Some older games simply don't play as well on the PSP as they do on other hardware (such as, maybe, an arcade cabinet). Centipede and Millipede require tall screens, so they're presented on the PSP vertically. That makes it hard to find any button that works well to fire. Asteroids (and Deluxe) control terribly for no obvious reason. The pad simply never feels as comfortable as it should when it comes to moving to fire in a different direction. Lastly, games like Super Breakout, which used to have a rotating paddle as a controller and used to be addictive fun, never feel right on any modern controller.

But the good news is that Tempest, Pong and Warlords are all very good fun. Pong holds up amazingly well, particularly with some new background noise. Tempest is clearly a timeless concept, because even without the new graphics it's just as addictive as any modern arcade shooter. And Warlords offers two players the chance to fight it out just like the old days at the arcade - although four players would have been better, and each player needing their own copy of the game is a bit of a downer.

Collections of older games usually offer lots of nice bits of nostalgia that last only a few minutes. Some of the games in Atari Classics Evolved all into this category and definitely wear thin quickly. But others make this budget title easily worth it - provided you liked the original game in the first place.