Jump to content
IGNORED

The 2600+ Game Compatability Thread


82-T/A

Recommended Posts

57 minutes ago, MikeM_ said:

Keep this in mind too. I've just about given up on some carts, then did one more cleaning that made them work again. 

 

I'm looking into trying DeoxIT on my carts to see if it does a better job than 99% isopropyl alcohol does. It's really hard sometimes to determine if the problem is with a brand new electronic device or a 40+ year old copper contact on a game that sat in someone's moldy basement for 20 years before selling it on ebay. lol

 

They are sturdier than we give them credit for though. Out of all my games, only 3 out of 172 have been actually bad and they were super common ones (Coleco White cart Donkey Kong, text label maze craze, text label backgammon). Picking up an ok condition orig 2600 will give you something to validate your games against and give better peace of mind in the quality of your purchases until the remaining bugs have been worked out of the +. 

I do eventually want another OG VCS, as the last one went to the great pie in the sky, and this 2600+ basically replaces it.

 

For what it's worth, I must have cleaned and abraised those contacts 20 times and the weird glitches above never stopped.

 

I know these Jr Pac-Man carts are banked, so since it wasn't pulling music, or complete graphical data, but did pull enough of the program to run (incorrectly), I had a hunch there was a bad bank in there, or bad/oxidized traces leading to that bank beyond where my Q-Tips could reach.

 

An OG Atari might not have issues accessing it because of different throughput tolerances, but clearly my 2600+ wasn't getting the "complete" ROM, but somehow enough to "run" bugged.

 

The availability of this game is why I just said to hell with it, and refunded out for a different copy. If it was something rare or hard to replace, I might have decided to open it up.

 

You're absolutely right about the hardiness of these games. I've gotten games that looked visually ten times worse than these, and was sure wouldn't work, but did.

 

My copy of Amidar looked like a chain smoker owned it, yellowed everything, but fired up after only 2-3 cleanings with ISO, no abrasion needed. Weird!!

Edited by Varanis Ridari
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/13/2024 at 5:37 PM, Varanis Ridari said:

I do eventually want another OG VCS, as the last one went to the great pie in the sky, and this 2600+ basically replaces it.

 

For what it's worth, I must have cleaned and abraised those contacts 20 times and the weird glitches above never stopped.

 

I know these Jr Pac-Man carts are banked, so since it wasn't pulling music, or complete graphical data, but did pull enough of the program to run (incorrectly), I had a hunch there was a bad bank in there, or bad/oxidized traces leading to that bank beyond where my Q-Tips could reach.

 

An OG Atari might not have issues accessing it because of different throughput tolerances, but clearly my 2600+ wasn't getting the "complete" ROM, but somehow enough to "run" bugged.

 

The availability of this game is why I just said to hell with it, and refunded out for a different copy. If it was something rare or hard to replace, I might have decided to open it up.

 

You're absolutely right about the hardiness of these games. I've gotten games that looked visually ten times worse than these, and was sure wouldn't work, but did.

 

My copy of Amidar looked like a chain smoker owned it, yellowed everything, but fired up after only 2-3 cleanings with ISO, no abrasion needed. Weird!!

I wanted to come back and confirm it was the Jr Pac-Man cart and not my unit. After all that cleaning, still visual glitches and absent music, I believe one of the banks was probably rotted.

 

Got my "new" boxed copy of Jr. Pac-Man, and even though it too required some cleaning to start, it works absolutely perfectly. Music is there, no visual glitches, and mazes are completable! ❤

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have had this Zellers multi game "bootleg" cart in my collection for a while, never played it thou.

So decided to try it on the 2600+. All games work fine thou it was trial and error with the DIP switches to boot all games, no info with the manual. lol

DSC_0010.JPG

bermuda.JPG

canival.JPG

motor race.JPG

missile commador.JPG

suppermen.JPG

baby snoopy.JPG

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, shane857 said:

I have had this Zellers multi game "bootleg" cart in my collection for a while, never played it thou.

So decided to try it on the 2600+. All games work fine thou it was trial and error with the DIP switches to boot all games, no info with the manual. lol

DSC_0010.JPG

bermuda.JPG

canival.JPG

motor race.JPG

missile commador.JPG

suppermen.JPG

baby snoopy.JPG

 

1 minute ago, shane857 said:

I have had this Zellers multi game "bootleg" cart in my collection for a while, never played it thou.

