Atari Flashback
Encyclopedia
The Atari Flashback, Atari Flashback 2, Atari Flashback2+ and Atari Flashback 3 are dedicated
video game console
s marketed by Atari Inc.
in 2004, 2005 and 2010, then AtGames in 2011. They are preprogrammed with classic Atari 2600
and Atari 7800
console games from the 1970s and 1980s built in, and do not use ROM cartridge
s.
The systems are powered by an AC adapter (included), come with a pair of joystick
controllers, and use standard composite video
and monaural
audio RCA
plugs to connect to a television
.
controllers were made to work with the included joysticks.
It was designed by Atari veteran Curt Vendel, whose company Legacy Engineering Group designs other home video game and video arcade products. Atari Inc. gave Legacy Engineering ten weeks to design the product, produce its games, and ready it for the 2004 Winter holiday season. The Atari Flashback was based on "NES-on-a-chip" hardware, not resembling either of the Atari systems which the Flashback was supposed to represent. As a result, the games it contained were ports
and differed in varying degrees from the original games, and therefore the Flashback was unpopular with some purists.
), was advertised as "unreleased"; though never part of the Atari lineup, it was sold at the Philly Classic 5 convention in 2004.
Atari 2600
Atari 7800
s which were created by enthusiasts in recent years, and two of the games (Pitfall! and River Raid) were originally published by Activision
.
The appearance of the Atari Flashback 2 is reminiscent of the original Atari 2600 console from 1977. It is roughly two-thirds the size of the original, and much lighter in weight. The Flashback 2 console has five buttons (power, reset, left and right difficulty toggles, and select); on the back it has a color/black-and-white slider switch and two ports for the included joysticks. The joysticks bear very close similarity to the original Atari 2600 joysticks from 1977, and are compatible and interchangeable with them. The Flashback 2 does not come with paddle controllers, but original paddle controllers can be connected to it and used with its paddle-based games.
Curt Vendel and Legacy Engineering returned to develop the Flashback 2. Unlike the original Flashback console, the Flashback 2 contains a single-chip version of circuitry designed by Vendel; it is a reproduction of the original circuitry in that of the original Atari 2600. Therefore, the Atari Flashback 2 runs games just as they ran on an original console. The Atari Flashback 2 project was codenamed "Michele", after Vendel's wife. Her name is printed on the motherboard
.
Marty Goldberg, owner of the Electronic Entertainment Museum, was the technical writer for the packed in manual and full design of the online manual. Because of changes in game content during the development and problems with the graphic design company keeping edit revisions straight, the manual which comes with the Flashback 2 has several errors in it including typos. For example, contrary to the manual there is no two-player mode in Centipede, and there is no connected-ship gameplay in Space Duel. Likewise in the description of Save Mary "Barnaby just blew up the nearby damn" appears.
The games listed below as hacks used other games' code as a starting point and modified their gameplay or appearance. Homebrews were written from scratch by Atari fans in the 1990s and 2000s. Unreleased prototypes are games which were developed by Atari Inc. in the 1970s and 1980s but never sold to consumers; some of these games may have bugs or be incomplete. A few of the games listed are new and exclusive to the Flashback 2.
first appeared). The code must be entered steadily and without pauses (enter it too quickly and it won't work).
can be accessed and played by moving right with the left controller.
A few of the included games, such as Lunar Lander, exhibit some flicker
. This is due to limitations in the original Atari 2600 hardware, which the Flashback 2 reproduces accurately. Curt Vendel noted that the games exclusive to the Flashback 2 were programmed under a strict schedule, and later commissioned developers to tweak these games in order to reduce flickering http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=89603&view=findpost&p=1089008. Some of these revisions were included with the Atari Flashback 2+, released in 2010 (see below).
Rev. D is the Atari Flashback Portable
with support for all games with the exception of Pitfall 2 and the Supercharger games. This new chip will also have built in LCD driver lines, and USB connectivity support and built in Flash RAM for games storage. No official word on when Atari Inc. will release this revision.
points and a guide to what contact points associate with which cartridge pinouts. Complete details regarding the cartridge modification can be found at http://atarimuseum.com/fb2hacks/.
, Curt Vendel remarked, "Flashback 2 did exceptionally well. 860,000 sold in U.S./domestic."
Dedicated console
A dedicated console is a video game console that is dedicated to a built in game or games, and is not equipped for additional games, via cartridges or other media.- History :...
video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
s marketed by Atari Inc.
