Thank you Atari for sending us this game to review!

Quantum was a classic Arcade game from 1982 that I hadn't heard of before playing it on the Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration (review of that collection here. In that collection, a bunch of classic games are playable, as is the original Quantum. Quantum is a unique game, in that it's entirely non-violent, and also used a trackball along with vector graphics. The trackball control scheme converts over to mouse controls perfectly.

Quantum: Recharged is a fairly simple game, as was the original. You control a little ship, that resembles a large pointer. There are various atomic particles on the playing field, which you have to encircle and capture/destroy. In Recharged, they are sucked into any vortexes that you make by drawing a circle with your mouse or gamepad. In the original, you had to draw a circle (or oval, anything enclosed, really) around your target and then it disappeared. The gameplay is pretty similar, but in Quantum: Recharged, you can encircle them or draw a circle in the path they are going towards, and they will get sucked in. It's a really simple concept.

As you get farther in Arcade (or more likely, play harder and harder levels in Mission mode), new enemies show up on screen that have different behaviors. Some enemies follow their own path, others might seek you out, while some have more erratic behaviors that make them tougher to capture. Some only harm you through collision, while others shoot at you. There is decent enemy variety, and each type behaves a little differently, requiring careful positioning to keep from crashing into them or getting hit and running out of lives. As the game gets harder, more and more enemies show up, making quick thinking and well-placed loops to capture many enemies essential.

Out of the box, the game encourages you to use a controller, as the moves and some of the power-ups are based on a gamepad play style. For example, one button speeds you up, while another has you dash straight ahead quickly - quite useful, but it's locked behind a meter you drain while using, though it does recharge quickly. There is a power-up that lets you use it as many times as you like until it wears off. But, if you go into the options and enable direct mouse control, well, this is much, much better than any gamepad - but you probably won't make use of that upgrade very often, if at all. You also probably won't use the keyboard (or controller) much when using the mouse, unless you play two player, where only player one can play with a mouse, while player two needs a controller. Using direct input via a mouse is a massive advantage that shouldn't be ignored in a game like this, as it gets really difficult as the game ramps up and up.

Graphically, it uses a clean, sharp-looking modern vector graphics style, similar to many of the other Recharged titles. It looks really good, if a bit simple. The music is really good; all of the Recharged titles feature music from Megan McDuffee, and this one is no exception. The electronic beats are really catchy and fit the gameplay quite well.

From a technical standpoint, Quantum: Recharged itself plays fine, but I ran into a nasty bug twice that lost me all of my progress. If you play on Windows as well as Linux (or Steam Deck), I found that Steam Cloud would easily get confused, and I lost my progress twice. If you only play on one computer, I doubt it's a problem, whether that is a desktop or Steam Deck. But if you switch between them, be warned you might lose everything.

Morally, this game is quite clean. Some enemies shoot lasers or other shots at you, and if hit them or collide with other enemies you lose a life. Of course you capture enemies in your vortexes and they disappear.

Quantum: Recharged is fun, and moreso with a second player, but it's also really repetitive. There is a noticeable lack of variety in gameplay here, that I felt makes it fun to play for a few minutes, but less so for longer stretches. I felt like this game didn't do as good of a job making me want to keep playing as the other games in the Recharged series. It didn't help that I lost progress twice; no one wants to play a game that frustrates them. I wouldn't say Quantum: Recharged is a bad game; it's pretty fun, but just a bit repetitive. Recommended, but unless you're a die-hard fan of Quantum, I'd say the other Recharged titles are superior in my opinion.