Atari Flashback 2
When I was a kid my parents bought a used Atari 2600, and even though it was during the SNES heyday I was blissfully unaware of what I was missing out on. Not only was it the first gaming console my family ever owned, it also taught me many of the video game hunting skills I still use today, as flea markets and thrift stores almost always had 2600 games available back then. Years later I asked my parents what had happened to the old console and, as with many things from my childhood, my parents have long since gotten rid of it.
In the years since I’ve amassed quite a collection of Atari 2600 games, as well as two non-working consoles. So what is a person like myself suppose to do when I want to relive those moments of being up past my bedtime playing Atari 2600? AtGames has you covered! I know, I know, I said AtGames again, but take a deep breath and follow me through this review.
The Atari Flashbacks have been on the market for quite some time, but only recently did I have the chance to pick one up from a thrift store. Yes, I’m far too cheap to have paid full price for it. Much like everything else AtGames puts out, the Atari Flashback has been through many different revisions and changes. The Atari Flashback 2 is simple, easy to use and even hackable! Yes, the instructions on how to add a cartridge port to this thing is practically written right on the board.
The Atari Flashback 2 has forty built in Atari classics, with classics meaning all these games were actually released for the 2600 and aren’t just junk, filler titles that AtGames is renown for. Once the system is booted up you’ll be presented with categories from which to choose any game you wish to play. Honestly I wish it was listed in more of a Power Joy, Famiclone style with just a numbered list, perhaps alphabetical order, instead of having to go from category to category blindly hoping to see a game you really like within. After you’ve chosen a game it will boot up and the emulation seems to be fairly faithful to the original 2600.
Flashback 2 compared to a four switch VCS.
Some of my favorite included titles are Pitfall!, Dodge ‘Em (listed as Dodge ‘m), Yar’s Revenge and of course River Raid. Again, the games seem to play the same, as far as I remember, as they did on original hardware, this is made even better with the inclusion of controllers heavily styled after the originals. The included controllers are comfortable, but the joystick is hard plastic, compared to the rubber covered plastic on the original one. All in all they’re slightly smaller and a tiny bit less comfortable, but do an adequate job.
The Flashback 2 even includes two paddle games, hidden away within the system. Using the joystick press up once, down nine times, up seven more times and down twice more (representing 1972) to reveal a hidden paddle games menu. The Atari Flashback didn’t come with paddle controllers, but if you have a pair stored away somewhere you can swap out the joystick and enjoy Super Breakout and Warlords as an additional bonus.
Flashback controller (left) compared to an original (right).
So you have old Atari 2600 controllers laying around and you’re wondering whether you can use them on the Flashback 2 or not? As far as I’ve seen, the answer is yes. The Flashback 2 even has a hidden test feature for you to test your old Atari 2600 controllers and paddles. Holding both select and reset buttons while powering on the system will boot into a test mode. To test joysticks leave the Color/B&W switch on color and to test paddles flip it over to black and white before turning on the power.
Hooking the Flashback 2 up is made extremely easy with its hardwired video and mono audio cables shooting out the back of the console, the exact same way the RF cable came from the original consoles. This time around the power adapter is a barrel style 9 volts, rather than the 3.5mm we’re more familiar with seeing on headphones. Besides the switches being changed out for buttons, clearly a cost effective change, everything seems to be as easy to use as the original Atari 2600. Controllers plug into the back the same, you can choose black and white or color, difficulty settings, select and reset are all present. If only this thing had a cartridge slot!
I’m not a huge fan of AtGames products, although with as many as I own you may not know that. The Atari Flashback 2 helped fill the void of not owning a working Atari 2600 fairly well. I wish the built in games were presented in a different way and I wish there were a lot more desirable titles included, but I guess that’s why they’ve made six or more of these things; drain the money of consumers.
One of the most interesting features has to be the hidden controller tester, which I’ve even tested Colecovision controllers with. With how little I spent on this thing I would have bought it again simply for the controller tester alone. For a thrift store purchase I’m happy with what I got, this time, but there is no way I would have paid the original retail price.
AtGames Sega Genesis Classic Game Console
A few years ago I purchased an AtGames Sega Genesis Arcade Motion from a thrift store and wasn’t too surprised by the product’s quality. Sure, it functioned as a nice little plug n play that allowed me to play nearly any Genesis game I wanted from an SD card, but the whole thing felt more like just another cheap Nintendo Wii knockoff gimmick. A few short years later AtGames tried to rectify this situation by offering up the Sega Genesis Classic Game Console. Given their reputation, as well as my experience with their products, will this little Sega Genesis clone fare any better?
In true AtGames fashion the Sega Genesis Classic Console has been produced in a handful of different bundles. Mine just so happens to have wireless controllers, while others had wired controllers. Built into the system are also a total of 80 games, half of which were Sega Genesis games and the other half being, yet again, more worthless games tossed in that nobody really asked for. The built in Sega games are fairly good titles, nothing spectacular but it’s nice to have them all accessible with booting up the console, rather than trying to track down my own cartridge. And, obviously, the other built in games are some of the worst quality junk you’ll ever suffer through, so it goes without saying that this system could have benefited by foregoing these and just being a straight Sega Genesis clone.
Externally the first thing anyone will notice about the console is just how small it is, even smaller than the Majesco Sega Genesis 3. One giant leap forward for the Sega Genesis Classic is, unlike the Arcade Motion, this one actually has a cartridge slot on the top so that you can supply your own games. Up front you have your IR receiver for the wireless controllers, but also given the option to plug in your own wired Sega controllers. Around the back the console is limited to composite AV with mono sound, much like a real Genesis. One thing I found very useful is that, for powering the console, you can use a Sega Genesis MK-1602 power supply on this thing.
