Games from the NES era and earlier (and those styled after them) do very well on mobile platforms, if only because modern controls schemes just aren't easily compatible with touchscreens. Activision isn't the first to bring their wide collection of ancient titles to Android, but theirs might just be the most complete. The brand new Activision Anthology amasses the most popular Atari 2600 games published by the gaming giant and its subsidiaries, crammed into a single app with an impressively nostalgic presentation.

The collection of 45 games is presented in a carousel surrounding what looks like my grandparents' den circa 1983. There's  only one game you can get for free - the rest come in packs of 11 that require a $2.99 in-app purchase, or you can get the whole kit and caboodle for $6.99. Before you reach for your pitchforks, I'll say that this isn't actually a bad deal - it wasn't so long ago that this sort of collection would come on a $30 CD-ROM, and Nintendo's been known to charge outrageous prices for digital versions of single games that are almost as old. If the likes of Pitfall and River Raid get your 8-bit blood pumping, it's a pretty fair price.

There are multiple control schemes for most games, and you can log into Facebook to share your high scores. But my favorite feature is the Manual section: Activision has scanned in all the old paper inserts from the Atari 2600 and included them for your perusal. The best part is that you can read through the manuals without buying the games, making Activision Anthology a free nostalgia trip for those who like that sort of thing. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to spend the next half hour pouring over the manual from Moonsweeper.

[EMBED_APP]https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.activision.anthology[/EMBED_APP]