Collecting for the 2600+

[+Intellivision Master]

My M Network games arrived today.  One has a missing label.  I'll just write it on there.  I know what game it is.  In the photo from the seller the label was on there.  It fell off at some point.  But no big deal.

[JetmanUK]

Beamrider arrived today, well done to the eBay seller, super fast delivery. 

 

As I've stated on here before, I often like to have one quick go of the ROM to check if I like a game before purchase. I don't play much as I don't want to spoil the 'new game experience' too much. However with expensive games I do have a few goes and I did with Beamrider. 

 

What I like about this game is that it feels more modern than many 2600 games. It's a fun flat Tempest type shooter. I just wish Activision would have included press fire to start the game in their releases.

 

All 2600 games should include fire to start, pause on one of the switches and a death/end of game animation (not just stop like many titles do). But I get that we are talking the early days of gaming here, so it's all the more impressive when they do *Cough Gas Hog is a good example and includes all three*. How many other games do?

Edited January 26 by JetmanUK

[vintage35]

4 hours ago, KainXavier said:

I kind of went a bit nuts in December with how much I spent on video games, so I decided to abstain from purchasing any this month.  That said, Albert sent me a nice surprise today.  My "last chance" order arrived:

Wolfenstein VCS looks and plays wonderfully on the 2600+!  For those that don't know, it's an extensive hack of Venture that mixes in elements from the Wolfenstein series.  You can't buy it any more, but it looks like you can download the ROM from AtariAge here.  (I'm not sure if it's an earlier version or not.)  You can also watch a gameplay video here.  I really like the game, and I prefer it to Venture, honestly.

 

Next up is Zippy the Porcupine.  It's a great platformer and a love letter to the Sonic the Hedgehog series.  Sprybug, the game's author, has made the ROM available here.  The cartridge doesn't work correctly on my 2600+, but I'm also still running the Rev 1 beta firmware, and I suspect that's why.  (The 2600+ is trying to run a display mode unsupported by my TV.)  I'll let everyone know whether or not it works on the Rev 2 beta once I upgrade.

 

And then there's Baby Pac-Man.  Bob DeCrescenzo has released so many amazing (Pac-Man) ports for the 7800 that it was hard to narrow it down to just one.  I think I made the right choice, though.  This is an incredible port of a very obscure arcade game that combines the traditional gameplay of Pac-Man with an actual pinball machine.  It's also the only home conversion that exists, official or otherwise.  If you like Pac-Man, you'll probably like Baby Pac-Man.  (You can even ignore the pinball aspect if you so desire.)  You can find the ROM here on the forums.

 

Lastly, there's Adventure II for the Atari 5200.  (Not to be confused with the other Adventure II!)  It's a great game that I will stare at longingly just like I would stare at @Ben from Plaion should he and his team release a 5200 cartridge adapter for the 2600+. 😉

@JetmanUK

 

I know I'm like 20 pages late, but T:ME Salvo is also a twin-stick shooter of sorts.  It's also kind of a maze shooter.  You're limited to four directions, and you have to navigate around tiles while rescuing humans and shooting down enemies from various games, including Robotron and Berzerk.  Here's a video if you're interested.  It's very hard, but I like it.  It feels like an unofficial sequel to Robotron and an experimental one at that.

 

 

 

Nice pick up, my order was similar to yours but I had to limit myself to just Zippy and Wolfenstein, got it earlier this week.  I don't have a plus (probably stay that way as its tough to justify it when you have a working light sixer and 7800) so I was able to play Zippy without issues.  This was the first time I bought from the AA store and it definitely won't be the last time, I cannot say enough about the quality of these games both the programming and the physical copies.  And the coming soon/also available flyer included was a nice touch, makes it feel like we stepped back in time to the 2600 original life span.  

[MikeM_]

4 hours ago, Intellivision Master said:

It would be great if a 5200 adapter comes to the 2600+.  There are a few 5200 games I'd like to get.  The only issue is getting a 5200 controller made that works better than the original.  Maybe Atari can come up with a plan to make it happen.

