Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration

Atari 50 celebrates Atari's 50th Anniversary with a collection of 103 115 134 153 166 playable games (including a number of unreleased titles and several brand-new ones) presented on an interactive timeline covering the company's history from its arcade roots all the way to the Jaguar, including brand-new interviews and high-quality scans of various internal documentation. Notably, this is the first time Jaguar or Lynx games have been officially rereleased.

It's not perfect, however; for one, due to most of Atari's back catalogue being sold off over the years, a lot of notable games like Battlezone aren't included. A good majority of the included games are in the Arcade and 2600 sections, leaving the 5200, 7800, Lynx, Jaguar, and 8-bit computer line with far fewer titles by comparison (and the Jaguar CD gets no games at all). Further, the interactive timelines omit a few notable aspects of Atari's history (such as the scrapped MindLink and Puffer accessories, the nearly-got-off-the-ground agreements to distribute the Famicom and Mega Drive in the US, why CEO Ray Kassar left the company, Tengen and Time Warner Interactive's existence as a whole, and pretty much everything that happened after 1998) and gloss over others (such as the vast majority of Atari's third-party output, Atari Games Corporation's arcade operations, and the Jaguar's infamous TV commercials).

This collection would later serve as the framework for Digital Eclipse's Gold Master Series of game collections, including Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story.

Unused Images#

Boxart Graphics#

Present in museum\GameBoxes\assets.pie.

Seemingly-identical duplicate images are also present for the following games:

• Bounty Bob Strikes Back (5200)
• Bounty Bob Strikes Back (800)
• Star Raiders

Additional Placeholders#

Oddities#

Warbirds#

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: Was the game included in any of the other physical releases? Add specific Switch ROM ID(s) this is applicable to.

Prior to its addition in the December 5, 2023 update, and despite being initially promoted as one of the included games, the Lynx title Warbirds was removed at launch due to a last-second unforeseen licensing issue. The game did make its way onto physical copies of the Switch version, but it is removed when the mandatory day one patch is applied.

Revisional Differences#

More games and content have been added post-release in DLC updates, following Digital Eclipse's acquisition by Atari.

December 5, 2023#

A free update that adds 12 more games, including one removed from launch.

2600:

• Adventure II (homebrew)
• Aquaventure (prototype)
• Bowling
• Circus Atari
• Double Dunk
• Maze Craze
• Miniature Golf
• MotoRodeo
• Return to Haunted House (homebrew)
• Save Mary (prototype)
• Super Football

Lynx:

• Warbirds (see above)

September 26, 2024#

A paid update, the first part of the content featured in Atari 50 Expanded Edition. This set features one new timeline ("The Wider World of Atari") and 19 new games.

Arcade:

• Avalanche
• Berzerk
• Destroyer
• Football
• Frenzy
• Red Baron
• Skydiver
• Super Bug

2600:

• Atari Video Cube
• Berzerk
• Berzerk: Voice Enhanced (homebrew)
• Desert Falcon
• Off the Wall
• Skydiver
• Steeplechase
• Stellar Track
• Submarine Commander

5200:

• Berzerk

800:

• Avalanche

November 8, 2024#

A paid update, the second part of the content featured in Atari 50 Expanded Edition. This set features one new timeline ("The First Console War") and 19 new games, including former business rival Intellivision's M Network titles.

2600:

• Air Raiders
• Anteater (prototype)
• Armor Ambush
• Astroblast
• Basketball
• Dark Cavern
• Frogs and Flies
• International Soccer
• Sea Battle
• Star Strike
• Super Challenge Baseball
• Super Challenge Football
• Swordfight
• Tower of Mystery (prototype)
• Video Pinball

5200:

• Xari Arena

7800:

• Desert Falcon

800:

• Final Legacy
• HardBall!

November 13, 2025#

A paid update featuring one new timeline ("Pac-Man and Beyond") and 13 new games.

Arcade:

• Dig Dug (US version, published by Atari)
• Xevious (US version, published by Atari)

2600:

• Dig Dug
• Galaxian
• Pac-Man

5200:

• Dig Dug
• Galaxian
• Pac-Man

7800:

• Dig Dug
• Galaga
• Xevious

800:

• Dig Dug (original release)
• Pac-Man