Happy new 5200 owner

[bcostin]

A friend of mine at work promised me an Atari 5200 last year, provided she could find it. Patience pays off, because it turned up during her latest move. It then quickly made its way into my eager hands. This finally completes my set of major Atari consoles up through the Jaguar.

 

It's an original 4-port system complete with the automatic switchbox, power supply, and two cosmetically perfect controllers. After years of storage the controllers didn't work (what a shock) but following the 5200 FAQ's cleaning instructions yielded two functioning sticks each with at least one working fire button. (I could probably get them all working, but after messing up and misaligning a stick twice now I figured I'd better quit while I'm ahead tonight.)

 

It came with a nice starter set of games too:

 

- Pac Man

- Kangaroo

- Centipede

- Super Breakout

- Pole Position

 

Plus a couple carts I found at a thrift store a few months ago:

 

- Star Raiders

- Robotron 2084

- James Bond 007

- Countermeasure

 

And two nifty AtariAge repros I bought during last year's Christmas sale:

 

- Jr Pac Man

- Millipede

 

Mercy sakes alive, looks like we got us a convoy.

 

I'm still playing through the carts, but so far I've been surprised to find that the feel of the sticks really isn't that bad for most games, even Pac Man. (The worst exception so far is Kangaroo, where the twitchy control scheme seems to leave me always hopping or ducking.) I was thinking of a Redemption adapter, but I'll probably settle for joystick refub kits from Best instead.

 

The 5200 is a sure enough an impressive looking console. It looks like a Super Star Destroyer sitting next to the compact 7800. I really like it so far, but I already have many of the available games for my 8-bit system so I'll probably limit my collecting to whatever turns up at Goodwill or yard sales. I will be ordering Beef Drop, of course.

[JB]

A friend of mine at work promised me an Atari 5200 last year, provided she could find it. Patience pays off, because it turned up during her latest move. It then quickly made its way into my eager hands. This finally completes my set of major Atari consoles up through the Jaguar.

I asked a family member about their old Atari stuff once.

Several years passed before they passed it on, because they were cleaning the attic and vaguely remembered I was interested.

...

Got a load of Genesis stuff a year later, too.

 

Patience definitely does pay off.

 

It's an original 4-port system complete with the automatic switchbox, power supply, and two cosmetically perfect controllers.

Mmmm...

My sticks are all showing a fair bit of "love."

 

After years of storage the controllers didn't work (what a shock) but following the 5200 FAQ's cleaning instructions yielded two functioning sticks each with at least one working fire button. (I could probably get them all working, but after messing up and misaligning a stick twice now I figured I'd better quit while I'm ahead tonight.)

You'll get better with practice.

And until you mod the sticks with aluminum foil, or replace the buttons with the gold contact ones, you will be opening those sticks monthly, if not weekly. So you WILL get practice.

 

I'm still playing through the carts, but so far I've been surprised to find that the feel of the sticks really isn't that bad for most games, even Pac Man. (The worst exception so far is Kangaroo, where the twitchy control scheme seems to leave me always hopping or ducking.) I was thinking of a Redemption adapter, but I'll probably settle for joystick refub kits from Best instead.

The rubber boot helps A LOT on anything where centering is useful. That hurts mine a bit, as my 2 "good" sticks don't have boots.

 

As far as restoration goes... I'm cheap.

I just glued aluminum foil to the contacts. Most of the benefits of a full gold refurb kit, for essentially free.

 

The 5200 is a sure enough an impressive looking console. It looks like a Super Star Destroyer sitting next to the compact 7800.

Yes. Behold the might of Big Sexy.

 

I really like it so far, but I already have many of the available games for my 8-bit system so I'll probably limit my collecting to whatever turns up at Goodwill or yard sales. I will be ordering Beef Drop, of course.

Don't forget to grab the 5200 Qix.

Totally diffrent than the computer version. And automatically better by virtue of having 2 fire buttons.