So decided to try it on the 2600+. All games work fine thou it was trial and error with the DIP switches to boot all games, no info with the manual. lol

DSC_0010.JPG

bermuda.JPG

canival.JPG

motor race.JPG

missile commador.JPG

suppermen.JPG

baby snoopy.JPG

Games are... Bermuda/river raid clone. Cracker Pet/Crackpots. Canival/Nuts. Motor Race/Motor cross. Missile Commador/Missile Command. Suppermen(lol)/Superman. Baby Snoopy/???? And Circus which is Circus Atari.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, shane857 said:

Games are... Bermuda/river raid clone. Cracker Pet/Crackpots. Canival/Nuts. Motor Race/Motor cross. Missile Commador/Missile Command. Suppermen(lol)/Superman. Baby Snoopy/???? And Circus which is Circus Atari.

That's funny. Was there a release date for the cartridge on the box?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...
On 12/9/2023 at 7:19 PM, Perceval70 said:

I've been unable to get Tac Scan to run. It starts up and looks good but I can't seem to start a game. It runs off of the Paddles plugged into the right controller port. Game loads but then doesn't respond to any input.

Can anyone else confirm this?

I also have the same problem with my Tac-Scan in my Atari 2600+ the game loads but will not play with the paddles hooked up to the right and left ports.. Nothing.. I love this game and would like to play it once again one day... And don't tell me I have to buy the Atari 7800+ for a fix LMAO

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, JeffD3614 said:

I also have the same problem with my Tac-Scan in my Atari 2600+ the game loads but will not play with the paddles hooked up to the right and left ports.. Nothing.. I love this game and would like to play it once again one day... And don't tell me I have to buy the Atari 7800+ for a fix LMAO

Upgrade to the latest experimental firmware from this forum, currently 1.1x-r6.

My copy runs fine🤙

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, DEANJIMMY said:

Upgrade to the latest experimental firmware from this forum, currently 1.1x-r6.

My copy runs fine🤙

Gosh, these posts shock me. How many folks are running around STILL on the busted OG firmware... 

 

I swear, the amount of angst out there from folks too afraid to even TRY upgrading the firmware boggles my mind. These are MEN. 

Edited by tradyblix
  • Confused 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, tradyblix said:

Gosh, these posts shock me. How many folks are running around STILL on the busted OG firmware... 

I swear, the amount of angst out there from folks too afraid to even TRY upgrading the firmware boggles my mind. These are MEN. 

I found the firmware update to be easy - but not everyone is good with tech. 

And not everyone owns a Windows machine.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

47 minutes ago, LS650 said:

I found the firmware update to be easy - but not everyone is good with tech. 

And not everyone owns a Windows machine.

 

I know, but you can't find a tech savvy buddy ? Windows machines are like 90 percent market share ? Even non-M1 macs can run windows natively and I think all of them can run it in virtualization ? Methinks the ladies doth protest too loudly. 

 

It's not like people have to write their own code or something lol. Or Edit any files.

Just follow an explicit list of directions, like we used to read maps when we got lost back in the day. Or watch one of several youtube videos that hand holds you. like this one: 

 

 

There is the business with the evercade driver, I'll grant you that. That sucks. 

 

Anyway hopefully they'll release an installer on the 3 major platforms plus android and iOS soon lol.

 

No wonder folks are worried about the future of the country

Edited by tradyblix
  • Confused 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I own almost 200 cartridges between my 2600 and 7800 collection. I have homebrews in this collection.  After I did the most recent update for my 2600+ I found that only 2 of my cartridges did not play properly. Star Raiders because of the keypad and Galagon because most champ games wont load.  So once an update comes along that allows for the keypad and champ games to load I will be all set.  

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I bought my 2600+ 3 or 4 weeks ago and it's been getting regular use most evenings and on weekends. What a great system. Finally a way to play 2600 and 7800 cartridges without going through RF!

