Atari 5200 Guy

You are welcome! I really believe you will like it. I need to find my own copy lol. The one I used for this review is borrowed. I am going to hate to see it leave for sure and I never knew the 2600 received games like this.

Over the past several months I have been discovering Atari 2600 games for the first time...just like those who owned one way back when the machine was the only console on the market. So far I've discovered Solaris and few others I had never seen or heard of before. The 2600 has managed to surprise me again with a rare title known as Radar Lock. Radar Lock appears similar to Sega's After Burner but after a few minutes in the game you get so sucked into the on-screen action that you forget what you are playing on. Wave after wave of enemy aircraft appear on your screen, shooting at you in a fly-by style formation. You constantly find yourself in a banking move just to target them so you can strike them down with your twin gunner or missiles. All the while you are using gun and missile ammo that is limited and have to watch your fuel gauge. Run out of either one and it's curtains for you. If you manage to succeed in finishing off all enemies in a single wave you will get the chance to dock with a fuel plane. Even that can be tricky because now the fire button turns into a boost button. Just like how Star Raiders' Space Stations have to be just right for the player to dock with them the player has to be just right for the fueling aircraft to lower its hose to your fighter jet. Line it up and receive a bonus for the fuel and ammunition you have left. After that you will find yourself on a runway waiting for the next wave to start as soon as you press the fire button on your controller. And a first for me...this game actually uses the TV Type switch for a pause button. Simply slide it to the B*W position to pause (recommend 2600 hardware for this) and slide back to Color to continue where you left off. Pretty cool, eh? It also uses a second controller, like Solaris, for selecting between guns and missiles...up and down for guns and left and right for missiles. Now that you know what the game entails to a degree let's step back in time a bit here. 1989 is the copyright date on Radar Lock. That places the 2600 JR on the shelf along with the 7800 and up against giants Nintendo and Sega. At this time the Genesis should have been on the market as well and Nintendo going strong with the NES and newly released Game Boy (in North America anyway). So here we have the 2600, declared a primitive console by some at the time, doing something it was not designed to do...again! And I thought Solaris was mind-blowing. Radar Lock pushes the 2600 hardware into new territory that is just as mind-blowing as Solaris. The graphics are well done and flicker free, the sound effects somehow don't seem limited to the 2-channel limitations of the TIA processor, nor do the controls, after getting use to the game, feel like a 2600 game. In some ways it almost feels like part of Solaris was used as the basis to Radar Lock...and in a good way. I really never knew that graphics on the 2600 could make tiny dots (check out the radar in the lower right-side of the HUD display and GUNS ammo). This game is impressive. I really believe that if gamers in 1989, who owned an NES or Sega system, were more aware of this game they might have purchased it along with a Atari 2600 Junior or Atari 7800 game system. This is one game I never heard of until recently but if I would have known about it sooner, and when I picked up my 2600 Junior with my first paycheck decades ago, I would have purchased it. If you find this game in the wild or online, and you've never had it before, I recommend picking up. If you do pick this up I recommend using a controller where the fire button is on top of the joystick handle to really get immersed into the game. A Kraft Starmaster controller easily comes to mind for that. Any 2600 owner who does not have this game needs to locate it and play it. It's really good.

OK...then how about a sign for the game room?

I'm going to say mouse pad?

Tutankham Atari 2600 Difficulty: Default High Score: 642 April 27, 2016

Galaga (7800) Enduro (2600) Vanguard (2600 & 5200)

Enduro Atari 2600 Difficulty: Default High Score: 12,750 April 20, 2016

The only KayBee Toys was, then, a two-hour plus drive away from my hometown. Mom and I would pay a visit to Springfield, Missouri and the Battlefield Mall where K*B had a store. The only game I know for sure I got from there was Rock N Ball on clearance...but I don't remember how much it was. After that we would visit Smitty's and Ventures...two stores that I don't believe are around any more sadly. Man things were sooo much better than back then including the stores. They each had their own characteristics that is missing from today's retail stores. K*B was a special treat just like Jeff Spega (Tron and Robotron) visiting the Acme when he was younger.

All I can do is drool. The 5200 was my first gaming console and has always had a soft spot in my heart and memories. To have the Video System X would be the holy grail system in my collection. You are very lucky. Do you ever play it?

Have world of tanks on XBOX 360 and it's fun. I get blown up a lot but still fun.

