The 7800 console actually makes me angry. Massively superior specs on almost everything but they put an obsolete 2600 sound chip in to save a little money.
That was one of the dumbest things Atari did, and that's saying something. If they could have at least had a soundchip as good as the 5200 it would have made the system so much better.
@@RetroComparisons I have no idea why they didn't use the POKEY chip from the computer 8-bit line. I know they were working on a sound chip for the 7800 but when Jack took over, he put a stop to it. You could put a POKEY chip into the cartridge but only 2 games for the 7800 did this.
@@bjbell52 That's even more frustrating that they could have had a different chip but ended up with an massively outdated chip instead. That's almost as bad of an idea as the 32x.
@@bjbell52 cost and the tia was used for 2600 compatibility. The idea was they save money by offering pokey chips as a add on to the carts sadly only two official games ever did that Ballblazer and Commando.
Yeah a lot of those 2600 games are not only close in terms of graphics (or the same in terms of audio with the 7800) but a lot of them play better too. I'll take something like Space Invaders or Kaboom on the 2600 over it's technically superior counterparts any day of the week.
@@RetroComparisons I notice that as a theme with 2600 vs 5200. The 5200 has better graphics, but the 2600 plays smoother. I first noticed when comparing Pole Position, and noticed on others since then. The 2600 is the only Atari I own and love it, the next system I get will be the 7800 that's the one that really stepped it up. Plus they can both use my Sega controller unlike 5200.
@@kinginblack8232 wrong, it's was the developers of the era that didn't know how to push the systems, and they was dead set on making simple arcade like games instead of making something with some meat on the bones (so to speak). And no neither the 5200 or 7800 sucked. The only reason why people say that the 5200 sucked is because of the controllers constantly broke, the only reason why people say the 7800 sucked is because is has the same TIA the 2600 uses for sound (which can be bypassed by using a sound chip in a cart).
I've never known someone who's first console was the 5200 so it's really cool to finally hear from someone who had that experience! The system gets dunked on a lot retrospectively but I'm sure at the time it must have been amazing. The graphics and sound are a huge step up from its predecessor.
@@RetroComparisonsI was around 6yo. My mother worked at Walmart that year and had it put on Lay Away. I don't think she knew anything about video games other than it saying, "Atari." But I knew when my brother and I got it - it was pretty awesome! No one else had one..!
@@xtraflo Ha that's classic 80's parents. I think my Mom referred to video games as "The Atari" even when I was playing the Genesis. That's cool to have a unique system like that, it would be like someone having the Turbografx-16 during the height of the 16-bit console wars.
@@Tretheperson That's awesome! It's such an underrated console and if it was released just a little earlier or got more publicity in North America I think it would have done well.
Its amazing how good the 2600 ports hold up in comparison. I have all 3 systems form originally released and share many memories with all 3 Ataris but in my heart the 2600 is king of my childhood.
Yeah it's incredible with the sheer amount of fantastic games on a system that was so underpowered compared to its 2 successors. Even though a lot of these games look better graphically on the 5200 or 7800, I'd much rather play the 2600 versions.
I strongly disagree. The paddle was garbage, and that’s being kind. No need to go further. The stupid rubber buttons was the stupidest idea ever in the history of video games. I had that lousy machine and it killed video games for 15 years for me. Sega’s NHL94 and playstation’s tekken brought me back.
@@RetroComparisons seen the first Tekken in arcade and loved it when PlayStation came out I made it my mission to get it. I believe at that point it was tekken 2 that was arriving on PlayStation, which was even better than first. Used Jack-2 Got a sega for NHL94 because I was getting tired of being crushed by my buddy who had the game lol. You’re right, two great games
@@RobertJohnson-mn3br They were definitely too fragile but that analog controller made Pole Position and Centipede control sublimely while they lasted.
It's pretty baffling. I can't imagine a bunch of PS3 games looking better than their PS4 or even PS5 counterparts. Equally head-scratching is Atari's decision to use the same sound chip in the 7800 as their console from 10 years earlier.