 

I dug out my ill-used Windows PC and upgraded the firmware to 1.1x-r6, and have been really impressed with the compatibility. Oddities I've experienced on my PAL games are:

 

  • Both Circus and Kaboom! seem to have frame rate issues every so often. These are the only games I've experienced this on. The fact they're both paddle games makes me wonder if this connected. Has anyone else experienced this?
  • The bat on Super Breakout chugs across the screen rather than glides as it would on original hardware. Looking at another thread this seems to be a known issue.
  • Defender 2 - This only seems to work once the machine has been on for a few minutes. Perhaps the edge connector is thin and the machine being on for a few minutes causes the connectors on the cartridge slot to expand?
  • A new old stock sealed Asteroids just refused to work. I can only get "No Cartridge Inserted"
  • Asteroids (I have another PAL copy) - on occasions the flicker is so bad that your ship vanishes
  • Frogger - on occasions your frog, cars or logs on the same row as you can completely vanish.

Overall, I'm very impressed with the unit. I'd not played many of my 2600 and 7800 games for a good 20+ years because getting the consoles to output a decent picture on my TVs was nigh on impossible.

 

I'm having a lot of fun with the games. Many have really surprised me with how playable they are.

 

A massive thank you to the individuals behind the firmware updates. Incredible work!

 

 

 

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/16/2024 at 9:24 PM, shane857 said:

I have had this Zellers multi game "bootleg" cart in my collection for a while, never played it thou.

So decided to try it on the 2600+. All games work fine thou it was trial and error with the DIP switches to boot all games, no info with the manual. lol

 

 

 

 

 

 

baby snoopy.JPG

What's the game?

Edited by MarcinJ
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, roberthazelby said:

I bought my 2600+ 3 or 4 weeks ago and it's been getting regular use most evenings and on weekends. What a great system. Finally a way to play 2600 and 7800 cartridges without going through RF!

 

I dug out my ill-used Windows PC and upgraded the firmware to 1.1x-r6, and have been really impressed with the compatibility. Oddities I've experienced on my PAL games are:

 

  • Both Circus and Kaboom! seem to have frame rate issues every so often. These are the only games I've experienced this on. The fact they're both paddle games makes me wonder if this connected. Has anyone else experienced this?
  • The bat on Super Breakout chugs across the screen rather than glides as it would on original hardware. Looking at another thread this seems to be a known issue.
  • Defender 2 - This only seems to work once the machine has been on for a few minutes. Perhaps the edge connector is thin and the machine being on for a few minutes causes the connectors on the cartridge slot to expand?
  • A new old stock sealed Asteroids just refused to work. I can only get "No Cartridge Inserted"
  • Asteroids (I have another PAL copy) - on occasions the flicker is so bad that your ship vanishes
  • Frogger - on occasions your frog, cars or logs on the same row as you can completely vanish.

Overall, I'm very impressed with the unit. I'd not played many of my 2600 and 7800 games for a good 20+ years because getting the consoles to output a decent picture on my TVs was nigh on impossible.

 

I'm having a lot of fun with the games. Many have really surprised me with how playable they are.

 

A massive thank you to the individuals behind the firmware updates. Incredible work!

 

 

 

Thanks for this good to hear.

 

For circus, kaboom, asteroids and frogger, as long as your firmware is the latest you should not have graphical glitches.

 

I had similar issues recently at home but at work it was fine. Turned out on my TV I had Trumotion on. I'd already been through all my TV settings a while back and turned all post processing off, but somehow Trumotion was back on. Switched it off and TV was fine, no hitching or missing sprites.

 

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/28/2024 at 4:00 AM, JeffD3614 said:

I also have the same problem with my Tac-Scan in my Atari 2600+ the game loads but will not play with the paddles hooked up to the right and left ports.. Nothing.. I love this game and would like to play it once again one day... And don't tell me I have to buy the Atari 7800+ for a fix LMAO

Tac-Scan starts when you press the Fire Button on player one Paddle. FYI.

Left port for Paddles with this game on the 2600+.

Right port on Original hardware.

 

Tac-Scan plays amazingly well on the Atari 2600+ using the CX30+ Paddles!

 

Be sure you have the latest Firmware updates installed.

Edited by MrChickenz
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, Ben from Plaion said:

Thanks for this good to hear.

 

For circus, kaboom, asteroids and frogger, as long as your firmware is the latest you should not have graphical glitches.

