The WORST Atari Flashback (Mini 7800)

[@segadriven]

I've got one of these. I modified the label to look more like the actual 7800 which was a fun project. I actually find the weird NES ports of the games kind of endearing even if they are inferior to the originals. The work they must have had to do to port each game and then bundle them into a famiclone is pretty amazing

[@Arbteron]

Why does every horror story always start with 'I stumbled across this Atari Flashback in a local store for cheap'?

[@joeyparkhill8751]

AHS: Atari Horror Story!

[@bhirawamaylana466]

This not even October yet.

[@legendsflashback]

Not now a days, past few years they got good consoles (after official update)

[@RaposaCadela]

I once saw the menu from this ripped and thought "NES limitations?" turns out YES! Atari & Intellivision games recreated on NES for a plug-n-play... absolutely insane

[@novelezra]

I find these recreations fascinating. There is a popular art challenge online; that revolves around drawing something from memory; such as a character etc. During the 80's it was less about arcade accuracy and more arcade conversions. So to see games that derive from a game that was already trying to represent another game is amazing; even if they are kind of poor at times. It's like if you kept drew something and then someone copied it; then someone copied them; and so on and so forth.

[@thepirategamerboy12]

The sound effects in Adventure are stolen from Nintendo's Famicom Mahjong game, and Centipede/Millipede use the same sounds as the original Famicom/NES port of Millipede. Btw, it's generally accepted that the Chinese company Nice Code (who made many very poor games for Famiclone-based plug and plays) developed the ports here, but I spoke with designer Kurt Vendel shortly before he died, and he said he actually hired a Japanese development team to do the ports and never spoke with anyone from China. Though, a number of the games on here, like the Intellivision plug and play, got re-skinned for other bootleg systems (Food Fight became Nut Cracky and Planet Smashers became Aether Mission, for example) and Nice Code are explicitly credited via a hidden credits screen on some of those versions.

[@tomrow32]

Just me, or do some sounds from Planet Smashers sound like ones from Mario Bros. Classic?

[@thepirategamerboy12]

@@tomrow32 Oh yeah, I hear that now too. Never noticed before.

[@UltimatePerfection]

Maybe Nice Code did those reskins?

[@elsorino]

Just FYI the ONLY flashback that is an "atari on a chip" is the Flashback 2. It's so good that you can actually mod a cartridge port on it. You cannot do that to the 3 or later since they're emulation.

[@DryPaperHammerBro]

So, for 2600, hard mod that?

[@FloatingDogs]

@@DryPaperHammerBro Yep. And for that Flashback 2 still more expensive than later revisions. (Maybe only second to Flashback 9 that has the SD card slot)

[@ecernosoft3096]

So why the F**K have they NOT made a real 7800 on a chip yet?!??!!?

[@Super_Bros.]

@@FloatingDogs Yes but you can then use an UNO cart on Flashback 2 which allows roms which includes the Supercharger games thus Flashback 2 is still superior.

[@FloatingDogs]

@@Super_Bros. That's for sure!

[@DavidPCM]

One thing you should've mentioned is that these games are currently believed to be done by Nice Code, a company known to make shoddy plug 'n play Famiclone devices and games (their games are also known for their bad generic sound effects). they've even taken these games and hacked them for other devices. still even if these aren't the greatest ports I think they're neat as a novelty, especially on the emulation side of things. I even have one of these myself acquired fairly recently (I like collecting weird hardware sometimes). (Unrelated but I think the enemy hit sounds at 6:59 are taken from Mario Bros., never came across that before lol)

[@bransonstevens5914]

Oh hey I had one of these in 2004 when I was 10 and I quite loved it back then. Nowadays if I wanna play atari 2600 games I have Stella on my PC xD

[@JMFSpike]

This is absolutely horrible. People bought this to play the Atari classics, not NES ports of Atari classics! I'm not even what most people would consider a purist, but this is totally unacceptable, especially since many of these are so inaccurate. Thankfully they got it right with all future Flashback's, but this sure wouldn't have given me a good first impression.

[@jessragan6714]

I've heard bad things about this system. And now I've SEEN bad things about this system! That port of Solaris is just distressingly inept. Come on, guys. COME ON. This is like Super Pitfall all over again! You've got me curious about the ROMs, though. I'd like to run a few of these train wrecks in an emulator. Maybe a few of those not-really-Intellivision games are okay.

