Summary
Video game preservation is tough. With the way formats change so frequently old titles often become unplayable. Then there is the documentation of a game’s development that is even harder to keep track of sometimes. The games below all do a great job of becoming museums themselves to preserve and help history live on.
Even if the games included in the virtual museums are no longer fun or feel outdated to modern players, the actual museum experience makes it worth the price of admission. A couple of entries on this list take a different approach. Instead of being a museum honoring video game history, they are museums about different topics that use the medium to reach new audiences.
6Atari 50th Anniversary Collection
Gives Context To Understanding Why All These Games Are So Important, Even If They Don’t All Hold Up Perfectly
Compilations of Atari games are nothing new and have been coming out since the 90s. The Atari 50th Anniversary Collection goes above and beyond all other collections by including interviews and documentation around many of the releases featured in the title. This is not just talking about theAtari 2600, either. Games all the way up until the 1990s are playable in this collection.
For anybody who never put their hands on an Atari console or played any of these games, it is a great way to experience these titles and learn about their place in history. By themselves, most of these games might only provide a few minutes of entertainment, but putting them into the context of this museum makes them all the more memorable. Another highlight of the package are the interviews with developers who were inspired by Atari like Tim Schafer and Cliff Bleszinski.
5The Making Of Karateka
Few reading this might have known about Karateka beforeThe Making of Karatekacame out, but they might be more interested to know it comes from game designer Jordan Mechner, who would go on to createPrince of Persia.The Making of Karatekacomes from Digital Eclipse, who also did theAtari Anniversary Collection.
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This time, players get to see the same care and attention of that went into preserving Atari games poured into one title. Players get a timeline of the game’s development along with numerous documents and drawings regarding the production. A remastered version of the game is included here along with the designer’s prior title,Deathbounce.
4The Document Of Metal Gear Solid 2
A Comprehensive Look At Everything That Went Into 2001’s Metal Gear Solid 2: The Sons Of Liberty
Metal Gear Solid Master Collectionis a fairly comprehensive package, despite the complaints around the remastering effort of the games themselves. There are scripts for every title as well as virtual books detailing the way the lore connects all the games. It misses the extreme deep dive that isThe Document of Metal Gear Solid 2, however. In this release, players can look into every nook and cranny ofMetal Gear Solid 2’sdevelopment.
Character models, concept art, and even the ability to watch every cinematic and freely control the camera make this a must-have for any fan of the 2001stealth-action title. A highlight is the original design document which details numerous scrapped ideas even more audacious than what made it into the finished game.
3Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Cowabunga Collection
The Games Hold Up Well, And The Design Documents Are Things Fans Never Thought They’d See
Licensed games usually get the short end of the stick when it comes to re-releases and remasters. This is what makes theCowabunga Collectionso surprising.It contains 13 separate gamesalong with the Japanese versions of all the ones that had one.
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The museum aspect comes into full play with the ability to look at numerous design documents for each game. The best part is that many of these games actually hold up really well.Cowabunga Collectionwas also developed by Digital Eclipse, so it is pretty miraculous that Konami was open enough to share all this information with the developer to make this title possible.
Any player who is more intoAssassin’s Creedfor the historical aspects rather than the larger-than-life story is probably going to be more interested in theDiscovery Tour Modethan the mainline titles. These are purchasable as standalone titles on the PC but console gamers need to have the base game first and buy it as an add-on.
This is a purely educational mode, where players go around the map and learn about the historical aspects of the area, including details about daily life. So far,Discovery Touris available forAssassin’s Creed Origins, Odyssey,andValhalla.
Voices of the Forgottenis a Holocaust Museum withinFortniteand the brainchild of Luc BernardIt. Players enter it and learn about the tragic events of the genocide. Though players can enter it with any avatar of their choosing, they cannot engage in combat or use emotes, as the purpose of location is purely educational.
On paper, it can seem like a bad idea to mix Holocaust education with video games, but another perspective is it is a great way to reach out to young audiences who might ignore other forms of education.Voices of the Forgottenomits the more graphic imagery to still fall in line withFortnite’spolicies, but it serves as a unique educational tool nonetheless.
