Atari 400 Mini Review: All 25 Included Games Shown & More!

[@Anthony-qt8wv]

I got my Atari 400 Mini today and haven't hooked it up yet. I had a hard day at work so i figure I'd watch the great John Hancock for a review!

[@dabanjo]

Very cool! My first computer was the Atari 800 when I was a kid. My dad never liked the 400 because of the keyboard 😆, so he refused to buy it. We had the 800 and then the ST. Best games ever! So much nostalgia for me. My favorite games were Bruce Lee, Blue Max, Shamus Case 2, Pharaoh's Curse, Electrician, Rescue on Fractalus, Rogue, to name a few.

[@Great-Documentaries]

"We had the 800 and then the ST. Best games ever!" That last bit makes anyone who had a C64 and Amiga "LMFAO" though.

[@dabanjo]

​@Great-Documentaries ST was better then both.

[@zigzagzarf]

800 was the better model...we had both but by the time i was old enough the 400 was on the closet and the 800 was hooked up...i learned basic on that back in the day

[@marklechman2225]

Can’t wait for this to arrive! Love that they went with the beige cables!!

[@jeffbelval2075]

I have no nostalgia for the 400, never even seen one in real life. I’m excited to try this out tho. Love all these mini consoles, keep them coming

[@JetmanUK]

You need to take the controller apart and loosen the two screws which are holding the PCB to the top part of the joystick. Doing this made it much easier to go left and right for me. It's not perfect but much much better. I think the board is just too close to the plastic at the bottom of the joystick, loosening the screws gives it a little room and left and right are easier to hit without hitting down too. You seem to have to have a very light touch to make the stick work reliably. It's tough to change how you use something which you have used since the early 80's though!

[@thorstenguenther]

Another issue with this at this point in time is that you can not assign 50Hz or 60Hz screen refresh rate to certain games. Some games are almost unplayable in 50Hz (Millipede, Up'n'Down) and loads or European games are glitching or even crashing in 60Hz.

[@mattsmedley.onehandedgamin9029]

The ZX-81 had a working keyboard, there is no excuse other than money saving why the keys don't function.

[@mjdf122]

The two retro Johns did this review today John Hancock and John Riggs two of the greats

[@dfwpiper1]

Love they have Star Raiders, Bruce Lee and 7 Cities of Gold! I would have to add Blue Max, Preppie, Miner 2049er and some early Zork and Ultima games. Then it would be perfect!

[@Horos_de_Vega]

Very happy to have bought it and to support projects like this: projects that put a spotlights on the micros from the 80s. Video games are more than consoles and Nintendo!

[@ZuranimatedMedia179]

I recently went to PAX East 2 days ago, and I saw the sneak peak of the 400 Mini in real life! I order one two weeks ago on Amazon, and I'm really excited to play on it soon!

[@CareyHolzman]

Thank you for the review and testing!

[@CareyHolzman]

Blue max was a favorite. I wonder if Drol, MULE and Archon and Behind Jaggi Lines and Ball Blazer will work. I guess I'll find out on Friday when mine is scheduled to arrive.

[@SomeOrangeCat]

I shouldn't have been that hard for them to get emulating a computer architecture from the 1970s right.

[@AngryCalvin]

Recently Popeye arcade version was released for the XEGS. Not sure if it would detect correctly. I had to tweek a setting to get it to work on my PC. Anyway impressive port of the arcade. Definitely worth it especially if you can get it to work on this device.

[@UToobin75]

If they released a quality replica 5200 controller, I'd be in like Flynn.

[@minimoe2807]

How does this run games that require a keyboard? Like Spelunker and Alibaba and the 40 Thieves as examples.

[@johnhancockretro]

There is Virtual Keyboard, plus you can plug in a USB keyboard as well

[@sherekhangamedev]

I love it, but man I wish and dream some day they re release it with an Atari XE shell.

[@yourdogsnews]

I would rather the XL

[@msbae]

I wonder if that USB version of the 6 button SEGA Genesis pad from the Genesis Mini consoles will work on this device...

[@OriginalGrasshopper]

Yes, it works.

