What game do you wish had been included with this system? Or does it even matter considering you can add your own? Why I love Atari: th-cam.com/video/YE7FbLzMA4Q/w-d-xo.html Donkey Kong! th-cam.com/video/tUWKXlOMoyw/w-d-xo.html Miner 2049er & BBSB: th-cam.com/video/7d_RxmeM8CI/w-d-xo.html
Like you say Greg, it probably doesn't matter, but my vote for one of the very best games for this system would be Dropzone. Also, I'm glad that Encounter is in the collection. It was a critically acclaimed game back in 84 and I played it a lot. Something I didn't know, was that it was later ported to the ST & Amiga, but played pretty much the same. Novagen, the publisher of Encounter, went on to release Mercenary on the XL/XE. Yet another cracking game and there's an argument it should have been on the 400 Mini too.
Alternate reality the City and Dungeon and probably a handful of other rpgs like Ultima and adventure games, Asylum for instance would be a great showcase! The Atari had so much more than just simple action games in its lineup, but on the other hand adventure games relied on keyboard input so did ultima back then!
By the early 1980s the Flymo hover lawnmower was threatening to take the crown from the more traditional cylinder mowers in the UK. Qualcast, one of the larger cylinder mower manufacturers, hit back with an advertising campaign where the tagline was 'It's a lot less bovver (bother) than a hover'. This could have been where Jeff got the inspiration for the name of his game, which is pronounced like Hovva Bovva.
Didn't even know this existed till this video. The 5200 compatibility adds an extra layer of interest to me if it happens to be easy and plug n play. I went to website and they are only allowing US customers to order, so that's that for now at least, unfortunately (I am in Australia). I'll be keeping an eye out as I do want this. Another great vid, cheers! You are becoming the retro gaming Lord of TH-cam!
LOL! Will send a fiver you way as soon as I press submit on this comment just to say thanks. By the way, do you know anything about the 5200 support? Obviously it will support roms? What concerns me the most is 5200 control support.@@GregsGameRoom
The atari 400 is basically the 5200 hardware coming out 5 years earlier having about 5000 games in 5-6 different genres! There is not a single 5200 game which was not released a few years earlier on the atari 8 bit systems!
Thank you for the super thanks! Well, I haven't tried playing 5200 games on the system but some others have and it looks to work good. If it doesn't work, you might want to try some different ROMs.
Henry's house, hovver bother and miner 2049er were 3 of my favourite games on the Atari 800XL and the reason I really want this now. I wish jet boot jack and zybex was on here too.
Very interesting selection with Berserk. That game was never officially ported to the 8 bit back in the day. They are giving us the 5200 version which is a fantastic port. I just find it interesting they would include this.
@@GregsGameRoom The problem with many 5200 ports goes back to licensing issues. The 5200 had arcade ports equal to the actual arcade games at the time. They were that great. Sadly, today's Atari would never be able to afford the licenses.
If I’m not mistaken, I believe Atari actually developed Berzerk for the 400/800 but reprogrammed it to work on the 5200 and sell it exclusively there and shelved the 400/800 version. This might have that version. You could always put the ROMs you want anyway.
Dan Kramer, who worked at Atari back in the day and is THE TrakBall man, had a hacked version of Missile Command with three bases that you can play with a hacked (extra buttons crammed in it) TrakBall controller.
4 Player MULE! 4 Player MULE! That's all that really matters. Having the ability to load my own collection of games is just the icing on the cake. You can just pronounce it "mule" as in the animal. And it's arguably the greatest videogame ever made. Multiplayer is a must. Just practice on Tournament mode for a while and you'll get the hang of things after a couple matches. Seven Cities of Gold is an exploration game, one that actually inspired Sid Meier to create Civilization. You build a crew and supplies and then explore the New World. It's very open-ended, so how you play is up to you. You can make nice with the native peoples, or you can fight and conquer them. You can build forts or missions (although they cannot live on their own without supplies), you can steal as much gold as you can carry. Best part is that you can create new worlds to explore, and I'm not sure how that will work here, but I do hope that feature will be included. This game was created by Ozark Softscape, the minds behind MULE, and was an enormous success in its day. Highly, wildly recommended.
