Atari Vault

Atari Vault is a collection of one hundred video games that Atari had produced for arcade cabinets and its Atari 2600 home console system, dating from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The collection was developed by Code Mystics, who had helmed similar collections of Atari games to other platforms, to work on Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux via the Steam client. The games, where possible, have been updated to include modern-day features such as local and online multiplayer and online leaderboards.

Atari Vault
Developer(s)	Code Mystics
Publisher(s)	Atari
Engine	Unity
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux
Release	Microsoft Windows NA: March 24, 2016 Linux NA: May 26, 2016 macOS NA: March 16, 2017

Games and updates

The games included in the collection include Asteroids, Centipede, Missile Command, Tempest, and Warlords.[1][2] The collection includes a mix of arcade and Atari 2600 titles, including several titles released in both formats.[3] The list of games also includes a number of titles that had been in development for the Atari 2600 but never were formally released as Atari 2600 but were found and distributed later in other Atari game collections such as the Atari Flashback.

The full list of games included is:

Game	Original System	Year of Release
3-D Tic-Tac-Toe	Atari 2600	1979
Adventure	Atari 2600	1979
Air-Sea Battle	Atari 2600	1977
Asteroids	Atari 2600	1981
Asteroids	Arcade	1979
Asteroids Deluxe	Arcade	1981
Backgammon	Atari 2600	1979
Basic Math	Atari 2600	1977
Basketball	Atari 2600	1978
Black Widow	Arcade	1982
Blackjack	Atari 2600	1977
Bowling	Atari 2600	1979
Brain Games	Atari 2600	1978
Breakout	Atari 2600	1978
Canyon Bomber	Atari 2600	1978
Casino	Atari 2600	1978
Centipede	Atari 2600	1982
Centipede	Arcade	1980
Championship Soccer[lower-alpha 1]	Atari 2600	1980
Checkers	Atari 2600	1980
Chess	Atari 2600	1979
Circus Atari	Atari 2600	1980
Codebreaker	Atari 2600	1978
Combat	Atari 2600	1977
Combat 2	Atari 2600	N/A[lower-alpha 2]
Concentration	Atari 2600	1978
Crystal Castles	Atari 2600	1983
Crystal Castles	Arcade	1983
Demons to Diamonds	Atari 2600	1982
Desert Falcon	Atari 2600	1987
Dodge 'Em	Atari 2600	1980
Double Dunk	Atari 2600	1989
Fatal Run	Atari 2600	1990
Flag Capture	Atari 2600	1978
Football	Atari 2600	1978
Golf	Atari 2600	1980
Gravitar	Atari 2600	1983
Gravitar	Arcade	1982
Hangman	Atari 2600	1978
Haunted House	Atari 2600	1982
Homerun	Atari 2600	1978
Human Cannonball	Atari 2600	1979
Liberator	Arcade	1982
Lunar Lander	Arcade	1979
Major Havoc	Arcade	1983
Maze Craze	Atari 2600	1978
Millipede	Atari 2600	1984
Millipede	Arcade	1982
Miniature Golf	Atari 2600	1979
Missile Command	Atari 2600	1981
Missile Command	Arcade	1980
Night Driver	Atari 2600	1978
Off the Wall	Atari 2600	1989
Outlaw (video game)	Atari 2600	1978
Pong	Arcade	1972
Quadrun	Atari 2600	1983
Race	Atari 2600	1977
Radar Lock	Atari 2600	1989
RealSports Baseball	Atari 2600	1982
RealSports Basketball	Atari 2600	N/A[lower-alpha 3]
RealSports Boxing	Atari 2600	1987
RealSports Football	Atari 2600	1982
RealSports Soccer	Atari 2600	1983
RealSports Tennis	Atari 2600	1983
RealSports Volleyball	Atari 2600	1982
Red Baron	Arcade	1980
Return to Haunted House	Atari 2600	N/A[lower-alpha 4]
Save Mary	Atari 2600	N/A[lower-alpha 5]
Secret Quest	Atari 2600	1989
Sentinel	Atari 2600	1990
Sky Diver	Atari 2600	1978
Slot Machine	Atari 2600	1979
Slot Racers	Atari 2600	1978
Space Duel	Arcade	1982
Space War	Atari 2600	1978
Sprint 2	Arcade	1976
Sprint Master	Atari 2600	1988
Star Raiders	Atari 2600	1982
Star Ship	Atari 2600	1977
Steeplechase	Atari 2600	1980
Stellar Track	Atari 2600	1981
Street Racer	Atari 2600	1977
Stunt Cycle	Arcade	1976
Submarine Commander	Atari 2600	1982
Super Baseball	Atari 2600	1988
Super Breakout	Arcade	1982
Super Breakout	Atari 2600	1978
Super Football	Atari 2600	1988
Surround	Atari 2600	1977
Sword Quest Earthworld	Atari 2600	1982
Sword Quest Fireworld	Atari 2600	1983
Sword Quest Waterworld	Atari 2600	1983
Tempest	Atari 2600	N/A[lower-alpha 6]
Tempest	Arcade	1981
Video Cube	Atari 2600	1982
Video Olympics	Atari 2600	1977
Video Pinball	Atari 2600	1980
Warlords	Atari 2600	1981
Warlords	Arcade	1980
Yars' Revenge	Atari 2600	1982

Code Mystics handled the port, previously having developed the Atari Greatest Hits series for the Nintendo DS, a similar collection of games updated for a modern system.[4] For Atari Vault, they have worked to ensure that the games in this title would be considered the definitive modern versions, according to developer Matthew Labunka. They spent time to obtain fine details on the look and presentation, such as getting digital imagery of the arcade cabinet art to present alongside the game screen.[3] The updated versions will be running the original games' ROM image, wrapped into an emulator made in the Unity 5 game engine.[3] In addition to original settings that were normally available to arcade players, the player can access options that were limited to the arcade cabinet operator, such as difficulty and length of a single play session.[3] Art and related materials are also available for each game for the player to review.[3]

Where possible, the games have been updated to include both local and online multiplayer, and games use Steam-based score leaderboards. The games have been tuned to use the Steam controller, enabling precise controls for the games, particularly for games that used trackball input devices, like Centipede.[1] Code Mystics worked with Valve to fine-tune controller profiles for various games before release.[3]

Notes

1. Originally released as Pele's Soccer
2. The original game though announced in 1982 was cancelled, but its code had existed and was formally released on the Atari Flashback 2 console in 2005 and other collections since.
3. RealSports Basketball was developed but never released for the Atari 2600, though would be included in future Atari collections.
4. An unofficial sequel to Haunted House first included on the Atari Flashback
5. Save Mary was developed but never released for the Atari 2600, but would be included in Atari collections in the future.
6. Tempest had been in development for the Atari 2600 but was not released on the system; the unfinished port was discovered much later and completed, and released as part of other Atari game collections from 2013.

References

1. Kohler, Chris (January 21, 2016). "Steam's Atari Vault Package Brings Back 100 Classic Games". Wired. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
2. Petty, Jared (March 22, 2016). "ATARI VAULT REVEALS 100 GAME COLLECTION". IGN. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
3. Muncy, Jake (February 3, 2016). "ATARI VAULT BRINGS BACK THE CLASSICS FOR THE UMPTEENTH TIME". Wired. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
4. Cork, Jeff (January 22, 2016). "Atari Bringing More Than 100 Classics To Steam In New Vault Collection". Game Informer. Retrieved January 22, 2016.