''Activision Anthology'' is a compilation of most of the

Atari 2600 The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocess ...

games by

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one ...

for various game systems. It also includes games that were originally released by

Absolute Entertainment Absolute Entertainment was an American video game publishing company. Through its development house, Imagineering, Absolute Entertainment produced titles for the Amiga, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Sega Game Gear, Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, Sega CD, G ...

and

Imagic Imagic ( ) was an American video game developer and publisher that created games initially for the Atari 2600. Founded in 1981 by corporate alumni of Atari, Inc. and Mattel, its best-selling titles were ''Atlantis'', '' Cosmic Ark'', and '' D ...

, as well as various

homebrew Homebrewing mainly refers to small-scale, non-commercial manufacture of a drink, typically beer. Homebrew or home brew may also refer to: Computing * Homebrew Computer Club * Homebrew (package manager), for macOS and Linux * Homebrew (video game ...

games. The Microsoft Windows and

Mac OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...

versions are titled ''Activision Anthology: Remix Edition'', and include the most games. The

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 200 ...

version is titled ''Activision Hits Remixed''. The game features the original gameplay of the Atari 2600

emulated In computing, an emulator is hardware or software that enables one computer system (called the ''host'') to behave like another computer system (called the ''guest''). An emulator typically enables the host system to run software or use peri ...

on modern systems. After achieving high scores in some of the games, the player can unlock special modes where the colors are distorted, or the game is projected on a rotating cube as added difficulty. ''Activision Anthology'' uses a virtual child's bedroom as the main menu. The player can select several viewpoints to check

high score In games, score refers to an abstract quantity associated with a player or team. Score is usually measured in the abstract unit of points (except in game shows, where scores often are instead measured in units of currency), and events in the ...

s, choose a video game cartridge from a rotating stand, change the background music on a virtual

tape deck An audio tape recorder, also known as a tape deck, tape player or tape machine or simply a tape recorder, is a sound recording and reproduction device that records and plays back sounds usually using magnetic tape for storage. In its present- ...

, or change game settings while being zoomed in on a virtual Atari 2600. The virtual tape deck features several

license A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

d 1980s music tracks. The music from the virtual tape deck can be mixed with the Atari 2600 game audio so both are audible to simulate playing the game on TV while having the tape running in the background. Six Activision-produced Atari 2600 titles were not included in ''Activision Anthology'', likely due to outside ownership of their respective licenses. The excluded games are ''

Commando 40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations forc ...

'', ''

Double Dragon is a beat 'em up video game series initially developed by Technōs Japan and released as an arcade game in 1987. The series features twin martial artists, Billy and Jimmy Lee, as they fight against various adversaries and rivals. The original ...

'', ''

Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, ...

'', ''

Ghostbusters II ''GhostbustersII'' is a 1989 American supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Ramis, Rick Moranis, Ernie Hudson, ...

'', '' Kung Fu Master'', and ''

Rampage Rampage may refer to: Places * Rampage Mountain, a mountain in Montana People * Quinton Jackson (born 1978; nicknamed "Rampage"), American mixed martial artist and actor * Randy Rampage (1960-2018), Canadian musician * Rampage (rapper) (born 1 ...

'', although

Capcom is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. It has created a number of multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being '' Resident Evil'', '' Monster Hunter'', '' Street Fighter'', '' Mega Man'', '' ...

did give Activision rights to put ''Commando'' in the PlayStation 2, Windows, and Mac OS X versions of ''Activision Anthology''. ''Ghostbusters II'' was cancelled before Activision could release it, but Salu released it in Europe under their name in 1992. The Absolute Entertainment title ''

Pete Rose Baseball ''Pete Rose Baseball'' is a baseball video game published by Absolute Entertainment in 1988 for the Atari 2600 and in 1989 for the Atari 7800. Gameplay The game features a "behind the pitcher" viewpoint for pitching and batting, a viewpoint whi ...

'' was renamed ''Baseball''.

Portable versions

The

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...

version has the most games out of the portable versions, including seven homebrew games that do not appear in any of the other versions. It does not include the 19 Imagic games or ''Commando'', nor does it play music during gameplay. It does have four custom 1980s-style music tracks that play in the menu screens, however. The

version includes three of the Imagic games, ''

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works ''Timaeus'' and ''Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that bes ...

'', '' Demon Attack'', and '' Moonsweeper'', nearly all of the Activision games, full-speed emulation, and the 1980s songs featured in the PlayStation 2 and computer versions, but does not include ''Commando'', the four Absolute Entertainment games, games exclusive to the other releases, or the homebrew titles. The PSP version also lacked the possibility to save high scores and unlocked extras, so when the player quits out of the game, all progress would be lost. There was also a version released on mobile phones with three titles. It included '' H.E.R.O.'', ''

Pitfall! ''Pitfall!'' is a platform video game designed by David Crane for the Atari 2600 and released by Activision in 1982. The player controls Pitfall Harry and is tasked with collecting all the treasures in a jungle within 20 minutes. The world co ...

'', and '' River Raid''. A version for the digiBlast was released on December 31, 2005, which included 5 titles. These titles are '' H.E.R.O.'', ''

Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball c ...

'', '' Megamania'', ''

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

,'' and '' Demon Attack''. ''Activision Anthology'' was released for Android and

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...

devices on August 30, 2012. The game ''

Kaboom! KaBoom! may refer to: *KaBOOM! (non-profit organization) * KaBOOM! (publisher), an imprint of the U.S. comics publisher Boom! Studios See also *Kaboom (disambiguation) Kaboom is an onomatopoeic term representing the sound of an explosion. It may ...

'' is offered as an initial free game, while the rest of the games were offered as an in-app purchase. These versions include the Imagic game '' Dragonfire'', but do not include the homebrew games, the games by Absolute Entertainment, or ''Commando''. These versions also do not contain any of the licensed 1980s music.

Game list

There are a total of 76 games in each version combined. Certain games do not appear in some versions and are mentioned accordingly.

Reviews

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

– 7.3/10 * GameSpy – 80/100 *Gaming Age – B− *Gaming Target – 8.5/10 *

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa dist ...

– 8.5/10https://www.ign.com/articles/2003/12/11/activision-anthology The game received generally positive reviews and was mainly praised on the Internet because of its spirited homage to the

Notes

References

* *

External links

Official PSP version website
* * http://ps2.ign.com/objects/491/491542.html IGN's page of the game
Activision Anthology
review at IGN {{Activision compilations 2002 video games Activision video game compilations Android (operating system) games Aspyr games Atari 2600 Barking Lizards games Code Mystics games Digital Eclipse games Game Boy Advance games IOS games MacOS games Multiplayer and single-player video games PlayStation 2 games PlayStation Portable games Video games developed in the United States Video games scored by Alexander Brandon Windows games MumboJumbo games