Demonstrates one of the reasons for the video game crash of 83-84, ie lack of real innovation, especially from Atari after TRamiel bought them. Yes, the ST/STe/TT/Falcon line was a real innovation for the 85-92 period, but Atari's gaming console lineup, not so much The only high points on the gaming side were the Lynx and Jaguar, both cutting edge. But the XEGS and 7800 were essentially 70s tech by the time they hit the market post 1985 Then the repackaged 2600Jr. If more effort had been put into games development for the 7800/XEGS, and/or a games console version of the ST were produced with more 3rd party games dev, Atari could have had a longer life. Instead, they kept pushing the same old early 80s titles again and again on carts, like PAcMAn, Joust, Dig Dug, etc
Very well said! It's a real shame because they still had name recognition in the late 80s and could have potentially competed even if it was at the same level as the Master System in terms of popularity. Having that 2600 sound chip in a mid 80s console was a horrible decision.
@@RetroComparisons looking at the video, I can kind of see why Leonard Tramiel described the 7800 as doing in hardware, things the 2600 did in software, 2600 coders took the system way beyond what was originally considered possible.
There was a pitched console version of the ST, Project Robin, Rob Zdybel wanted to put the ST hardware in an XE style case, sell it at a budget price, with games like Moon Patrol, Crystal Castles, Joust etc. These days he's forgotten all about it thinks Atari went from 7800 to Jaguar console wise, forgets the Panther and Lynx.
@@thefurthestmanfromhome1148 That would have been interesting had something like that been released. I was actually just watching something on the Panther recently and I'm curious as to how that would have been had come out too.
Very nice video! It is indeed how the 2600 games looked later on in the system's life. The programmers learned quite a few tricks to push the system and homebrew developers do it today as well.
This proves that better graphics doesn't mean better games. Just look at Jungle Hunt, the 2600 version runs much smoother and faster whiile the 5200 port is slow and lagging.
Most definitely. Plus I'll take games like River Raid or Space Invaders on the 2600 with its smooth gameplay over their Atari counterparts any day of the week even if they look inferior.
The crazy thing is the Jungle Hunt port for the 2600 actually has a few layers of parallax scrolling (which the arcade original had, albeit with high res graphics) which the 5200 port seems to be missing.
What I noticed the most in this comparison, is just how good many of the 2600 games really are. The programmers really learned how to push the hardware to it's limits, particularly Activision. Though you should put the Starpath Supercharger Version of Frogger for the 2600 in there , as it is superior to the Parker Brothers version.
Most definitely. It's impressive to see what they did with a lot of these games, and it's wild to see some of the late 80s games pushing the hardware limits well after the system was relevant.
As a guy of 26 years of age I went retro gaming wanted to explore history of gaming with an open heart and mind these games started to grow on me what I like the most is the idea that games dont need to be complex like we have in the modern era rather with simplicity and creativity they can still be quite entertaining 👍
I love hearing about younger generations getting into these classics. So many of these games are timeless. My child self would have been blown away by the way games look today but there's a certain charm about being able to pick up a game that you've never heard of and within 2 minutes you've already figured out everything you need to know and can pick up and play at any time.
Those games were complex at their time too, for the technology and knowledge at their time, extrapolating that to nowadays, it's like seeing a video game with almost realistic graphics/sound and complex gameplay mechanics
@@RetroComparisons I've contemplated buying a 5200 but the controller issue turned me away. The games look just as fluent if not even more fluent than it's Colecovision competitor.
@@pinebarrenpatriot8289 It's maddening because even if you fix the controllers they can break again within weeks. With all of great 3rd party controllers out there it's frustrating that there's not really anything out there for this in the same way that there is for the Genesis, Dreamcast, etc.
Part of the problem with the 5200 is most games that were not made by Atari were nothing but ports of 2600 versions with a little nicer backgrounds. There just wasn’t the “wow this totally justifies upgrading” factor yet. (The 7800 looked much nicer but had a worse sound chip so was crippled in that fashion as well). Nice video though. I always wondered the 5200/7800 graphical jump
Thanks for checking this out! That's a great way of looking at it. It would be like buying a PS4 just so you could play remastered PS3 games and maybe a couple of new games. They really dropped the ball with the 7800, I mean that sound is embarrassing when compared to the NES or Master System, or even the 5200.
