Atari 2600 Action Pack 2 for Windows
                         Reviewed by Doug Reed
 
    Anyone who grew up in the late 1970s and early 1980s remembers the
Atari 2600, the game system that started the video game craze. Long
before PCs, Nintendo or Sega came on the scene, Atari was the force in
home 'computer' gaming. Most of the games were simple and repetitive,
but fun to play. It was at this time that Activision first became a
power in the computer gaming industry, releasing an incredible string of
hits first on the Atari and later on the more advanced computers and
gaming systems as they came along. Although Atari has long since
disappeared, Activision is still around and going strong. Realizing that
a considerable number of PC gamers had grown up with the original
Activision games (the median age of computers gamers is, believe it or
not, 32 years old), they have adapted these games from the Atari to the
PC. Action Pack 2 contains 15 of these old games, set up to run under
Windows 3.1. Using SVGA graphics and the WinG graphical libraries, these
old games are brought back to life in their original glory.
        As mentioned above, no less than 15 games are contained on the
CD-ROM in Action Pack 2: Atlantis, Barnstorming, Dolphin, Dragster,
Enduro, Ice Hockey, Keystone Kapers, Laser Blast, Megamania, Oink,
Plaque Attack, River Raid II, Skiing, Stampede, and Tennis.  These games
can be played in a Window or full screen, just like Microsoft's Windows
Entertainment Pack games. Graphically speaking, the games are primitive;
when I said the games were brought back to life in their original glory,
I meant it. No attempt was made to update the graphics from these games
when they were updated for Windows. The blocky, primitive graphics were
acceptable on the old Atari because no one had ever played video games
before; but it seems a little bit ridiculous here, especially when you
consider the superior graphics capability of today's personal computers.
    Graphics aside, the games are fun to play and offer a quick and
pleasant diversion from everyday work on the computer; any of the games
in the Action Pack can be quickly opened and played in a matter of
minutes. Game play is smooth and quick, an important feature in arcade
games. And should that pesky old boss come around, it can quickly be
closed and work resumed. Yes, I said closed. Activision recommends that
the Action Pack games be played without other applications running.
Furthermore, should you be using an alternative desktop such as Norton
or PC Tools, you will have to disable the desktop and run under the
regular Windows Program Manager to play the games. And although the
games come on a CD-ROM, they must be installed to the hard drive in
order to play them.
    The Action Pack 2 is a fun set of games. Despite the lack of
graphical quality, the combination of 15 games is quite a bargain. If
portions of my review sound negative, I apologize. I like these games,
partially because they are fun to play and partially because they carry
a heavy sense of nostalgia. Those of us who grew up with these games
will enjoy them again; those who are younger would probably be better
off elsewhere.
 
                               Activision
                             P.O. Box 67713
                         Los Angeles, CA 90067
                             (310) 479-5644
                       CompuServe: GO ACTIVISION
                    URL: http://www.activision.com/
 
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