[@sogero2]

It's nice to know that the Flashback 2 is decent and has good ports because I was wondering if I was having a hard time remaining objective with gen 2 console games, or if the porting or hardware were at fault. I'd love to see you cover the Intellivision and Colecovision Flashback consoles too. The Colecovision one I have seemed really janky, which is odd because I remember the real Colecovision being a step up from the 2600... or maybe I was 6 and liked the Smurfs.

[@ClusterShart]

Technically, the Atari can do stereo, but it’s like the NES in that it’s just separated channels

[@HybridAngelZero]

It's a shame these were so rushed, since really well-made NES ports of old Atari games could have been really cool. Kinda like all the Definitive Edition PS3 ports on PS4 from back when it was new

[@DjBasA38]

This is the exact one i had as a child.... yet i thought it was the real thing until now, watching this video.

[@billcook4768]

FR: Dragons don’t follow you between screens Me: You mean the giant duck?

[@cax1175]

I got an actual 7800 and 3DO for $200 combined at the Midwest Gaming Classic. 7800 isn't terrible. Especially better when you can use the Genesis controller.

[@dpgreene]

Problem with a Genesis controller is it won’t work for two button games correctly (which isn’t that many). I got a d pad controller from retrogame boyz which fixes that problem, looks like an NES controller basically. But either way anything to avoid the original joysticks.

[@joeyparkhill8751]

Frame what hurt your ears more: Jinks for the 7800 or Planet Smasher for the 7800?

[@FrameRater]

This one could make you go deaf, Ear Smashers it is.

[@JomasterTheSecond]

Aw man, I remember having this and it was the first time I ever played Adventure. Love it for the nostalgia alone.

[@FrameRater]

It's one of the better games on it, but still rough compared to the original.

[@JomasterTheSecond]

@@FrameRater True... But at least it introduced 6-year-old me to Adventure and Atari in the first place. XP

[@legendsflashback]

@@JomasterTheSecond where can I get the NES 7800 roms?

[@JomasterTheSecond]

@@legendsflashback ?? You're asking the wrong person.

[@legendsflashback]

@@FrameRater is there a link for the NES roms of this you have in your video screen in 📁

[@LeftyPem]

The controllers are NES compatible with a plug converter or a cord swap to one with an NES plug.

[@ChaseMC215]

How did AtGames fuck up with this first version?

[@IDHLEB]

Reminds me of AVGN's Action 52 review

[@dpgreene]

They are subpar ports but leagues better than anything on Action 52.

[@retrotronics1845]

Was always disappointed that Space Invaders on these things was not the VCS version and therefore did not come with the truly awesome additions to gameplay the VCS port had. Lack of respect for real fans of the system.

[@Horzzo]

OOf. I was thinking about getting one of these as the 7800 was my first system and I loved Food Fight. I'll keep looking for a real one. Oddly it is one of the only systems I don't have. Thanks for the review!

[@NIProductionsLLC]

I don't know what that Food Fight is ... but that's definitely NOT the 7800 Version. They didn't even try with that one.

[@JillyMaysHere]

My family had the Flashback 2 when I was a kid and we all really enjoyed it.

[@dpgreene]

I got an NES multicart off Aliexpress called Atari Flashback Classics + Intellivision which has all of these afaik (21 Atari and 25 Intellivision titles). They play okay overall. I’d rather play my original Atari though (I don’t have an Intellivision to compare though).

[@UltimatePerfection]

My question is if someone dumped the rom so I can put it on an Everdrive and play on a regular famiclone.

[@DQSpider]

"7800 controller, but smaller" What a horrible notion

[@billcook4768]

Could be worse. Atari Jaguar controller, but bigger.

[@turbinegraphics16]

I'm not surprised they were rushed, it would have taken real effort to program all those games from scratch but it was a good attempt even if they are crappy. New systems are pretty pointless as its no different to running roms on your computer.

[@Gecko1993HogheadIncOfficial]

Is it ANY wonder why the Flashback 2 and beyond are all more fondly remembered? Just because it’s the first-it doesn’t always necessarily mean it is the best. Heck, look at the Magnavox Odyssey, look at the original Street Fighter, Sonic Robo Blast, or ANY other failed innovators who thought they were being revolutionary-yes, I’m even referring to you, Bubsy 3D!

[@will_it_work]

The Flashback 2 was the only one to use real Atari hardware.

[@awwrelic]

I have one of these, though I got mine well after I tried the later Atari Flashbacks....and I found it in the trash can that was in front of a used game store. Turned out the former owners tried to sell it to the store, and they didn't buy it, so they dumped it in the trash. It wasn't terrible, but not nearly as good as the later Flashbacks.

