Atari 5200 Guy

Nintendo's shock of announcing a miniature NES with 30 games built-in a few weeks before I wrote this article seems to have been met with mixed feelings. With all of the clone systems on the market based on the original NES, that perform well but might have mistakes here and there like a few colors wrong or sounds not quite right, it makes one wonder why Nintendo didn't think of it sooner. After all, Atari, ColecoVision, Intellivision, and Sega, have had remakes of their consoles on the market for a while now. So, with so much love for the NES by the people that remember it, enjoy it, treasure it, why the mixed feelings? For the most part the NES Classic has been getting positive feedback already. However no one has seen the thing in action yet so I can only imagine what others are thinking. Is it possible that Nintendo would go out of their way to produce a product that is not 100% accurate in what it is trying to mimic? I really don't think so. Nintendo's reputation will be on the line with this product as the NES remains one of the most popular consoles today. The NES still has a rather large fan base and for good reason as many of its games were revolutionary and a step forward from the games Atari, Mattel, and Coleco were bringing to the console market. Mega Man, Castlevania, Mario Bros., and Zelda have continued on for many generations long after their initial NES debut. And that only touches all the game titles the NES is famous for. If one plays those games long enough it becomes common to build expectations of what the game is "suppose" to do. Mario should change to a red and white outfit when he picks up a fire flower. What would happen if that color scheme was off? Or try this...hum a few bars of the Super Mario Bros. theme. Go on ahead...I'll wait. . . . . . OK, time's up. Now imagine that same theme that is played too fast or too slow. Basically, place a 45 RPM record on a turntable and play it at 33 RPM or 78 RPM. Yea...some emulators have been known not to be 100% accurate in this department when emulating the NES hardware. It's also been true with the flashback consoles made by ATGames. One thing to realize is that, no matter how well received a Nintendo product has been received, Nintendo has always put quality in their hardware. And since the introduction of the GameCube Nintendo has been revamping the NES games slowly like Metroid on Metroid Prime as an example. So if any company has had experience in emulating their own products it would have to be Nintendo. And it is possible that the NES Classic is going to be emulated but it might also be using real hardware or the same virtual console found on the Wii and Wii U. Just for the games alone the Nintendo NES Classic is worth the $60 price tag. If a collector, gamer, what have you, were to hunt down those games in their original cartridge form, just the carts, any two of the games in the 30-game list would easily cost $60 depending on where you looked. Mega Man 2 alone can fetch $40 or more. And only the most popular NES games seemed to make the list, too. So you have literally hours upon hours of gaming, good, wholesome, quality gaming, in one little package. Once again, though, if anything is even slightly off, it can ruin the whole deal. So I really hope that Nintendo does the original NES and the 30 games they have included justice. As for now the NES Classic is scheduled for a November 11th release and I am excited for it. I already have money set aside to pick one up on release date and will do another review on it once I get it. In the meantime I'd like to hear your thoughts on Nintendo's surprise console. (Image used: http://www.nintendo.com/nes-classic )

I'm actually interested in this. I am not interested in what it does but what it has. For $60 you are getting 30 games, most of which are hard to come by these days without having to take out a bank loan. For the Castlevania titles and Mega Man 2 games alone the $60 pays for itself. Connect this to your Wii Remote and you can play these games on your Wii or Wii U through the virtual console. Even if it is non-functioning the NES shape would not be the same if the cart door outlines were missing. My only question is how did they get the licensing from all those companies and still manage to keep the price low? Another thing I can also understand is the missing ports to use original NES accessories. Think about it. HDMI for modern TVs. That alone tells you that you will need a HDTV to play this thing. HDTVs can't use the light gun (I know the name of the gun but that key on my computer keyboard don't work for some reason) so there was no point in attempting that route. Likewise R.O.B. uses the same setup so it wouldn't be of any use either. I think most would agree that if you look at the games included alone, tried to find those loose for the original NES, and you will see just how much you will be saving. Would you rather spend $60 for 30 games or $60 for two games, maybe three if you're lucky? I'm going to give it a shot. I've already got money set back for one and I am planning on picking up two of them...one to play and one to remain unopened. It's about time Nintendo did this and I hope they will do the same with the Super NES sometime.