[@minimoe2807]

Thanks for the review! I've never seen save states for Atari 8 Bit! Nice touch. Will the USB load3d games work with the save states? Or just the installed games?

[@davidprescott6398]

@john. Just realised I have been using an atr file. I have now tried a cartridge file and this works fine. Thank you for replying

[@johnhancockretro]

You are most welcome. The 400 mini in its current state is particular about reading some files. Hopefully with updates it can read all file types without any problems. Thank you for watching and posting. I try to comment to help others if I can but can get overwhelmed at times. Game on brother!

[@danestegman155]

Good video! I got en email from Atari, saying my Atari 400 mini should be shipping out on Friday! Can't wait to take a look and try it out! Nice!

[@CharlieWyvill]

What a great little device. I would have loved the 800 as a kid but I never heard of it or the 400 until quite recently. They weren't really advertised much here in Scotland and I went straight from the Speccy and 2600 to the Atari ST and Master System and I gave up gaming around 1994 but started reminiscing a couple of years ago and was gifted a Jaguar which still feels really high-tech to me. The game selection looks good. I'd be interested to try Capture the Flag and Seven Cities of Gold. My 9 year old daughter and I were going to do a review of the Atari 50th but she was overly brutal with her opinions of the games during the recording although she did enjoy Yoomp! She was not happy I could beat her on Tank either, blaming the fact that I had previously played the game ( 30 years ago! ). Very good review by the way and excellent channel.

[@yougotthismyfriend3441]

Another polished video my friend! Very informative and I think I might purchase this unique device.

[@braddahl2098]

Great review Sir John! I hope that the 5200 options get rounded out and corrected then this thing is near perfect in my eyes. Dual analog stick controllers getting P1 and P2 support for your Robotron and my Space Dungeon would be over the top too! Proper analog function first though!

[@richy69ify]

07:19 Basketball was an Arcade game

[@darcyska]

Can always rely on your channel for great and honest Atari coverage with lots of tests

[@UnknownXero]

This is super cool I didn't even know it was coming out I love learning about the systems from before I was Alive

[@treyslay753]

Yep, the beige cables look great. Nice touch, though they should include a power brick for sure.

[@johnhancockretro]

Yes I agree

[@runpcjon]

Thanks for the review! Interesting that you had a problem with Blue Max. I was watching another review on the product playing that same game. Perhaps it depends on which configuration you select? Super happy to see some of the new Homebrew games playing properly. Especially those that require extended memory.

[@johnhancockretro]

There is a .car file that works for Blue Max. The other two file versions don’t. I did not have car file for the review.

[@runpcjon]

@@johnhancockretro , Good to know thanks for the info!

[@MichaelYates]

"FULL SCREEN ?" , does the unit run in full screen as I can not find one review showing games in full screen as this would be a downer

[@johnhancockretro]

I did not see this as an option. Could be in a future update.

[@MichaelYates]

@@johnhancockretro Thanks for the quick reply John. I know its a 4:3 aspect, but having a full screen 4:3 with black bars and 16:9 still would be good

[@electricadventures]

Looks awesome very much looking forward to receiving mine (it has now shipped so no delay as was first conveyed). Hopefully they will have a firmware update to address the controller issues must be a driver issue just with that controller. Love the lineup of games there are several there I have never played plus some absolute classics that I will put a lot of time into.

[@justinthomas2458]

My mini says out for delivery today from amazon

[@PerfcTiming]

My first play of M.U.L.E. on the Atari 400 mini… managed to catch the wumpus… and the game failed SPECTACULARLY. Anyone else?

[@sonomabob9043]

Most Atari 8 bit users considered the Atari joystick as an inferior joystick designed for the 2600. They purchased third-party joysticks that used leaf spring switches, which provided superior control and feedback.

[@MVLGAMING]

Looks like it was made by Retro Games, who also made the C64 Mini. And they licensed the Atari content. I've a big fan of the mini systems, they're great for plug and play fun. (Also Bezerk is awesome!) The C64 Mini was greatly improved by updates. So hopefully they'll continue to improve stuff like loading your own games!