If the 5200 had better controllers it would of done much better IMO. There was nothing wrong with it other than that. The 7800 was a nightmare without a decent sound chip. Atari really messed up in so many ways.
Bezerk has a homebrew port for the 7800. It's on the same cartridge has a homebrew port of the sequel Frenzy. Available from AtariAge. Both games are voice enhanced and fully licensed from Stern.
It is very impressive. I think maybe part of the reason is a lot of the 5200 games are based off of their computer line of games, but even still the fact they made 2 separate versions is super cool.
What I love about the 2600 ports of some of these games is just how much better they run and control than the ports on the superior hardware, both Atari's own and their competitors. It's so weird and endearing.
The atari 7800 is not much more powerful then the 5200,the only difference is that the atari 7800 has 48KB of rom but it only has 4KB of ram and an infirior soundchip, The atari 5200 does have only 32KB of rom but does contain 16KB of ram and it does have a PSG pokey soundchip, now both use the same 6502c cpu while the atari 2600 uses a 6507 chip with the only difference in that it only could access 8KB of data rather then 64KB of data, The nes was actually less powerfull then the both atari 5200 & atari 7800,but the media wanted to believe you otherwise.
It's really a shame how little of an improvement the 7800 was over the 5200. I mean in the case of the sound the 5200 blows it out of the water. I find it fascinating what advertising can do. I bet with the right ad campaign (especially before the internet) Nintendo could have convinced people that the NES was more powerful than the Genesis.
@@RetroComparisons I always found it such a strange system. Rectangular pixels, great system for pushing sprites...on a static screen, which limited it's potential for game genres, ability to mix resolutions and display lots of colours, but majority of games running in lower resolution modes and mo Pokey sound as standard, hindered it even more.
@@thefurthestmanfromhome1148 I really was an odd console. I know the prototype for the system went way back before its actual release but even still there was no excuse for its sound to be worse than its predecessor. Had the 7800 come out in place of the 5200 in 82 that would have made more sense.
Wow! it's great to reminisce back in these days I remember a lot of these games. I had a atari 2600 and a ColecoVision back in the day. I remember pre-ordering Pac-Man back in the day I remembered it cost $40 waited weeks for that and when it finally came I was completely disappointed. the graphics sucked on it it was like one of the worst games ever and I waited so long for that game. I think one of the best games for the 2600 was pitfall we had a lot of hours of enjoyment on that game. I remember in the summertime I'd stay up with my friend and we play from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. that game all night and all morning. Another fun game for the 2600 was circus Atari lots of hours of enjoyment on that game. Also remember another game by Activision it was called Alpine ski that was another good game. I think Activision made the best games for the Atari 2600 in my opinion. They had a lot better graphics versus some of the Atari games. I wish I could get another 2600 and a ColecoVision I'm going to look out for them.
I love hearing stories like that! I miss those days of staying up all night playing games with friends, nothing can ever replicate that kind of magic. You're absolutely right, Activision consistently knocked it out of the park, more than any other 3rd party or Atari themselves. I loved River Raid, H.E.R.O, Chopper Command and so many more by them. I could be wrong but I think the 2600 is still reasonably priced, at least compared to a lot of other retro consoles. I hope you can find one soon so you can play some of these amazing games.
It was a bad controller and bad timing. Had this come out in 80 or 81 with a better controller it would have made a much bigger impact. Backwards compatibility without an adapter would have been great too. Such a missed opportunity.
This is incredible!! I'll have to go back and watch these again to see how my personal list compares to yours. It looks like the 5200 may be the ultimate winner which makes sense seeing as it's the best middle ground in terms of visuals and the best overall with sound. Percentage wise though maybe the 7800 wins?
Thank you so much for checking this out:) I think Rescue on Fractalus only came out on the 5200, at least in terms of Atari consoles. That game is super advanced looking for its time.
@@RetroComparisons Is there a list of all the games on multiple Atari systems? because i just want to keep all the exclusives for each system, and decide which games of these i want from which system.
