Toymax Activision 10 in 1 Plug n Play
Today I bring you the final Atari 2600 plug n play controller I will be reviewing. This one is packed with 10 strictly Activision classics titles: Crackpots, Atlantis, Pitfall!, Grand Prix, River Raid, Tennis, Spider Fighter, Ice Hockey, Boxing and Freeway. This one is brought to us by a company called Toymax, which I’ve never heard of, but it seems as though Jakks Pacific had to have their hands in on this somewhere, as the system buttons are the exact same as the 2600 joystick.
Activision [Left] Jakks Pacific [Right]
Clearly a different designed joystick than the Jakks Pacific, or anything I’ve ever seen, it allows the user the choice of a fire button in a familiar area or right on top of the joystick itself. The system overall is quite comfortable and functions much the same as the Jakks Pacific joystick, if not slightly smoother. Toymax also seemed to take good care of the Activision license in using some really good titles, something Jakks Pacific didn’t manage.
Activision [Left] Jakks Pacific [Right]
Toymax didn’t flub up and pack in any games that required the paddle, unlike Jakks Pacific. I know everyone will have fond memories of River Raid and many other titles within this unit. Of the three I’ve reviewed this is the one to own, it is without a doubt my favorite and the one with which I have had the most fun.
Activision [Left] Jakks Pacific [Right]
Jakks Pacific Atari 2600 Paddle Plug n Play
Yet another Jakks Pacific plug n play system, although today I bring you the paddle controller. There is another version of this that has an attached player 2, but mine is strictly single player. Even so, Jakks Pacific added a few games from their joystick and more paddle controller classics: Breakout, Canyon bomber, Casino, Circus Atari, Demons to Diamonds, Night Driver, Steeplechase Street Racer, Super Breakout, Video Olympics, Warlords and 2 bonus Arcade quality versions of Pong and Warlords.
Original [Left] Plug n Play [Right]
The paddle controller is quite unique, not only in it’s design, but also in it’s menu design. The system is limited to one button, which is the menu button, other than the game play button on the side. When the menu button is pressed during game play it brings up a 6 switch Atari 2600 on the bottom of the screen allowing users to: Exit game, change TV type, change left and right difficulty, Game select and Game reset.
Original [Left] Plug n Play [Right]
There is no mistaking this behemoth for the original Atari paddle controller, clearly, but it still works just the same. This time Jakks Pacific seemed to get the game selection right, while adding 2 bonus arcade versions as well. As I said earlier there are two versions of this, both single and 2 players.
Again, this is simply another good plug n play to keep those classic paddle games in your conscious. For me the real thrill is playing it on the original hardware, but again Jakks Pacific delivered a decent replication of the experience in a plug n play system.
Sam’s Scores VIII
Well everyone, after this article I will be doing more of the new video format than written articles. Today’s Sam’s Scores is going to have more than usual. I’ve had all these items for quite a while and I feel its time to get the old stuff written up to make way for the new stuff!
8) – Bag of Atari 2600 Games
For some reason thrift stores love to use plastic bags and my favorite Salvation Army is no exception. Normally I check the bags for signs of old happy meal Nintendo toys, etc. but this time there happened to be 10 Atari games: Adventure, Combat, Air-Sea Battle, Asteroids, Casino, Football, Air Lock, Missile Command, Space Invaders and Warlords. Even though my 2600 isn’t working, I couldn’t pass it up!
7) – 3 Vectrex Games
In the same thrift/consignment store I found the Atari Jaguar in, were 3 Vectrex games. I checked high and low for the system, but I only found the games. I’m assuming there had to have been a system there, but I prefer to think there never was. These are the first Vectrex games I’ve ever seen, so I had to snatch them up!
6) – Blades of Steel Red Label
Blades of Steel for the NES isn’t a rare game, in fact I’ve had a handful of them. What makes this version harder to find (as I don’t think it is “rare”) is the fact that it has a red label and was re-released with a handful of other games late in the NES’s life. I found this at Disc Replay, where I believe 2 others were eying it before I was, but I asked for help at the case first!
5) – Resident Evil 2
Ever since I played a demo for this game, I’ve always wanted to own it. Disc Replay has it in stock on occasion, but $10 is a bit on the high side for me. Ever the one to hold out hope of finding it in the wild, luck and persistence finally paid off when I found this in the CD bin at Salvation Army. The case is cracked in some areas, but its complete and the discs are in good shape.
4) – N64 Memory Expansion
When you buy an N64, the first thing you should check is the memory expansion slot in the front. If you see a memory expansion, you’re good to go. That isn’t to say the jumper is bad, without the jumper or memory expansion the N64 won’t even display video! I found this memory expansion at a flea market, just sitting on a table and since my N64 needed one, I bought it. (Being displayed already installed into my system.)
3) – 3 N64 Games
My favorite Salvation Army does some insane pricing variations on their cartridge games, it ranges from super cheap or super expensive. This case just so happened to be a super cheap day, and I ended up getting DK64, Rayman 2 and Star Wars Episode 1 Racer, extremely cheap.
2) – Zelda 64: Majora’s Mask
I will admit that this isn’t one of my better scores, but the price still isn’t bad. Half Price Books was marking their games at a standard rate, and this one just so happened to slip through at a decent price.
1) – Vintage Donkey Kong plush
If its video game related, I’ll buy it cheap. Plush gaming characters are fairly easy to find, but when I saw this sitting on a shelf looking at me, with no rips or tears, I had to own it.
Sam’s Scores: Atari 2600!
The Atari 2600 was my first video gaming system, I loved that thing! Even though I first got it during the Super Nintendo days, that didn’t matter. What mattered was that I was actually playing video game classics in my home, in front of my TV! Although my Atari 2600 doesn’t work, I still keep my eyes open for Atari items, so here is an entire edition of Sam’s Scores for the Atari 2600!
4) – Atari 80 Games CD-Rom
No, this isn’t entirely vintage, but the games are! This is Atari’s 80 classic games in one for the PC and it has some really good games on it: Asteroids, Centipede, Haunted House, Human Cannonball, YAR’S Revenge and it even has all 3 Swordquest games, but you won’t be getting any prizes for finding the secrets. I picked this up cheap enough at a thrift store and since it’s 80 Atari games, that classifies it as vintage gaming!….technically!
3) – Atari Controllers
This score is 2 different sets of Atari controllers I found at the same thrift store. The items were in 2 different bags so I couldn’t see what all was inside, I just knew they were Atari and I needed them! 1 Joystick, 1 set of sports paddles, 2 driving paddles, a DC adapter and some other miscellaneous hookups for the 2600. Each set had it’s own price, but when I reached the cash register I got an additional 30% off, even though the tags weren’t discounted that week.
2) – Atari DC Adapter
While trying to test my Atari I found my DC adapter was bad, so I was on the hunt for a new one. Searching through adapter bins and bric-a-brac piles alike, I finally found one! It was an official Atari adapter and it worked, sadly my system did not. The price was good, but I still pushed for (and failed at getting) a discount under the “No Returns, yet I don’t even know if this thing works” act. Still wasn’t a bad price…
1) – 26 Atari Games
After Thanksgiving I hit some thrift stores that were having sales, the store I happened to get these games from has become a staple in my thrift store rounds and has paid off quite a bit! I had noticed a shoe box filled with Atari 2600 games, so I took a look. I didn’t know if my Atari even worked at this point, I had no controllers but I also had no games! Each game was set at a certain price but I didn’t have that much, so 2 of the store employees gave me an early X-mas gift! And there were some seriously great titles inside the box!
