Atari has announced the next game coming from legendary game designer Jeff Minter who has been a part of the creation of nearly 100 games spawning almost every generation of console including Tempest 2000, Tempest 3000, and Tempest 4000 for Atari and Atari hardware. Akka Arrh is a hypnotic arcade wave shooter that encapsulates Minter’s sense of humor, his love of psychedelic color and light, and his ability to create pure arcade bliss. Atari says that Akka Arrh embodies his signature light-synth style and ability to craft a uniquely chaotic but extremely fun arcade experience. The game will be available for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Atari VCS in early 2023.
In Akka Arrh, players will experience a cascade of words, color, shapes and sound flows as they mount the Akka Arrh and fend off attackers. Players control from a fixed turret called the Sentinel as they prevent enemies from penetrating the Sentinel’s perimeter, zooming into close range combat and beat them back if they penetrate their defenses.
The game features two modes. Players can start from the beginning and battle their way through 50 unique levels. Players can also just pick up where they left off to power through to the end. Developer Llamasoft is known for its mind-blowing and vivid visual effects but knows that not everyone can’t play those types of games. With Akka Arrh, players can toggle the visual effects so they can be viewed to a more suitable level.
Akka Arrh is based on a arcade prototype that released in 1982 to a small test market. The game was scrapped due to complaints of the game’s difficulty. Only three Akka Arrh arcade cabinets are known to exist due to its exceptionally short production run. Now, players have the chance to experience not just one of Atari’s rarest games, but one of the rarest games of the arcade era!