Atari, Inc (Infogrames)
The company that currently bears the Atari Inc. name was founded in 1993 under the name GT Interactive. In 1999, Infogrames Entertainment, SA acquired a 62% controlling interest in GT Interactive, and proceeded to rename it Infogrames, Inc. After IESA's acquisition of Hasbro Interactive and its...
in 2004, 2005 and 2010, then AtGames in 2011. They are preprogrammed with classic Atari 2600
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
and Atari 7800
Atari 7800
The Atari 7800 ProSystem, or simply the Atari 7800, is a video game console re-released by Atari Corporation in January 1986. The original release had occurred two years earlier under Atari Inc. The 7800 had originally been designed to replace Atari Inc.'s Atari 5200 in 1984, but was temporarily...
console games from the 1970s and 1980s built in, and do not use ROM cartridge
ROM cartridge
A ROM cartridge, sometimes referred to as a cart, is a removable enclosure containing read-only memory devices designed to be connected to a computer or games console....
s.
The systems are powered by an AC adapter (included), come with a pair of joystick
Joystick
A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks, also known as 'control columns', are the principal control in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a center stick or...
controllers, and use standard composite video
Composite video
Composite video is the format of an analog television signal before it is combined with a sound signal and modulated onto an RF carrier. In contrast to component video it contains all required video information, including colors in a single line-level signal...
and monaural
Monaural
Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path...
audio RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
plugs to connect to a television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
.
Atari Flashback
The Atari Flashback was released in 2004. The console resembled an Atari 7800 in appearance, and came with a pair of controllers which resembled those of the Atari 7800 but were slightly smaller. The system had twenty games built-in, all originally developed by Warner Communication's Atari Inc. and Atari Corp. for the 2600 and 7800 game systems. The games which originally required analog paddlePaddle (game controller)
A paddle is a game controller with a round wheel and one or more fire buttons, where the wheel is typically used to control movement of the player object along one axis of the video screen...
controllers were made to work with the included joysticks.
It was designed by Atari veteran Curt Vendel, whose company Legacy Engineering Group designs other home video game and video arcade products. Atari Inc. gave Legacy Engineering ten weeks to design the product, produce its games, and ready it for the 2004 Winter holiday season. The Atari Flashback was based on "NES-on-a-chip" hardware, not resembling either of the Atari systems which the Flashback was supposed to represent. As a result, the games it contained were ports
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
and differed in varying degrees from the original games, and therefore the Flashback was unpopular with some purists.
Included games
One game, Saboteur (originally designed by Howard Scott WarshawHoward Scott Warshaw
Howard Scott Warshaw is an American former game designer who worked for Atari in the early 1980s, where he designed and programmed the games Yars' Revenge, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and infamously, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial...
), was advertised as "unreleased"; though never part of the Atari lineup, it was sold at the Philly Classic 5 convention in 2004.
Atari 2600
- AdventureAdventure (Atari 2600)Adventure is a video game for the Atari 2600 video game console and is considered the first action-adventure game. Its creator, Warren Robinett, also introduced the first widely-known Easter egg to the gaming world.-History and design:...
- Air-Sea BattleAir-Sea BattleAir-Sea Battle is a game developed by Atari, Inc. for the Atari 2600, and was one of the nine original launch titles for that system when it was released in October 1977...
- Battlezone
- Breakout
- Canyon BomberCanyon BomberCanyon Bomber is a black-and-white 1978 arcade game, developed and published by Atari. The game was ported to the Atari 2600, also in 1978.-Gameplay:...
- Crystal Castles
- GravitarGravitarGravitar is a shoot 'em up arcade game released by Atari, Inc in 1982.It was the first of over twenty games Mike Hally designed and produced for Atari, including Star Wars.-Gameplay:...
- Haunted HouseHaunted House (video game)Haunted House is an Atari 2600 video game, first released in 1982, in which the player must navigate the haunted mansion of the late Zachary Graves to recover the three pieces of an urn...
- Millipede
- Saboteur
- Sky DiverSky DiverSky Diver is an arcade video game designed by Owen Rubin, and released by Atari, Inc. in 1978. It was ported to Atari 2600 in the same year by Jim Huether. Its interface is a simple third-person view of a parachuting drop zone...
- SolarisSolaris (Atari 2600)Solaris is a game for the Atari 2600 published in 1986 by Atari. The game was programmed by Douglas Neubauer, who owns the copyright to the game and the Solaris trademark.-Gameplay:...
