Ms. Pac-Man (Atari 5200 review)

Developer: GCC
Publisher: Atari, Inc.
Released: 1983

Ms. Pac-Man is a maze game that was originally released in the Arcade in 1982 as the sequel to Pac-Man (1980, Arcade).

+ Eight difficulty settings are available to cater to your skill level and the cute cut-scenes provide an adorable back story.

+ While the original game only had one maze, this sequel has four well-designed layouts to keep you invested longer term.

+ Ghosts have unique behaviours and speeds, and their A.I. is incredible as you can actively watch them trying to flank you.

+ Bonus fruits return, but this time with the treacherous twist of bouncing around the playfield to raise the suspense.

+ Extra tunnels have been introduced to the mazes, which is a brilliant idea that gives you multiple ways to escape foes.

- 5200 analog stick has issues when trying to navigate more complex mazes, as it doesn't always register perfectly.

- Difficulty increases too quickly and novice players might get deflated when the speed surges after a couple of mazes.

Joust (Atari 5200 review)

Developer: GCC
Publisher: Atari, Inc.
Released: 1983

Joust is an action game that was first released in the Arcade in 1982.

+ Action is fast and fluid with an impressive physics engine, and despite some minor sprite flicker there's no slowdown.

+ Includes various wave types to keep things interesting, and having to collect eggs before they re-hatch is devious.

+ Likewise, the need to quickly eliminate buzzards to avoid deadly Pterodactyls entering creates tension-filled gameplay.

+ Shrewdly, you can override the respawn animation after a death to get back into the action at the most opportune time.

+ There's several difficulty options to cater to your skill level, and the two-player mode is a fun mix of co-op and battle.

- 5200 controller results in some unfortunate deaths, as its lack of self-centring can see you drifting in one direction.

- Allows you to hold down the fire button to avoid continuous tapping, but your bird rises so slowly that it's pointless.

Pole Position (Atari 5200 review)

Developer: GCC
Publisher: Atari, Inc.
Released: 1983

Pole Position is a racing game that was first released in the Arcade in 1982.

+ Practice mode is a welcome feature that provides an opportunity to learn the ropes without other vehicles in the way.

+ Has three race tracks to test your driving and there's an option to switch from four to eight laps for a real challenge.

+ Racing has a good sense of speed and the excellent draw distance allows you to plan manoeuvres well in advance.

+ Analog stick offers ultra precision and squeezing between two competitors is fun thanks to the solid collision detection.

+ Secondary scoring feature means you always have an incentive to play again, even if you don't manage to complete a race.

- Reaching the finish line requires absolute perfection and casual players might be turned off by the lack of margin for error.

- Race tracks are samey and this port is missing a few presentational touches from the Arcade (e.g. billboard advertisements).

Dig Dug (Atari 5200 review)

Developer: GCC
Publisher: Atari, Inc.
Released: 1983

Dig Dug is an action game that was initially released in the Arcade in 1982.

+ Provides a two-player turn-based option (as well as a stage select), and there's a perfect difficulty curve to ease you in.

+ Offers a wide variety of level arrangements to keep things interesting and the collectable vegetables add risk-reward.

+ Quickly diagnosing layouts and planning a method of attack during the pre-stage jingle is both entertaining and stressful.

+ Craftily, you earn more points by defeating foes lower down the screen, and luring them into falling rocks is fiendishly fun.

+ Though you'll often get sandwiched between enemies, it's neat alternating hits to keep them at bay until they explode.

- There's an unfortunate amount of sprite flicker in higher stages, which can cause confusion when two enemies overlap.

- Controls aren't tight enough and many times you'll lose a life due to overshooting your intended target by a small amount.

Berzerk (Atari 5200 review)

Developer: GCC
Publisher: Atari, Inc.
Released: 1983

Berzerk is an action game that was first released in the Arcade in 1980.

+ Each attempt plays entirely different from the last thanks to procedurally generated maps and shifting enemy locations.

+ Gameplay pushes you to think and act quickly, and Evil Otto's impending presence is genuinely unnerving.

+ Knowing when to bail and exit to avoid Otto, or risk eliminating all robots for bonus points is a gripping premise.

+ Gives you tons of freedom in how you approach each screen, as well as how you progress through the elaborate maze.

+ Voice clips are fantastic with many memorable lines that enhance the game's personality and likeability.

- Your Humanoid's movements are slow and clunky, which makes it hard to avoid enemy fire in higher skill levels.

- Takes a while to adjust to shots coming from the right of your sprite (rather than dead centre) when firing upwards.

Choplifter (Atari 5200 review)

Developer: GCC
Publisher: Atari, Inc.
Released: 1984

Choplifter is a scrolling shooter that was originally released on the Apple II in 1982.

+ Gameplay is immersive, in large part due to its hook of testing your ability to return all 64 hostages to base.

+ Has some cute graphical flourishes, such as the flag blowing in the wind and the hostages that wave after being freed.

- Challenging gameplay has a cheapness to it, as it's difficult to anticipate incoming jets that quickly down your vehicle.

- Hit detection is insanely janky (especially when shooting downwards) and there's some heavy slowdown at times.

- Enemy tanks look less than menacing due to their minuscule size, which also makes them tough to actually hit.

- Animation and scrolling is jerky, which has the knock-on effect of negating pinpoint precision in your movements.

- No two-player mode, and the preset skill level might deter some gamers as there's no difficulty options.

Qix (Atari 5200 review)

Developer: GCC
Publisher: Atari, Inc.
Released: 1982

Qix is an action game that was first released in the Arcade in 1981.

+ Gameplay is addictive and despite the simple premise the fast-paced action always forces you to think two steps ahead. 

+ Considerable amount of techniques you can employ to fill the screen, so you always have new strategies to try out.

+ Sparx are brilliantly devious, as they stop you from moving safely by chasing your lines around the playfield.

+ Genius points system, as while you can move fast to claim territory, navigating slowly racks up an even bigger score.

+ Expertly dividing two Qix is thrilling and the game rewards you for consecutive splits by increasing the score multiplier.

+ Unlike the NES version (1991), this port has multiple difficulty options to cater to your particular skill level.

- Action can become quite repetitive and there's no gameplay variations to increase its long-term appeal.