[@jefflindquist6138]

Thank you John H. for sharing this video. 🙂

[@johnhancockretro]

You bet

[@retrobeliever]

Really cool John! I was waiting for this! The UI is very similar to the A500 (my favorite!) mini. Definitely a neat little system 🤷🏼‍♂️ Nice vid sir! ❤️🎮

[@SatoshiMatrix1]

I hope a firmware update for it will allow it to run 2600 and 7800 ROMs too. It's odd that the Atari 8-bit/XEGS and 5200 are working here yet no VCS and 7800.

[@txtworld]

Retro Games, who designed The 400 Mini, would've loved to ... but Atari undoubtedly wouldn't license their 2600 and 7800 content. Given that Atari don't want to cannibalize their own sales of the 2600+ device. Perhaps an unofficial custom / homebrew firmware shall be developed for The 400 Mini by the enthusiast community, to add 2600 and 7800 support

[@krathoon2338]

It sounds like the stick is not working right. Kind of broken.

[@Great-Documentaries]

It's a shame that the Atari 400/800/1200 were so rejected by the marketplace compared to the GOAT 8-bit computer, the Commodore 64. The Atari 400 was not much of a home computer, but it was okay at playing the very few games that were made for it. I don't see why anyone who gets the 400 Mini should complain about it "only" having 25 games since I doubt anyone who owned one in the 80s ever had as many as 25 games and it represents about half of all the games made 4 it.

[@OriginalGrasshopper]

There’s actually over 10,000 games playable on this. Yes: 10,000. So 25 games is way too few.

[@inquisitor229]

USB trackball controllers for PC's are available, so you could try checking one out.

[@kevinstrade2752]

Been waiting for this! Lets have it John!

[@fcseven]

Was hoping for Combat and Tapper. Nice video.

[@lorensims4846]

I guess it depends on what you're used to. For me, the original CX40 joystick was all the controls I needed. This new version is required because the keyboard, including the function keys, are unusable. No SIO or cartridge slot. USB drive access is nice. I'm glad I still have the Atari 400 I bought for $19 in 1985 because I thought it was cute. They say this is a half-size repro, but it's clearly a quarter-size reproduction. I do have a USB adapter for my CX40 and Trak Ball controllers so I'm looking forward to using those. Yah,, Centipede, Millipede and Missile Command really want a Trak Ball. Just like Pong and Breakout really want a paddle controller. I'm glad The 400 Mini is on the way, but I'm still really glad my old Atari 400 is still working AND I have a lot of cartridges for it. You didn't try BASIC or the Assembler/Editor cartridges. No modern keyboard would be quite right.

[@johnhancockretro]

What usb adaptor works with the trackball? I tried the stelladaptor and could not get an action button to work.

[@lorensims4846]

I bought it as a CX40 joystick adaptor. It works just fine with my Atari Trak Ball Controller.

[@coppermutant]

My only reason to get one would be the Dunjonquest Epyx titles that were not released on the C64 but I havent seen anyone play those sorts of keyboard heavy games with multiple disks. Wonder how it works? Maybe better off figuring out PC emulation? I just recall the proper bios files or something being a drag to locate.

[@BruceStephan]

Is there an adapter for original ATARI controllers ? The Jaguar controller is actually pretty good . And ATARI made trackballs that I used with my 800 .

[@Cool_Retro]

This is cool! Blue Max was the first external game I was going to load. Hopefully, Blue Max will be fixed in a firmware update.

[@johnhancockretro]

Confirmed that a car. File of the game works. In the video I was using a .xex and cas. File

[@Retromicky82]

Henry's house sold it for me has it was the first game I ever played back in the day it was a difficult game for me but I enjoyed it 😅

[@Ultimategc13]

Boy the C-64 mini was bad. Didn’t work out of the box. I hope it will be better. Games weren’t the best either. Let’s hope this is better

[@ironmanrip9742]

Does the new Xbox style Atari modern controller with it and unlock games?

[@OriginalGrasshopper]

Yes! Any USB controller will work and unlock the two hidden games.