- Sprintmaster
- Warlords
- Yars' RevengeYars' RevengeYars' Revenge is a video game developed for the Atari 2600 in 1981. It was created by Howard Scott Warshaw, who also wrote the 2600 titles Raiders of the Lost Ark and the much-derided E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial...
Atari 7800
- Asteroids
- Centipede
- Desert Falcon
- Charley Chuck’s Food Fight
- Planet Smashers
Atari Flashback 2
The Atari Flashback 2, the successor to the original Atari Flashback console, was released in 2005. It has forty Atari 2600 games built-in. A few of the included games are homebrewHomebrew (video games)
Homebrew is a term frequently applied to video games or other software produced by consumers to target proprietary hardware platforms not typically user-programmable or that use proprietary storage methods...
s which were created by enthusiasts in recent years, and two of the games (Pitfall! and River Raid) were originally published by Activision
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
.
The appearance of the Atari Flashback 2 is reminiscent of the original Atari 2600 console from 1977. It is roughly two-thirds the size of the original, and much lighter in weight. The Flashback 2 console has five buttons (power, reset, left and right difficulty toggles, and select); on the back it has a color/black-and-white slider switch and two ports for the included joysticks. The joysticks bear very close similarity to the original Atari 2600 joysticks from 1977, and are compatible and interchangeable with them. The Flashback 2 does not come with paddle controllers, but original paddle controllers can be connected to it and used with its paddle-based games.
Curt Vendel and Legacy Engineering returned to develop the Flashback 2. Unlike the original Flashback console, the Flashback 2 contains a single-chip version of circuitry designed by Vendel; it is a reproduction of the original circuitry in that of the original Atari 2600. Therefore, the Atari Flashback 2 runs games just as they ran on an original console. The Atari Flashback 2 project was codenamed "Michele", after Vendel's wife. Her name is printed on the motherboard
Motherboard
In personal computers, a motherboard is the central printed circuit board in many modern computers and holds many of the crucial components of the system, providing connectors for other peripherals. The motherboard is sometimes alternatively known as the mainboard, system board, or, on Apple...
.
Marty Goldberg, owner of the Electronic Entertainment Museum, was the technical writer for the packed in manual and full design of the online manual. Because of changes in game content during the development and problems with the graphic design company keeping edit revisions straight, the manual which comes with the Flashback 2 has several errors in it including typos. For example, contrary to the manual there is no two-player mode in Centipede, and there is no connected-ship gameplay in Space Duel. Likewise in the description of Save Mary "Barnaby just blew up the nearby damn" appears.
Included games
The available games are arranged into four categories selectable from an on-screen menu. Once a game is selected, the only way back to the menu is to use the power button to turn the console off and on again.The games listed below as hacks used other games' code as a starting point and modified their gameplay or appearance. Homebrews were written from scratch by Atari fans in the 1990s and 2000s. Unreleased prototypes are games which were developed by Atari Inc. in the 1970s and 1980s but never sold to consumers; some of these games may have bugs or be incomplete. A few of the games listed are new and exclusive to the Flashback 2.
Adventure Territory
- AdventureAdventure (Atari 2600)Adventure is a video game for the Atari 2600 video game console and is considered the first action-adventure game. Its creator, Warren Robinett, also introduced the first widely-known Easter egg to the gaming world.-History and design:...
- Adventure II, a sequel to Adventure that is built on its original assemblyAssembly languageAn assembly language is a low-level programming language for computers, microprocessors, microcontrollers, and other programmable devices. It implements a symbolic representation of the machine codes and other constants needed to program a given CPU architecture...
-based game code - Haunted House
- Return To Haunted House, a sequel to Haunted House that is built on the original Adventure
' s assemblyAssembly languageAn assembly language is a low-level programming language for computers, microprocessors, microcontrollers, and other programmable devices. It implements a symbolic representation of the machine codes and other constants needed to program a given CPU architecture...
-based game code combined with graphics from the original Haunted House) - Secret Quest
- Wizard (unreleased prototype)
Arcade Favorites
- Arcade Asteroids (hack) of the original Atari 2600 Asteroids with the sprites changed to outlines to more accurately portray the arcade version
- Arcade Pong (exclusive to the Flashback 2), a version of PongPongPong is one of the earliest arcade video games, and is a tennis sports game featuring simple two-dimensional graphics. While other arcade video games such as Computer Space came before it, Pong was one of the first video games to reach mainstream popularity...
which can use paddle controllers if attached - Asteroids Deluxe (exclusive)
- Battlezone
- Centipede
- Lunar LanderLunar Lander (arcade game)Lunar Lander is an arcade game released by Atari, Inc. in 1979, which uses a vector monitor to display vector graphics. Although not particularly successful, a vector-graphics generator was the impetus of Atari's most successful coin-operated game: Asteroids. The object of the game is to pilot a...
