Atari 2600 on SNES

[Nokia3310]

I've been playing Atari Pitfall on SNES and it's still a fun game that brings back a of memories.  For those that don't know, it's possible to play this using a code in Pitfall The Mayan Adventure on the title screen for both SNES and Mega Drive/Genesis... although SNES is more convenient since you only have to press 'A' six times instead of twenty six (TWENTY SIX!!, no more, no less!) on the Sega version.

 

As far as I'm aware, this is the only 2600 game that has seen any kind of appearance on the SNES. Please let me know if I'm wrong or if any homebrew projects make 2600 games possible on a real SNES console. 

 

More to the point, it's now possible to play NES games on an original SNES using Project Nested. I won't explain all that (long story!) but it's basically a program for Windows where you can input a NES roms and it outputs a SNES roms that you can then run on a real SNES console using a basic, cheap Everdrive cartridge and an SD card. Backwards compatibility for SNES is now possible in 2021!! We're living in the retro future here. 

 

This is the part that opens up more possibilities to play Atari 2600 games on the SNES. I'm aware that the first Atari Flashback console was really running NES ports of Atari 2600 games. It was based on cheap NES-on-a-chip (aka NOAC) technology but, from what I've read, it seems it was also using a custom NES mapper to do this. To explain that briefly, mappers were originally additional chips in NES cartridges to make the console run games that it otherwise couldn't do. In more modern times, people have created virtual versions of mappers to run NES games on NOAC, emulators etc. The trouble with custom mappers is that they aren't supported by Project Nested yet (it's still a new thing).

 

So, that's why I'm here and reaching out to people in the know. Are there any 2600 games that have been ported to NES by homebrewers? I've read that there have been such things in Russia but I've hit walls trying to find these. Any help on that (what to search for etc) would be much appreciated.

 

Some people might be wondering 'why would you want to do that?' and my answer is 'because I like to explore possibilities'. There are countless ways of playing 2600 games on a modern TV but that doesn't apply so much to using 90s consoles for that. And sure, using a port isn't quite the same as making SNES play an actual 2600 rom but it doesn't need to be. For me, the only truly authentic way of playing 2600 games is with an original console and a very old CRT TV. Replicating the experience on modern TVs will always have different kinds of compromises.

[Nokia3310]

So, I've got the Atari Flashback games running on Super Nintendo. I've made a video explaining everything...

 

 

[jeffythedragonslayer]

From what I hear, emulating the Atari 2600 on the SNES isn't as easy as it sounds, so I doubt you will find many games getting ported for quite awhile.

[Atariboy]

Someone ported Miniature Golf to the SNES.

[Mr SQL]

On 11/13/2021 at 11:29 AM, Nokia3310 said:

So, I've got the Atari Flashback games running on Super Nintendo. I've made a video explaining everything...

 

 

 

Very cool overview and explanation of the Flashback 2600 and 7800 ports, interesting they implemented a mapping architecture to make ports feel more like Atari games. 

 

I think it would be possible to run Atari 2600 games natively on the NES or SNES similar to the method that recompiles NES games as SNES binaries.

 

I designed an Atari 2600 emulator for the C64 with columnar architecture to map the RIOT, TIA and system bus to get the perf to run the games in real time on the 6510. It currently supports ROM's written in abstract Assembly, SuperCharger BASIC and Atari Flashback BASIC. I am adding support for batari BASIC and a few classic titles, each classic needs their own native video driver while the other frameworks games have shared video drivers.

 

Here are a couple of recent examples running in the emu, Defender III and Arkanoid Air DOH which has additional C64 graphics manipulation. 

 

It would be interesting to see this technique on the NES/SNES.

 

[Cris1997XX]

On 8/21/2023 at 11:02 PM, Mr SQL said:

 

Very cool overview and explanation of the Flashback 2600 and 7800 ports, interesting they implemented a mapping architecture to make ports feel more like Atari games. 

 

I think it would be possible to run Atari 2600 games natively on the NES or SNES similar to the method that recompiles NES games as SNES binaries.

 

I designed an Atari 2600 emulator for the C64 with columnar architecture to map the RIOT, TIA and system bus to get the perf to run the games in real time on the 6510. It currently supports ROM's written in abstract Assembly, SuperCharger BASIC and Atari Flashback BASIC. I am adding support for batari BASIC and a few classic titles, each classic needs their own native video driver while the other frameworks games have shared video drivers.

 

Here are a couple of recent examples running in the emu, Defender III and Arkanoid Air DOH which has additional C64 graphics manipulation. 

 

It would be interesting to see this technique on the NES/SNES.

 

Out of curiosity, would there be any tangible performance upgrades when played on a Commodore 128 or C64 with SuperCPU?

[Mr SQL]

18 hours ago, Cris1997XX said:

Out of curiosity, would there be any tangible performance upgrades when played on a Commodore 128 or C64 with SuperCPU?

 

Interesting question. I took a look at the SuperCPU product on 8-bit Show and Tell overclocking ZeroPage's port of Mario  World:

 

It's overclocking capabilities are limited by the C64's video signal of 50 or 60 Hz for PAL or NTSC.

 

So the SuperCPU could potentially overclock the emulator for games that run at less than 50 or 60 FPS.

 

The Turbo edition of the emulator would need to be used, the switch for this is turned off by default but can be enabled in the source code.

 

Here is an example of the Turbo edition overclocking a 30 FPS game to 60 FPS (on a stock C64) with an explanation why 60 FPS games cannot be overclocked similar to the SuperCPU's limitations: