When Atari introduced the Gamestation Go, I didn’t anticipate to be this . Retro handhelds are all over the place proper now, and it feels as if there are extra Atari collections than precise video games. Actually, what number of repackaged variations of Pac-Man do we want? However this handheld console launch feels completely different. It’s not making an attempt to money in on nostalgia with a handful of ROMs; it’s a critical try to make Atari’s library playable, gratifying, and sensible in 2025. That’s why I’ve already pre-ordered mine.The Gamestation Go is due for launch 24 October and will likely be bundled with greater than 200 video games in-built, spanning the Atari 2600, 5200, 7800, and the arcade. You may get the titles everyone knows – Asteroids, Breakout, Missile Command, Tempest, Warlords – alongside licensed basic video games from Jaleco and PIKO Interactive. There’s even the addition of the Atari Recharged Sequence, which immediately makes this greater than a closed Atari shrine and one thing just a little extra expansive.What caught my eye most, although, is the design, which picks from present console tendencies and concepts and funnels them via Atari’s retro time tunnel. So we get additions like the unique Eighties trackball and paddle to play video games like Missile Command, the way in which David Theurer wished.
(Picture credit score: Atari)
Controls that respect the video games
Together with the paddle and trackball, the Gamestation Go includes a keypad, a D-pad, bumpers, and A/B/X/Y buttons, all in-built. The SmartGlow system lights up the precise controls you want for every sport, so that you by no means need to guess whether or not Centipede needs a paddle or a trackball.Personally, I like the addition of the trackball. It’s a function designed purely to let Atari’s growing old hits be performed the way in which they have been meant to be. Video games like Centipede, Marble Insanity, and Crystal Castles all demand that easy, brushed spinning movement, and having it constructed right into a handheld seems like a small miracle. It’s tactile, exact, and makes a world of distinction in contrast with making an attempt to approximate it on a D-pad.In actual fact, this new Atari console has the identical design really feel because the Sinclair GamerCard; each have a nostalgic soul and a clear, fashionable strategy to controls and kind. Each have the DNA of the unique design in-built and expanded upon for a brand new viewers.
(Picture credit score: Atari)
Constructed for now
Lots of retro handhelds get the nostalgia proper however the fundamentals improper. The Gamestation Go avoids that lure. It has a 7-inch color show, WiFi for updates, save choices, HDMI out for big-screen play, and USB-C for exterior controllers. There’s even a pop-out stand, and the rechargeable battery lasts about 4–5 hours.It’s not pretending to be a contemporary powerhouse. The Gamestation Go is not making an attempt to topple Nintendo Swap 2 or Steam Deck. As a substitute, it’s a tidy, versatile solution to revisit Atari’s historical past with out digging via cable piles, blowing into cartridges, or trying to determine easy methods to join growing old {hardware} to fashionable TVs – the Gamestation Go simply plugs in for large display screen Tempest.For me, that is private. I grew up enjoying House Invaders, cross-legged in entrance of a black-and-white TV, straining to make out the blocky shapes. The concept of revisiting these video games on a shiny color display screen, in consolation, seems like a full-circle second.I nonetheless haul my outdated Atari 2600 out of the loft to play Missile Command, nevertheless it’s at all times a precarious job, and the gamble that this time, the outdated console will not begin. The Gamestation Go saves me the difficulty, the identical video games, in sharp color, performed anyplace.
(Picture credit score: Atari)
If you wish to discover extra choices, learn my record of the most effective retro sport consoles for different methods to play basic video games. And for those who’re impressed to make as a lot as you play, take a look at our information to the most effective software program for sport improvement, as a result of a handheld like this would possibly simply rekindle the urge to construct your individual arcade classics.The Atari Gamestation Go launches in October 2025 for $179.99 / £134.90. It’s out there to pre-order now from GameStop, EB Video games, and Atari.com.This isn’t the most affordable handheld round, nevertheless it’s one of many few that feels prefer it’s been constructed with care. For as soon as, retro gaming isn’t about squinting on the previous. It’s about making these video games price enjoying once more, with the correct controls.