 

I had similar issues recently at home but at work it was fine. Turned out on my TV I had Trumotion on. I'd already been through all my TV settings a while back and turned all post processing off, but somehow Trumotion was back on. Switched it off and TV was fine, no hitching or missing sprites.

 

My LG TV has the trumotion setting. I usually leave it on clear, so will try Parker bros Frogger PAL with the setting off and see if there are still disappearing sprites on later levels..

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Ben from Plaion said:

I had similar issues recently at home but at work it was fine. Turned out on my TV I had Trumotion on. I'd already been through all my TV settings a while back and turned all post processing off, but somehow Trumotion was back on. Switched it off and TV was fine, no hitching or missing sprites.

 

I've got an Amazon Fire TV. It's got a Game mode on it that, when enabled, turns off all of the enhancement stuff. A few weeks ago I changed my gaming HDMI cable to a different input, and when I started playing Kaboom! the following day it was atrocious, with horrendous input lag. I tried a couple of other games and they were equally terrible. I thought something was wrong with my 2600+. It was only after I tried an SNES game with my Raspberry Pi with equally awful results that I finally realized that I had forgotten to enable Game mode on the new input. 🤦‍♂️

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Ben from Plaion said:

Thanks for this good to hear.

 

For circus, kaboom, asteroids and frogger, as long as your firmware is the latest you should not have graphical glitches.

 

I had similar issues recently at home but at work it was fine. Turned out on my TV I had Trumotion on. I'd already been through all my TV settings a while back and turned all post processing off, but somehow Trumotion was back on. Switched it off and TV was fine, no hitching or missing sprites.

 

Many thanks for your response. I’d been using the screen for my work laptop. Going into the settings it was on a non game mode. (Shakes head).

 

Setting the TV back to game mode and Frogger can now navigate to his home without vanishing. In Asteroids I can now play blast the cornflakes without any issues. With Circus there is now no choppy frame rate!

 

 Thank you for the game mode pointer, which I should have checked. Apologies.

 

Kaboom! Still has irregular frame rate issues on the dropping bombs, however. It’s not constant but every so often. I don’t recall this happening on original hardware.

 

While I had the paddle controllers connected last night I also fired up Breakout on the new pack in cartridge that comes with the paddles, followed by Super Breakout.

 

 The player bat on Breakout moves really nicely but on Super Breakout (PAL) the bat moves so jittery across the screen it’s pretty much unplayable.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

48 minutes ago, roberthazelby said:

Many thanks for your response. I’d been using the screen for my work laptop. Going into the settings it was on a non game mode. (Shakes head).

 

Setting the TV back to game mode and Frogger can now navigate to his home without vanishing. In Asteroids I can now play blast the cornflakes without any issues. With Circus there is now no choppy frame rate!

 

 Thank you for the game mode pointer, which I should have checked. Apologies.

 

Kaboom! Still has irregular frame rate issues on the dropping bombs, however. It’s not constant but every so often. I don’t recall this happening on original hardware.

 

While I had the paddle controllers connected last night I also fired up Breakout on the new pack in cartridge that comes with the paddles, followed by Super Breakout.

 

 The player bat on Breakout moves really nicely but on Super Breakout (PAL) the bat moves so jittery across the screen it’s pretty much unplayable.

Your findings match to what have been reported by many.

 

Frogger, Asteroids, Kangaroo and Wizzard of Wor are games with a lot of flicker.

TV settings can cause player sprites to disappear.

If those games are PAL it can happen even in gaming mode, as the 2600+ hdmi output is 50Hz and some TV and PC monitors having issues converting 50p from input to 60p or whatever on their panel.

It is planned to let you switch that to 60Hz on future releasss and all these issues will be gone.

 

Paddle games run smooth but on some games like Kaboom and Super Breakout the paddle rather jumps than slides, that is a known issue with their own threads on this forum.

 

 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Hi All,

I've got a copy of Assault,  made by Bomb that I just can't get working.  Firmware and dumper updated to the latest versions (from Atari Age) and I've cleaned the contacts on the cart.  Has anyone got that working?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, IPAWS said:

Hi All,

I've got a copy of Assault,  made by Bomb that I just can't get working.  Firmware and dumper updated to the latest versions (from Atari Age) and I've cleaned the contacts on the cart.  Has anyone got that working?

I own this as a PAL cartridge and it works fine

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...