I got 3 posts it and put a point everytime one game had the better version and the 7800 had 26 and the 2600 and 5200 tied at 25. That’s not counting unreleased games ofc
We never had the 5200 over here in the UK, it was annouced, but the US crash put paid to that, then we were promised and shown the 7800,only Atari UK convinced Atari to release the XEGS here first, by which time the A8 computers, sold at too high a price initially, had been neglected to a very niche market only warehouse clearance deals doing anything to boost the user base. Software support was poor. By the time the 7800 did finally arrive, Atari were pushing the ST, hard. We watched in absolute disbelief as Atari tried to see us the 2600 Jr, XEGS and 7800 to the same limited 8-bit cartridge market.
You'd think those terrible decisions would have been a cautionary tale for everyone who came after them and then Sega went ahead and tried pushing the Sega CD and 32X, botching the release of the Saturn and then disowning the Saturn a few years after that. But that doesn't make Atari's decisions at that time any less stupid.
It's hard to believe they were the same generation sometimes. When you look at something like Double Dragon it's like looking at games that were released 10 years apart.
@@RetroComparisons To be fair, the 7800 was test market released before the NES, and especially if you look at the homebrews that have come out recently, there are some great looking 7800 games. Lazy ports don't make a bad system. But they can doom the system sales wise. ;-)
@@desiv1170 That's a great point, though I still think they made a bad decision on the sound chip. I know that they wanted it to be backwards compatible with the 2600 and that's a noble decision but at what cost?
@@RetroComparisons Yep, and they could have easily included the Maria for 2600 sound AND Pokey for 7800 sound. That was the original plan. Yeah, it would have raised the cost of the 7800 a bit, but the 7800 was already cheap for a console. They could have added a Pokey and still released it under $100 (for their second real release). That, and I hate those original 7800 joysticks... That said, with the Europad joypad and Pokey sound (included in BallBlazer and Commando carts, and used in lots of homebrews), the 7800 is awesome and shows what could have been. So close! ;-)
@@desiv1170 It's really frustrating to know that it had the potential and even certain things in place to make it competitive and yet they dropped the ball.
Asteroids 2600 Ballblazer 5200 Beamrider 2600 Berserk 5200 Blue Print sucks, so does Buck Rogers Centipede 2600 Choplifter Sega Master System Commando Arcade No Dark Chambers instead play Gauntlet Arcade Dig Dug Arcade Donkey Kong Arcade Donkey Kong Junior Arcade Double Dragon Arcade NES Genesis Frogger Arcade Gorf 2600 Gremlins NES Gyruss NES Hero 2600 Ikari Warriors Arcade James Bond N64 Joust Arcade Jungle Hunt 2600 Arcade Kaboom 2600 Keystone Kapers 2600 Kung Fu Arcade NES Mario Bros Arcade Missile Command Arcade Moon Patrol 2600 Arcade Mountain King 5200 Ms PacMan 2600 Arcade PacMan Arcade Pitfall 2600 Pitfall 2 5200 Pole Position Arcade Popeye Arcade Qbert Arcade Rampage N64 River Raid 2600 Robotron Arcade Space Invaders 2600 Arcade Star Raiders 2600 & 5200 Star Wars Arcade Super Breakout 2600 Vanguard 2600 Battle Zone Arcade Klax Arcade Defender Arcade Xevious Arcade
I think I agree with pretty everything on your list, though I'd take River Raid on the 2600 solely even though the 5200 version has its charms. Also I'd add the Genesis version of Double Dragon on there even though that gets a lot of hate, but it's probably just nostalgia that would qualify it for my list.
I think by that point the original team wasn't there anymore or were on their way out. Their early 2600 stuff was incredible with River Raid being my all time favorite on the console.
Pete Rose Baseball looks amazing for the 2600- new to me. Played Pengo for hours on the 5200, wasn't aware of 2600 version, which looks great gameplay-wise
The 5200 was a great system, it's only issues was the horrible controllers, and the way you plugged the power into it (you plugged the consoles power into the AV box). And what hurt the 7800 was the fact it used the TIA for sound (the same sound as the 2600, the 5200 had superior sound).
