Short Atari Plug "N" Play Review (Or, TL;DR)

[Nesbroslash]

As I sit in my basement, typing this review, I currently have my Atari TV Game plugged in and ready to roll, so let's get this thing over with. Ok, general overview. The controller looks like this.(Please view attachment now) Pretty sweet looking, eh? Well kiss all the hopes of old-school nirvana you had goodbye, because this stupid joystick is stiffer than iron. No, this isn't near the old controller design, because the thing is freaking huge! (To contain batteries for the power supply.) Basically, it's bigger in everything. Bigger joystick, bigger button, and bigger controller base. There's not much to say about the design, because there is nothing truly new except for a select, start, and reset button. Now onto the games. There are 10 in all, they are respectively, Adventure, Asteroids, Breakout, Centipede, Circus, Gravitar, Missile Command, Pong, RealSports Volleyball, and Yar's Revenge. Most of the games are just the exact 2600 titles, but with slightly remastered graphics and sound. But the real star of this thing is Gravitar. You see, Gravitar is hard enough to find on the 2600 as it is, but there are no other TV games with this baby on it, not even the Flashback. so, let's play the titles that were truly meant for the paddle controllers. (WARNING. Some mild obscenities.) Ok, Pong. (Starts game up.) What the hell? This is just an extremely stripped down version of Video Olympics! AAAAUUUUUGHHHGUUAAHHH!!!! Ok, ok, calm down. I'll just look past that, I guess. IOt kind of sucks, because the controller isn't very good for fast movements like the paddles are, but it's fine,I suppose.Breakout is just plain old sloppy, and Circus is kind of crappy with this joystick. Now for the good games. Gravitar is purely the best, along with Asteroids and Missile Command, as well as Centipede and, last but not least,Yar's Revenge. Final Judgment: An ok game, hampered by bad controls and games unfit for the controller. Rating: 3 out of 5 :thumbsup:

[TrekkiELO]

But the real star of this thing is Gravitar. You see, Gravitar is hard enough to find on the 2600 as it is, but there are no other TV games with this baby on it, not even the Flashback.

 

Gravitar was on the original Atari 7800 style Flashback in 2004, Realsports Volleyball is an exclusive TV game here!

 

Signed,

 

Rick

Edited May 19, 2010 by TrekkiELO

[Nesbroslash]

But the real star of this thing is Gravitar. You see, Gravitar is hard enough to find on the 2600 as it is, but there are no other TV games with this baby on it, not even the Flashback.

 

Gravitar was on the original Atari 7800 style Flashback in 2004, Realsports Volleyball is an exclusive TV game here!

 

Signed,

 

Rick

Well crap, I didn't know that! You see, I only own the Flashback 2+ and it did not have Gravitar. Besides, even the ultra-firm 2600 imitation TV game controller is better than the 7800 one. So, it's really the only TV game equivalent to the 2600 port with good control.

[ComputerSpaceFan]

Just to nit-pick, the titles are not exactly as their 2600 originals. I believe that joystick you had used a modified NOAC (Nintendo On A Chip) architecture, whereas the FlashBack2 is AOAC (Atari On A Chip). One good example of the flaw is in Adventure. Finding the easter egg reveals no message about Warren Robinett.

Anyone more technical care to back up what I'm saying?

[Nesbroslash]

Just to nit-pick, the titles are not exactly as their 2600 originals. I believe that joystick you had used a modified NOAC (Nintendo On A Chip) architecture, whereas the FlashBack2 is AOAC (Atari On A Chip). One good example of the flaw is in Adventure. Finding the easter egg reveals no message about Warren Robinett.

Anyone more technical care to back up what I'm saying?

Oh.....I was wrong..... FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

[+LS650]

I spent $10 to buy one of these used just to see if they are as crappy as some people say.

 

 

They are. It was a complete waste of my $10.

[raindog]

Anyone know if these NOAC units have ever been dumped? It'd be fun to play these "Atari" games with a NES pad and pretend they were inferior NES ports, in the way that Coleco made inferior Atari ports of its games.

[+wood_jl]

I disagree that these are complete crap and a waste of money. Sure, they're not exactly the same as the real thing - to the purest. But they're still very cool - and an Atari joystick that looks like the real thing and plugs into the TV with no console and runs off penlight batteries - is still cool, even if it's a little flawed. If you have "too many systems" to have them all hooked up at once, sometimes it's still fun for a quick game of Adventure or Missile Command with minimal hassle. I like them, although I perfectly understand and agree with the criticisms. I've bought them for as little as $3, but $10 is still a good deal and not a complete waste, in my opinion.

[Nesbroslash]

Anyone know if these NOAC units have ever been dumped? It'd be fun to play these "Atari" games with a NES pad and pretend they were inferior NES ports, in the way that Coleco made inferior Atari ports of its games.

I dunno, I could probably dump this when I learn how to.

[TrekkiELO]

I disagree that these are complete crap and a waste of money. Sure, they're not exactly the same as the real thing - to the purest. But they're still very cool - and an Atari joystick that looks like the real thing and plugs into the TV with no console and runs off penlight batteries - is still cool, even if it's a little flawed. If you have "too many systems" to have them all hooked up at once, sometimes it's still fun for a quick game of Adventure or Missile Command with minimal hassle. I like them, although I perfectly understand and agree with the criticisms. I've bought them for as little as $3, but $10 is still a good deal and not a complete waste, in my opinion.

 

Also because of Realsports Volleyball being the TV game exclusive in this unit and I paid $16.99 plus tax for mine, it was worth every penny, except that Adventure easter egg blunder, doh!

 

Signed,

 

Rick

Edited May 21, 2010 by TrekkiELO