‘Atari Vault’ Launches On Steam: 100 Classic Games From The Golden Era Of Retro Video Gaming Available With Added Features

Atari Vault is now live on Steam. The desktop gaming platform is offering a large spread of retro video game titles that will allow players to relive the golden era of video games.

Atari may not account for much in the modern world of gaming with its high resolution and hyper-realistic gaming experience, but to many, who have grown up watching the evolution of video game consoles, the company holds a special place. Now the company is attempting to replicate the immense success it enjoyed more than three decades ago by partnering with Steam and re-launching a bouquet of 100 games through Atari Vault.

Meant specifically for Windows Operating System (OS), Atari Vault offers 100 retro Atari games that are neatly and compactly packed into a download that’s slightly over one gigabyte, for a price of $16.99. Mind you, the price is valid until the end of this month. Starting in April, the bundle will cost $19.99. For the price, gamers who grew up on old-school consoles will be treated to many Atari classics from arcade cabinets and the 2600 console. Quite a few of the games have been the biggest of their time, which was in the 70s and 80s, when console gaming was beginning to take roots into the mainstream digital gaming culture. While the games are dismally low resolution compared to today’s games, they caught the attention of the generation and instantly became insanely popular. The games undoubtedly spawned a whole new generation that religiously visited the malls that had dedicated gaming arcades.

Centipede challenge on #AtariVault. Winners get some official #atari merch! Details here https://t.co/JkLw0yrUya pic.twitter.com/VRY8Yj3sYX

— Atari (@atari) March 25, 2016

Many of the games are openly available through less-than-legal channels and gamers have long taken advantage of emulators, which expertly mimic the majority of the old-school video game consoles. Factoring the same, Atari Vault on Steam has attempted to offer a few features that are truly exclusive to the platform, which would hopefully attract legitimate and paying gamers.

Included in Atari Vault bundle are old-school gems like Asteroids, Centipede, Missile Command, Tempest, Warlords, Pong, Haunted House, and many more. These games will have new control schemes that attempt to closely mimic the controls of the originals. The user interface has been designed to evoke a feeling of playing the retro arcade games. Moreover, each game has been carefully and artistically constructed to feature its very own original arcade cabinet and box art. That said, no game is complete without its iconic soundtrack and hence all the games will feature their original theme and in-game music.

Though the games are retro, a lot of modern-day features have been crammed in to take advantage of the Steam platform. The majority of the games in the Atari Vault can be played either in offline or online mode. Additionally, quite a few of the games will have local and remote multi-player capabilities. As expected, players can post their scores and statistics on Steam Leaderboards, which will let you compare your score with those of rivals from across the world, reported Geek.

100-game Atari collection is coming to Steam https://t.co/U7z4C4e1B2 pic.twitter.com/BxyBxWCG1v

— Destructoid (@destructoid) January 23, 2016

As this is a Windows OS-based platform, all games in the Atari Vault can be easily played using the standard keyboard-mouse layout. However, Steam strongly recommends using the much-touted Steam controller. The company assures that the controller will enhance the gaming experience while mimicking the trackball, which had its own mind, noted the company.

“No longer will you be able to blame a sticky trackball for your Missile Command failures.”

The company was undoubtedly referring to the issues faced by players when they played popular Atari games like Centipede. Interestingly, the Steam controller’s touch pads are supposed to closely mimic the design and feel of a trackball.

While Atari Vault on Steam will appeal to many gamers, the platform is missing several popular titles like Berzerk, Empire Strikes Back, Frogger, Joust, Pitfall, Q-Bert, and Pole Position. Superman and E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial have been excluded, reported PCWorld.

[Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images]