It's such a shame the way both turned out. The ultimate console they could have put out to compete with the NES & SMS would have been the 7800 with a better soundchip, backwards compatibility with not just the 2600 but the 5200 to really boost the library and a better output. I mean the SMS had a native RGB SCART output back then.
@@RetroComparisons and it also sucked that Nintendo basically locked Atari out of having a joypads (the CX78 joypad was never released in the states). BUT anyways the 7800 had the ability to have any sound chip it wanted to produce sound, except it had to be in the cart, but most game companies cheaped out and just used the TIA instead (only two games used a sound chip in the cart on the 7800).
With a real 2600, the flashing characters are harder to notice. They're more like a fast flicker so they're half see through, but you can still see every character most of the time. Well, in Defender, your ship really does disappear when you shoot. But you can always see every incoming missile in Missile Command, both sides of the Death Star trench etc.
It does make it harder to play when it flashes so much. In the 70s/early 80s when this came out people were probably playing these games on a 12" (possibly black and white) tv so I bet it was hardly an issue for something like Defender, but now on an HDTV it can be frustrating.
@@RetroComparisons It's mad how I played (and loved) the original VCS Defender so much back then, but never noticed the ship disappearing when firing until about 40 years later 😅 I own a copy on my VCS these days and still play that game (and Stargate too, which is obviously technically very impressive).
@@Hologhoul Haha there's so many things I never noticed back then either. There's a ton of stuff that has been pointed out to me too that I never picked up on. Thank goodness for observant people posting comments lol! Defender is so damn good as is Stargate. I could play those games any day of the week.
@@RetroComparisons Me too, fine games! I was such a bad loser though. I remember one time my good friend down the road was beating my Defender score so I simply walked up to the console (in his living room) and reset the game!
the smooth and fast movement of the 2600 is pretty amazing when compared to the 5200 and 7800. Beats the other consoles of that time, Intellivision and Coleco. If only the sound chip was better.. Nonetheless, it was good fun back in the day.
It's such a timeless system. It may not have been the top notch console in terms of audio or visuals but there were so many amazing games that it doesn't even matter.
The 7800 and 5200 had so much potential it’s too bad almost all of their games were just ports of 2600 games made to look better. If you wanted a Atari in the mid 80’s you would pick the 2600 if you were casual gamer that didn’t care about graphics, You’d buy the 5200 for good graphics similar to the Colecovision, and you would buy the 7800 if you wanted the best graphics for all the same games. 😂
It's such a shame about how they handled these. The 5200 had a much better soundchip and way better visuals than the 2600 but between the terrible controller and the fact it was only on the market for a short period of time it was a big letdown. Then the 7800 had great visuals for the time it was supposed to be released but got delayed and was outclassed by the NES and especially the SMS in the graphics department. And then there's the 7800 soundchip which was 10 years out of date.
Is there a list of all the games on multiple Atari systems? because i just want to keep all the exclusives for each system, and decide which games of these i want from which system.
I put together an unofficial list when doing research for this video so hopefully it's 100% accurate but there's always a possibility that I missed something. Here's a Word document of the games and systems that they're on: mega.nz/file/kpgSUKjC#IVHF6LY81WMEkq2W0DV3DPA-QxWaGu76yr6T-A01slw
In some ways the 7800 was a step backwards from the 5200. There were some games like this that the 5200 looked superior and in almost all cases sounded better.
Atari makers are you watching, every 2600 and 7800 games should be bundled togther on one cartridge, so you could have both versions of asteroids on the one cartridge, you could either have a menu on the start to select, or manual switches. Also we want the trakball for centipede!
I'm pretty sure you're right. I think they did that for the sake of backwards compatibility which is a very shortsighted decision. The 2600 had the best library, the 5200 had the best soundchip and the 7800 had the best visuals. It's too bad we didn't get it all in one on a console.
That's really cool! I've seen a decent amount of variants online but I've never known how many are out there. Do you know how many different types there are?