[@thedungeondelver]

Another great video! I miss Shante tho! :)

[@alexxbaudwhyn7572]

This FB is collectible for several reasons: It's the first mini console Atari flashback. The fact that it has weird ports of ports games (ie Centipede ported from arcade to 7800 to this). Differing gameplay and quirks makes games unique, different from all other versions. Only FB in a 7800 design. The infamy of this FB. Interesting for Atari completest or collectors of unusual video game history

[@chemergency]

This looked cool to me when I was a kid, but in-retrospect I'm glad I didn't get one because it would have negatively colored my perception of these games for years whereas my mom and dad still saw them as classics.

[@BokBarber]

I had one of those plug and play Jakks Pacific Atari consoles. Butchered is the only word for what they did to most of those games for their NES conversions. I'm not the biggest 2600 fan to start with but the original games are worlds better.

[@Cory_]

I had this thing as a kid. I enjoyed it. Never knew they were so different from the originals.

[@Jolt7800]

Great review! New to this channel. After decent plug and plays I received an Atari Flashback as a gift. I eventually got a Retron 77 to play my old 2600 cartridges. I considered getting this “worst flashback” but fortunately read some reviews. I finally got a vintage Atari 7800 which has some modded upgrades. (Yes, I am aware of the 7800s limitations but is what I like and can play actual home brew carts on it). Sometimes investing more money into something retro is worth it.

[@Isaacfess]

Wow...this uhh, isn't too good. But I guess it would have been better than nothing in the 2000's.

[@ethanrocket430]

9:28 So, where are the individual roms?

[@FrameRater]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/f56xl4mvj66pq7M

[@KartKing4ever]

I had this new when I was 8. I never actually realized the games were all remade.

[@qwertykeyboard5901]

I know the 2600 joystick plug and play with broken graphics was a famiclone. Despite that I found it really fun, even if everything looked broken.

[@deadcaliph6414]

I remember Cybernet reviewing this in 2004, and that review kept playing over and over again on Nickelodeon. Guess the build quality cheapened over time

[@TEBLify]

I think that whomever at Atari that was responsible for designing their controllers, must have been buying shares from their competitors. And they've certainly continued that tradition 😅

[@Twenty_Six_Hundred]

This is just sad in an era where emulation surpasses these cheap systems. I got a FB1 back in like 2011 and it was really lackluster. Then i gave them another chance with FB9 Gold as people were raving about them. It sucks aswell and for an seasoned Atari man it just doesn't feel right. Sits on the shelf while my Stella emulator keeps me happy. I guess they're ok for those who haven't played for decades the games they grew up with. Although its just going to make them think the games were worse than they really are

[@Vulpas]

Short and sweet, that's good sometimes.

[@GTXDash]

There was a later revision of the 7800 Flashback that fixed these problems. Also, I think they swapped out a few of the games. Unfortunately mine won't turn on so I can't confirm this. I still have it though.

[@GTXDash]

@Mr Guru I don't mean future flashbacks. I mean a rerelease and revision of this flashback.

[@legendsflashback]

Be nice have new 7800/2600 clone from hyperkin or At-Games or 1up

[@metehanaydemir2540]

Framerater avoiding making Serious Sam The First Encounter Feature video every possible inch of his will because has has to play "DLC" Legend of the Beast due to lore.

[@MotownBatman]

I just got one of these for free in box... not exactly Mint, but great condition. It sits on top of MY 1st Game Console, My 7800 I got for Christmas with my 4 siblings in '89 Complete with my E.T. cart lol

[@DoomRater]

You got me curious, how can it be the worst system if it has Food Fight on it? Guess I gotta watch the rest of the video to find out! Edit: Look how they butchered my boys Food Fight and Solaris!... I can emulate these on NES? Makes it tempting to get into ROM hacking and seeing if I can't fix some stuff.

[@Tomalyo]

I had this but removed it from my collection due to poor quality. The only Atari mini console worth attention is Atari flashback X which is awesome.

[@Tomalyo]

@Mr Guru i have mine molded using otg cable and it was super easy to do... Like seriously easy.