(exclusive) - Millipede
- Missile CommandMissile CommandMissile Command is a 1980 arcade game by Atari, Inc. that was also licensed to Sega for European release. It is considered one of the most notable games from the Golden Age of Video Arcade Games...
- Space DuelSpace DuelSpace Duel is an arcade game released in 1982 by Atari Inc. It is a direct descendant of the original Asteroids, with asteroids replaced by colorful geometric shapes like cubes, diamonds, and spinning pinwheels. Shoot all objects to complete a level. Space Duel is the first and only multi-player...
(exclusive)
Skill and Action Zone
- 3D Tic-Tac-Toe3-D Tic-Tac-Toe (Atari 2600)3-D Tic-Tac-Toe is a video game released by Atari, Inc for the Atari 2600 console and Atari 8-bit computers in 1980.-Description:The game is similar to the traditional game of tic-tac-toe, but is played on four 4 × 4 grids stacked vertically on top of each other; it is basically a...
- Aquaventure (unreleased prototype)
- Atari Climber (homebrew), released in 2004 as Climber 5
- CombatCombat (video game)Combat is an early video game by Atari for the Atari 2600. It was released as one of the nine launch titles for the system in October 1977, and was included in the box with the system from its introduction until 1982...
- Combat 2Combat 2Combat 2 is video game for the Atari 2600. Originally announced in 1982, it was subsequently cancelled. Developed by Atari, the game was supposed to be the sequel to the classic Atari VCS game Combat, which was bundled with the system...
(unreleased prototype) - Dodge 'EmDodge 'EmDodge 'Em is a 1980 Atari 2600 video game, a driving game based on a single screen of four concentric roadways. The player controls one car and has to drive counter-clockwise, avoiding computer-controlled cars whose sole aim is to produce a head-on collision...
- Fatal Run (only released in Europe)
- Frog Pond (unreleased prototype)
- Hangman
- Human Cannonball
- Maze Craze
- Off The WallOff the Wall (Atari 2600)Off the Wall is a video game developed for the Atari 2600 video game console in 1989. It is essentially a clone of Breakout with a Chinese theme. It was developed by Axlon, a game development studio owned by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell....
- OutlawOutlaw (arcade game)Outlaw is a single-player arcade game by Atari Inc., originally released in 1976. It simulates an Old West fast draw duel between the player and the computer. Outlaw was a response to Midway's Gun Fight, released the year before.-Technology:...
- Pitfall!Pitfall!Pitfall! is a video game released by Activision for the Atari 2600 in 1982. It is the second best selling game made for the Atari 2600, with over 4 million copies sold.-Gameplay:...
(originally released by Activision) - Radar Lock
- River RaidRiver RaidRiver Raid is a scrolling shooter videogame and was released in 1982 by Activision for the Atari 2600, and later the Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit, C64, ColecoVision, IBM PCjr, Intellivision, ZX Spectrum, and MSX...
(originally released by Activision) - Save MarySave MarySave Mary is an Atari 2600 action game that revolves around creating platforms to save Mary, the damsel in distress. The character is a humble construction worker who must pick up crates to use as platforms to get Mary to climb up, eventually leading to the top of the valley...
(unreleased prototype) - Video Checkers
- Video ChessVideo ChessVideo Chess is a video game released by Atari in 1979 for the Atari 2600, based on the rules of chess.-Development:Video Chess was developed by Larry Wagner and Bob Whitehead...
Space Station
- Caverns Of MarsCaverns of Mars (computer game)Caverns of Mars is a computer game for the Atari 8-bit computers, programmed by Greg Christensen and published by Atari Program Exchange in 1981. Christensen, a high-school student at the time, won a $3,000 prize from Atari, and his first royalty check was $18,000...
(exclusive) - QuadrunQuadrunQuadrun was published in 1983 by Atari for the Atari 2600. However, it is available to play at a relatively cheaper price on either the 2005 Xbox/PlayStation 2 collection Atari Anthology, or the Atari Flashback 2, where Quadrun is one of the forty included games.-Ports:Quadrun was made available on...
(originally sold only by mail order through the Atari fan club) - Saboteur (unreleased prototype)
- Space WarSpace WarSpace War is an Atari-brand video game cartridge for the Atari 2600, released in 1978. It is an Atari 2600 port of Spacewar!, the famous 1962 computer game by Steve Russell. It was released by Sears as Space Combat, for the Atari 2600-compatible Sears Video Arcade...
- Yars' Return (exclusive sequel to Yars' Revenge built on its original assemblyAssembly languageAn assembly language is a low-level programming language for computers, microprocessors, microcontrollers, and other programmable devices. It implements a symbolic representation of the machine codes and other constants needed to program a given CPU architecture...
-based game code) - Yars' RevengeYars' RevengeYars' Revenge is a video game developed for the Atari 2600 in 1981. It was created by Howard Scott Warshaw, who also wrote the 2600 titles Raiders of the Lost Ark and the much-derided E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial...
Paddle Games
The console also includes two hidden titles which require the use of paddle controllers. The Flashback 2 does not come with paddle controllers, so these games cannot be played unless the user has an original set of Atari 2600 paddle controllers. To access the hidden paddle game menu, the user must press up on the joystick 1 time, pull down 9 times, push up 7 times, and pull down 2 times (this represents the year 1972, in which PongPong
Pong is one of the earliest arcade video games, and is a tennis sports game featuring simple two-dimensional graphics. While other arcade video games such as Computer Space came before it, Pong was one of the first video games to reach mainstream popularity...
first appeared). The code must be entered steadily and without pauses (enter it too quickly and it won't work).
- Super Breakout
- Warlords
Test screens
Controller test screens can be accessed by holding down the select and reset buttons while pressing the power button to turn on the console. With the color/black-and-white switch set to 'color', the joystick test screen will appear; with it set to black-and-white, the paddle test screen will appear. These test screens allow a gamer to test controller inputs as well as the console's colors and sounds. On the paddle test screen, if joysticks are plugged in as opposed to paddle controllers, the game Off the WallOff the Wall (Atari 2600)
Off the Wall is a video game developed for the Atari 2600 video game console in 1989. It is essentially a clone of Breakout with a Chinese theme. It was developed by Axlon, a game development studio owned by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell....
can be accessed and played by moving right with the left controller.
Revisions
There have so far been three revisions of the Atari Flashback 2.- Rev. 0X has a problem with the synthesized voice in Quadrun not working due to a problem with the emulation of the original console's audio output. (When play begins, the game should speak "Quadrun" three times.) It also contains a prototype version of Millipede programmed by General Computer Corporation http://atariprotos.com/2600/software/millipede/gccproto.htm; this version has problems with the display losing vertical hold and appearing to "roll", making the game unplayable. This revision had the early delivery data to the chip fabricator and was not meant to be run into production. While this is commonly called Rev. A it is properly termed Rev. 0X
- Rev. A Is the correct production revision of the chip which fixes the voice synthesis in Quadrun and also contains the Atari Inc. version of Millipede as well as a newer revision of Adventure 2 that is easier to see on certain TVs that experienced too dark a color palette. This revision is sometimes referred to as Rev. B since it was the 2nd series of release.
- Rev. C features a reduced-size PCB, which was designed to simplify installing a cartridge port (as described below). There are no changes to the unit's functionality; the Revision C chip corrected some Hmove incompatibility issues, but still lacked several 65xx Illegal OpCodes and support for FE bankswitching.
A few of the included games, such as Lunar Lander, exhibit some flicker
Flicker (screen)
Flicker is a visible fading between cycles displayed on video displays, especially the refresh interval on cathode ray tube based computer screens. Flicker occurs on CRTs when they are driven at a low refresh rate, allowing the brightness to drop for time intervals sufficiently long to be noticed...
. This is due to limitations in the original Atari 2600 hardware, which the Flashback 2 reproduces accurately. Curt Vendel noted that the games exclusive to the Flashback 2 were programmed under a strict schedule, and later commissioned developers to tweak these games in order to reduce flickering http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=89603&view=findpost&p=1089008. Some of these revisions were included with the Atari Flashback 2+, released in 2010 (see below).
Rev. D is the Atari Flashback Portable
Atari Flashback Portable
The Atari Flashback Portable is a handheld Atari 2600 game console created by Curt Vendel and Legacy Engineering Group, creators of the Atari Flashback console units. Early information suggests it will be a small handheld device with 2.5" TFT screen running approximately 15 hours on a set of three...
with support for all games with the exception of Pitfall 2 and the Supercharger games. This new chip will also have built in LCD driver lines, and USB connectivity support and built in Flash RAM for games storage. No official word on when Atari Inc. will release this revision.
