Emulation on the Atari Flashback 5

[Mirage]

I just picked one up yesterday. Haven't opened it yet. My original question was does it use emulation, but I found my answer to that... apparently it is, like the 3 and 4.

 

So my new question is:

 

I bought this to give to my son for his third birthday so he can go to town with this rather than play with my real consoles (until later), and use the big screen TV. I assume the emulation is using real ROMs, so is the emulation "good enough"? I don't want him playing with something that is going to not give him close to the real experience.

 

Experiences either with the 3, 4, or 5 in this regard?

 

Thanks.

 

It's been awhile (close to 2 years) since I've done anything at all with retrogaming, pretty much since my son was born, but now that he's almost old enough to start enjoying it, I think I will too!

Edited October 6, 2014 by Mirage

[Bill Loguidice]

It's close enough, yes. The only differences are minor color and sound variations.

[Mirage]

Awesome, thank you.

 

I know he won't care, but it would bug me if it were way off from what I experienced as a kid. I will emulate some systems on my computer but not the 2600. But I think this will be perfect for his birthday along with the coleco and intellivision units!

[Bill Loguidice]

If it's a concern, the one furthest off from the original is the ColecoVision Flashback.

[Mirage]

OK thanks for the heads up. I was never a CV player, so I might not even notice. Same with intellivision.

[Hyperboy]

Great gifts for the little gamer!

[Mirage]

They really are. I wouldn't have bought them for myself except since I sold my modest CV setup last year, I will enjoy trying out more of those games.

[Osgeld]

It's close enough, yes. The only differences are minor color and sound variations.

 

so its just like a real atari

[FifthPlayer]

I have the Flashback 4, and the only emulation difference I ever noticed is that the asteroid sprites in Asteroids don't flicker the way they do on a real Atari 2600. Which is an improvement, actually.

Edited November 1, 2014 by FifthPlayer

[Atariboy]

It's close enough, yes. The only differences are minor color and sound variations.

There are more than that.

 

Playing Battlezone on the 3 and the 4 for instance created all sorts of problems. Beyond the quirks like being able to continue playing after I lost my last life in an invincible tank once and crashes, the most common issue was the radar regularly not showing a target like it should.

 

If there were two hits that should've shown up, it wasn't uncommon for only one to actually be seen on the radar. That's not something that ever happens on the genuine deal (Or the Flashback 2 with its 2600 on a chip hardware or any other emulator I've ever played).

Edited November 1, 2014 by Atariboy

[Atariboy]

You can see this behavior 22 seconds into this video. Note how only the second tank to the right is showing on the radar, not the one that he destroys.

 

 

Of course this IP was sold off and isn't present in this latest Flashback release. But since the hardware and emulator have not changed, surely such inaccuracies reveal themselves in other ways here and there throughout the dozens of included games.

 

I've been on a Battlezone kick the last couple of years and don't remember spending much time with my FB3 and 4 other than on Battlezone, so I can't really attest to what other issues there were. But I'm sure there were some others that weren't just cosmetic.

Edited November 2, 2014 by Atariboy

[FireHawk]

I finally found and looked over the box of the Atari Flashback 5. I'm somewhat confused on one thing, I'm hoping someone hear can clear up.

I know it is the Atari Flashback and not Atari 2600 Flashback. What is confusing though is that they show the home-brew Adventure II, with the correct artwork for it.

As far as I know, this is Atari 5200 only, no port was made for Atari 2600.

From a quick glance of the back of the box, this appears to be the only Atari 5200 game.

Is it the game that was released for the Atari 5200 or a 2600 port of that game ?

I found in another thread here that Space Invaders is not the Atari 2600 version, but a version for ARM processors,

so I'm thinking this will be the original Atari 5200 version of Adventure II.

Is that correct ?

[Bill Loguidice]

I finally found and looked over the box of the Atari Flashback 5. I'm somewhat confused on one thing, I'm hoping someone hear can clear up.

I know it is the Atari Flashback and not Atari 2600 Flashback. What is confusing though is that they show the home-brew Adventure II, with the correct artwork for it.

As far as I know, this is Atari 5200 only, no port was made for Atari 2600.

From a quick glance of the back of the box, this appears to be the only Atari 5200 game.

Is it the game that was released for the Atari 5200 or a 2600 port of that game ?

I found in another thread here that Space Invaders is not the Atari 2600 version, but a version for ARM processors,

so I'm thinking this will be the original Atari 5200 version of Adventure II.

Is that correct ?

No, it's just a hack like Return to Haunted House. Everything is Atari 2600 except for Space Invaders.

[atwwong]

No, it's just a hack like Return to Haunted House. Everything is Atari 2600 except for Space Invaders.

I've read the short blurb that's supposed to be the "instructions" for Return to Haunted House - they don't even match the game...