Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The immediate pleasure here is discovery. You can start with a commercial game, detour into freeware, then try an unfinished project, and each switch resets your expectations. That makes the compilation easy to browse in short bursts, especially if you enjoy finding out which unfamiliar Atari game has more staying power than its name suggests.

It is also unavoidably uneven. ABC, Cyborg, Ketchup, Magic of Words, Max, Neuroid, Tekblast, and the Sexy Six material sit beside smaller freeware titles including Liner!, ATASCII Squash, Fake Frogger!, and Mustak Hunters. A bundle built from releases with such different origins is not going to deliver the steady rhythm of a deliberately paced modern anthology. You will spend time sampling, abandoning, and returning rather than settling into a single campaign.

That can become frustrating if you want immediate clarity about where to invest your time. Mr. Proper is explicitly unfinished, while the Sexy Six data disks are extensions rather than clean standalone starting points. Treat this as a playable archive, not a greatest-hits disc: give each item a fair few minutes, follow the games that earn another session, and do not feel obliged to finish every file.

Graphics

There is no single look tying these games together, because this is a multi-game Atari 8-bit collection rather than one authored adventure. The most concrete visual extra is the set of original cover scans, which is a nice companion piece when you want the package to feel like more than a folder of game files.

Story

There is no shared story running through Sikor Soft *.ATR & *.XEX Goodies. Its connection is the publisher and the platform, not a common cast, world, or dramatic arc, so you should not come in expecting one title to lead naturally into the next.

That absence is not really a flaw, but it changes how you engage with it. Each game has to earn your attention on its own terms, and the compilation’s momentum comes from contrast: a new title, a new premise implied by the name, then another change of pace.

The bonus material adds a little historical texture without turning the disc into a narrative package. The SAP music files, MP3s, and cover scans are better thought of as memorabilia around the games than as chapters in a larger story.

Overall Experience

This is a niche compilation with a strong reason to exist: it gathers commercial work, freeware, add-on disks, and an unfinished game under one roof. That breadth is more valuable to a curious Atari enthusiast than it is to someone simply chasing the best possible action or tactics game.

The payoff comes from embracing its messiness. You may not love every program, and some entries will feel more like historical curiosities than long-term favorites. Still, the act of poking through a publisher’s varied output has its own charm, particularly when one of the lesser-known files unexpectedly becomes the game you keep loading.

Buy or seek it out if you enjoy preservation-minded collections and can supply your own patience. Skip it if you need a polished, unified recommendation with one obvious place to start. Sikor Soft *.ATR & *.XEX Goodies is a cabinet of Atari odds and ends, and its best moments come from opening one more drawer.

Retro Replay Score

6/10