Atari plans retro DS compilation

Atari is planning to release a compilation of ten classic arcade games for the Nintendo DS, the publisher announced this week, and expects to ship them under the banner of Atari Retro Classics as soon as March 15th in the USA. As with all things DS, there's no firm European release date at this time.

Developed by LA-based Taniko, the compilation features Pong, Missile Command, Asteroids, Breakout, Centipede, Tempest, Warlords, Gravitar, Lunar Lander and Sprint, and as well as original versions gamers will be able to tackle "tagged" versions featuring, somewhat inexplicably, boatloads of new background imagery from popular graffiti artists.

More interestingly, some of the games will also be updated to support the DS's unusual feature set, allowing for touch-screen control as well as the traditional combination of D-pad and face buttons, and multiplayer options that take advantage of the handheld's wireless networking as well as allowing two players to go at it on the same machine.

Taniko is still refining some of the touch controls and fiddling with the difficulty levels, according to early reports on the progress of the package, but early examples apparently use the touch-screen to display control panels that allow you to get whatever you're controlling, be it man, monster or spaceship, to bend to your whim.

You can see how some of the games are shaping up by checking out these screenshots.