Atari Greatest Hits: Volume 2
Important physical-copy note: This listing is for the North American Nintendo DS release of Atari Greatest Hits: Volume 2. The exact case, manual, and cartridge included depend on the condition selected. Every pre-owned copy is cleaned, tested, and backed by Zypher Trading's 90-day warranty.
About the Game
Atari Greatest Hits: Volume 2 turns one Nintendo DS cartridge into a portable archive of 50 games from Atari's arcade and Atari 2600 libraries. Developed by Code Mystics, the collection pairs nine coin-op releases with 41 console games, preserving the simple rules, fast restarts, and score-driven challenge that defined Atari's early years.
The selection reaches well beyond the most familiar names. Arcade standouts include Asteroids Deluxe, Black Widow, Crystal Castles, Liberator, Major Havoc, Millipede, Red Baron, Super Breakout, and Warlords. The Atari 2600 side ranges from Combat, Breakout, and Yars' Revenge to sports games, strategy experiments, prototypes, and unusual releases such as BASIC Programming.
Gameplay & Experience
Each game keeps the compact structure of its original version: learn a small set of controls, survive a little longer, chase a higher score, and try again. The collection covers vector shooters, paddle games, maze action, sports, racing, strategy, casino games, and two-player competitive titles. Because most sessions begin immediately and can be completed in minutes, the cartridge works especially well for short handheld play while still offering a large amount of variety.
The emulation preserves original graphics and audio instead of redrawing the games as modern remakes. The upper and lower DS screens are used to display the game, controls, artwork, or interface information depending on the title. Some games map naturally to the buttons and directional pad, while others use touch-screen adaptations designed around the original control method.
Arcade Collection
The nine arcade games represent several distinct eras of Atari design. Asteroids Deluxe and Black Widow deliver crisp vector shooting, Major Havoc combines shooting with platform-like exploration, and Liberator turns planetary defense into a tactical shooting challenge. Crystal Castles and Millipede emphasize movement, pattern recognition, and score routes, while Red Baron places the player in a first-person aerial duel.
Super Breakout and Warlords are especially suited to the DS touch screen. A virtual slider can stand in for a paddle, giving players a direct way to control position and speed. These games remain mechanically simple, but their increasing pace and unforgiving mistakes make them strong score-chasing experiences.
Atari 2600 Library
The 41 Atari 2600 games show how much variety developers produced with extremely limited hardware. Action games such as Desert Falcon, Fatal Run, Radar Lock, Star Raiders, Secret Quest, and Yars' Revenge sit beside sports releases including Double Dunk, Golf, RealSports Basketball, RealSports Soccer, Super Baseball, and Super Football.
The collection also includes head-to-head staples such as Combat, Street Racer, Video Olympics, and the 2600 version of Warlords. More experimental selections—including Brain Games, Codebreaker, Maze Craze, Video Chess, Video Pinball, and BASIC Programming—make the cartridge feel like a survey of the system rather than a short list of obvious hits.
Touch Controls & Multiplayer
Code Mystics adapted the original controls to the Nintendo DS without changing the underlying game rules. Depending on the title, the touch screen can act as a paddle, analog-style slider, flight stick, keypad, or virtual controller. Button controls remain available where they fit the original design, letting each game use the DS feature that best matches its hardware.
Single-player modes are available throughout the collection, and 20 games support local multiplayer. Compatible titles offer DS Download Play and multi-card play for up to four players, so friends can compete in games such as Combat and Warlords. There is no online multiplayer; group play is handled locally between Nintendo DS systems.
Historical Extras & Presentation
Beyond the playable library, Volume 2 includes an arcade gallery with cabinet and promotional material, scanned Atari 2600 manuals, and a series of interviews with Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell. These extras provide context for the games and help explain how Atari's early hardware, business decisions, and design philosophy shaped the industry.
The cartridge also includes an Atari 400 BASIC environment for players interested in the company's home-computer history. It is an unusual bonus for a commercial compilation and reinforces the archival focus: this is not only a bundle of games, but a snapshot of Atari's arcade, console, and computer legacy.
Standout Features
- 50 classic games on one Nintendo DS cartridge: nine arcade releases and 41 Atari 2600 titles
- Arcade favorites including Asteroids Deluxe, Black Widow, Crystal Castles, Major Havoc, Millipede, Red Baron, Super Breakout, and Warlords
- Broad Atari 2600 library spanning action, shooting, sports, strategy, racing, casino, and experimental software
- Touch-screen paddles, sliders, flight-stick controls, and other DS-specific input adaptations
- Local multiplayer for up to four players across 20 supported games using Download Play or multi-card play
- Scanned game manuals, arcade artwork, and historical material collected in one portable package
- Video interviews with Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell
- Bonus Atari 400 BASIC environment for an additional look at Atari's home-computer era
