Atari and Mega Cat Studios have released Food Fight: Culinary Combat, a multi-player reimagining of the somewhat bizarre 1983 arcade game, into Early Access. The catch i??s that, right now, it’s exclusively available on the Atari VCS.

As a note of disclosure, I did a stint with Mega Cat Studios writing for their blog and for a still unannounced (and maybe canceled?) game. They weren’t working on Food Fight at the time, as far as I know.

By the looks of things, Food Fight: Culinary Combat doesn’t really have anything to do with the 1983 arcade game. M?aybe. It’s hard to tell. It’s the type of trailer that cu?ts so frequently that you don’t get a very good look at things. There is a single-player mode, and maybe you fight chefs, or perhaps instead, it’s zombie food.

What I do know is that there’s multi-player. There are four modes across six different maps, all with food-related names like King of the Cone, Buffet Brawl, Cookie Collector, and Crumbling. There are shades of Splatoon in all of this, though I don’t think the formulas are related. There’s also a hub world where “you can play classic arcade games, purchase new gear, and interact with the locals.�/p>

It’s interesting to see an Atari VCS exclusive release, even if it is early access. It will supposedly be released on PC and other platforms at a later date.  Released in 2020, the console �or �a href="//venturebeat.com/games/atari-ceo-wade-rosen-interview-returning-to-classic-video-game-roots/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">home entertainment computer��has had trouble establishing a place in t?he market. It has a seemingly loyal fanbase but hasn’t seen much mass market adoption. However, Atari continues to work to?? not only support it but also see if they can gain some traction.

On the other hand, Food Fight: Culinary Combat isn’t for me. I’m not much of a multiplayer person, and I don??’t own an Atari VCS. On top of that, a lot of the early footage see?ms rough, not only in terms of gameplay but also in fidelity for some reason. I guess that's what Early Access is for.

Food Fight: Culinary Combat is? currently available in Early Acces on Atari VCS. PC and console versions will be c??oming at a later date.

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Following its announcement in June, a date is in place for the new take on Atari's Haunted House game. As busy as next month may be, this one is looking to carve a chilling name for itself when it launches on October 12, 2023. Developed by Orbit Studio, the Haunted House reviva?l will be available on PlaySta??tion 4 and 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Atari VCS. 

Atari shared a new trailer that shows off more of the isometric action. Promising an "all-ages thrill ride," the latest spin on Haunted House hopes to give us something more enticing than previous revivals. Orbit Studio has thrown stealthy, roguelite gameplay into the mix with light combat. As you'll see in the video, the visuals attempt to creep along t?he line between cartoony and spooky.  

Grave situations

Released over 40 years ago, the original Haunted House had folks firing up their Atari 2600 to piece together a magic urn. A pair of white eyes represented the player as they traversed 24 rooms across four floors, encountering the likes of bats, ghosts, and spiders along the way. Flash forward to 2023 and we have Lyn Graves venturing into her uncle's mansion to investigate his disappearance. On the hunt for the renowned treasure hunter's whereabouts, Lyn has to free her friends and fend off frights. Those friends will ??also be playable, each with their own advantages.

After falling prey to a spirit, Lyn will be sent back to the mansion's entrance. That's where the rougelite elements come into play, as the floor layout and enemy arrangement shifts with each attempt. Haunted House prioritizes stealth, so staying in the shadows and setting traps is preferable to leaping straight into combat. For longtime fans of the original and Atari in general, Haunted House should have plenty of callbacks in b?oth lore and collectibles. 

If it lets us play as disembodied eyes at some point we'll call it a p?roper revival. 

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Have you played Polymega today?

Atari has announced a new partnership with Playmaji Inc, the creators of the Polymega console platform. The strategy of this partnership is to create hardware and software integration between the Polymega and the Atari VCS. According to the press release, “the Atari VCS will add support for the Polymega App and the Polymega Remix add-on. This will effectively provide all of the functionality of a Polymega console to Atari VCS owners.�/p>

As someone heavily invested in retro games, it surprises me that I haven’t heard of the Polymega. It’s a modular console that supports all manner of retro consoles. The base unit has disc support for the PS1, Sega Saturn, Sega CD, TurboGrafx-CD, and NEOGEO CD. However, there are modules that allow you to play cartridge games for N64, SNES, NES, Sega Genesis, and Turb?ografx-16. The system uses “top-tier emulation,�which is a pretty broad term. The 90% compatibility gives me pause, but on the plus side, you can side-load fanmade patches that can give you HD graphics or translations. It might not be for someone like me who owns most of these consoles, but for the retro gamer who just wants a consolidated and flexible platform, I can see the appeal.

