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Issue Date: December 10, 2006
GAMING
Feeling retro?
Simple pleasures of old-school classics prove popular now.
The "New Super Mario Bros." re-creates the side-scrolling fun of the original game.
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Gamers are just like fashionistas. They ask only, "What's new?" A game that shipped last week already is old news. And a disc out last month? Ancient as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Yet something curious is happening: Vintage games are back in a big way.
The Atari Flashback 2 (Atari) is a miniaturized Atari 2600, the game console that burned butt imprints on couches in the '80s. The machine plays 40 classics, including "Missile Command," "Pitfall" and "Yars' Revenge." The faux-wood-grained cabinet is equipped with a pair of one-button joysticks, guaranteed to take you back to a time when a pocketful of quarters and a free afternoon at the arcade was all you needed.
The "New Super Mario Bros." for the Nintendo DS features warp pipes, mushrooms and a princess who's in dire need of rescue. In other words, this is the same old game. Instead of taking the franchise in a novel direction, Nintendo chose to pay homage to the side-scrolling gameplay that endeared the little-plumber-who-could to us two decades ago.
Finally, if you're still holding a grudge against Mom for selling your Sega Genesis console at the yard sale, here's good news: "The Sega Genesis Collection" (PS2, $20, and PSP, $30) contains more than 30 pixel-perfect renditions of Genesis' finest moments, including "Sonic the Hedgehog," "Golden Axe" and "Shinobi III." To quote the narrator from "Altered Beast" (which also is included): "Rise from your grave!" -- Scott Jones
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