Adding a cartridge port
While the original Atari 2600 consoles had a cartridge slot, the Atari Flashback 2 does not include one. However, a hobbyist can easily modify a Flashback 2 to use Atari 2600 cartridges, and can even install a switch across certain points of the motherboard so that the console can be easily set to play the forty built-in games again. The motherboard is printed with several solderSolder
Solder is a fusible metal alloy used to join together metal workpieces and having a melting point below that of the workpiece.Soft solder is what is most often thought of when solder or soldering are mentioned and it typically has a melting range of . It is commonly used in electronics and...
points and a guide to what contact points associate with which cartridge pinouts. Complete details regarding the cartridge modification can be found at http://atarimuseum.com/fb2hacks/.
Sales
In an interview with The EscapistThe Escapist (magazine)
The Escapist is an online magazine covering video games, gamers, the gaming industry, and gaming culture. Published by the Themis Group, it was edited by Julianne Greer up to June 30, 2009, then by Russ Pitts through September 2011, and is currently edited by Steve Butts. The Escapist was first...
, Curt Vendel remarked, "Flashback 2 did exceptionally well. 860,000 sold in U.S./domestic."
Atari Flashback 2+
In January 2010, Atari announced pre-orders for the Atari Flashback 2+, to be released on February 22, 2010. General Mills simultaneously announced a giveaway sweepstakes for the console, along with other Atari related merchandise, in conjunction with its Honey Nut Cheerios cereal.Included games
The bulk of the included games in the Atari Flashback 2+ are the same. However, Pitfall, River Raid, Wizard, Caverns of Mars, and Atari Climber have been removed. In exchange, a sports section was added that included the games Realsports Boxing, Realsports Soccer, Super Baseball, Super Football, and Double Dunk.. A third 'hidden' game, Circus Atari, was added to the 'hidden' menu that features the paddle-controller only games Warlords and Super Breakout.Console Differences
Aside from the games, the cosmetic differences between the FB2 and the newer FB2+ are that the latter console sports a plus (+) sign and larger text for "Classic Gaming Console". Also the 'fuji' Atari symbol on the original FB2 resembles the newer Hasbro-era fuji, whereas the FB2+ fuji resembles the original Atari fuji of the 1970s.Atari Flashback 3
In 2011 Atari licensed out Legacy Engineering's Flashback concept and name to AtGames for the "Flashback 3". The Flashback 3 includes 60 built-in Atari 2600 games, 2 joysticks, and a case design that is similar to the Flashback 2/2+ design, except for front-based joystick ports, no B/W switch, and a different curvature. Internally the Flashback 3 system uses emulation running on an ARM-based processor instead of Legacy's "2600-on-a-chip" and is not hackable to add a cartridge port for reading original Atari 2600 cartridges. Original 2600 joysticks and paddles will also work on this system however.Included games
- 3D Tic-Tac-Toe
- Adventure
- Adventure II
- Air-Sea Battle
- Aquaventure
- Asteroids
- Backgammon
- Basketball
- Battlezone
- Bowling
- Canyon Bomber
- Centipede
- Championship Soccer
- Circus Atari
- Combat
- Combat 2
- Demons to Diamonds
- Desert Falcon
- Dodge 'Em
- Double Dunk
- Fatal Run
- Flag Capture
- Frog Pond
- Fun with Numbers
- Golf
- Gravitar
- Hangman
- Home Run
- Haunted House
- Human Cannonball
- Maze Craze
- Minature Golf
- Missile Command
- Night Driver
- Off the Wall
- Outlaw
- Realsports Baseball
- Realsports Basketball
- Realsports Soccer
- Realsports Volleyball
- Saboteur
- Save Mary
- Secret Quest
- Sky Diver
- Space War
- Sprintmaster
- Star Ship
- Steeplechase
- Submarine Commander
- Super Baseball
- Super Breakout
- Super Football
- Surround
- Swordquest: Earthworld
- Swordquest: Fireworld
- Video Checkers
- Video Chess
- Video Pinball
- Wizard
- Yars' Revenge
External links
- Archive of Atari Flashback product page.
- Archive of Atari Flashback 2 product page.
- Atari Flashback 2 online manual: HTML, PDF
- Flashback Review - includes side by side comparison photos of the Atari 7800 and Flashback consoles.
- Armchair Arcade reviews the Atari Flashback 3.