Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration Gets First Update, Here Are The Full Patch Notes

Digital Eclipse has dropped the first patch for Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration on all platforms, which includes lots of bug fixes, gameplay tweaks, and menu additions.

The developer shared the update on the game’s Steam page (via Nintendo Everything), and while many of the tweaks are PC-specific, there are lots of little things for us retro enthusiasts on Switch to get excited about. The biggest one that caught our eye is that we can now access DIP switches from the Game Options menu for most arcade games. Also, Atari Jaguar’s Tempest 2000 will now be playable at 60 fps!

Here are the patch notes for Atari 50:

Hi everyone — the January 2023 title update for Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration is here! We’ve received a lot of helpful player feedback and we’ve tried to incorporate as many improvements as we could into this patch. Thanks for your patience and support!

REIMAGINED
– Eliminated rare VCTR-SCTR glitch and added minor improvements.
– Added various minor improvements to Haunted Houses.

ARCADE
– DIP switches can now be accessed for most arcade games at the Game Options menu. These will vary based on the game’s original options, but may include settings such as game difficulty, number of initial lives, bonus score thresholds, and screen orientation. (One exception is Akka Arrh, which did not use DIP switches.)
– Some arcade games have been enhanced with new options in their DIP Switch settings. For instance, Pong and Fire Truck offer color modes that were not available in the original arcade versions. Fire Truck can also be set to single-player mode, which more closely represents Atari’s Smokey Joe arcade machine.
– Fixed an error that caused the zoom function in I, Robot to function abnormally.
– Lunar Lander controls have been tweaked & standardized. Thrust is now mapped to the right analog stick (any direction) as well as the Nintendo Switch touch screen.
– Lunar Lander no longer automatically inserts an additional coin when the start button is pressed.
– Quantum no longer starts a two-player game by default on the Nintendo Switch.
– Food Fight controls have been fixed so Charlie retains his direction when the analog stick is released.

ATARI 2600
– Adventure game variation #3 correctly generates random item positions.
– A gameplay exploit has been removed from Warlords.
– Solaris’ Galactic Scanner can now be activated from Player 1’s controller.
– Restored missing pages of Swordquest: EarthWorld comic book.
– Minor improvements to the 2600 game variation selection system.

ATARI JAGUAR
– Tempest 2000 now supports analog controller input. This feature was hidden in the original game and intended to support an official rotary controller that was never released. This feature has now been surfaced and improved to function with modern controllers. Take it for a spin!
– Tempest 2000 now offers an “Enhanced & Overclock” mode that boosts the video to 60 FPS for a smoother experience on modern hardware.
– Cybermorph players can now use Access Codes at the level select screen.
– Club Drive players can now visit the secret level, Planet Todd.

ATARI LYNX
– Option 1 and Option 2 buttons now function as they should.
– Malibu Bikini Volleyball matches now end correctly.

MISCELLANEOUS
– Fixed a bug where timelines would sometimes improperly calculate completion percentage.
– Video segment durations are now listed on the timeline.
– 3D-modeled cartridge boxes now display correctly on ultrawide monitors.
– Improved OpenGL video performance.
– Implemented various other minor bug fixes and small refinements.
– Updated credits to thank even more people for their incredible help!

Some nice little updates there, we’re sure you can agree — Thrust being usable on the touch screen for Lunar Lander is pretty neat.

We’ve sung the praises of Atari 50 a lot, particularly during our Best Switch Games of 2022 celebrations. We think it’s the pinnacle of retro compilations, so more updates get us even more excited: