I finally got another 5200

[AtariLeaf]

I am now going to find a copy of Pengo for the 5200. I've never had one before. After trying it for the 2600, I'm considering it a must-have and the 5200 version seems to be the easiest one to find.

 

Awesome game. I don't know if its exactly the same as the 8-bit version but if it is its a great game. Love Pengo

[zylon]

My Pengo arrived today, so I'll be checking it out later. I've tried the 8bit version online and while it looks better, the gameplay isn't quite the same. That could also be because emulation is never exactly the same as an actual console.

[zylon]

My verdict on 5200 Pengo is good. Looks just like the 8bit version, slight drawback without self-centering controls. The AI was more consistent, but I won't pass judgment on the 8bit version since it was an emulator.

[Divya16]

My verdict on 5200 Pengo is good. Looks just like the 8bit version, slight drawback without self-centering controls. The AI was more consistent, but I won't pass judgment on the 8bit version since it was an emulator.

 

What does AI stand for?

[zylon]

Attempted Intelligence

[atariksi]

Attempted Intelligence

 

That doesn't deserve an acronym.

[vintagegamecrazy]

Zylon, you really have to invest in some 3rd party joysticks, they are the life of the 5200. I have what I consider to be the ultimate setup. I have 3 Wicos, 2 Wico Keypads, and 2 Competition Pro sticks. I plug the Comp Pro into the system then plug the Wico Keypad into the Comp Pro then I plug the Wico stick into the Keypad. It's amazing to use. You can pick up whatever stick you want depending if you're playing a game that is better with digital or analog.

 

Bounty Bob Strikes Back is the ultimate Atari 5200 game to own. It's very hard though and if you don't sit down and dedicate some time to mastering each stage then you can become frustrated easily, but if mastered it becomes one of if not the most in depth game released in that era. If you don't have the cash to spend on it then go for Miner 2049'er as it'll hold you over just fine too!

[atariksi]

Zylon, you really have to invest in some 3rd party joysticks, they are the life of the 5200. I have what I consider to be the ultimate setup. I have 3 Wicos, 2 Wico Keypads, and 2 Competition Pro sticks. I plug the Comp Pro into the system then plug the Wico Keypad into the Comp Pro then I plug the Wico stick into the Keypad. It's amazing to use. You can pick up whatever stick you want depending if you're playing a game that is better with digital or analog.

 

Bounty Bob Strikes Back is the ultimate Atari 5200 game to own. It's very hard though and if you don't sit down and dedicate some time to mastering each stage then you can become frustrated easily, but if mastered it becomes one of if not the most in depth game released in that era. If you don't have the cash to spend on it then go for Miner 2049'er as it'll hold you over just fine too!

 

Although Wico is better at many games on A5200 than the stock controller, the digital joystick interface is the best.

[zylon]

Zylon, you really have to invest in some 3rd party joysticks, they are the life of the 5200. I have what I consider to be the ultimate setup. I have 3 Wicos, 2 Wico Keypads, and 2 Competition Pro sticks. I plug the Comp Pro into the system then plug the Wico Keypad into the Comp Pro then I plug the Wico stick into the Keypad. It's amazing to use. You can pick up whatever stick you want depending if you're playing a game that is better with digital or analog.

 

Bounty Bob Strikes Back is the ultimate Atari 5200 game to own. It's very hard though and if you don't sit down and dedicate some time to mastering each stage then you can become frustrated easily, but if mastered it becomes one of if not the most in depth game released in that era. If you don't have the cash to spend on it then go for Miner 2049'er as it'll hold you over just fine too!

 

Although Wico is better at many games on A5200 than the stock controller, the digital joystick interface is the best.

I actually owned 2 Wico sticks with the goofy Y-cable for this some time ago. I sold them to some nutjob for 50 each, they just didn't impress me much. I think the only game I still want for this is one of those converted Millipedes.

All these add-ons are starting to sound like a hillbilly cd player : first you put your cd in your CDman, next plug in your CD to cassette adaptor, then place the cassette end in your cassette to 8track adaptor, finally insert cassette to 8track adaptor in 8track player...

I'm having a real cynical morning!

[atariksi]

Zylon, you really have to invest in some 3rd party joysticks, they are the life of the 5200. I have what I consider to be the ultimate setup. I have 3 Wicos, 2 Wico Keypads, and 2 Competition Pro sticks. I plug the Comp Pro into the system then plug the Wico Keypad into the Comp Pro then I plug the Wico stick into the Keypad. It's amazing to use. You can pick up whatever stick you want depending if you're playing a game that is better with digital or analog.

 

Bounty Bob Strikes Back is the ultimate Atari 5200 game to own. It's very hard though and if you don't sit down and dedicate some time to mastering each stage then you can become frustrated easily, but if mastered it becomes one of if not the most in depth game released in that era. If you don't have the cash to spend on it then go for Miner 2049'er as it'll hold you over just fine too!

 

Although Wico is better at many games on A5200 than the stock controller, the digital joystick interface is the best.

I actually owned 2 Wico sticks with the goofy Y-cable for this some time ago. I sold them to some nutjob for 50 each, they just didn't impress me much. I think the only game I still want for this is one of those converted Millipedes.

All these add-ons are starting to sound like a hillbilly cd player : first you put your cd in your CDman, next plug in your CD to cassette adaptor, then place the cassette end in your cassette to 8track adaptor, finally insert cassette to 8track adaptor in 8track player...

I'm having a real cynical morning!

 

I am not a fan of Wico sticks either nor the stock controller. So I only play the A5200 games that work with trackball or digital joystick adapter.

[Cliff Friedel]

Zylon, you really have to invest in some 3rd party joysticks, they are the life of the 5200. I have what I consider to be the ultimate setup. I have 3 Wicos, 2 Wico Keypads, and 2 Competition Pro sticks. I plug the Comp Pro into the system then plug the Wico Keypad into the Comp Pro then I plug the Wico stick into the Keypad. It's amazing to use. You can pick up whatever stick you want depending if you're playing a game that is better with digital or analog.

 

Bounty Bob Strikes Back is the ultimate Atari 5200 game to own. It's very hard though and if you don't sit down and dedicate some time to mastering each stage then you can become frustrated easily, but if mastered it becomes one of if not the most in depth game released in that era. If you don't have the cash to spend on it then go for Miner 2049'er as it'll hold you over just fine too!

Never played BBSB, but Miner 2049er is great. It was actually the first game I saw for the 5200 and one of the reasons I got a 5200 recently. With all that said, given the choice, I would rather play it on the 8-bit because of the controls. If I get a better stick though, that may change.

[zylon]

I'm now enjoying the 5200 Battlezone proto. If only Atari had finished this game...

[82atari5200]

I have so many 5200's I've lost count. I have shells and motherboards in my shed and about 5 working systems in the house.

[Greg2600]

Aren't the WICO sticks of poor quality? Mine doesn't work right because the lock in tab on one of the axis doesn't stay locked.

[82atari5200]

I have 2 wico sticks I won in an auction and neither of them worked and the keypad was broken as well. The pcb was cracked in half. I tried to fix it but haven't tested it out yet.

[atariksi]

Aren't the WICO sticks of poor quality? Mine doesn't work right because the lock in tab on one of the axis doesn't stay locked.

 

If you have working ones, they are better than the stock controllers. Just having buttons at the base instead of the side helps. I still prefer rigid sticks like on Atari 800 rather than soft ones like the Wico.

[Atari2008]

I love how 5200 games look and sound but that joystick makes it hard to really get into a game. I just got Ms. Pac-Man and I find it very difficult to make precise movements which takes some of the enjoyment out of it. Whereas when I play the 2600 version I can make all sorts of last minute turns which enhances the game play since I can focus on the game and not the controller. I had the Competition Pro for a while which I liked, although it was far from perfect.

[zylon]

At one time, I had 5 or 6 systems and 20 or 30 games. The reason I sold them 3 years ago was that I never really played them. Only tested them and collected them. One day I started selling them because I didn't play them anyway. This time around, I'm actually playing them and not really collecting at all. There's no point in me hoarding copies of titles that I tried and will likely never play again, so I'm only keeping ones that I enjoy.

[atariksi]

At one time, I had 5 or 6 systems and 20 or 30 games. The reason I sold them 3 years ago was that I never really played them. Only tested them and collected them. One day I started selling them because I didn't play them anyway. This time around, I'm actually playing them and not really collecting at all. There's no point in me hoarding copies of titles that I tried and will likely never play again, so I'm only keeping ones that I enjoy.

 

I am not into collecting cartridges either except the ones I haven't yet figured out how to play yet. I would agree that A2600 has better control than A5200. But a digital controller certainly helps on A5200 for those pac-man type games.

[bohoki]

I love how 5200 games look and sound but that joystick makes it hard to really get into a game. I just got Ms. Pac-Man and I find it very difficult to make precise movements which takes some of the enjoyment out of it. Whereas when I play the 2600 version I can make all sorts of last minute turns which enhances the game play since I can focus on the game and not the controller. I had the Competition Pro for a while which I liked, although it was far from perfect.

 

yea the comp pro is neat its just absolute directions and it warns in the manual that you cannot play supbreakout,missile command,kaboom,starwars,gorf

 

but being able to play digdug,kangaroo and the rest of the arcade conversions makes it worth it

 

if you round up 2 of them and clamp them to a board it makes robotron and space dungeon fun but like the wico it requires a working start button on another controller

 

 

it was an adventure to make my own controllers from arcade parts my number 1 rule was to not use any "atari" parts and have a built in start button

[zylon]

I am now awaiting Sinistar, I hear it lives!

[Gorf]

My verdict on 5200 Pengo is good. Looks just like the 8bit version, slight drawback without self-centering controls. The AI was more consistent, but I won't pass judgment on the 8bit version since it was an emulator.

 

What does AI stand for?

 

Since no one will answer you properly, I will...AI stands for artificial intellegence.

It is the code the programmer writes to simulate the movement of enemies and such. For

instance, the ghosts in Pac Man are driven by code that simulates them chasing or running

from you.

Edited June 22, 2010 by Gorf

[atariksi]

My verdict on 5200 Pengo is good. Looks just like the 8bit version, slight drawback without self-centering controls. The AI was more consistent, but I won't pass judgment on the 8bit version since it was an emulator.

 

What does AI stand for?

 

Since no one will answer you properly, I will...AI stands for artificial intellegence.

It is the code the programmer writes to simulate the movement of enemies and such. For

instance, the ghosts in Pac Man are driven by code that simulates them chasing or running

from you.

 

You have the AI for the pac-man game? It seems there's variations in that AI between Atari 5200 version and Atari 800 version.

[zylon]

Sinistar is awesome! I'm also enjoying Battlezone and Robotron. I've also managed to convert another gamer over to the 5200. I'd bought a junk one for parts but I found it only needed a cheap RF modulator to make it work so I fixed it and sold it to a friend.

[zylon]

This week, I've acquired Super Breakout, Vanguard, and will try Joust if/when it arrives. So far, Super Breakout is ok. Vanguard looks awesome but is insanely hard compared to 2600 version which I'm terrible at. Strangely, I do slightly better in single shot mode and can usually make it to the first vertical screen.