@@RetroComparisons I only have some North American models . The basic NA ones are the woodgrain models , the Vader , the Sears Video Arcade 1 & 2 and telegames , the 2 Atari Jrs , the Coleco Gemini , and the Colombia Home Arcade . atariage.com/2600/archives/consoles.html
Had an Atari 7800 and Colecovision (very similar game play quality) back in the day. Great, simpler times. Fortunately, I was able to unload the game systems to a local used DVD and media store about 6 years back that went out of business a year later. :(
I love the simplicity of gaming in those days, the games were more straightforward and you could pick up and play them without a huge learning curve. Ugh that stinks about the store, a lot of those places are going under unfortunately.
Thanks for checking this out! The 7800 doesn't get enough love. I know it wasn't a powerhouse during the 3rd gen like the SMS was or as popular as the NES but there were some really fun games and you got the whole 2600 back catalogue that you could play on it too.
@@RetroComparisons oh yeah I had more 2600 games than 7800 games as a kid. All my aunts and uncles and parents friends would give me their old 2600 games when they found out I was playing them. But the 7800 stuff definitely felt more advanced. I had Ms Pac man, rampage, double dragon, centipede, Mario Bros, donkey Kong and donkey Kong Jr for the 7800. I knew it wasn't as good as the nes and I did get one of those but the 7800 holds a special place in my heart.
@@watchsilverback You had the cream of the crop with your 7800 collection, those are all classics. The thing about having a so-called inferior system back then didn't always matter as long as you were having fun. My family was very poor so I was playing the 2600 when the Genesis & SNES were relevant and I have so many great memories playing those games even if they were passé at the time.
I have all 3 now and still can't decide which is the best. 2600 = lots of games, unique versions of classics. 5200 = less games but better versions of the more popular titles, along with true analog control for the ones that use it. 7800 = loss of analog control but much closer to arcade in graphics and speed. Powerful enough to compete with NES.
Very well said. It's too bad that the 7800 didn't have a better soundchip or a bigger library. If it did that could have been the definitive Atari system especially since it was backward compatible with the 2600.
@@RetroComparisons the 7800 was ultimately a victim of poor timing. Originally it was supposed to have launched in 84 but the crash happened and then Time Warner splitting Atar into Atari Corp and Atari Games and selling Atari Corp to Jack Tremell who shelved the 7800 until Nintendo launched the NES state side and by then Nintendo had a hell of a head start and already was past the initial black box line and had more complex games coming out like Metroid and such. While the 7800 had mostly arcade ports like Pole position 2, Galaga, Centipede and so on. Followed by a bunch of hit and miss microcomputer ports like One on one, Fight night, Karateka, etc and so by time they finally were putting out games more in line with the NES and Master system in 89 and 90 like Ninja Golf, Fatal run, Midnight Mutants, Dark Chambers,Commando, etc the damage was already done and the system had flopped. Had it launched in 84 it might have faired better
Great video! One thing about the VCS' architecture (thought I can't explain the technicalities) is that even if earlier games looked basic, a great many were smooth; the framerate, the scrolling, the feel. River Raid, Galaxian, even something with flicker like Pac-Man or Defender, still so playable and fun. Some used block scrolling, like Super Cobra and Vanguard, but they still played well due to everything else moving nicely. Just a thought, would be cool if you could alternate the sound with captions saying "2600 sound", "7800 sounds' etc.?
Thanks for checking this out! It's so impressive with what they were able to do with such limited hardware and tiny rom sizes back then. River Raid in particular is still as playable today than it was at release IMO. That is a great idea with the sound alternating! I do regret not doing something like that when making this video as I know I would have done things a little differently now than when I made this and was still figuring out how to edit properly.
@@RetroComparisons Doesn't detract at all, I quite enjoyed sort of picking out the sounds anyway! I totally agree about River Raid, what a remarkable piece of programming, what a polished game, amazing for its time and indeed still so much fun now.