[@DavpaCoX]

You didn’t plug in the Atari VCS 800s Classic Joystick. It has paddles and it unlocks 2 secret games.

[@johnhancockretro]

I did to test asteroids player 2 but didn’t see that.

[@baroncalamityplus]

How is hooking a keyboard upto it? Can you remap 5200 pad controls to it?

[@johnhancockretro]

Yes you can remap, and plugging a usb keyboard into front ports no prob

[@braddahl2098]

I don't think you can remap to the keyboard, but it does work at least the numbers #, and *

[@leeeastoeable]

Is Lee still a 2 player game? I remember you could take control of the green sumo dude. We had a blast on that

[@unj]

I'm really glad to see some sort of revival of these older games which have mostly just been gathering moss and are relatively unknown to a gaming audience today, but I feel like anything released from Atari that's a step down or step-sideways from Atari 50 which just offered so much more. These games are interesting, but outside nostalgia, without some sort of context or historical aspect, people might respect it than really enjoy it. And the audience for just the games of this vintage in a cute package that costs +$100 isn't getting any younger.

[@TanCoyer]

do you get the extra games to download via the actual console? this is the onlything i dont understand how to do? only thing stopping me from buying till i know how to go about it

[@harleyn3089]

It would have been cool if the cartridge slot opened and had an SD card reader in it. EDIT: Also, did you skip Miner 2049er? I thought that was one of the included games.

[@Tamarack_Barbell]

A few things they could've done to make this better and worth while in my opinion are: 1: Make the keyboard actually real and function + include basic if possible. 2: Have the cartridge port actually function, and have a SD card slot where the original carts went. 3: Have a ON/OFF switch rather than button and have it placed where the original one was. 4: A "mini 410" that had just a couple little LEDs in it to have RGB lighting rather than actual cassette, optional to plug in and out. Would've been a fun little add-on. I may be asking to much but just seems to me that you pay quite a bit for a small plastic shell with a kind of raspberry Pi in it. A little Extra flair would've improved it a lot.

[@johnhancockretro]

Plug a usb stick in and you have a functional basic ;).

[@treyslay753]

Full size Atari 400? They did it with the C64.

[@runpcjon]

It already includes Atari basic. You can turn it on and off depending on which 8bit your emulating. It also works with any full-size usb keyboard. I'm sure you could also use a wireless USB.

[@edwardmclaughlin719]

Just a few things lol

[@CraigGrannell]

Interesting to see your issues with Berzerk. Did you did the bundled controller slips into diagonals? It’s fine for me with up/down/left/right but is basically unusable with Berzerk and Centipede. Fine with eg Boulder Dash.

[@johnhancockretro]

Yes the controller is just not optimized at all with some games.

[@BruceStephan]

I hope you can use the Jaguar controller with an adapter for 5200 games . It's a great controller to me .

[@kjhoskins]

Great video, John. The 400 mini looks awesome. I hear they are making a sequel to M.U.L.E. I hope it does the original justice. Thanks for the video!

[@garethbeaton8414]

Please what's the monty python game called lookt so compex when I was Yong wich I can play it

[@buriedbits6027]

Am I glad I did not buy one. Talk about mini. Just prefer the full-size original for what it’s worth. Thank you for the review. Seems like a nice UI though. Still worth it but not for me personally. Kudos on a nice product.

[@johnhancockretro]

I think that this product will receive updates and get better over time. Thanks!

[@TeeDohJackson]

🧐 The games that you were talking about that you had trouble controlling with the included joystick were all in an isometric view. I had no problem playing those games with the included joystick after I tilted the joystick and held it a different way. Otherwise I was originally having the same issue you were having. I love that flip-flop game and it might be my favorite game on this system now (as far as included games 🙄)

[@ZmarleneZ]

how will they do firmware updates? does the mini connect to the Internet?

[@OriginalGrasshopper]

It’ll be done through the USB-C port. The Atari GameStation Pro did their firmware update that way, too.

[@davidprescott6398]

How did you get Atariblast to run? This requires 1 meg ram, and when I try to run it on the 400 mini, it tells me 1 meg is required and the game just hangs at that point.

