I Just Gotta Keep It Real; I Genuinely Love How ‘Atari’ Is Revitalizing Old Franchises for a New Generation

Atari may have been little more than a name for a hot minute in the publishing scene, but now it seems that they’re bringing their game. Well, multiple games, and they’re bringing them back to life for a new generation to behold. Countless hours of my life were lost in the simplistic worlds of games like Adventure and Yars Revenge, thanks to the Plug ‘N Play Atari console I had when I was a kid. But now? There are new games in many of the older Atari franchises, and it’s wild to see how much they’ve grown.

‘Yars Rising’ May Be the Most Well-Known Revitalization, but ‘I, Robot’ and ‘Missile Command’ Are Coming Back in a Big Way

If you had told me that in the year 2024, Atari would relaunch the Yars franchise with an anime-girl aesthetic, I would have never believed you. But, partnering up with WayForward, they brought Yars Rising to life. And from what I’ve heard about the project, it’s supposed to be genuinely great. A massive surprise that I would have never guessed, but I love to see that Atari isn’t just letting their IP rot away in a landfill somewhere.

But they’re going for even deeper cuts at this point. Jeff Minter is coming back to revitalize his I, Robot project and making it trippier than ever. Seriously, take a second and watch the trailer if you don’t believe me. I was going to make a joke about how it reminded me of Space Giraffe, but I just discovered that it was also created by Jeff Minter. So, that makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?

Wait, When Was Someone Going To Tell Me That ‘Lunar Lander’ Got an Atari Reboot?

Then, I saw a post for a game I thought was originally a Five Nights At Freddy’s fan game on BlueSky. Only to discover that it’s a reboot of Missle Command? It’s a wild time to be an Atari fan, especially for those who grew up with the console. While they’ve had a rough go of things in the past? This feels like a great step in the right direction for them. Bring back classic games with a fresh coat of paint, alongside some gameplay enhancements. Leave little nods to the classic games in there for old-heads like myself. Let players see why they were once the most respected developer and publisher in the business.

I’ll absolutely lose my mind if we get an Adventure sequel, however. Just keep the main character as a block, give it some crazy ray-tracing and path-tracing, and keep it as simple as possible. I think that would be hilarious, and I’d be there on day one. Think 3D Dot Game Heroes, but with just a big block as a protagonist. And keep the dragon/duck creature looking the same, thank you, Atari. That thing haunted my dreams when I was a kid.