So...the 2600 was superior to 5200? I mean I know it's NOT the case (it's obvious on other games) but *Berserk* (1:16) looks GREAT on 2600 and pretty mediocre on 5200. And than *Choplifter!* (3:05) looking almost as good as for Master System on 7800, but pretty forgettable on 5200. I simply don't get the curve. Or is it more about those who made the game and not about platform's capabilities?? 3:25 - it's CAPCOM's Commando? Never knew that they have licensed their games for Atari platforms (aside from ST and Jaguar). 9:11 - sooooooooooooo.... Konami not wanted to have anything with Master System but they not only licensed Frogger for Atari twice but also gave them the opportunity to make a port of Gyrus s?!? What da fug with those guys?((( 12:59 - MARIO GAME FOR ATARI PLATFORM??! o_o Now I've seen everything! XDDDDD
I know the 5200 is technically superior but I'd take the 2600 over either the 5200 or 7800 any day of the week. You know I never really thought of that with Capcom making a game for the 2600. They seem like they're from two completely separate generations. I'm guessing the Konami thing has something to do with Nintendo not allowing them to work with Sega at the time. Maybe Atari wasn't seen as a threat so they let them put those games out? Just guessing. Oh yeah I love that Mario game, I used to play that all the time as a kid. But it's so surreal to think that Mario was on an Atari console 2 years before Super Mario Bros came out.
@@RetroComparisons I know about Nintendo not allowed Konami to work with SEGA at some point in time, but...remember all that good Konami games on Sega Genesis (like 2 TMNT games, greatest Contra game and pretty nice Castlevania one)? So why not to do at least something for Master System/Game Gear? Do you think that SMS/SGG games' manufacturing was a thing only before 1994? I simply don't know^^
With such limited technology it's surprising that the 2600 outshined either in any circumstance but yet I feel that happened more often than I expected.
I think Zaxxon would have blown my mind had I been able to grab a 5200 back then, looks wicked. I was fascinated when that hit the arcades. 5200 Millipede is good, I have that on Atari 50 if I recall correctly. Battlezone with vector type graphics was a clever attempt by the looks of things.
I can't imagine playing basic looking games and then coming across something like Zaxxon back in the day. It was probably the equivalent of my generation seeing Donkey Kong Country during the 16 bit gen. Battlezone looks pretty incredible on the 2600. It's one of the few that completely re-imagines everything.
@@RetroComparisons That's true about Battlezone, another work of art. I also own Robot Tank, that's a brilliant game too. Indeed, Zaxxon was a shock! I was absolutely enthralled, and then you'd get hints of home versions in C&VG magazine, it was all such an incredible time! I love quality channels like yours paying such respect and reverence to the era.
@@Hologhoul Hmm I'll have to try out Robot Tank as I don't think I've played that before. Just when I think I've played everything on the system there's more gems to discover. I miss the days of seeing games in magazines, etc that got everyone hyped. Don't get me wrong, having access to everything online is incredible but the magic is lost in the process. Also, thanks so much for the kind words! There's a great channel called Atari Archive that I found last year that's awesome where he goes through each 2600 game chronologically so if you haven't seen that I'd highly recommend it.
The 5200 and 7800 shared a common problem: Most of the games for them were just marginally prettier versions of stuff that you could already play on the 2600. Then you had the platforms' unique problems: The 5200, with it's terrible controller issues and the 7800 coming out after the NES.
The 7800 also had an embarrassingly outdated soundchip which didn't help matter not that it could have overcome the NES by the time it was eventually released. The 5200's timing wasn't much better as it had about a year in the market before the video game crash.
@@RetroComparisons Agreed, Atari is also a great way to start gaming! My favorite Atari games are Breakout, Pac-Man, Frogger, and Space Invaders but I played those on an Atari emulator on my pc lol.
@@Aaroncarter55726 Those are fantastic picks! Even to this day that version of Space Invaders is my favorite. River Raid is another top tier one too. And you can't go wrong emulating those games, they're pretty much perfect emulation now.
The majority of these video games shown in this video have been released in all three game formats, however the Atari 7800 encryption key utility and the software for writing to the encrypted Atari 7800 game ROMs were discovered on both Atari ST computers and Windows PCs. Thus the homebrew game industry is now able to produce a number of Atari 7800 game cartridges for years to come.