My first Atari was the 5200 on its initial release. It was a gift for Christmas...but Santa left the system on Mom's coffee table. Between four and five in the morning I had to navigate, in the dark, past that table without waking anyone up, to reach the bathroom. I tripped over the cords to the 5200, fell to the floor, slung it and the controller under the TV. Yes, under...Mom's TV was an RCA that stood on four legs and have a full stereo built in the top under sliding wood panels. I didn't seem to hurt anything and spent the next three hours or so playing Super Breakout. Opening gifts later revealed Space Invaders, Galaxian, and I believe Missile Command. Great memories for sure.

I know that anything coming from Lance will be top-notch. I have been dealing with him since 1998 without any issues. I do wonder how these controllers slipped by me? I can say that the Grip Stick is a much needed accessory for the ProSystem.

There was a lot done with the VCS they said couldn't be done. It might seem primitive but it has done a lot.

Now that's hilarious! LOL. I had both versions and they are good games. I guess I'm just more partial to the 5200 port. I did like the 8-bit version when you hit the wrong key. "What's wrong?", would pop up on the screen.

Strapped inside the cockpit of your starship, looking out into space, you see a star moving. After a few seconds of watching, the star turns into an enemy Basestar...and it has sent out its best starfighters to destroy you. Red alarms start to go off as your radar shows the enemy attempting to out flank you. An enemy starfighter appears right in your line of sight. You take the shot by firing your photon torpedoes. A direct hit!! Somehow you managed to miss the fire of another starfighter, which has started to come back at you again, while taking down the first starfighter. You line up the enemy in your crosshairs and fire. Seconds seem like minutes waiting to see if your aim was good. Another direct hit! The only thing to do now is to destroy that Basestar. You increase your engine speeds. Within seconds the Basestar is in your crosshairs and firing its weapons at you. You send blast after blast of photon torpedoes, some shots missing while others are hitting their target, until the Basestar explodes. With the area cleared you look at your Galactic Map and head for another sector with more approaching enemies. Your adventure in Star Raiders has just begun full force. Appearing first on the Atari 400 and 800 home computers, the 5200 received one of Atari's most enduring and engaging space battle games ever created. For its time the game was way more advanced than any arcade game on the market and was one of the first space games that concentrated more on strategy than anything else. Star Raiders on the 5200 is absolutely brilliant. While it may not push the capabilities of the system to its limits it does make full use of the 5200's analog controls and immerses the player into a space battle they will not soon forget. Compared to the simplistic style of Atari's joysticks on the home computers, and 2600 for that matter, the 5200's controls in Star Raiders allow for precise movement to help the player line up their shot. The more the joystick is moved in any direction the more the ship moves. The movement is very fluid like but effective and in the player's favor. Of course the game does pause when you need to take a break for whatever reason and Reset will take you back to the Mission Select screen where you can challenge the game at various difficulty settings. Where the game can get complicated is with the keypad controls. This is the only game I am aware of that places the keypad on double duty. In SPEED MODE the keypad buttons correspond to the ship's traveling speed. For example; button 1 sets the starship's speed at 1. In CONTROL MODE the keypad becomes a mini-computer and control console. This is where the heart of Star Raiders lies. From view settings to setting shields and tracking controls to viewing the Galactic Map and activating Hyperspace to warp to other sectors are all done at the press of the corresponding button on the controller keypad. The keypad controls may take some time to get use to but once they are learned the game becomes easier to navigate. The manual included with Star Raiders is a 35-page manual with only one page dedicated to a high score recording table. The rest is all about playing the game. This easily makes it the most documented instruction manual of any 5200 game, period. A lot of work went into making sure that not only did the game play good but that the player had enough information to learn how to play the game. Nothing was left out. Atari went so far as to tell how the score is calculated in the game. Star Raiders is one of those games that set a new standard and could easily be declared one of the first space-style first-person shooters. The game play in Star Raiders is so intense, engulfing, enticing, and engaging, that after one round it's hard to avoid playing another round. Star Raiders, win or lose, leaves the player feeling satisfied. If it sounds like I am placing game above all others then you, my dear reader, would be correct. You see, Star Raiders was one of the first titles I would pick up after the holiday season I got my 5200. At 7 years old I was kicking Zylon butt. For years I played this game more than any other until during a move it got lost. I managed to find one, new in the box, about 5 years or so ago. And I was overly excited. Star Raiders, unlike any other game, has been, and remains, my all-time favorite console video game. I like Mario, I enjoy Sonic, and I like my NES and love my Dreamcast, but Star Raiders on the 5200 is my main game. I've had the 8-bit version as well and, while it is essentially the same game, I prefer the analog controls on the 5200. So for those that have wondered about this game before, and have never played it, try to pick one up new in the box. I know their are new copies still available somewhere. I mention new in box because you really need the keypad overlays and you might even need the instructions if you are new to this game. This game is a blast to play and I believe that fans of shumps are going to enjoy this ride. Grab your 5200 controller, a sandwich and drink, and strap yourself in for one heck of a ride. Then join the rest of us Star Raiders in freeing the galaxy of unwanted Zylon scum! Welcome to the fleet, Cadet, and good luck! You're going to need it.

