Atari 2600+ I test a Homebrew, Mystery Game, New Game, and more

The Atari 2600+ is an HDMI Atari system that plays 2600 and 7800. I test it out with a few more games, too. Here's an unboxing and test run with first impressions of the 2600+
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[@JohnRiggs]

UNDERRATED Atari 2600 games kzbin.info/www/bejne/nne8o3x3bdGagrM

[@Daves_Faves]

Would've been hilarious if the mystery title turned out to be Custer's Revenge.

[@wolfshanze5980]

Would be funnier if Custer's Revenge was one of the 10 games included with the console itself.

[@yuk2113]

The new Beserk is supposed to have the voice enhancements. It’s an updated version. I have one coming and I’m excited I have good sized library of 2600 and 7800 games

[@asrieldreemurr8059]

I’m glad people still remember these classic games and now they are letting the new generations play Atari!

[@Anth230]

I doubt the younger generations will have much interest except maybe their dad's forcing them to play it for 10 minutes... 😂

[@jackeldogo3952]

Some Activision games use the B/W switch for different functions (Starmaster, Space Shuttle are the ones I remember using that feature) so it really needs to be on the console.

[@MrShuaTV]

It’s so weird to see an ESRB rating on an Atari game box

[@roberthornibrook6344]

Yeah even the "adult" games don't look much better than sexy legos lol

[@MrPoestyle]

My very first thoughts when I got my Berzerk Enhanced cartridge in the mail the other day . Lol .

[@DigiPen92]

There is ESRB Ratings on Mini Retro Consoles appeared like the NES and SNES Classic Edition, Sega Genesis Mini 1 & 2, TurboGrafx-16 Mini, etc. Having the ESRB rating on the Atari 2600+ Console makes sense.

[@MrShuaTV]

@@DigiPen92 still doesn’t make it any less weird

[@treyjohnson4035]

Right,it's not like the adult titles are included.but this can be played on it as well

[@ReptilianRichardRamirez]

John, you should consider investing in a good quality hdmi switch so you aren't constantly plugging and unplugging hdmi cables for what piece of hardware you want to use. Makes life a lot easier and eliminates the wear and tear from constantly unplugging/plugging. Take care.

[@lxcas5401]

3 years ago found my families old 6 switch atari in the garage, dad and I tried fixing it and it didnt end up working. now that Atari made the 2600+ I can play our old games. Im 20 and im loving the classics even though I didn't grow up playing them, I also got a Dig Dug arcade1up cabinet which comes with pac man, galaga and others. I just love these games so much.

[@jwsimms42]

My parents were worried that my Atari 2600 would somehow damage our big floor console TV, so I was given a 13" black and white TV to hook it up to in my bedroom. I was only allowed to see it in color on special occasions.

[@Apple2gs]

@jwsimms42 - My parents had the same fear, except about their 20" Hitachi color TV from the late 70's! Sadly, since they gave away our old B&W set, we were just not allowed to have an Atari 2600 (even my uncle offered to gift us one, they blocked it from happening!). Sucked because I wanted a 2600 so badly in the early 80's. Had to wait until the mid-90's, when I found a 2600 Jr and about two-dozen games at a garage sale for $6. Still have it and using it!

[@dustinhart9094]

Very cool! Great review as always sir

[@tardiscommand1812]

In love with the scaled down systems. Handy for a display

[@jackeldogo3952]

I have mine but it's sitting in my closet waiting for Christmas. Just like in 1979 when I was a kid and we got our Atari VCS "sixer" (before people called it the 2600). Got two large bin full of 2600 carts in my basement (most of the originals from when I was a kid and another 100 or so I've picked up since then).

[@thereviewsbrothers3854]

Even though I’m not an Atari fan, I can’t help but watch your videos all the way through!

[@danestegman155]

Good video! I got my Atari Plus system the other day! I like it so far! Played Frogger 2 Threedeep on it too! Nice to see the Atari games with the HDMI output on a modern TV!

[@michaelbuddy]

you're one of the only people playing interesting less common games on here to try them out. You actually made this entertaining. That shooter game with the balloons looked really good. Great colors and graphics comparitively.

[@DavidUrbina-gg9zx]

Excellent review very well showcased 🕹️ left a like on the video 📸

[@darktetsuya]

heard this was a really cool little unit! definitely one that's on our radar to pick up. (although we don't own any other cartridges currently, but after we get it for sure we'll be on the lookout!)

[@wolfshanze5980]

If you don't own any cartridges it makes far more sense to get the cheaper Atari Gamestation Pro which includes TWO joysticks (instead of one), and ships with about 130 Atari 2600, 5200 and 7800 games already on the console, plus an SDmicro card slot to download every other Atari game for free. I don't see the advantage of getting a 2600+ if you don't own any cartridges.... you're going to be spending a lot more money getting a 2nd controller and building a library from scratch vs the Atari Gamestation Pro. The 2600+ is great if you already own cartridges, but otherwise is an odd path to go down.

