Most people claw their mitts around a gamepad when playing games. One controller rules them all, with a D-pad, buttons, thumbsticks and triggers. But life wasn’t always so tidy. Early arcades were a mad lab of experimentation – a mess of oddball controls while everyone figured out what ‘standard’ could be.
Take Defender. This hard-as-nails sideways scrolling Space Invaders had a stick that only went up and down, along with a bevvy of buttons for thrust, fire, reverse, smart bomb and hyperspace. Meanwhile, Tempest had you spin a dial to whirl a spaceship around 3D vector webs, while Centipede’s trackball sent your Bug Blaster skittering at speed around a back garden of doom. And that’s before you even consider steering wheels and yokes.
All of which caused problems when translating arcade fare to home consoles. Atari initially dabbled with joysticks and paddles, but the former won out and dominated the 8-bit era. Commercial realities meant most games typically – and disappointingly – had to awkwardly conform to that single controller type, rather than creators having the freedom to make each experience bespoke. Later, the joystick was dethroned by the gamepad, and that’s where we are today. Doubly so on handhelds, where few venture beyond the traditional array of controls. Until now.
Spin doctor
Never again lose your controls after night falls.
My Arcade’s Atari Gamestation Go ($179.99) rethinks Atari’s arcade legacy for the home in an entertainingly literal sense. And it’s bonkers. The device is the size of a Switch, complete with a kickstand, HDMI out, and all the usual controls. But it’s also got a spinner. And a trackball. And a number pad. To which you might say WHAT? Quickly followed by WHY? And that’s when I might suggest you haven’t been paying attention. Because, again, games designed for specific control setups work best when they’re not then turned into square pegs being smashed into round holes.
The Atari Gamestation Go’s game selection is less unusual – mostly a grab bag from Atari’s history. It in many ways echoes the Atari Hyper Mega Tech Super Pocket. But while titles like Centipede and Tempest feel cumbersome with a D-pad, they sing when played using their intended controls. Heck, even crusty old Atari 2600 paddle games are enjoyable again when an analogue spinner replaces a D-pad. And while the Gamestation Go isn’t perfect – the trackball’s too twitchy and the spinner’s a tad stiff – I was properly grinning while playing the bundled classics. Mostly.
Extra life?
Running (legally downloadable – so there) NES ROM Alter Ego.
I say mostly because the Atari Gamestation Go has issues. The console’s ‘SmartGlow’ system helpfully lights up relevant controls for each game, so you don’t have to guess, but the screen is merely OK. There are loads of games, but their presentation is occasionally rough: Tempest’s vectors look like they’ve been fed through a shredder, and the Atari Pac-Man runs at a very weird aspect ratio. Although if the latter puts you off, that’s arguably for the best.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment, though, isn’t My Arcade’s fault. An undocumented and unofficial feature lets you load your own games via a micro SD card. But with the exception of Atari 2600 paddle efforts, they all stick resolutely to the D-pad and buttons. So my dream of a proper handheld Marble Madness with trackball controls was dashed. Bah.
Still, most niggles here are down to software. With control remapping, better scaling, and extra (paid, even) game packs, the Atari Gamestation Go could be amazing. Whether it’ll get there, who knows? These units can be ‘fire and forget’. So, for now, I’m intrigued by the most creative handheld since the Playdate – the rough equivalent of an AtGames Legends in my hands. But I hope it’ll get the updates that’d let me wholeheartedly recommend it. And then a follow-up that somehow bolts on a steering wheel and a yoke, obviously.