[@johnhancockretro]

Which file are you using?

[@JGKingCrusher]

The fact that it plays 5200 games makes me want it! I absolutely loved the 5200 and the controller, if they made one for this, I'd buy it!

[@Adr-yh8gx]

Nice video Hope they’ll make a Maxi. I’m looking forward to buy the RM 800 XL wich is Fpga based 🙂

[@newmedia2862]

If they do make a new 5200 controller for the 400 Mini, i do hope they could also make a USB to DB15 adapter so that we could use it on a real 5200

[@jdevour71]

Anyone have any idea if it’s compatible with Cx30+ paddles?

[@jonwwillis]

I grew up with an Atari 130XE so I just might get this. Wished they would have modeled it after the Atari XL line computers (I say this as a compromise I rather it look like a 130XE). LOL

[@mymusic3354]

Great video! Subscribed! I heard about this mini console and thought I would check out some videos on it, your video is very good, showing the games and everything. I like being able to check things out like this before I buy and your video is thorough, I also like how you put the mini next to the real thing! 😁

[@johnhancockretro]

Awesome, thank you!

[@CheapestGamer]

Is it possible to use a Dualshock 4 wirelessly if you have the USB adapter? I ask because I was lucky enough to get a deal on the controller with the adapter a number of years ago.

[@johnhancockretro]

Should work?

[@sovereigngracedoctrine5774]

There are at lest two more hidden games on the 400 mini, making it 27 games, you need the Atari controller that rotates. Castle Crisis and Super Breakout.

[@johnhancockretro]

Did a video short on it :)

[@johneygd]

A must have for atari collectors along with those super hot atari beanded branded usb C and hdmi cables, And what will be more awesome then using atari branded hdmi cables on a nes classic mini to remind everybody that some nintendo games did came on atari systems and vice versa😁👍

[@R3TR0R4V3]

Cool, looks promising! 👍

[@DTM-Books]

The question of the trackball controller is raised in this video, and I'm sure someone will give that a try sooner or later. All that's needed is a USB-to-8pin adapter, and it's only a question of how the 400 Mini reads the controller. I would hope that it would work perfectly fine, but if not, I would hope that a hardware patch update would be offered in the near future. Can any Atarians out there solve this mystery for us? On a similar note, can we test the paddle controllers to see if they work? And can we also test out Atari 5200 controllers? A usb adapter hub is currently available, so maybe some diehard fans out there could check it out. I do hope Blue Max works on the 400 Mini. That's one of the Atari 8-bit's finest classics.

[@krantzbucks]

I wish they would have taken a page from the commodore mini and just made it with a working keyboard.

[@johnhancockretro]

I think that can still happen.

[@OriginalGrasshopper]

The C64 Mini also has a fake, non-working keyboard (as does the Amiga 500 Mini). Are you thinking of the Commodore 64 “Maxi”?

[@BBfanfun]

Games on the 8-bit series could be ported to the 5200; nice to see those can be played back here ! (no XE GS tho ?) i can't believe Atari did not port THAT version of Crystal Castles to the 5200 ! it would have been perfect for the Track-Ball.

[@johnhancockretro]

130XE has more ram so covers most ports

[@mcorleonep]

My favorites (that I know of here) are Bruce Lee and Wavy Navy. Played those on the Apple II BITD. Other than the arcade games; not familiar with the rest. Funny they brought Bruce Lee over without the license…

[@txtworld]

Retro Games, who designed The 400 Mini, have secured all necessary licensing from Atari. However, with the game you mentioned, it's named after a deceased movie star with living descendants ... it's apparent they couldn't reach an agreement with those descendants to use their famous forebear's name

[@jamesg872]

Seven Cities of Gold and Heart of Africa were great strategy games in their time period.

[@wiredupretro]

Like that joystick (edit: but the accuracy issues you mentioned are a bit concerning)- Its good all those controllers you showed are compatible :) Looks like a fun little system- glad it has the ability to use an SD card.

[@johnhancockretro]

No sd card but usb

[@wiredupretro]

​@@johnhancockretroAh- got it!