[@hqgirl567]

This is so cool!!! U can play original cartridges on this “new” Atari!

[@Apple2gs]

Technically, not "play", but access. It needs to load and dump the data off the cartridges, so there's a notable delay. On a real 2600, the game is up on screen instantaneously once you flip the power switch. One of the appeals of vintage gaming lost here...instant game play.

[@matthewstephens8503]

I'm sure they kept the color/Black and White switch on the system because some later games actually used it as an extra button/control input like in Starmaster. Some games used it as a pause button.

[@marklechman2225]

The first time I played Space Jockey was at friends house. His parents didn’t want the Atari hooked up to the main TV in the family room, so we had to play it on a tiny B&W set in the kitchen.

[@HECTORMONTALVO-le9cn]

At least this came out unlike the Amico. Pretty cool John!👍

[@mjdf122]

Another day with John Riggs

[@ItsMrChristmas]

My wife got me one for Christmas. Gonna be hard to wait for it!

[@Tigerhawk1981]

Atari 2600 Release date: NA: September 1977; EU: 1978; FRA: 1982; JP: October 1983 (Atari 2800) - Discontinued: January 1, 1992. One of the oldest running systems ever, played one in like the mid 90s, actually loved it lol

[@keithjackson1180]

I wonder if it still does the "hack" that you could do with Space Invaders to get 2 shots at a time on the first version of the game. I remember holding down the reset switch when you turned the power on or something like that to invoke it.

[@CP-ih6zq]

Yeah do this all the time on my original. With the odd loading of the game on the Atari+ not sure how that could work.

[@daviddonnell2153]

I’m definitely going to buy the 2600+ even though I never played original Atari but it would be a good way to start building a collection since most of the games are so cheap.

[@bigjohn75]

Omg im so getting one I miss playing the Atari!

[@GenerationPixel]

I stupidly asked for one for Christmas, and now I have to wait to open mine 🤦‍♂️🤣

[@mssawask8862]

I have played Atari on a black/white !976 CRT it works GREAT.

[@mtshark7]

Looks like a solid console.

[@Goosefang]

A lot of if not most TV USBs don’t actually supply power. They may give some but you’ll often have issues.

[@spindoctor6385]

When I first got my Atari (1982ish) I had already played a heap of galaga on the arcade machine, I could not get used to the fire vutton being on the left. I took to turning the controller upside down, so up was down, left was right. That was much more natural

[@CP-ih6zq]

I had the opposite problem was so use to the Atari joystick with the fire button being on the left I had a hard time playing Donkey Kong at the arcades.

[@spindoctor6385]

@@CP-ih6zq That would have been more of a problem, at least I had a solution.

[@astalavista7251]

Hey John! There is an unofficial add on for the SNES mini that will allow it to play cartridges.

[@sgtpointeblank]

I'm hesitant but I might have to get this and pull my old carts out of self storage. I like that it works with 7800 games also. Can you plug in a USB controller? I'd like to see you stream some Megamania.

[@anthonygineo4476]

I might buy it all depends on if the price goes down

[@exodous02]

A lot of people are bashing this but it really is only meant for people that grew up with the Atari and want to play old carts on a modern system without trying to find a old model and then deal with adapters. I don't know what all the criticism is about.

[@R3TR0R4V3]

Probably because it's just another crappy software emulation box that isn't even fully compatible with either library, not to mention it won't play any melody-based homebrews or flashcarts. Those are pretty major offenses if you ask me. :/

[@oldmanretro949]

I only had a ATARI 2600 from 84 to 90 , until I got a NES Christmas 90

[@krathoon2338]

The annoying thing about it is that it is a rom dumper so you can't use the Harmony cartridge. You can, however, flash a game to the Harmony cartridge and it will work.

[@zockeromi1970]

I feal likea little child again, also have the retron 77, but this one looks so nice. It has it's flaws, but i enjoy it a lot.

[@treyjohnson4035]

The sega genesis mini played physical games too

[@selbyjohnson5986]

It looks very well put together, I wish I liked Atari 2600 games more. Maybe I’ll get it anyways.

[@Wheels8504]

Where can I find a complete list of Atari 2600 retail games when the original was available for purchase in stores?

[@R3TR0R4V3]

Google, of course. ;)

Run Robotank? robotank or never ! hahaha like, gained a subscriber!

[@CikosDarkPassenger]

what a leap NES must have been for you to go from the 2600.

[@selbyjohnson5986]

It was huge, I had the 2600 and when the NES came out I was amazed!

[@PinBallReviewerRepairs]

I got mine on Amazon. And got it later then I thought I would. But the other 2 things I got on there still have not come which I am seeing others have so not to happy about amazon and it just saying Order Received but nothing being sent to me.