On the other hand, just the base unit isn’t cheap.

//youtu.be/Pucot56iRiw

Game preserves

Anyway, that’s sort of beside the point. This partnership must have been what Atari CEO Wade Rosen was hinting at when I recently spoke with him. Atari is pushing further into production of actual Atari 2600 ??cartridges, and t?he company wants to expand into the retro market. Rosen believes the retro market has the potential to grow further, and I’d love to see that happen.

“A new cartridge module will be developed that will add Atari 2600 and Atari 7800 compatibility to the Polymega console,�the press release goes on to say. “The addition of this cartridge module will make Atari’s 2600 and 7800 games more accessible to retro enthusiasts and expand the market for Atari’s line of collectible game cartridges.�/p>

As part of the partnership, Atari has also “completed a minority investment into Playmaji.�/p>

I love to see growth in the retro industry, and I’ve been watching Atari’s movements into game preservation closely. I’m not sure the Polymega would really benefit a hardware tinkerer like me, but it will be a boon for any intermediate looking to expand into the hobby. It will also create further incentives for companies to produce more legacy cartridges like iam8bit's recent Garbage Pail Kids: Mad Mike and the Quest for Stale Gum and First Press Games' Blazing Rangers.

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Plug it in, change the world

Atari has announced two new titles getting refreshed as part of their ongoing efforts, Quantum: Recharged and Haunted House. N?either ??has a stated release window, but both will be dropping on all consoles, PC, and the Atari VCS.

Quantum: Recharged is the next in Atari’s Recharged line of game revivals. These have included Yars: Recharged and Gravitar: Recharged. This time, they’re focusing on Quantum, which is a bit of an obscure title, but it was included in the Atari 50 collection. It’s a 1982 arcade title that uses vector graphics. You would use a trackball to try and engulf dots and other shapes. The closest I can come to a comparison is Qix, but I feel like that isn’t all that sufficient.

Quantum: Recharged updates the arcade title to give it a little more meat on its bones. On top of the revised neon visuals, there will be challenge and arcade modes, and new power-ups to shake things up. There will also be co-op and a soundtrack by River City Girls�Megan McDuffie, who has done the tracks for previous games in the Recharged series.

If you haven’t played any of the previous Recharged games, they’re pretty agreeable little updates to classic Atari arcade titles. They retain the arcade gameplay but layer on some new visuals a??nd features to make them more playable today.

[caption id="attachment_388744" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Atari[/caption]

Hanging a new chandelier

Following that is Haunted House, which is a reimagining of Atari’s 1981 Haunted House. You may be thinking, “Didn’t we already get a remake of Haunted House?�Yeah, a couple of times, and we try ?not to spe?ak of them.

This Haunted House is focusing more on stealth and roguelite elements. You’ll be ab?le to unlock more? playable characters as you progress, and it promises lots of Easter Egg nods to Atari’s golden era.

[caption id="attachment_388743" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Atari[/caption]

All this is part of Atari’s current strategy of paying homage to their heritage. The Recharged series has been well received, and Haunted House could use a win after 2010’s Haunted House, and 2014’s absolutely dismal Haunted House: Cryptic Graves. While I’d love to see more ambitious re-imaginings of some of these games, Atari is probably making a better move by building goodwill and connections through smaller projects. And the Recharged series is actually really good. Here’s hoping we get a Berzerk: Recharged sometime in the future.

Quantum: Recharged and Haunted House are coming to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, and Atari VCS sometime ??soon.

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Coming to PC, Nintendo Switch, and yes, Atari VCS

If you ask me, not enough creators are playing in the WarioWare-esque microgame space. We got a new game last year on Nintendo Switch, sure, but a big part of the fun is that initial discovery phase before you've got every zany "think fast!" task figured out. With that in mind, I may not be super into Atari, but the idea behind Atari Mania sounds great.

Atari Mania has 150+ microgames built on the brand's legacy, from Pong to Adventure to Yars' Revenge. The team says that we'l?l "never think of Bentley Bear the same way again."

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QErw-mKwLg

In the game, ??you'll play as the Atari Vault caretaker, so there's a wider story element to bind the '70s-?? and '80s-inspired microgames together. There are "dead pixels" to stop.

As for the gameplay st?ructure, it'll be a gauntlet of escalating microgames in a random order, culminating in boss battles. So you'll need to be quick and consistent to survive.

