Iconic arcade and video game company Atari has revealed that it will be releasing another remastered title in its Recharged series, Gravitar: Recharged. The arcade sleeper hit was initially a financial failure before morphing into a cult classic, and will now be reimagined with new visuals and fresh music score.
Atari has long been a cornerstone of the video game industry with foundational games and hardware like Pong and the Atari 2600. Gravitar: Recharged is just the most recent in a string of titles designed to revamp classic arcade games. The likes of Asteroids, Black Widow, Missile Command, and Breakout have been brought to the modern age for consoles and PC. Now Gravitar: Recharged will join the remake lineup and land on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Atari VCS in May 2022.
When Gravitar first released in 1982 it was considered too difficult for casual arcade-goers, combining the combat of Asteroids with the gravity mechanics of Lunar Lander. It eventually found an audience with more dedicated gaming enthusiasts, and will now receive a new aesthetic alongside original music from composer Megan McDuffee, both of which are highlighted in the Gravitar: Recharged announcement trailer from Atari on YouTube. Just like the rest of the Recharged series, Gravitar: Recharged is made in collaboration with developers from Adamvision Studios and SneakyBox.
While Atari switches focus to PC and console games, the Recharged titles hope to profit off of nostalgia while properly modernizing the developer's decades-old products. Gravitar: Recharged abandons the vector graphics of the original arcade game, replacing them with a pastel-laden artstyle that appears at times as though it were painted. To the tune of McDuffee's soundtrack, players will conquer 24 separate missions as they travel across the galaxy, delving into black holes in an attempt to find a way home. Gravitar: Recharged now supports multiplayer, where two pilots have their ships tethered together while they navigate through obstacles. Each mission also supports global leaderboards so players can vie for top scores.
Atari blames Gravitar's initial failure on its difficulty, which may resonate with modern audiences who are familiar with challenging 2D games like Cuphead and Hollow Knight. There may also be a market for Gravitar: Recharged among those who purchased the niche and expensive Atari VCS, which already comes with the arcade and 2600 versions of the original Gravitar. Older gamers who fondly remember the heyday of arcades may be interested in Gravitar: Recharged, especially since it replaces the featureless black background with brightly colored cosmic vistas. The reimagined Atari classic 40 years in the making, Gravitar: Recharged, will be available just next month.
Source: Atari/YouTube