Atari is one of the oldest game companies out there with a ton of history. After a few decades of a downswing, Atari is now doing some really amazing work by bringing back a wide variety of classic titles that people wouldn’t expect. At Summer Game Fest this year, we got to spend some time with Atari learning about their upcoming slate of games. We learned of unexpected upcoming collections for Barbie and Toy Story. Then, we got to go hands on with remasters of Thief: The Dark Project and Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee. Both games retain their classic feel while seeing some pretty good improvements, and look better than fans remember them.

Thief: The Dark Project Remastered

First, we got to go hands on with Thief: The Dark Project Remastered. The iconic 1998 stealth game returns this winter and it combines the original game along with the the Gold expansion. The demo we played had us going through an early section of the game that taught us the mechanics of the game. We got to experiment with distracting guards, how to use the different arrow types, how to really be sneaky, and even a tad bit of combat. It was so interesting to see how much this game was doing nearly thirty years ago.  You have to move bodies into the shadows so guards don’t find them and look for you. You use water arrows to take out the torches scattered about to increase places to hide in the dark, and you have to pay attention to the type of floor you’re walking on too! The new version of the game sees quality of life updates including a weapon and tool wheels making it easier to switch between items. Thus, it brings the original game to mostly modern standards while retaining what made it so unique at the time when it first released.

Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered

The second game we got to go hands on with was Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered. The original 2002 game is not only one of the most iconic Godzilla games, but also one GameCube’s most iconic ones. This remaster teleported me back to my childhood when I would visit my cousin and we we play this all night. The remastered designs look so much better than what I remember them being when I played the original game over two decades ago. The demo we played was only the multiplayer, but the remaster will still have the game’s campaign where you can take any of the kaiju and level them up throughout the story. The matches are still a lot of fun with all the environmental destruction and wild attacks you can perform. The remaster will also feature plenty of other gameplay and quality of life updates as well. Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered is set to launch later this year on November 3, 2026.