[@sprint2938]

This is cool but if they would have just put a cartridge slot on the vcs it could of been the best of worlds....downloads and physical.

[@gamingtherapy7587]

Would dedo like to buy one . Think it looks great

[@dan_evilrobot]

I'm loving the Atari 2600+ played all my physical games including 7800❤. except for one game that I have in my collection is Star Wars: The Arcade Game sadly didn't work having the same problem with my original Atari 7800 system as well. I tried to clean it wouldn't work it's probably broken😔.

[@p1xai]

Atari 2600+ ✌👀 🕹 like it

[@oldmanretro949]

I questions were if it would do new homebrew 78 homebrew

[@frankbizzoco1954]

Is "space jockey" where the pilot in "Alien" got his name from? Since Atari and Alien are of the same vintage, I would imagine so. Looong before they were "engineers".

[@krathoon2338]

Really the Retron 77 is better because you can put Stella and roms on it. Still, the Atari+ lets you play 99% of carts. It does not let you play Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

[@customgames8311]

I apologize this may by a dumb question, but I was wondering dose it play pal Atari games? Was wondering because the pal version of some of the 7800 games are cheaper then the ntsc version.

[@JohnRiggs]

good question! I don't have any PAL atari games to test.

[@redmist78]

They're actually having physical? I assumed it would all be digital. Considered you can fit the whole entire library on probably a 32 meg thumb drive lol.

[@drg5352]

18.7 megs for the no intro set. Cut out duplicates, demos, and prototypes that don't play it'd probably be under 18. Largest game I saw in the list was a touch over 10k. Most were 2-5k. The 7800 had larger ROMS, with the largest being 21k, but there's so few that it's 1.1 megs for the No Intro set. You could get one of those flash carts and have literally every game ever made for the two systems and still have room.

[@Goosefang]

I hope the other console makers take note. I agree the Nintendo and SNES classics are good, but if they played the original carts, people wouldn’t have basically forgotten about them.

[@itsjustagamechannel]

At this price I think they should have definitely included a power brick with it. How about an Atari branded one? Big miss on that one..

[@kyleteal5888]

Put the kids on with you. Play Maze Craze code 1, (12 or 14), 1 on the top of the screen. Me and my kid played for 2 days straight in our free time. 12 should be your the robber against 3 cops. 14 should be you have to find and collect the 3 robbers before getting out. We laughed for almost 2 hrs one night the wife had to tell us to shut up 😊 good times hahaha. We did it on the At Games Legends Ultimate and just couldn't stop

[@KabukiKid]

I have to agree about E.T. I actually enjoyed that game, as well. I think, aside from the pixel collision thing with the pits, the biggest problem people had with that game was that you HAD TO READ THE INSTRUCTION BOOK in order to know how to play and win. Until that game, you could always just sort of slap in a cartridge and just sort of "figure it out" as you go, because the games were simple enough. I remember playing around with E.T. and being baffled by what the aim was until I finally decided to sit and read the book. I then had a Eureka! moment and had a great time with that game. That game gets a lot of undeserved flak. People calling it the worst game ever made surely never learned how to play it. Heck, it wasn't even close to the worst game ON THE SYSTEM! ;-)

[@KabukiKid]

btw... the pixel collision issue with the pits is actually fixed if you look around for a fixed ROM for that game. If Warshaw had more time, he surely would have fixed that problem. Truly, that is the only legit problem with the game. Personally, I just got good at avoiding the pits because of that. lol

[@erikanelsen8578]

I know this might be true for alot of you, but video games are my temporary escape from the real world. Whenever I'm stressed and depressed, I just pick up a controller at home or insert a player's card at an arcade, and I become lost in the world on the screen. And I forget about what's troubling me for awhile until game over.

[@joemunoz2194]

FYI crossbow for the 7800 is not playable on the 2600+ Atari claims it works they are wrong several attempts with different cartridges all the same outcome

[@catholicactionbibleonlyist1813]

I hoping river Raid For wherever reason that one arcade game on doug(bag the Neematoad ) should be a Atari 2600 game

[@ecwnikos]

spase invaders had 116 games and soo maney combinations with the difficulity. sorry for bad spelling.

[@roberthornibrook6344]

Good to know Atari is still going back to the classics. I wish this was FPGA, but really doesn't take much to emulate the 2600 and 7800. Would also be nice to have 5200 stuff. Still cool.

[@roblovicz1257]

I loved Indiana jones

[@HollywoodWick3d]

"No you don't..." 😂😂😂

[@matthewgassett4045]

I guess they got alien technology like PlayStation 2 .

