Ironically, I wouldn't recommend this game collection for its games.
If you get this, it should either be because you have a connection to these consoles or you're just interested in the history aspect, in this case I'm the latter.
The collection is presented very well. The series of 5 timelines are a joy to go through, though to nitpick, the separation of systems means that it isn't one linear timeline, so for example one timeline may end in the mid 80's but the next will start back in the late '70s. I really enjoyed the amount of extra visual content such as advertisements and original artwork used for some games' front covers. The sheer volume of these is good evidence that a lot of love and effort was put into the collection.
The emulation is also fantastic, from the arcade games all the way up to the Jaguar with no notes, even on the Nintendo Switch. Digital Eclipse even went to the trouble of adding radial menus for some games that used the keypads found on the 5200 and Jaguar controllers. If I had to nitpick again, I wish you were shown what the controls were before starting each game, as they can vary wildly, especially for arcade games. Additionally, more than a single save slot for each game would've been nice.
The video documentaries are a mixed bag. At the start they do a fantastic job, talking to all the relevant people about the start of the company through the creation of the 2600 and are great viewing. However after the 2600, the amount of videos really starts to decline. Simply not enough time is spent talking about the Lynx and Jaguar especially, and this is also reflected in the choice and amount of games for these systems. It's also incredibly jarring to go from the last Jaguar games on the timeline almost straight to a seemingly completely irrelevant video interviewing the author of Ready Player One, for some reason?
Included alongside the original games is a small series of "Reimagined" games. These are what they say, new creations heavily inspired by existing games in the collection. These can range to just flat out remakes like the enhanced version of Yars' Revenge, to something pretty much brand new but inspired, like with the new version of Haunted House. These are a nice extra and are very well made but sadly none of these really held my interest.
As for the games, these are very much before my time and the amount of them that were genuinely fun to play is very few, but not zero. This is my personal opinion, and as mentioned if you have a personal connection with the 2600 and its first party stuff in particular you will probably enjoy the selection. Even so, the 2600 in particular has charm in its crude visuals and sound effects even if I didn't particularly enjoy any of its games. The selection is a bit mediocre (do we really need four versions of Missile Command?), there's some glaring omissions, such as any 2600 game made by Activision, but it's obvious as to why it isn't included and can be looked beyond. Activision are mentioned on the timeline too, so they did what they could.
Here are some games that I thought were genuinely quite fun even as a zoomer, or at least I thought were noteworthy, along with some reasons why:
Lunar Lander (Arcade, 1979) - Brutally difficult, but the objective is so simple that it becomes quite addicting. If I remember correctly, this was the first arcade game made by Atari to use vector graphics, and it works beautifully here, especially if the collection is played on an OLED screen.
Cloak & Dagger (Arcade, 1984) - Loosely based off a film of the same name that I haven't seen, this game really surprised me. The gameplay is a simple top-down shooter where you get to an exit, but the way it's presented is amazing. I absolutely adore the animations between levels and the idea of a huge bomb on each floor detonating if you take too long is a great gimmick. Plus giving basic hints between levels is a nice touch when many arcade games from this era could be very cruel.
Ninja Golf (7800, 1990) - A very simple golf game, but it switches to a beat 'em up when you have to run to where your ball lands. It sounds silly, and it very much is, but it's shockingly fun and I can't recommend it more.
Club Drive (Jaguar, 1994) - The visuals are impressive for the time, even if it's immediately outshined when you compare it to other systems that were around the corner. However, once you get past the questionable controls and car handling, the super relaxed presentation and focus away from racing others is a genuine breath of fresh air and it feels great. There isn't a whole lot of content but the variety of areas on offer is really sweet and the entire game just more than makes up for it in vibes.
Overall, the collection is incredibly well made but I'd say it's hard to recommend because to me personally there isn't a whole lot of games here that are worth playing for a decent amount of time and the documentary aspect is a bit mixed.
If you get this, it should either be because you have a connection to these consoles or you're just interested in the history aspect, in this case I'm the latter.
The collection is presented very well. The series of 5 timelines are a joy to go through, though to nitpick, the separation of systems means that it isn't one linear timeline, so for example one timeline may end in the mid 80's but the next will start back in the late '70s. I really enjoyed the amount of extra visual content such as advertisements and original artwork used for some games' front covers. The sheer volume of these is good evidence that a lot of love and effort was put into the collection.
The emulation is also fantastic, from the arcade games all the way up to the Jaguar with no notes, even on the Nintendo Switch. Digital Eclipse even went to the trouble of adding radial menus for some games that used the keypads found on the 5200 and Jaguar controllers. If I had to nitpick again, I wish you were shown what the controls were before starting each game, as they can vary wildly, especially for arcade games. Additionally, more than a single save slot for each game would've been nice.
The video documentaries are a mixed bag. At the start they do a fantastic job, talking to all the relevant people about the start of the company through the creation of the 2600 and are great viewing. However after the 2600, the amount of videos really starts to decline. Simply not enough time is spent talking about the Lynx and Jaguar especially, and this is also reflected in the choice and amount of games for these systems. It's also incredibly jarring to go from the last Jaguar games on the timeline almost straight to a seemingly completely irrelevant video interviewing the author of Ready Player One, for some reason?
Included alongside the original games is a small series of "Reimagined" games. These are what they say, new creations heavily inspired by existing games in the collection. These can range to just flat out remakes like the enhanced version of Yars' Revenge, to something pretty much brand new but inspired, like with the new version of Haunted House. These are a nice extra and are very well made but sadly none of these really held my interest.
As for the games, these are very much before my time and the amount of them that were genuinely fun to play is very few, but not zero. This is my personal opinion, and as mentioned if you have a personal connection with the 2600 and its first party stuff in particular you will probably enjoy the selection. Even so, the 2600 in particular has charm in its crude visuals and sound effects even if I didn't particularly enjoy any of its games. The selection is a bit mediocre (do we really need four versions of Missile Command?), there's some glaring omissions, such as any 2600 game made by Activision, but it's obvious as to why it isn't included and can be looked beyond. Activision are mentioned on the timeline too, so they did what they could.
Here are some games that I thought were genuinely quite fun even as a zoomer, or at least I thought were noteworthy, along with some reasons why:
Lunar Lander (Arcade, 1979) - Brutally difficult, but the objective is so simple that it becomes quite addicting. If I remember correctly, this was the first arcade game made by Atari to use vector graphics, and it works beautifully here, especially if the collection is played on an OLED screen.
Cloak & Dagger (Arcade, 1984) - Loosely based off a film of the same name that I haven't seen, this game really surprised me. The gameplay is a simple top-down shooter where you get to an exit, but the way it's presented is amazing. I absolutely adore the animations between levels and the idea of a huge bomb on each floor detonating if you take too long is a great gimmick. Plus giving basic hints between levels is a nice touch when many arcade games from this era could be very cruel.
Ninja Golf (7800, 1990) - A very simple golf game, but it switches to a beat 'em up when you have to run to where your ball lands. It sounds silly, and it very much is, but it's shockingly fun and I can't recommend it more.
Club Drive (Jaguar, 1994) - The visuals are impressive for the time, even if it's immediately outshined when you compare it to other systems that were around the corner. However, once you get past the questionable controls and car handling, the super relaxed presentation and focus away from racing others is a genuine breath of fresh air and it feels great. There isn't a whole lot of content but the variety of areas on offer is really sweet and the entire game just more than makes up for it in vibes.
Overall, the collection is incredibly well made but I'd say it's hard to recommend because to me personally there isn't a whole lot of games here that are worth playing for a decent amount of time and the documentary aspect is a bit mixed.