It would be great to have a way to play my 5200 carts as well, but I don’t think the 2600+ will be the answer. 
 

the controllers are just too different I think, and if we don’t yet have 2600 keypads working, I’m not sure how the 5200 keypads would come into play. 
 

I almost think any kind of 5200 adapter would look and act like the 2600 adapter for the 5200 did which would be a monstrosity. We’d have to plug 5200 controllers into the adapter as well as the carts. 
 

I’d almost rather see a usb cartridge adapter made for the upcoming 400 mini or a dedicated 5200+. 

[scifidude79]

4 hours ago, Intellivision Master said:

It would be great if a 5200 adapter comes to the 2600+.  There are a few 5200 games I'd like to get.  The only issue is getting a 5200 controller made that works better than the original.  Maybe Atari can come up with a plan to make it happen.

To improve the 5200 controller, the first step would make a self centering analog stick. That shouldn't be an issue since most modern controllers have those. I agree, an adapter would be sweet. The first console we had when I was a kid was the 5200, and I'd love to relive some memories.

[John Stamos Mullet]

1 minute ago, scifidude79 said:

To improve the 5200 controller, the first step would make a self centering analog stick. That shouldn't be an issue since most modern controllers have those. I agree, an adapter would be sweet. The first console we had when I was a kid was the 5200, and I'd love to relive some memories.

Forget the self-centering analog stick. Just make it work with the standard 2600/7800 digital stick. The Analog sticks were by far the worst thing about the 5200, for the most part because the vast majority of the games were never analog controlled in the arcade, nor were any of teh "upgraded" 2600 games.

 

so far as I know, all the 5200 emulators out there work with 2600 style digital sticks.

[Sean_1970]

3 minutes ago, John Stamos Mullet said:

Forget the self-centering analog stick. Just make it work with the standard 2600/7800 digital stick. The Analog sticks were by far the worst thing about the 5200, for the most part because the vast majority of the games were never analog controlled in the arcade, nor were any of teh "upgraded" 2600 games.

 

so far as I know, all the 5200 emulators out there work with 2600 style digital sticks.

I can only imagine maybe some paddle games like Super Breakout might have used it - or was that trackball-only?

[scifidude79]

50 minutes ago, MikeM_ said:

I almost think any kind of 5200 adapter would look and act like the 2600 adapter for the 5200 did which would be a monstrosity. We’d have to plug 5200 controllers into the adapter as well as the carts.

I don't think so. Jerry Jessop said in an interview for the Atari 50 collection that the 5200 was intentionally made to not be 2600 compatible. And, with 1980s technology, it was too hard to make it compatible without creating a huge beast of an adapter. With modern technology, you can add emulators to systems like the 2600+ pretty easily. With an added emulator, a 5200 cartridge dumper, and a pin adapter, it could probably be done in a relatively small package.

[+sramirez2008]

12 minutes ago, John Stamos Mullet said:

so far as I know, all the 5200 emulators out there work with 2600 style digital sticks.

I primarily use Altirra for 5200 emulation and a 5200 adapter from 2600-Daptor. Sadly their 5200 adapter is no longer available. 

[MikeM_]

2 minutes ago, scifidude79 said:

I don't think so. Jerry Jessop said in an interview for the Atari 50 collection that the 5200 was intentionally made to not be 2600 compatible. And, with 1980s technology, it was too hard to make it compatible without creating a huge beast of an adapter. With modern technology, you can add emulators to systems like the 2600+ pretty easily. With an added emulator, a 5200 cartridge dumper, and a pin adapter, it could probably be done in a relatively small package.

The emulation isn’t the problem so much as the physical differences I would think. 
 

5200 games are much larger cartridges so an adapter will need something capable of supporting the extra size and weight to prevent damaging the existing port. I still believe 5200 controllers would need to plug into it as well so you need the ports (do you only do 2 or 4?) which are larger than 2600 controller ports. 
 