3:05 I don't think it's really fair to show 5200 choplifter without the color artifacts. It's also one of the ones that got a heavy revamp for the XEGS release to not use artifacting color, but of course that'd be cheating.
centipede looked better 7800, defender looks better 2600 . dk is better on 7800, but grx and sound is wrong colecovision is perfect . fatal run on 2600 car is better not generic . missile command i like 2600 . moon patrol 2600 pitfall 2600 cant get past new look/sfx . mega mania grx better but some like the meter look weird . bezerk even 52 has voice i dont like how room closes or reopens, i like how exiting/entering room the walls close/open on 2600 . space invaders i like old style . vanguard 2600 much more colorful . battle zone 2600 amazing . 7800 colors bit brighter than 5200
@@RetroComparisons yes dk 2600 suux intelevision REALLY SUX and 7800 looks ok but its like they started look good but gave up, sounds dont match colecovision and that ones a masterpiece compared to 7800 and intelevision
@@cootmaster Growing up I had only ever played the 2600 version which I thought was what the game was meant to look like. When I got a Colecovision at a tag sale in the mid to late 90s and played this port I was blown away. I couldn't believe it was the same game. If that system had come out a couple of years earlier I think it could have possibly given Atari a run for its money.
@@RetroComparisons i had atari 2600 when i was 10 for my bday in 80, coleco in 82 at 12 and comodore at 83/84 13/14 ran that then in 90 ran a bbs in 91-92
I've noticed that, with some notable exceptions, Atari 2600 games are less fun to play and more an amazing demo of how determined developers can make something with the processing power of a bowl of guacamole dip sing and dance with nothing but pure determination. More often than not, when I pop in a 2600 game, I have more fun figuring out how they pulled off certain effects with the limited hardware than actually playing the game.
Some of the games on the system are pretty mind blowing to see graphically for such limited hardware. Now there's wizards out there making homebrews that look as good as at least a 5200 but on 2600 hardware.
Thanks for checking this out! I think if the 5200 had a better controller and was backwards compatible it could have been pretty good, but alas, it did just about everything wrong and at the worst possible time.
@@RetroComparisons don’t know how you felt. I was jealous of the Intellivision sports games. So when the 5200 came along, my INTV friends were jealous.
@@jbponzi1 I can totally see why for both. The Intellivision was a huge upgrade visually over the 2600 and was really the first console I can think of that had pretty decent sports games. The 5200 took another huge leap a few years later and I think that and the Colecovision would have made any Intellivision owner jealous.
Adventure is a really fun game and E.T. gets way more of a bad rap than it deserves. I played that game a lot as a kid and there's no way it's one of the worst games ever made, not even one of the worst on the console.
Good to see you've played it a lot. Mostly I just here this. Kid: Dad, I can't get out of the pits, I don't know what to do. Dad: Did you read the manual? Kid:....... Throw it in the trash, worst game ever! I also like Superman, Haunted House, and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
@@ultrairrelevantnobody1862 Haha! Yes exactly, and you could probably also replace "kid" with 95% of youtubers that review the game too. Superman, Haunted House & Raiders are all underappreciated games too in a similar vein to E.T.
Thanks for checking this out! That project is definitely on my radar and I will more than likely have an entire season dedicated to that down the road. I'd be interested in particular to see how close the computer 8 bit lineup is to the 5200. I know it's not what you're looking for but in case you're interested I'm currently working on the next season which will be a comparison between every 2600 game and its arcade counterpart.
@@Tretheperson 8-bit computers are pretty close in terms of specs to 5200. It was basically an Atari 400 in a different case so only games that required more RAM would be better on the computers.
@@RetroComparisons yeah the thing was huge, the controllers didn't work, and also the f--king box sucks seriously if you plug the actual console into the box you'll see Sparks that's not good!!!
@@RetroComparisons definitely I dont know if its because how long the 2600 was around compared to the others and the programmers familiarity with it. But Definitely yes many of the games played better on it.. River raid is a prime example I think the 2600 is far superior despite the graphical semi upgrade to the 5200
@@KrGsMrNKusinagi0 Along with Space Invaders I think River Raid would be the game I'd point to too. That happens to be my favorite 2600 game of all time so I am a little biased towards it but even still I think it's better than the 5200 port.
