the dozen rounds as they spread out, and you still only have your one normal cannon and bomb dropper.  Missile Command has so much going on once you get past the first few levels, there's no need to add anything to what's going on.  I actually like the unreleased Missile Command 2 that was at California Extreme years ago, in an Atari Football cabinet, 2 player simultaneous, except that I think there was only one missile base for each player, it ended up being too easy to get through the levels.  It definitely needed the extra bases (that can be confusing sometimes when the enemy missiles start piling up) and more/harder targets.  But what it didn't need was blaring music or fake camera shake for every explosion.

Everyone is of course entitled to they're opinion but I must say not a single thing you've stated comes even remotely close to the truth. The recharged games are the perfect evolution/modernization of these classic's, the way I would describe it is that the old version's are the equivalent of an 80s classic song while the recharged version's are the synthwave remix, the perfect evolution . Maybe you just don't like  it when something you grew up with is modernized in anyway and I can understand that sentiment, but ultimately I strongly disagree with your views on the recharged games, to you they may be dogshit but to me they where the perfect way for Atari to bring back the classics in an way that all generation's can now appreciate and enjoy playing these games.

[+wongojack]

Hmm, my initial reaction to the thread title was "I like them both."  I think that is still my answer, but I went back to my Steam library and discovered that I have only played 2 of the 9 that I own (Breakout and Missile Command), so I guess I like the recharged games more on paper than in reality.  I did play Pong Quest however.  It was cute but not a very good game (and a terrible Pong game).

 

I haven't played MCR in a while - sad to see that people don't like the revision.  Can you still play the older version if you want?

 

Also - why not add a poll to this thread?

 

Finally - here are some games I've played on Steam that remind me of the recharged series.  Stay away if you hate recharged, but dive in if you are looking for something similar

• ASCII Attack (Like a very stylized Countermeasure DE-charged) <- styled as dot matrix printer characters on lined printer paper
• Bezier and DRM Death Ray Manta (twin stick shooters) <- very "Lights and Sounds everywhere all the time"
• Blast Lander (Lunar Lander)
• Flipper Volcano (Video Pinball recharged, kinda)
• Gal-X-E (Gives off Bosconian vibes)
• Orbit XL and 0rbitalis (don't really remind me of an Atari game but fit on this list)
• Spingun (Kinda Space War, kinda Asteroids)
• Tiltagon (Marble Madnessy thing)
• Titan Attacks and Ultratron (one Galaxian, one Robotron, same co., same style)
• Void Invaders (yep, like Space Invaders, but with bosses) <- Another one with a crazy light show
• Zero Reflex and Super Hexagon (Qix vibe, but also not that)
• Zolg (kinda Vanguard recharged)

I'd say I've probably played Spingun the most on that list, and I'd be wrong.  I looked it up and I've played Titan Attacks and Bit Blaster XL the most.

 

[+jgkspsx]

1 hour ago, wongojack said:

I haven't played MCR in a while - sad to see that people don't like the revision.  Can you still play the older version if you want?

You can still play it if you bought it before, but the only place you can still buy it is the VCS.

 

I think the new MCR *checks ratings to make sure I’m not Walt Whitmaning* hmm yes okay is significantly better/more polished than the old one. But it is nice to be able to revisit the game that kicked off the series, too.

[ledzep]

8 hours ago, JPF997 said:

Everyone is of course entitled to they're opinion but I must say not a single thing you've stated comes even remotely close to the truth. The recharged games are the perfect evolution/modernization of these classic's, the way I would describe it is that the old version's are the equivalent of an 80s classic song while the recharged version's are the synthwave remix, the perfect evolution . Maybe you just don't like  it when something you grew up with is modernized in anyway and I can understand that sentiment, but ultimately I strongly disagree with your views on the recharged games, to you they may be dogshit but to me they where the perfect way for Atari to bring back the classics in an way that all generation's can now appreciate and enjoy playing these games.

 

How can it not be remotely close to the truth when I've seen actual "recharged" games with all those stupid additions?  Not all the games because, obviously, I'm not in the mood to play them so maybe a few don't all have all the extra unnecessary bullshit additions, maybe just one or two, but that's too much already.

 

Fuck synthwave, that's elevator music.  I want people to actually play instruments in my music.  And yes, many of them still do, even many current bands!

 

I have nothing against a modernized '80s game if that game was boring/flawed to start out with.  Imagine for example if the 2600 version of Pac-Man was the arcade version, then Ms. Pac-Man would be a welcomed and needed improvement.  I would consider Space Duel a modernization of Asteroids and I love it.  But additions that don't add to gameplay are a waste of code and a distraction.  Tilting the camera around to make things seems "faster" or more dramatic doesn't help, it's annoying.  When you play a game where the playing field isn't slipping around do you suck at the game and wish that the view would keep changing?  I don't.  If there's no shitty music blaring does that actually change how the game plays?  No, you can add your own favorite shitty music from your stereo, the controls are unaffected.  If you're not good enough to clear a level without 3 power-ups wasting everything that moves and a 4th that shields you, stop playing video games.

 

I feel like I benefitted from growing up with those old/original '80s games because they were limited by graphics and CPU so they had to squeeze as much gameplay out of those clunky machines as possible.  Once chips got faster and more powerful gameplay was less important compared to graphics/shading/colors, you got better looking games but many added nothing to gameplay and many of them actually lost gameplay.  Modern games veer towards 1st person, whether shooters or exploring or driving or whatever, beautiful environments with real-time shading and lighting, oooooooh, almost like a movie.  Yay.  But the simple games don't need that shit, photoreal Space Invaders or photoreal Asteroids adds absolutely dick to how the game actually plays, whether that gameplay is good or not.  Loud, monotonous, soulless music adds nothing, improves nothing.  Power-ups make things easier, now I'm invincible for 10 seconds!!  Who asked for that?

 

If a simple straightforward '80s game bores you I can understand that, some of them bore me, too.  But changing them to ADHD experiments isn't the solution.  It's like going to a modern football or basketball game, whenever there's a pause in play the announcers won't fucking shut up, they're constantly telling the crowd to get loud or here's 20 seconds of crap music or look at all these highlights on the screens, distract distract distract!  Knock that shit off, I want to enjoy the game.