To be honest, I didn't not know of any MK3 game coming to the Jaguar. The only games I remember seeing advertised the most were the exclusives it got, arcade remakes (the 2000 series including Tempest), and ports of aging PC titles. Granted it was an awesome console but I really believe the console could have pulled off so much more. I'm not saying it didn't get any good games but titles like Club Drive really show just how erratic the game library was. I'm glad that it did get Raiden...that was a much needed title. I believe if they could have got developers like Midway to sign up the system might have had a better standing.

I personally don't think the 2600 Pac-Man is a total loss...it's just not Pac-Man to me. At least back then it wasn't but now I can accept it as the 2600's Pac-Man. As I've mentioned on my blog on this site I had the 5200 so I missed out on what was going on with the 2600. This was one game I didn't miss, however, because a neighbor down the road got it and invited me over to play it. I already had the 5200 Pac-Man and was use to it before I laid eyes on the 2600 Pac-Man. I have to admit I was disappointed and confused with what the 2600 received. I guess in the back of my mind I was thinking, "If Atari could pull off Pac-Man on the 5200 why couldn't they do something better than this?" Over 30 years later and this game is still being talked about as well as getting play time. SO that means that Atari's Pac-Man on the 2600 is not all that bad. Maybe they should have called it K.C. Munchkin!

@RickR: yep...I got Tempest complete in box from AtariAge when I won a $50 gift card. So...maybe I ought to say if any Atari.IO members get/have 5200 stuff they don't like or want, working or not, let me know. I will give them a home...gladly.

Do you think that Atari might have rushed this just like they did with ET? It does feel like a rushed project.

Naa...ET just needs a big ol' gun from Doom!

But then you would never find the flower for an extra life

OK. Let's see. Pick Axe Pete, speedway, Dynasty, KC Munchkin, Alpine Skiing, & Sub Chase sound like a good starting lineup. Whatcha think?

That makes me a rich kid . Thank for the info. It helps.

Hi Atari.IO Members!! I'm thinking about picking this one up to add to my collection because it's not an expensive system and games are not very many and cheap. I am not sure when I will get one but I am closer to getting one than any other system at the moment. If I find a decent Lynx I'll go that route instead. However, I've never had an O2 before so it would be completely new to me. With that said... What should I know about The Magnavox O2 (advantages/disadvantages)? What are your top 5 favorite games for the system? Ready? GO!!

I have this new in box but I have been hesitant in opening it hoping I can get it autographed someday. But I might have to change that thought.

