It’s easy to think of Atari as a bit of an ancient, obsolete relic of old game studios. And while it’s true that the company has its roots so deeply embedded in its long and fruitful past, it has been doing some incredible work reminding everyone of its value to the industry in recent months. Closely following the release of the excellent Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration, we’ve got news around Jeff Minter’s next project, and this certainly looks exciting.
Minter’s Llamasoft is partnering with Atari for Akka Arrh, a game whose title isn’t the only quirky and strange thing about it. Akka Arrh might not be the household name of, say, Asteroids, but it was an experimental and now-incredibly rare project from the 80s that had apparently lost momentum for being too difficult and then just become a lost game.
Supposedly, after a bit of rummaging through old archives and memories, Atari and Llamasoft had decided to resurrect the Akka Arrh project and brandish its classic Minter-style comedy and psychedelic visuals to a larger-than-ever audience. Akka Arrh will follow the reimagined-retro game trend, retaining many of its original arcade-style features, while adding some modernised quality-of-life changes, such as the ability to save your progress throughout its 50 levels. Additionally, to compensate for its flashy colours and its generally dynamic psychedelic theme, there’s an option dedicated specifically to disable many of the over-the-top visual elements that may be off-putting or even seizure-inducing for some.
Llamasoft and Atari are planning to release the game sometime next year on the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Switch, and PC via Steam. If you’re interested in this release but hungry for more info, you can watch the upcoming title’s announcement trailer, above, which was uploaded to YouTube today by Atari.
Worth noting also that the original arcade prototype for Akka Arrh is playable in Atari 50, and it’s pretty fun! Minter’s take on it looks to be very true to the original, albeit with that trademark Minter psychedelic touch.