Video_Invader Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 So i bought the Atari Flasback 5 at Sams with the paddles included. Are these worth buying as a collector? What about the others out there like the colecovision, Intellivision, and Genesis? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+LS650 Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 As a serious collector, no. As a casual gamer looking for an easy intro to an old console, yes. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg2600 Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Did yours come with wired joysticks as well as paddles? The wireless sticks still mostly stink. It's a nice range of games they have, including some homebrew that I don't think have been freely distributed as roms. They're all selling so cheap now, that if you have the space to store them, why not? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+LS650 Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 The wireless sticks still mostly stink. Yes, I have to admit that the line-of-sight on these is very strict. I strongly prefer using a pair of regular wired joysticks. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FujiSkunk Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 My roommate's nephews got both the Flashback 5 and the Genesis console for Christmas, so I got to look at them up close. I have to admit, I think the Flashback 5 has the best selection of games among all the Flashbacks, the Flashback 2 included. If they had carried over the Pitfall and River Raid licenses, convinced Taito to let them use the 2600 version of Space Invaders, and maybe hit up Namco to include Pac-Man or Ms. Pac-Man and possibly one or two others, this thing would have been just about perfect, at least as far as modern all-in-ones go. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Video_Invader Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 (edited) Mine had the wireless. I got refunds today on them as i decided to stick to original hardware. I am however interestef in the portable genesis game that has the sd card slot. Its blue and black. Also has tv output. Walgreens had one marked down to 25 but it was gone when i checked today. Does anyone know who else sell this? I see Gamestop has them online only but they're $50 Edited January 6, 2015 by Video_Invader Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sardonyx Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 (edited) So i bought the Atari Flasback 5 at Sams with the paddles included. Are these worth buying as a collector? What about the others out there like the colecovision, Intellivision, and Genesis? The Atari Flashback 5 is what sparked my interest in these. I grew up with a 2600 and I wanted to pick one of these up when the Atari Flashback 2 came out, but it never happened. I haven't played many retro games since, but when I saw a Black Friday ad for the Flashback 5 I knew I had to have one. Then I looked through the games list. 92 games is an impressive number, but I realized there weren't many I would actually play. I didn't particulary enjoy Star Ship even as a kid. Swordquest? No thanks. There were maybe 10 or so games in the end I might play. Then I saw the Colecovision and Intellivision. I never played these growing up, but I did have some experience with the Intellivision from the Intellivision Lives! collection. Since there's no nostalgia for me, the games have to stand on their own and they really didn't for me. The Colecovision however was something I've been aware of since it came out, but actually never seen in person or played. When I went through the games list I was excited. This was the one I had to pick up. And indeed, in terms of game selection, it probably has the best. The controllers are mediocre, but an interesting selection of games (that at least for me) are novel really helped. They're a lot of arcade ports so if you enjoy arcade games it's worth picking up. The Genesis is probably also worthwhile for the games library if you don't have a Genesis. I played quite a bit of Genesis in my teenage years. The Sonic games, Vectorman, Kid Chameleon, those are classics. The 40 games that at games developed aren't worth much, but the 40 original games are decent. In the end, the collecor bug bit and I picked them all up. However a few went back: Colecovision - This is my favorite of the lot. The games library is probably the best in the Flashback series and I personnally haven't run into an opportunity to play the Coleco ports before. I'd recommend this one. Atari Flashback 5 - As I feared the library of games is mediocre. The arcade ports like Centipede, Millipede are decent. Some of the games that originally used paddles like Breakout and Circus Atari are unplayable with the joystick. Your player just moves way too fast. Astroblast suffers from this (As a kid, I remember this as a joystick game). For whatever reason it seems to be designed for paddles and is basically unplayable with the joystick. I ordered some paddle controllers to try out, however there is some input lag with these that for me made the games unplayable. I tested the paddles with my Commodore 64 and Atari 400 and the work fine. From what I can tell from searching the net this has been a problem with all the ARM based Flashbacks (3, 4, 64, 5). Ultimately I returned it. I bought a used Flashback 2 on eBay and it works great. It has all the Atari developed games I would likely ever play, it has Pitfall, and paddles work fine with it for the two paddle games in the hidden menu. Sega Genesis - The games library is really decent as Sega put out a lot of original games. I didn't have any trouble with the wireless controllers. As some have mentioned around the web, the sound is a little bit off, but it's a minor problem. The only killer for me was that I own most of these games as Wii Virtual Console games and again as Sega Classic Collection on the PC. So it was redundant and I returned this one as well. Intellivision - The unit itself is solid and the controllers work well. The games library was just uninspiring to me and that's mostly down to me not being a fan of Intellivision games. There's a couple gems in there like Astrosmash (though I'd rather play Astroblast), Buzz Bombers, Thin Ice, Space Armada (though I'd rather play Space Invaders), and Shark Shark! This one has stuck around mostly because it's a decent build and I no longer have any other Intellivision collections. Should you pick them up? My thoughts: Colecovision Flashback - Definitely, great games library. A little bit of chaff, but a lot of great arcade ports. Atari Flashback 5 - No - issues with paddle games, issues with real paddles, very vanilla game library and a lot of chaff that will never get played Genesis Classic Console - Yes, if you don't have these games already. Most of the original games library is decent. Intellivision Flashback - Maybe - if you enjoy Intellivision and don't have these games already. There's some