When I was gifted E.T. for the 2600, very much brand new as in never-been-opened new, for my birthday just days before writing this review I couldn't have been happier. E.T. was one of my favorite childhood memories and I still enjoy that movie to this day. I must have seen that movie five times during its first release in the theaters. Then I seen the game on store shelves for the 2600. Bummer! I had a 5200. And why didn't my system get an E.T. game? I was blind to what was happening because I was a 5200 owner. For me Atari was the king of video games and E.T. was the most awesome-est movie period. For some 2600 owners, unknowingly to me, Atari plus E.T. equaled disaster. I would not discover E.T. on the 2600 until 1988 after I picked up a used 2600 with a ton of games from a classmate for $10. Even during the Nintendo Entertainment System's power on the gaming public anything Atari still caught my attention even if it was used. Once I got it home I tried that E.T. game I never got to before. The only problem was that it was only the cartridge I had, there were no instructions on how to play. As hard as I tried to figure out the game I simply didn't understand what I was suppose to do. So, I played some Space Invaders instead. E.T. for the 2600 would go on to be declared one of the worst games in video game history while I would try time and time again to figure it out. Fast forward close to the present, to the time the legendary Atari Landfill was discovered and digging had commenced to see what that tomb had in it. I'm sure most know what all came out of that landfill by now. I even shed a tear mostly from think about all those products that Atari simply destroyed that could have been donated and used as a tax write off. Not long after that I did some research on E.T. and found that there was a guide on the internet dedicated to beating the game. As far as I know there wasn't many Atari games that got that sort of attention. My interest in this game had been ignited again. This time I downloaded an emulator to play the game. After a few short plays I was astounded at what was pulled off in 5 weeks time. E.T. for the 2600 gets bad reviews it really doesn't deserve. It was a first for capturing the main plot of a movie and turning it into a playable video game. It was also a first in expanding on the adventure game genre by involving every element in the game in one way or another. And if you think about it, the map on E.T. for the 2600 has to be learned so the player will know where they are going so they don't get lost. In some ways this game also has RPG elements because, much like an RPG, each single-screen location acts like a grid with each grid spot holding specific game functions. Early RPGs did this for allowing enemy confrontations. So, in lots of ways, E.T. set new standards in how some game genres were programmed and developed. If you don't quite understand what to do in the game since it is understood that many copies of E.T. are loose and without documentation, I would like to share a link to a guide that is solely for E.T. on the 2600. I hope it will help future 2600 gamers who have this game to become engulfed in what it really has to offer. E.T. for the 2600 is not the worst video game ever made. On the contrary is should be up there with some the 2600's best highlights. As for glitches, while E.T. does have some there are lots of modern day games that have glitches worse than E.T. ever thought of having. E.T. for the 2600...it's an A-plus game in my book. Link To How To Win At E.T. - The Video Game

I wouldn't want so much for a more modern 8-bit computer. I have an XL and I still say it does better than most modern computers, tablets, and smartphones. I don't have an OS constantly looking over my shoulder and saying what I can and can't do. If I was to want something it would be a way to connect that XL to a modern online connection. I don't necessarily want Google, Facebook, Twitter, or such online places but maybe a modern internet connection where I can visit, or go so far as to create, a bulletin board and chat with other Atari owners. At least this way I wouldn't have to worry about malware and viruses. So...for me I would want, as an accessory, an 10/100 NIC/Ethernet communications device for my Atari XL. That would be the only thing I could think of. Well...that and a CD-ROM.

I remember being four years old and being at the bowling alley with my Mother and discovering Space Invaders for the first time. Years later when the 2600 made its way to our local Wal-Mart, and even had a demo unit set up, I discovered that I could play that game at home. I asked for that Atari machine and that game for a few Christmases and birthdays but never did get it. I did end up with an Atari by 1982 but it wasn't the 2600. Space Invaders was the sole reason why I wanted a 2600, no other game mattered to me at that time. I'm sure I would have enjoyed any other game but Space Invaders was "my" game. I would not see this Space Invaders until after Nintendo dominated the video game market and those "old" Atari consoles with piles of games would show up at yard sales for an average of $10. Space Invaders is the first home port of an arcade game that was licensed. It was also the first arcade port ever made that I am aware of for any home console. While it wasn't entirely just like the arcade it captured everything that made the arcade Space Invaders very likable. It was also a little more forgiving, allowing the player to build and improve their skills with the game. I know of a few 2600 owners during my childhood years talk about wear out a controller or two playing this game alone. Atari's Space Invaders also does something the arcade doesn't...steps it up a few notches by giving creative ways to change the game. Seriously, try some of the other game variations if you never have like enemy fire that not only comes raining down but also in the direction the player's ship is. Do you really want a challenge? Try the variation where the invaders are completely invisible. Be sure to keep your best controller away for a while because the game play can get intense! Space Invaders on the 2600 is a good game. It's such a common title by today's collectors and Atarians that you will most likely see a copy of Space Invaders in their library of games. It is also one of the top 100 game picks by Atari gamers according to Atari2600(dot)com. And for good reason if that is true. This game would easily make a top 10 list in my book. If you are new to the 2600 pick this game up along with it or make sure it is in the collection of games if your 2600 find comes with games. You don't want to miss this game!