All that considered, yes it could be smaller than the old 2600 adapter, but it would still be large when compared to the 2600+. 

is it doable, sure. But would it be an aesthetically pleasing option to have some adapter with 5200 games sticking out of a 2600 chassis?
 

That l’m not so sure of. 

 

[scifidude79]

2 minutes ago, MikeM_ said:

The emulation isn’t the problem so much as the physical differences I would think. 
 

5200 games are much larger cartridges so an adapter will need something capable of supporting the extra size and weight to prevent damaging the existing port. I still believe 5200 controllers would need to plug into it as well so you need the ports (do you only do 2 or 4?) which are larger than 2600 controller ports. 
 

All that considered, yes it could be smaller than the old 2600 adapter, but it would still be large when compared to the 2600+. 

is it doable, sure. But would it be an aesthetically pleasing option to have some adapter with 5200 games sticking out of a 2600 chassis?
 

That l’m not so sure of. 

 

Yes, I know of the differences. The 5200 was the first console we had when I was a kid, and the 7800 was the second one. The adapter would have to have the bottom half of an Atari 2600 cartridge to go down into the console and then the plastic would have to extend outside of the top and expand to take the 5200 cartridge with a pin connector inside of it. It wouldn't be pretty, but it would work and it could be considerably smaller than the monstrosity that was the 2600 adapter for the 5200.

 

For the controller, a modern controller could be made with a 9-pin connector, and an adapter could be made for classic controllers. Though, honestly, does anyone want to use a classic 5200 controller? My dad bought digital joysticks for our 5200 back in the 80s and they were superior.

[MikeM_]

8 minutes ago, scifidude79 said:

Yes, I know of the differences. The 5200 was the first console we had when I was a kid, and the 7800 was the second one. The adapter would have to have the bottom half of an Atari 2600 cartridge to go down into the console and then the plastic would have to extend outside of the top and expand to take the 5200 cartridge with a pin connector inside of it. It wouldn't be pretty, but it would work and it could be considerably smaller than the monstrosity that was the 2600 adapter for the 5200.

 

For the controller, a modern controller could be made with a 9-pin connector, and an adapter could be made for classic controllers. Though, honestly, does anyone want to use a classic 5200 controller? My dad bought digital joysticks for our 5200 back in the 80s and they were superior.

All the more reason I think that an external usb cartridge adapter for the 400mini (or the Gamestation Pro) makes more sense. The 2600+ is all about retro aesthetics, not just the ability to play older games. A 5200 adapter of any style could interfere with that feel and look. And if the controllers were changed to something we all admit would be better, it would still loose even more of that retro feel. 

[scifidude79]

9 minutes ago, MikeM_ said:

All the more reason I think that an external usb cartridge adapter for the 400mini (or the Gamestation Pro) makes more sense. The 2600+ is all about retro aesthetics, not just the ability to play older games. A 5200 adapter of any style could interfere with that feel and look. And if the controllers were changed to something we all admit would be better, it would still loose even more of that retro feel. 

I'm just glad the 400 mini is going to have 5200 games on it. I'm looking forward to seeing what it comes with. And, it's not like adding more games would be hard.

[Peloquin17]

Just got a bunch of carts from a friend. I guess I’m gonna spend the weekend cleaning and testing. 
 

and fixing the broken pin. 
 

 

[shane857]

So the official list of atari 2600 games according to wikipedia is 523? Think that list is missing quite a few... 🤣

Edited January 26 by shane857
edit

[shane857]

16 minutes ago, Peloquin17 said:

Just got a bunch of carts from a friend. I guess I’m gonna spend the weekend cleaning and testing. 
 

and fixing the broken pin. 
 

 

And maybe try inserting them at slightly different angles. 

[MikeM_]

1 hour ago, Peloquin17 said:

Just got a bunch of carts from a friend. I guess I’m gonna spend the weekend cleaning and testing. 
 

and fixing the broken pin. 
 

 

I’m curious if all five of those pitfall carts experience the clicking sound or not. 