[@comrademonke101]

Anyone really, could someone explain to me (as a Atari flashback activision edition owner) why I should purchase this? It looks cool but I don’t feel like I need it? 😅

[@Mysticsword]

Personal choice of course. For me it's a big nostalgia factor and that it's really close to the look and feel of using the original Atari 2600 console, it's compatible with using most of the official Atari and 3rd party released game cartridges (of Atari 2600 and 7800 games), compatible with the original 2600 Joystick and Paddle controllers (or can get the new ones made for the 2600+) and then the ease of hooking up to a modern TV via HDMI. I also see it as a great collectors item for someone into retro-gaming.

[@Sinn0100]

All of that is worth it just for Berzerk. That would be the game I played most out of this. Question- Why does the Atari 2600 have a black & white color switch? I would think anything you tried to view on a black and white set would display in black and white. So....how many games did they send with the 2600

[@73richg]

I was excited to get my 2600 plus until I started playing 2600 games on my stream deck the other day. I played for about an hour and I lost interest.

[@jockmattock9239]

The inconveniences of this System. FML.

[@R3TR0R4V3]

If this was a FPGA based console, I would've been all over it! Unfortunately it's just another crappy software emulation box and is a real missed opportunity. :/

[@ultramaximusreviews]

The fact it doesn't play every 2600 and 7800 cartridge for that price is a deal breaker for me.

[@R3TR0R4V3]

100% No ability to play any melody-based homebrews or flashcarts, that's just criminal. :/

[@sirfoxalot434]

I didnt know they had defender and centipede. All I knew about was Ataris crappy version of pacman,wich I want to play again.

[@JohnRiggs]

oh man, Atari 2600 has Double Dragon, Spy Hunter and a lot more, too. More than most people know.

[@Apple2gs]

Deal breaker for me: there's *no* A/V port to make it compatible with CRT television sets, like the original Atari 2600. If space was an issue, there are 1/8" phono jacks (similar to what you see on Walkman or MP3 players) that uses a yellow, red and white RCA breakout cable. That would give the choice of using a modern LCD television or classic CRT television set.

[@adilkhojah]

MSX BEST MSX 2 BEST ONLY

[@n057828]

Love ya bedroom old 12 year old 😂

[@masterchief247]

"Im gonna stream on Twitch"....Lmao...Yeah right. YOu say that all the time but haven't seen you stream in a long time. Why don't you just do it already.

[@JohnRiggs]

I was streaming on Twitch just a couple days ago :)

[@matthewgassett4045]

I mean no technology

[@matthewgassett4045]

And should of had 3d games

[@MahkyVmedia1]

This is basically what you do with these systems, you play them for 15 minutes and never play it again

[@CoachTabe]

Exactly. I just don't see them being a long playing item for anyone.

[@thriftfool2835]

Nostalgia has gone too far man!

[@tijluilenspiegel6029]

Showed 1 slightly cool game Combat, rest was a waste of time, no River Raid, no Berzerk, no Wizard of War, no Demon Attack, nothing absolutely nothing 😢

[@albdamned577]

It is hilarious how many people are complaining about now getting a power cord or brick. its so odd to me, its like complaining that the TV has no antenna, when you have cable.

[@seansimpson8758]

I had an Atari 2600 and played it so much as a kid. The nintendo came out when i was about 10 years old. I don't have any interest in playing any of those games today. 😅

[@matthewgassett4045]

Vr black mask like dark vifr see like can't write

[@bryancook6345]

Atari 2600 is the worst console and the worst Atari console to buy if I were to buy another Atari console it would be the Atari VCS if I were to go back for older version it would be the Atari 7800 that Atari doesn’t want to release I see nothing great about the 2600

[@Forget1987]

I remeber beating my dad at atari game and i absolutely didnt want to play video games cause he hates me

[@matthewgassett4045]

Cheap

[@Apple2gs]

I don't see the appeal, it's a 2600 emulator that only supports HDMI on a modern TV or display. Sure there's the "plus" experience of handling a 2600 joystick, cartridges and switches, but it still LOOKS and FEELS like emulation--the boot screens, loading times, the ugliness of a modern display. I mean if it were were $30, okay, but this costs just under $200 after taxes where I am. Why not just use a freeware 2600 emulator from a laptop hooked up to your TV? Or far better yet, a real hardware 2600 on a CRT television set!

[@alannaramone3821]

Atari is the cancer of video games.

[@retrodave79]

I hate the "loading" thing, so stupid to play an ancient system worse than the way It was originally...

[@OmegaPrime-xt5rg]

Overpriced junk that will be clearance after Christmas.😂😂😂😂

[@markracer3281]

Wonder how many will be dumped in the desert come next year this time...🙂

[@txmade4371]

I will buy one then.

[@GeorgeSerinos]

I hope so, Ill buy it at half off for sure

[@selbyjohnson5986]

I would get one on clearance like the PS1 mini that was $19.95