The Sega Genesis Classic has a few things that surprised me, the first thing was just how well the wireless controllers worked. No, they’re not perfect, but they do work quite well. Another big surprise was that this is completely region free, meaning you can import games from any region and play them on this console. I’ve had a PAL region Mega Drive cartridge for a few years and the AtGames Sega Genesis Classic plays it just fine. This little thing booted up almost every cartridge I threw at it, almost.
It’s a well known drawback with SOAC clones that not every game is going to be compatible. I was well aware that the console wouldn’t play games such as Virtua Racing or utilize the Game Genie, but what I didn’t understand was why it wouldn’t run my copy of NBA Jam TE. I cleaned it, tested it on my real Genesis consoles and everything was fine, but for some reason the Sega Genesis Classic wouldn’t run it at all.
Sound is also a well known issue with these styles of clone systems, and the AtGame Sega Genesis Classic isn’t any different. Most notably while playing the built in games the sound is horrible, but things seem to be reasonably more bearable while playing games through the cartridge slot. I said bearable, not 100% accurate and true, simply bearable.
If you’re in the market for a good Sega Genesis there is absolutely no replacement for the original, or the model 2. The AtGames Sega Genesis Classic console would be perfect for someone who may not have a large amount of space to keep a collection, not to forget it’s region free as well, or someone who just wants the novelty to pick up and have short bursts of Genesis fun. I can’t say it’s all bad, because I quite enjoy mine to be completely honest, but it’s not exactly perfect. True Sega Genesis consoles are still cheap enough these days that I would highly advise that over this one.
AtGames Sega Genesis Arcade Motion
Lately I’ve been picking up a lot of modern made, yet vintage themed, gaming systems, and since they have vintage video games on them I feel the need to review them and let the readers know what some of our beloved vintage video games are up to these days. The newest system I’ve bought is something called the AtGames Sega Genesis Arcade Motion that I picked up at the thrift store, this is a system I was aware of yet never really gave much thought to, based heavily on the fact that it looks like one of the many Nintendo Wii clones with junk games packed in. What set this one apart from the crowd was that is says Sega Genesis across the top, is shaped like Sonic the Hedgehog and even has a Sonic sticker on the actual system, so I figured I had to give it a test.
AtGames Genesis Clone with controller.
At first I had my doubts about this system and all that it claimed to do, the wireless controllers were merely infrared LEDs with a gaping eyesore of a receiver on the front of the system. Infrared wireless is great if you need to change the channel or volume on your TV, but given the fast pace of most video games you’re often left lacking in speed and accuracy. Another issue arose when I read “40 games, 110 plus levels of play.”, being familiar with Famicom pirate cartridge tactics I was suspect as to how many actual games there were, and how many levels they were split into to get those numbers.
AtGames Genesis Controller
Putting aside the infrared trying to be passed off as wireless and the very familiar over inflation of how many games actually were packed in, one feature piqued my interest above all else which was the SD card slot on the top of the system. This meant that I could slap in a SD card and add games to the already abysmal number that was packed in. I could add every production Genesis game, I could add homebrews, I could do anything! Or so I originally thought.. and hoped!
Front View
But before I get too deep into the SD card function, let me give you a once over of the system itself. I was surprised by how solid the system and controller both were, they didn’t use the normal cheap plastic, perhaps it has lead in it for rigidity, go China! And the infrared, I was quietly bashing in my head, is quite good actually, given that the controller has 5 LEDs shooting out the signal, making it almost impossible to accidentally cover up and block the signal entirely, as well as giving the controller a surprisingly long range of distance.
Back View
The Genesis games built in are actually all pretty good games, including: Alex Kidd in Enchanted Castle, Arrow Flash, Bonanza Brothers, Columns III, Columns, Crack Down, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, Ecco the Dolphin, Flicky, Fatal Labyrinth, Ristar, Sonic Spinball, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and The Ooze.
But they also tried to pack in their own arcade brews and games to utilize the controller’s motion, both of which are pretty lacking in all aspects, especially the motion sensing games which hardly respond, if at all by accident. The system and controllers can both be run off batteries, or the system has the option for a 5v adapter, which I didn’t get, but we all know how systems running on batteries can be temperamental at times.
But now we get into the major downside of the Genesis Arcade Motion, firstly and mostly this system is emulation and that means it is rife with all the problems emulation brings, such as: poor sound quality, some video game effects don’t work properly, squished game text, some video games are not compatible at all (Virtua Racing) and the fact that some ROMs may not work at all, by which I mean you may need to try many different versions of the same ROM to find one that works. One plus side is that this system is seemingly region free, as I’ve tested various Japanese and PAL ROMs and they have worked as well as can be expected. But given that this is a Genesis emulator you may also have the delusions I had that the system will work with other ROMs and the fact here is no, it will NOT work with 32x, Sega CD or even SMS ROMs.
So with this system you are limited to Genesis and Mega Drive ROMs which isn’t so bad, until you realize the system will not create a save file on the SD card for games that require a save. This system is, however, really well suited for games that are password saves or even good old arcade classics such as Golden Axe or Street Fighter. Given it’s limitations the SD card expansion is still a pretty neat idea to open up a much bigger library than one might have hoped.
I have the Sega Genesis Arcade Motion Dual, but I’ve read that there is a deluxe version with even more games packed inside. Overall the system isn’t something I would choose to play over my actual Genesis, its more of a novelty for when I’m bored and want access to games I can’t find or don’t yet own. So many good RPGs on the Genesis I will never get to play because this system can’t make a simple save file, what a shame.