[MysticSword]

Yay! 🥳 I'm happy to get a wonderful goodie in the mail today. Defender II (otherwise known as Stargate).

The cartridge is in excellent condition and I just had a good session for about an hour playing it on my 2600+.

I'm really impressed with this game, the graphics and sounds are really good and overall I find this game a lot of fun to play.

Defender and Stargate were a couple of games I remember fondly playing back in the day in the arcades, and I think this 2600 version of Defender II (Stargate) is excellently done and I can see it quickly becoming one of my fav games to play on my 2600+.

     I didn't know how to use the smart-bombs at first, then I thought "Hmm... Maybe it uses the fire-button on a 2nd controller?" as I vaguely remember reading or hearing that somewhere (maybe a Youtube game review video, as I often watch game-play / reviews of games before deciding to go ahead and buy it). And sure enough that's how to use a smart-bomb. So, using a thick rubber band to hold together two game-pad controllers I placed back-to back, controlling my ship and firing with one controller with my left hand, then my right-index finger just resting underneath next to the fire-button on the 2nd controller so I can then quickly use a smart-bomb when I want.

   By the way, many thanks to @Intellivision Master for recommending me TheNerdporium.com , where I got Defender II from and for a much more reasonable price compared to the ones I seen listed on Ebay.

~

And another game arrived today as well (which I got from Ebay for a cheap price), Grand Prix. An Activision game. It's a side-scrolling racing game, with 4 different tracks (one longer than the next) in which you try to get the fastest time you can. I find it's rather fun actually.

 

[+jeremiahjt]

8 minutes ago, MysticSword said:

I didn't know how to use the smart-bombs at first, then I thought "Hmm... Maybe it uses the fire-button on a 2nd controller?" as I vaguely remember reading or hearing that somewhere (maybe a Youtube game review video, as I often watch game-play / reviews of games before deciding to go ahead and buy it). And sure enough that's how to use a smart-bomb. So, using a thick rubber band to hold together two game-pad controllers I placed back-to back, controlling my ship and firing with one controller with my left hand, then my right-index finger just resting underneath next to the fire-button on the 2nd controller so I can then quickly use a smart-bomb when I want.

Do not forget to push forward for Inviso and back for Hyperspace.

[DEANJIMMY]

5 hours ago, JetmanUK said:

Beamrider arrived today, well done to the eBay seller, super fast delivery. 

 

As I've stated on here before, I often like to have one quick go of the ROM to check if I like a game before purchase. I don't play much as I don't want to spoil the 'new game experience' too much. However with expensive games I do have a few goes and I did with Beamrider. 

 

What I like about this game is that it feels more modern than many 2600 games. It's a fun flat Tempest type shooter. I just wish Activision would have included press fire to start the game in their releases.

 

All 2600 games should include fire to start, pause on one of the switches and a death/end of game animation (not just stop like many titles do). But I get that we are talking the early days of gaming here, so it's all the more impressive when they do *Cough Gas Hog is a good example and includes all three*. How many other games do?

I prefer the 2600 versions of Beamrider and HERO. The C64 versions got enhanced a bit but the minimalistic original versions have more style🤙

Edited January 26 by DEANJIMMY

[DEANJIMMY]

4 hours ago, John Stamos Mullet said:

Forget the self-centering analog stick. Just make it work with the standard 2600/7800 digital stick. The Analog sticks were by far the worst thing about the 5200, for the most part because the vast majority of the games were never analog controlled in the arcade, nor were any of teh "upgraded" 2600 games.

 

so far as I know, all the 5200 emulators out there work with 2600 style digital sticks.

I learned that food fight arcade was using analogue controls when my 8bitdo controller started to suck on mame... and I said why analogue controls... it makes sense for FIFA but not for those old games...

Edited January 26 by DEANJIMMY

[DEANJIMMY]

3 hours ago, sramirez2008 said:

I primarily use Altirra for 5200 emulation and a 5200 adapter from 2600-Daptor. Sadly their 5200 adapter is no longer available. 