[@johneygd]

I found it actually very interesting that those builtin games just turns out to be nes ports of it rather then then running on a outdated atari 2600 & 7800 emulator, and it is actually very cool that somebody extracted those ports and put them online to run on an actual nes or nes emulator,wich is actually pretty cool, I would like to buy this miniturized 7800 as a collector’s item and play on it once in a while but that’s it, Now i personally don’t believe that those games were remade because both the nes,atari 2600 and 7800 cpu are the same type and those soundchips in those systems are similar and the graphics chip of the 7800 is similar to that of the nes as well, So only unsupported sound effects had to be replaced or altered with other sounds or they could,ve use a patch with digitized versions of it and play them trough the pcm channel of the nes instead, For sprites the nes can only fiew half of that atonce compared to the 7800 so to get around that the nes has to cycle back on forth between the first & last 64 sprites resulting in some slowdown and flicker ( wich they could,ve get around by overclocking the nes noac chip,wich the sadly just didn’t) To replicate those 2600 graphics on the nes,they probably had to generate those graphics beforehand and then convert them into tile sets to work on the nes,but that’s it, So that’s why i don’t believe that those games are not remade because that would,ve be a dumb waste of time & money considering both systems are similar . My only complain is that there is no pac man,no mr pac man,no space invaders and no popeye,also there’re no nintendo games on it like donkeykong,DKjr and mariobros,sure it would,ve add to the extra costs because of licenses,BUT am sure it would,ve sold slightly better.

[@RedNoise-hz5nh]

i had this one! i loved it as a kid not knowing how they were meant to run. accidentally plugged a 12v ac adapter instead of dc into it and it died

[@lorensims4846]

I bought this hoping to find better graphics that I had on my Atari 800. I was disappointed. Only Asteroids and Centipede seemed worth the price. I found Yars' Revenge to be basically unplayable. I was particularly bugged that most of the games were 2600 games. Earlier this year I learned that the 7800 could also play 2600 game cartridges so it made more sense. Last week I received the Atari Flashback 12 Gold. It seems they've finally got the flashback thing right.

[@Nolasco.]

Great video as always my dude 😁👍

[@RustyLeguito]

I don't know if it's me, but I quite prefer the Atari 2600 version of Space Invaders and other games over the NES one. Especially SI considering that there is hardly any re-release of that particular port (Also the I like the sound effects)

[@RustyLeguito]

*remove "the" before I like

[@MarshallK528]

Hi! You wouldn’t have happened to make some old knuckles singing videos did you? I like your new videos a lot as I love video game history, but I found those old ones pretty funny. I know it’s a dead meme now, but it’s fun to go back and be nostalgic.

[@FrameRater]

I did make those, I might preserve them on my second channel some day soon.

[@MarshallK528]

@@FrameRater awesome! I went ahead and subscribed to your other accounts and I’ll keep an eye out for them!

[@legendsflashback]

Should had UK nes-like controllers

[@Unholy_Louie]

The ONLY Flashback worth buying right now (until maybe the 11, but I'm not sure), is the ATARI FLASHBACK X. It looks super cool, and you can easily put ANY 2600 roms in there, in addition to the 50 somethings that are included. It's plugged through HDMI, and not crappy composite. Absolutely no "remakes"; it's all rom emulation, like any other worthwhile Mini/Classic console. You do have to buy a usb stick and a very cheap wire if you want to add your own roms, but it's really not an issue. You don't have to open anything, and the instructions are on the official website. Joysticks are 99% like the originals, and you can use other controllers (I wonder if the greatest modern Atari Joystick recreation, the PowerA VCS Wireless Classic Joystick, works on the Flashback X...?) I think that there were 2 versions of this console, like standard and deluxe one, and maybe a limited edition one, I don't really remember. The main difference I think were the number of Joysticks and paddles included. Mine definitely came with paddles, which is great because most of the one I have are jittering. I do know how to restore them, and I have 1 or 2 that are, but still great to get paddles included with the X. I have played MANY Video Olympic Pong games with friends using that setup. It's still a LOT of fun! And River Raid is also as good as ever :D Honestly, it's the only Atari related Classic console that is worth anything. It used to have an adequate price and availability (I bought it new on eBay if I remember correctly). No idea if it's harder to find or more expensive nowadays though. Kinda funny because it's while looking to buy the Flashback X that I decided to order this 7800 Mini as well, for like 20 bucks, but even then it wasn't worth it. ABSOLUTE TRASH! BTW, I remember transfering 5200 roms on the Flashback X, but I don't think it worked. I wanted to look around to see if anyone else might have successfully done so, but something happened and I forgot... If anyone has any info on this it would REALLY be welcomed! Note - I just saw that you briefly talk about the Flashback X at the end of your vid :P Really cool little console seriously. It took that company like 10 freaking tries before making one actually worth owning; the rest is pure junk.

[@cdjxman]

I wouldn’t pay a dollar for ANY of these sucky games, and I grew up with an Atari! Just spend your money on ANYTHING else!