[@PG-gs5vb]

While it looks cute and might be worth the money for someone just for the looks/nostalgia, I find this priced quite inadequately. For around $70 you can have a great emulation handheld with a 4" IPS display, HDMI output, Wi-Fi/BT and tons of emulators ranging from the 2600 up to Sony PSP.

[@majeedahmed46]

Atari 2600 games are available inside the device

[@johnhancockretro]

Eh? Don’t think so.

[@mwhite212]

I would love to fire up some old RPGs like Ultima and Phantasie for this thing.

[@mgabrysSF]

12:22? "Lee - renamed ... Lee"? That doesn't seem renamed at all in fact, it's exactly the same.

[@OriginalGrasshopper]

It was “Bruce Lee” originally.

[@mgabrysSF]

@@OriginalGrasshopperI know but you flubbed it badly.

[@IsaacGabriel-kh5ds]

I grew up on the Atari 400 with an aftermarket raised keyboard. My family used it for home and business use until the 130XE was released many years later. Atari's architecture was superior for the the and the Jack T was such a cheapskate he stifled many innovations in the pipeline when he took over.

[@Mr.Gonfio]

I wonder why Atari didn't follow the same path of the atari 2600+ , i mean, why doing an Atari 400 mini without cartridge compatibility ? It would have been soooo cool !

[@k.h.1587]

This is licensed by atari and made by retro games. The 2600+ is an actual atari product. The 400 mini is made by the same company that does the c64 and a500 minis

[@stephenelliott7071]

A real shame about Blue Max - but maybe a firmware update will fix it. Yes wow, what a great version of Prince of Persia. I wonder if the joystick was faulty or 'user error' lol ;-) Yes I have paddles for my Atari 800 and playing analogue games like Super Breakout are much better, so yes I agree Retro Games should bring out some paddle hardware.

[@chazcov08]

Built-in controller?

[@johnhancockretro]

Meant to say pack in controller.

[@chazcov08]

@@johnhancockretro Gotcha. With the thing being so small, It would be interesting to see an actual built in controller that could be handheld.

[@Evercade_Effect]

Very cool!

[@zigzagzarf]

if this was an 800 id be more inclined to buy it

[@AngryCalvin]

Was hoping for more and better licensed games. I understood that it would be difficult especially considering how old many of the games are. But still 25 is a small number for such a high price tag especially considering I have better versions of a good number of these games. I have to pass.

[@jacobbaranowski]

Yoop there it is

[@johnhancockretro]

Good one haha

[@dale3852]

Expensive

[@shirgall]

Hrm, the included games are the 2600 versions of the games, not the Atari 400 versions. I wanted to play the 400 version of Star Raiders!

[@johnhancockretro]

Eh, all are from the 400 computer line

[@shirgall]

@@johnhancockretro The Star Raiders I had on my 400 was not the one that's here. This Star Raiders 2 looks like 2600 stuff.

[@johnhancockretro]

@@shirgallStar Raiders II was released on the XEGS. You can add the 400 Star Raiders via usb stick so does not really matter.

[@OriginalGrasshopper]

There are no 2600 games on this. None. The included titles are all the 400 or 800 versions.

[@subieracer7]

First

[@bisnaut2751]

Hell lie? Bruh...helee as in helicopter

[@genreonlinenet]

I am expecting one next week. Can you tell me please how a person can purchase and download compatible games on to a USB flash drive? Where do I go online?

[@johnhancockretro]

Atarimania

[@genreonlinenet]

@@johnhancockretro Where is Atarimania? Do you have a link please? Thank you for replying by the way. I do appreciate it.

[@ppanther-im9tw]

Just Google 'atarimania', look under 'games' and use 'search' to find your game 😊

[@MichelBoryoku]

Yeah, for some reason they can never get the joysticks correct (I don't know if modern Joysticks are supported by the C64/Amiga/A400) Luckily the Amiga controller works great. Playing USB-5200 games was near impossible. I got the settings so the Stick would somewhat work, but all of them have an actually second delay no matter the settings. Not to mention some just not working and crashing to desktop, no matter the version (.bin)

[@johnhancockretro]

Good point!