gems, but a lot of chaff in the game library. Edited January 8, 2015 by Sardonyx 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtarinDave Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 (edited) If you are a hardcore gaming collector like me, then of course the FB5 is worth the purchase. But I agree with most of what you guys said, there are only a few games that I found myself playing. I still enjoy the machine, though. Edited July 3, 2015 by AtarinDave 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 (edited) I picked up the console only recently. Earlier this month. Though I agree that all of the titles are not hit titles I found myself playing and appreciating them all for their historical value and nostalgia. Also if you're like me and can manage to find the playability in the games for what they were and are it's worth it. I didn't have the issues with the paddle controllers. I actually have a set of original paddle controllers I picked up at my local GameStop. I didn't notice the input lag. Not a deal breaker for me on that. I also picked up the IntelliVision Flashback Classic Home Video Game Console. Love it. It really does have some gems. Great at sports titles and many of the action and action/adventure as well as the home ported arcade titles are solid. Nice controllers. I know that for some the controllers for both IntelliVision and ColecoVision can seem a bit daunting. I have heard many say that you have to be something more towards a hardcore gamer to really appreciate how much more control and options they give you with the games. Plan to pick up the ColecoVision Classic Home Video Game Console early next month. Also whenever I find it locally again or can arrange to get it online the Sega Genesis Flashback Classic Home Video Game Console. I will be keeping and cherishing them all. Not interested in the Sega Handheld. Handhelds not really my thing. So it depends upon your particular perspective as to whether any of these flashback consoles are worth it. For those who already own or have owned the original consoles they will never completely replace the experience though they maybe like visiting an old friend to a degree or so. As for those who haven't/can't manage to own an original console of any of these it is certainly one of the next best things and hopefully should get even better as newer versions with better revisions keep coming out and I highly recommend them. I might add as well that for those seriously interested in retro-gaming they are certainly a decent option as opposed to nothing and very affordable. Edited April 28, 2016 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted May 13, 2016 Share Posted May 13, 2016 Colecovision Flashback - Definitely, great games library. A little bit of chaff, but a lot of great arcade ports. Atari Flashback 5 - No - issues with paddle games, issues with real paddles, very vanilla game library and a lot of chaff that will never get played Genesis Classic Console - Yes, if you don't have these games already. Most of the original games library is decent. Intellivision Flashback - Maybe - if you enjoy Intellivision and don't have these games already. There's some gems, but a lot of chaff in the game library. Depending on how you feel about "classic" controllers, I think this is pretty much spot-on. All of the games are better in emulation (the sound in the Sega unit is especially bad compared to the original) but for me, there's something neat about having the new controllers styled after the old ones. There's nothing quite like them in modern times and it's nice to not have to scrounge in retro hardware if you're not fully into that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tep392 Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 I was at Target today and found a Flashback 5 on the shelf. I'm surprised they are still around with the 7 just around the corner. My only other flashback is a 2 so I decided to go ahead and pick it up. It's the "special edition" which I think only differs because the joysticks are wired. It also has a Pixels movie sticker on the box which I thought was interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynxpro Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 I was at Target today and found a Flashback 5 on the shelf. I'm surprised they are still around with the 7 just around the corner. My only other flashback is a 2 so I decided to go ahead and pick it up. It's the "special edition" which I think only differs because the joysticks are wired. It also has a Pixels movie sticker on the box which I thought was interesting. DSC_1267.JPG That Tempest box art is blue like the 5200 version. I can't make out whether it says "2600" or "5200" on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tep392 Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 That Tempest box art is blue like the 5200 version. I can't make out whether it says "2600" or "5200" on it. Good catch. I'll take a look at the box tonight and let you know if it's legible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 Whatever it says, the game inside is the 2600 version. It's always the 2600 version. That "unreleased" game has been released more times and in many more formats than the 5200 cartridge ever was. I'll wager the small image will be too blurry to make out whether they just printed the 5200 box shot. I'll put four tep392 bucks on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tep392 Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 No doubt it's the 2600 game in the machine. It would have been huge news and widely known if the 5200 version had somehow made it in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 The only non-Atari 2600 games are Space Invaders and Frogger, which are new ports targeted to the Flashback hardware. Otherwise, everything else is 2600. They sometimes use the wrong box art (or don't have other box art available). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 The back of the box uses the red/silver 2600 style package for Tempest. Was there ever a mockup box made for this release except for in history repacks such as Flashback? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tep392 Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 The box print isn't sharp enough to tell if it says 5200 but it does match the 5200 box in every respect. Weird that they used the 5200 box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 The box print isn't sharp enough to tell if it says 5200 but it does match the 5200 box in every respect. Weird that they used the 5200 box. DSC_1270.JPG I think the blue full frame 5200 box looks nicer than the half-frame 2600 red/silver mockup from the back of the box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorclu Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 I played the snot out of the Intellivision and Colecovision units. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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