This was way before my time but Atari is bringing back Akka Arrh, an arcade game that was canceled due to its level of difficulty.
The original Akka Arrh cabinet used a trackball to target enemies, as the player controls the Sentinel fixed in the center of the screen to fend off waves of incoming attackers. Surrounding the Sentinel is an octagonal field, which you need to keep clear; if enemies slip in, you can zoom in to fend them off before panning back out to fend off the rest of the wave. Given the simplicity of most games in the early 1980s, it’s unsurprising this relative complexity led to poor test-group screenings.
Since Atari pulled the plug on the arcade version before its release, only three Akka Arrh cabinets are known to exist. But the Minter collaboration isn’t the game’s first public availability. After an arcade ROM leaked online in 2019, Atari released the original this fall as part of its Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration collection.
Such a shame it won’t be officially available on any arcade cabinets but it will be available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and Atari VCS early next year.
(via Engadget)
