Barring a last second announcement from anyone else, we appear to have our final arcade release of 2025. Alan-1 has begun shipping out the arcade version of Atari’s Gravitar: Recharged to interested parties. Let’s take a look.
Gravitar – A Brief History
The original Gravitar was designed by Mike Hally, released by Atari in August 1982. As a unique variation on their uber-popular Asteroids, it gained notoriety as one of the most difficult arcade games ever produced. The game received no sequel, either at home nor coin-op, until 2022 when the present-day Atari released Gravitar: Recharged for modern consoles. As it was a color vector game, only the Atari 2600 saw a port, with others coming much later as a part of arcade compilation packs.
Where Alan-1 worked out a deal with Atari to bring the ten Recharged titles to arcades, Gravitar: Recharged marks the third release in the series, following Asteroids: Recharged in Nov. 2024 and Missile Command: Recharged this past July.
Gravitar: Recharged
Like their other two Recharged titles, Alan-1 has worked to redesign the game* so it works better in arcades. The basics are similar to the original – fly a spaceship around a solar system “land” on planets and complete the objective, collect fuel, and fight gravity the whole time. It’s a little more like a console game in that you’re exploring planets and fighting occasional enemies, instead of non-stop action like Asteroids or Missile Command.
What has changed from the home edition? Like with the other Recharged Arcade titles, a few things. There is less here to change than on those others, but we have:
- A reduced difficulty curve + select your difficulty at the beginning
- An optional tutorial
- The addition of extensive voice overs
- Certain sounds used from the original game (such as the tractor beam)
- Restoring the vector outline around terrain objects
- Rescuing stranded astronauts w/ point bonuses for more rescued
- Scaling/zoom effects in the solar system
- Automatic planet landing if you take too long
- A tethered-effect used in Atari’s Space Duel for two player
- Changes to how shots work to be more in-line with the original
- Integration with Alan-1’s Major League eSports (MLeS) app for score tracking, tournaments
- New achievements
- Ticket redemption support
- “Hall of Champions” game ending
*I have been involved in the development to a degree in playtesting and making recommended changes to the game, along with several other people. Not everyone’s recommendations were implemented. Alan-1 did not pay for this post.
There is also the game cabinet, which uses the same form factor as previous titles, sharing the same control layout as Asteroids: Recharged (five buttons: rotate left/right; Tractor/Shield; Fire; Thrust).
The “Pro” model comes with black T-molding and fans, while the “Pro+” model comes with dynamic RGB LED T-molding, two rumble motors, an internal pinball knocker, and cup holders.
The two models are MSRP’d at $4999 & $5999, respectively, and can be purchased from one of Alan-1’s distributors. A Media Kit for this game can be accessed here.
Also of note, this had been mentioned, but Alan-1 also began shipping the Atari PONG Mechanical Coffee Table this month. They will begin shipping the commercial 2-player table next quarter (possibly next month).
What do you think about this one?
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