[@kamnasharma6143]

Not much of a controller guy, never even have owned one tbh, but would like to one day, seem to be decent!

[@marklechman2225]

I had one of those. It blew.

[@pal-of-pals]

Look ma, I'm in the intro! :D

[@DSGuyJay]

How do i submit a “yeah framerater!” Audio clip? I love watching your videos on my 2DS and would appreciate the opportunity!

[@FrameRater]

Discord. :)

[@AtariYMas_008]

Hey where did you find that roms? I cannot find them.

[@eebuckeye]

Where can you get the Atari and Intv NES ports? I did not realize they were available.

[@FrameRater]

Atari roms here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f56xl4mvj66pq7M

[@hyperslime64]

7:28 Seeing Solaris running on the Flashback just feels wrong. The 2600 version is my favorite game on the platform, but this... is terrible!

[@nickrayer3776]

Fun Fact. I gotten this for free at an store when they were closing down. So I guess Noone else wanted to buy this even for the cheap lol

[@atlassarnosian555]

6:01 Amogus

[@intel386DX]

It is crazy how and why they port Atari 2600 games to the NES and they ended much worst then the originals :D

[@grey_fox4872]

Remove original SFX and replace with stolen NES effects Why did they even implemented something like that?

[@ghostbombl8034]

Flash aback 2 can be molded with a real atari port.

[@joeyparkhill8751]

$45 for this piece o' junk with a Phallic JoyStick? Hard Pass. I'll stick with the original 3 pronged N64 controller, which isn't as bad as 2-D SNES fanboys will tell you!

[@KennyFrierson]

I have to keep telling myself isn't not a bootleg

[@teh_supar_hackr]

I remember seeing a repro cart you can get that puts the "ports" of the 2600 games used on the mini 7800 on the NES.

[@ethanorange3705]

how do you badly code an atari 2600 game these days? you could improve on these games in an afternoon...

[@metronome8471]

RIP Curt Vendel

[@JolliAllGenGamer]

Good thing I never got one of these.

[@legendsflashback]

Great video

[@welding_guy7524]

The ports were rushed… that was every single Atari 2600 game.. ET Superman etc were all rushed

[@thepirategamerboy12]

Every single one, really?

[@Trusteft]

Good video! I never liked these machines since the 80s. Always problems. Just meh. Terrible that even now there are many of them that don't have even the option of HDMI connection.

[@blackenedheart9592]

I've never owned a computer and don't know anything about everdrives so I'm not gonna be using anything like that. But its sad to see that system so lackluster. It be cool to buy and own as a collector or curiosity but only at a cheap price. I love the Atari VCS. When I was born the Atari VCS had only been on the market for 4 years so I grew up with it.

[@NesrocksGamingVideos]

Best way to play atari still is on a crt with the original console.

[@Valkysas]

You heard good things about the flashbacks? Where? Who? Seek them out and punish them.

[@cubeflinger]

Atari, a case study in innovate or die

[@ecernosoft3096]

This is why the 7800 is better hardware wise.

[@SuperNerdyBros01]

BRO I HAVE THIS

[@BlUsKrEEm]

I love this flashback's controller, other than that, meh

[@NesrocksGamingVideos]

Atari don't what nintendon't!

[@thepab3072]

Better off getting Atari 50

[@stefanweilhartner4415]

Wow, what a crap. and the atari rightsholder allowed this crap or even made that?

[@MrSevenEleven]

This is the one I have lol

[@JpgSilent]

ay I had this

[@gracekim1998]

Ooo mini console

[@SoulcatcherLucario]

see, what's really infuriating is that the nes and the vcs literally have the same cpu, so they could have used the core source code and the only thing they would have to deal with is changing the code dealing with the graphics and sound. no doubt a difficult task, but at least the gameplay would be preserved and may have taken less time to do

[@BokBarber]

They do not use the same CPU. The VCS uses the MOS 6507, which is a cut down version of the NES's 6502. Setting this aside, the NES uses tile based graphics handled by the PPU coprocessor with audio handled by the APU coprocessor. This is 100% incompatible with the Atari's sound and graphics, which both used the TIA coprocessor.

[@richysradioroom]

Nice

[@A-Ls1]

Guess who got this piece of crap and made himself enjoy it using his imagination… Yup it was me. Age 8 💀 I would just really pretend it was the funnest game ever 😂 I hate that damn thingumabutton.

[@CondemnedToBeMe]

👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@bryanjensen2614]

Atari 7800 was garbage.