I love Trakballs, please Mister  @Ben from Plaion open up that gate... TB support on 2600+🤗

Edited January 26 by DEANJIMMY

[DEANJIMMY]

26 minutes ago, MysticSword said:

Yay! 🥳 I'm happy to get a wonderful goodie in the mail today. Defender II (otherwise known as Stargate).

The cartridge is in excellent condition and I just had a good session for about an hour playing it on my 2600+.

I'm really impressed with this game, the graphics and sounds are really good and overall I find this game a lot of fun to play.

Defender and Stargate were a couple of games I remember fondly playing back in the day in the arcades, and I think this 2600 version of Defender II (Stargate) is excellently done and I can see it quickly becoming one of my fav games to play on my 2600+.

     I didn't know how to use the smart-bombs at first, then I thought "Hmm... Maybe it uses the fire-button on a 2nd controller?" as I vaguely remember reading or hearing that somewhere (maybe a Youtube game review video, as I often watch game-play / reviews of games before deciding to go ahead and buy it). And sure enough that's how to use a smart-bomb. So, using a thick rubber band to hold together two game-pad controllers I placed back-to back, controlling my ship and firing with one controller with my left hand, then my right-index finger just resting underneath next to the fire-button on the 2nd controller so I can then quickly use a smart-bomb when I want.

   By the way, many thanks to @Intellivision Master for recommending me TheNerdporium.com , where I got Defender II from and for a much more reasonable price compared to the ones I seen listed on Ebay.

~

And another game arrived today as well (which I got from Ebay for a cheap price), Grand Prix. An Activision game. It's a side-scrolling racing game, with 4 different tracks (one longer than the next) in which you try to get the fastest time you can. I find it's rather fun actually.

 

Playing Stargate with the unijoysticle2 and a Dualsense. Two controllers on one pad🤙

[+Intellivision Master]

I started playing some of the M Network games.  Astroblast doesn't work with the joystick or gamepad.  I read somewhere it uses paddles on the Atari 2600+.  Right now I don't have any.  But I'll try the game on my 7800.  

 

Next I played Armor Ambush.  That works fine.  Lastly I played JetmanUK's favorite game Dark Cavern.  This one didn't work when fully inserted.  The screen glitched out.  I had to pull the cart up a little then it was good to go.

 

By the way, I tried the hot swap method when playing these games.  I like it.  It's fun doing that.  Tomorrow I'll test out the other 4 games from the lot using the hot swap.  It makes it easier.

[Brad_from_the_80s]

7 hours ago, JetmanUK said:

Beamrider arrived today, well done to the eBay seller, super fast delivery. 

 

As I've stated on here before, I often like to have one quick go of the ROM to check if I like a game before purchase. I don't play much as I don't want to spoil the 'new game experience' too much. However with expensive games I do have a few goes and I did with Beamrider. 

 

What I like about this game is that it feels more modern than many 2600 games. It's a fun flat Tempest type shooter. I just wish Activision would have included press fire to start the game in their releases.

 

All 2600 games should include fire to start, pause on one of the switches and a death/end of game animation (not just stop like many titles do). But I get that we are talking the early days of gaming here, so it's all the more impressive when they do *Cough Gas Hog is a good example and includes all three*. How many other games do?

Great game!  Love the sound effects, the game play, even the graphics.  It is technically slightly simplified from other ports, but still a great favorite of mine.  Took me a while for some reason to discern the bonus lives/ships from the little asteroid chunks that fly at you, but there's one to catch in almost every level and is key to having enough chances to advance in the game. 

 

When I first got this one, being an Activision cart, at first it didn't want to work at all and thought I had a DOA.  Then it would work with careful/touchy/just-right insertion.  And now for whatever reason it mostly just works.  Also the label had been punched through exposed the screws, and I think someone had opened the cart for reasons I can't even imagine.  Oh well.  Replacement label is an option but the graphic is so busy one hardly notices either way.