I have to admit when I seen this PacMan for the first time I already had the 5200 and its port of our dot munching friend. So I laughed and shook my head in disbelief. It made me like my 5200 just that much more. Today that horrible Pac-Man has really stood the test of time. While it is nothing like the arcade in any way it still gets playtime even if it is for bad reviews. I find myself playing it now and then to try to find some good in it. It does allow for a relaxed style of game play.

Naaa..the 7800 did Ballblazer better.

Out of all the video games Atari produced it seems that Pac-Man for the 2600 has been blamed, almost entirely, for the start of the video game crash that happened during the early 1980's. It is also marked as one of the worst games made in video gaming history. By now most Atari 2600 owners, new and vets, know what this game is like so there really is no need to dig into how the game play actually is. But hopefully this little blog post will put the game in a different perspective to where the game is not entirely to blame. Yes, for a short while this game will get a bit of the spotlight. At least I'm going to try. As most Atari.IO members here might remember from one of my posts, I received three brand new, unopened, 2600 games for Christmas in 2015. One of those games was an original Asteroids. I opened it up because it felt really heavy and I knew the cartridge and instructions were not that heavy to begin with. Inside was an Atari catalog which was a nice surprise as I love that classic reading material. It gives an idea of what it was like to own the 2600 and what Atari was up to in supporting it. I flip through it and after a couple of pages I landed on Pac-Man. A full two pages! I begin to read it. Almost immediately you can tell that Atari knew this game was not what it should be, let alone who ever wrote the article obviously didn't know how the game was played and what all went on. Allow me to share the article with you. The catalog was released in 1981 and Pac-Man is stated to be released March 1982. Without further ado.. "Adopted from one of the most popular video arcade games ever created, Atari's Pac-Man*, which differs slightly from the original, is sure to be a hit in your home." OK. Do you get the feeling here that Atari knew they didn't get this one right from the start? I will admit that they printed a similar thing about Defender in that same catalog and my new copy of Asteroids came with an insert that pretty much said the same thing...but those games were received well by 2600 owners that I am aware of. Carrying on... "In this engaging game, you guide the PAC-MAN around a maze to gobble up dots for points, while dodging ghosts. In the four corners of the maze are special tablets. When PAC-MAN eats one, he changes color and can then eat the ghosts. But he has to hurry and catch the ghosts before he changes color again, or they'll eat him." Did you notice a couple of things here? Atari, or someone at Atari, didn't know Pac-Man very well. The writer of this article first treats PAC-MAN like a thing with "the PAC-MAN...". I will admit that the arcade PAC-MAN had just came out in the arcades but was already well known as just PAC-MAN. That's it. The writer also must not have played the game before because PAC-MAN is not the one that changes color from eating a power pellet, or as they called them, special tablets. The ghosts are. After reading that article there should have been warning signs that Atari didn't not know what they were doing with this game. Now let's plug the cart in and see what we get. Immediately noticeable is the blue maze on a black background from the arcades is missing. What we have on the 2600 is an orange maze on a blue background. PAC-MAN in the game has an eye, and the ghosts, while there is four of them, flicker badly and appear to be similar in color. And missing are the fruits that our lovable character normally gets in the arcade, in its place is a square thing Atari called a "Vitamin". So...is Atari 2600's Pac-Man really to blame for the starts of the crash? I don't think it is so much the game is to blame I believe it was related more to the hype of Pac-Man being released for the 2600 only to be let down by expectations the public had. I mean up until that point the 2600 did do a decent job at some of the popular arcade games. Asteroids wasn't spot on but that was to be expected. The difference in monitor types meant something else had to be done. Space Invaders, I thought, was really well and is one of my favorite 2600 titles. Defender might not have been exact but what was pulled off is good. Missile Command was good, too. The 2600, and its developers, tried. Pac-Man on the 2600, while it doesn't look or sound anything like the arcade, is fun in its own way. Maybe this game should have been given a different name. As well Atari should have had more than one developer on porting Pac-Man to the 2600 and picking the better port for a release. In some respects, the 2600's Pac-Man is OK in my book. I would blame Atari for this one, and the crash, for producing more copies of this game than they should have from the beginning. Only a small batch should have been made to see how well it did. After that they would have known what to do. For what it's worth, Pac-Man on the 2600 is not completely bad and it has survived many decades along with other 2600 titles. As well it is also hard to find a small collection of 2600 games that do not have Pac-Man as one of the games. Play it once in a while and see if you can find things to like about it, while playing it, and see if you, too, can find some good out of it. I did.