Beyond today's trailer, Atari Mania developer iLLOGIKA also confirmed collectibles lik?e "vintage Atari art, posters, manuals, and fun facts," along with "fully playable versions of remastered Atari classic??s" that can be unlocked via challenges.

[caption id="attachment_330595" align="alignnone" width="1920"] _{One of many microgames. Note the timer bar at the bottom.}[/caption]

For me, it's mostly going to come down to the individual microgames more than anything else �are they fun? Surprising? How deep are these cuts? That said, it's ?good to hear that there's more substance with collectibles, an??d the price seems reasonable enough.

Atari Mania will launch on Steam, Nintendo Switch, and Atari VCS this summer for $19.99.

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I knew there must have been a reason to stay on Atari’s mailing list

The Atari 2600 (or VCS, as it was originally called, but since Atari released another VCS, we’ll call it the 2600) can’t claim to be my favorite console. Most of its games were incredibly inferior ports of arcade titles, but people were just amazed that they could bring the arcade experience to their TV. Never mind that it could barely manage Space Invaders, it was new at the time, and that was exciting. These days, however, I rarely start the old girl. Maybe for a game of Berzerk, Plaque Attack, or, I don’t know, Ocean City Defender, but those are all short-lived. I’m not exactly interested in pursuing the world’s high score for Atari 2600 Pengo.

Color me surprised that I’m actually interested in Atari’s new venture. Atari XP is an initiative to start producing new cartridges for the 2600. The first three games of their line are Yars�Return, Saboteur, and Aquaventure, most of which are being released on c??artridge for the ??first time.

Each Atari XP release comes in standard and limited editions. It sounds like the standard editions are simply a cartridge, whereas the limited editions come with “a newly manufactured, high-quality Atari 2600 cartridge made from special plastics, a premium poster, a printed instructional manual with bonus material, a collectible pin and collectible badge, a certificate of ?authenticity, and a digital copy of the game playable on the ?Atari VCS.�The limited editions are limited to 1,983 copies each, which is a cute nod to the year they would have been released in.

Before we get too excited about Atari XP, there are a few caveats. Firstly, the cartridges alone are being sold for $49.99. That might not seem that bad at first for a physical cartridge, but it’s not very impressive against the homebrew market. Also, it’s for the Atari 2600 hardware. My most generous estimate for how long I would personally play them is about an hour. The limited-edition sets are $149.99. Tha?t pin?? must be absolutely spectacular, especially since these games have been included on various versions of Atari Flashback consoles for yonks.

On the other hand, I see the appeal. These are as official as an Atari 2600 can get these days. It smacks of Atari trying to remain relevant by riding off past successes that the current ownership isn’t even responsible for. However, this is the sort of stuff I’d rather see from companies; some sort of consideration for authenticity. You can bet that I’d be the first in line if Nintendo decided to slap Zelda 3: The Dayjob of Link onto some NES-compatible plastic. I’m just having trouble swallowing that price tag. I can still get the Atari Flashback Classics collection for Sw??itch and have all three games to play on a console that doesn’t connect to my TV through Coaxial or? UHF.

So, in summary, I’m torn about Atari XP, but if you’re a purist and the Atari 2600 is your stomping grounds, this is pretty cool. If you're into it, the standard edition cartridges should get to you befo??re Christmas. The limited editions are destined for the nebulous Q1 2022.

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The big bug is back

If you've been nostalgic for some Atari classics, one is coming back later this month with a new look. Centipede: Recharged reimagines the original with some futuristic graphics, and it ar??rives on Sept. 29 for consoles, PC, and the Atari VCS.

This version of Centipede has new visuals designed for 16:9 screens, rather than the older aspect ratios, and an original soundtrack from Megan McDuffee. On PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, the on-screen action will suppo??rt 4K resolution at 120 frames per second, and on PC, there's support for up to 240Hz.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfrufZsi9ZE

Each level will be playable in local co-op with a friend, and if you're an Atari VCS owner, you get a few extras: some exclusive challenges?? and support for Atari's Wireless ??Classic Joystick.

It'd be easy to be a bit snarky here, but this looks pretty cool and I dig the refreshed visuals. Atari's previous revitalized classic, Missile Command: Recharged, seemed like it did enough to reignite some nostalgic arcade feelings, so maybe this is worth taking a look at if you're aching for another round of Centipede. Retro revivals have always run the gamut from excellent to not-quite-so-excellent, but Centipede: Recharged ??seems to have? some cool ideas on how to refresh without overdoing it.

Centipede: Recharged is coming to ??Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, PC via Steam and Epic, and the Atari VCS on Sept. 29, 2021.

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