Arguably the best home version available of the original game.

[joeybastard]

Welcome to 5200 fold, it's great system. I'd suggest picking up Space Dungeon since it's one of the best original 5200 games and check out the homebrew Koffi, it's a geat game too.

Edited April 21, 2005 by joeybastard

[Lord Helmet]

You gotta get a joystick coupler for Robotron. It is unplayable without it.

[JB]

Welcome to 5200 fold, it's great system.  I'd suggest picking up Space Dungeon since it's one of the best original 5200 games and check out the homebrew Koffi, it's a geat game too.

841145[/snapback]

Nitpicky bastard, ENGAGE!

It's a 5200-exclusive port of a Taito arcade machine, not an original game.

[joeybastard]

You're right, I actually meant exclusive not original. That's what I get for not rereading my own posts.

 

Nitpicky Bastard... Hmmm... does that make you my cousin or something?

[Lord Thag]

Welcome onboard! I'm a fairly recent convert as well. I never had a 5200 as a kid, I only got to drool over a friends. I picked one up a couple of years ago, and went form zilch to missing about 8 games for the set today. Great system, and (when they work) I love the controllers. The non-centering thing is SOOOO overdone. The intellivision (which i love too) has WAY worse controls. The cool thing about the Big Black Beast is that I can count the really crappy games on one hand. Even the bad ones are just average. I swear the 5200 must have the highest percentage of great games of any classic system outside the 2600. If you want my vote, pick up Dreadnaught Factor and Mountain King. Awesome stuff!

[JB]

Great system, and (when they work) I love the controllers.

Sadly, that parenthetical notation prevents me from recommending the system to a lot of people.

 

The non-centering thing is SOOOO overdone.

Yah. The few games I have control issues with, the real flaw is that they have too much deadzone programmed in. Space Invaders, for example. A full half of the stick's range is deadzone.

 

Okay, rapid direction changes on Qix throw me, but I think a controller with a boot would help that a lot. I get caught in the corners on my current stick.

*makes note to overhaul a booted stick*

 

The cool thing about the Big Black Beast is that I can count the really crappy games on one hand. Even the bad ones are just average. I swear the 5200 must have the highest percentage of great games of any classic system outside the 2600.

Perecentage-wise, I think the 2600 comes out pretty badly. There's a LOT of steaming crap on the VCS. NES is like this too. Just the curse of being the most popular.

 

And I'd have to give best ratio to the Vectrex. Even if it DOES only have 28 games...

 

If you want my vote, pick up Dreadnaught Factor and Mountain King. Awesome stuff!

Mmmm, Dreadnaught Factor...

[Lord Thag]

Sadly, that parenthetical notation prevents me from recommending the system to a lot of people

 

Yeah, but they're easy to fix. I've found only one that I wasn't able to ressurect, and that one just needed a flex circuit. I'm no techie either. I posted this earlier, but I'm almost done with a 5200 arcade stick, which should solve the problem altogether.

 

 

And I'd have to give best ratio to the Vectrex. Even if it DOES only have 28 games

 

Finally got one for xmas, and the 8 games I do have rock. I'm looking forward to trying some more. Wish they were cheaper....

[JB]

Sadly, that parenthetical notation prevents me from recommending the system to a lot of people

 

Yeah, but they're easy to fix. I've found only one that I wasn't able to ressurect, and that one just needed a flex circuit. I'm no techie either. I posted this earlier, but I'm almost done with a 5200 arcade stick, which should solve the problem altogether.

I quit playing mine for a while because I got sick of opening it and cleaning things.

Then foiled the bastage.

 

And I'd have to give best ratio to the Vectrex. Even if it DOES only have 28 games

 

Finally got one for xmas, and the 8 games I do have rock. I'm looking forward to trying some more. Wish they were cheaper....

If they were chepaer, it would mean the Vectrex was less awesome. Part of it's expense is because the people that had them feel very strongly about them(self included, though I thankfully still have my original unit).