I remember my first encounter with a Lynx II pick up. I got it new in box from Game X Change headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas. I traded some stuff in and was not sure what to do with the store credit. I found the Lynx in box with a few games included inside a glass case. I went back later to use the rest of my credits for a power supply, large case, and few more titles. I think I took in my Saturn at the time. I thought the Lynx was a wonderful system. Small, sleek, color, and backlit. It also had games I was familiar with like A.P.B., Gauntlet, Joust, California Games, topped the list. Before I could go back and pick up more titles the store sold them all off at a discount to get rid of them. I ended up parting with my Lynx and games later for one reason or another. I hope to pick one up again sometime as it is a really good handheld. I'll have to keep lots of rechargeable batteries on hand

I have small hands and I never found the Jaguar controller much of an issue. On the contrary I found them rather comfortable. Took a bit to get use to but after about an hour I considered myself an expert I also disagree with the statement made that the Jaguar was not a step forward. The hardware itself was a step forward. No other console at the time Jaguar hit the market was capable of doing 3D polygon graphics natively. Remember that the Jaguar was set compete against the Genesis and Super NES. Those systems, even at their best, couldn't do that without struggling a little. It was an odd system I will admit when I first approached it but it grew on me quickly and I had to have it. It was an investment I am proud to have made and a lot of great gaming memories are with that system. Truthfully, I don't think we've seen Jag's full capabilities yet. There's a lot that can still be done with it.

Ooohh...Moon Patrol, Yar's Revenge, and Galaxian! Very nice.

I haven't tried it. Then again my 5200 has a decent picture so I don't mess with it. I get more interference with the 8-bits, 2600, and 7800 consoles than my 5200. With the NES I use the A/V outs for it. One of the things I thought about doing is trying to restore my 800XL back to its white color. It's sort of yellow now and I found a video about someone using just peroxide and OXY clean to whiten it. They placed it in the sun for a few hours and it seemed to restore their system (a Famicom) back to its white color pretty well. I'm just waiting on a warmer weather to hit.

I use to have a trak-ball controller decades ago. It got lost in a move. I tried playing Pole Position with it once and that was interesting. If I find one again I'll have to try it with Tempest. I have the game and like the controls with the original joysticks so far. I just don't like the quality of the cartridge itself. It's horrible and doesn't seat in the console well. I've had mine pop out a few times during game play. The game itself is perfect!

As my brother in law says about the Dallas Cowboys...there's going to be haters. And it looks like the 5200 is in that same boat. For what it is, though, I will still defend this console in every way...controller issues and all. It's not as bad as some say it is. I've been playing one since 1982 so that ought to account for something. Yes, the controllers can break easily. What game system doesn't have controller issues, though? Granted not on the same scale as the 5200 but they still have issues. The system has aged so there are going to be issues and if you are late to the game then be prepared to go through issues others have already faced before. You also can't expect to treat the 5200 like a 2600. It's not going to work and will cause more frustration than anything. Each game has to be learned individually. I'm not talking about how to play the game by its rules, but by the 5200's rules. Those analog controls if not given the time to learn them throws an unexpected curve ball. And, as I have said numerous times before, the 5200 has to be used regularly or it will fail again. It was not a system meant to be sitting on a shelf month after month, year after year, without using it. Learn the system first, then learn the controllers, and then learn the games and you will find that the 5200 is actually a rather enjoyable system. If you have non-working controllers get them rebuilt. Trust me on that...it makes a difference.

No mods other than a 1050 Happy upgrade a while back. I gave my 2600 JR a bath when I got it, other non-Atari consoles had issues I fixed, and I have an Original XBOX in need of an optical drive and IDE/ATA cable. I've kept the original drive electronics inside of it because the electronics still work. It just needs the plastic replaced with the gears, loading tray, and bezel. I was going to order one from Llama(dot)com but their site was down the last time I checked and I haven't seen it since. Other than my 360, 5200, and one of the two Dreamcasts I have all of my other consoles needed something done to get them going again. The NES I have is still using its original cartridge edge connector and I don't have too much trouble from it. I gave it a good cleaning, used an emery board to remove any corrosion/buildup, and bent the pins back in place a little bit. Most of the issues was just dirt, dust, debris from neglect. I enjoy getting non-working game consoles because it's cheaper and 9 times out of 10 I can get them going again without having to buy parts.

You're welcome.

Your copy of Deflektor probably came from Video 61. You might contact him to confirm it. I know he has other prototype 8-bit programs that he has released on cartridge including Jr. Pac-Man and its label is similar in design to your Deflektor (name on white background above artwork). http://members.tcq.net/video61/compnew.html Scroll down to the D's and you will see it spelled "Deflector" for $29.95. So, I would say that your Atari outfit had a program cart that Video 61 released. I hope that this helps.

I have a LD player. It was non-working when I got it but I cleaned it up and it started playing like a champ. Those LD titles you have I bet are better compared to their VHS cousins. Some of these can be in a Letterbox (or widescreen) edition before widescreen TVs became available. I like it but then again I like CEDs, Beta, and VHS, too.

Cybermorph and Iron Soldier are solid Jaguar titles. I thought that Hover Strike was fun, too. I spent hours with Power Drive Rally. I never could find the pinball games.

Cosmic Ark Atari 2600 Difficulty: Game 1, Difficulty B High Score: 10,720 February 1, 2016