I would have liked to see Bandits, Centipede 5200 (instead of Centipede and Millipede from the 400/800), Fort Apocalypse, Dandy, Picnic Paranoia, Alley Cat, Dropzone, International Karate,...
These games seem like they would be good games for me to start with. 😂 or something like these. I am sooo not tech savvy. I appreciate your sharing. Fun vid friend!
I think it’s a decent collection with a good mixture of classics and more graphically impressive but less well known games like Yoomp or Capture the Flag, but… too few? Especially if you don’t like every game or every type of game. Arkanoid, Ballblazer, Pole Position, HERO, Archon, Dropzone, Alley Cat, Pastfinder, International Karate would’ve been nice - and more homebrews! Last Squadron and/or Atariblast spring to mind. But I get that they can’t licence whatever they want for however much they are willing to pay.
I tried not to include ones that would require a license. For example Dig Dig would be great to include but expensive to license from Namco. Same with Galaxian.
If you’re looking for a great way to play Star Raiders, I’d go with the version that’s in the Atari 50 collection. They came up with a good control scheme for modern controllers, and it has some nice options including the ability to overclock the game to disable slowdown.
I loved Electraglide - some say it's like a tech demo with all the colours and some 16 bit sound (rarely used of the 8 bit?) but I find it a fun challenge though. Maybe you can improve that handling slipperyness a little by selecting a different steering control envelope on the title screen?
Spare Change! LOL Forgot about that game. I played it a ton on the Apple ll. Bruce Lee was great too. They should have Lode Runner (or was it available on Atari computers?).
Also, the stick will include 4 buttons in the ring plus 2 more hidden. You could also use the A500 mini pad and map those keys. Furthermore, the thing has four USBs. You could plug any keyboard, maybe 2 or 3. I really have never understood that pet peeve of these minis not having a real keyboard, unless you want them to program or die to play text adventures, you’ll rarely ever use a keyboard.
Seven Cities of Gold was a great game! (hint: once you sail you need to go West as the goal is to conquer the New World). Other great games worth playing: Rescue on Fractalus, Fort Apocalypse, Ghostbusters (but requires a keyboard), The Quest (but also requires a keyboard)
Lot of great games, just a shame Atari never took the opportunity to update the video resolution, the standard colour palette in a single video mode (16 on the C64), nor the sprite system, even adding enhancement to the sound chip. Should have done this with the 800XL, 130 range. Sprites should have been 24 or 32x32, and should have had 32 of them.
Atari is a line of failures after the 2600, the 8 bit line is a 1979 design and it was so far ahead of things that it even could hold up into the c64 erwa while other computers of that time fell wayside technically. And yes by ca around 84 it showed its age, but then the Amiga and ST already were being released! Thing is Atari never could bank from its technology, they used it in the 5200 but it came too late and basically with half broken controllers and then they released the technically slightly superior 7800 but skimped on the resolution and did not use the excellent soundchip the already had just to tank the console instead of being able to hold up to the NES! Also fun fact is that the 8 bit line with its endless recycles kept atari afloat during dry eras even into the early 90s by giving them another small wad of cash to reach the next product milestones!
I'm in the USA where the C64 mini is only $45. The 16-bit Amiga Mini with a working mouse and 8 button control pad goes for $101. I Honestly think this should've been an Atari 5200 mini with all the original Joystick problems resolved. That with a working cartridge port and a trackball controller available to buy for it could have easily justified the price.@@astra6712
@@PG-gs5vb Sorry, obviously I'm not familiar with this area. Is there a specific website that holds these games for download? Just something I've not done.
I refuse to pay for Atari Basketball again 😆. One-On-One looked so much better . As far as cart games go I played the heck out of Q-Bert , Archon , Deluxe Invaders , Dreadnaught Factor , Wizard of Wor .
Did you say the graphics for Atari Basketball are better on the 2600 version? 400 had way better graphics than 2600 all around. Definitely that's the case with Atari Basketball.
Probably a fair comment tho… I do remember in the day being disappointed with a number of the games on my 400 being exact ports of the 2600 games … rather than reprogrammed to take advantage of the better hardware etc
Seven cities of gold is a strategy exploration classic, you basically set off in spain to the new world build bases discover secrets and take over the new world! Not an action game hence you probably were thrown off the rails, the selection is very action centric leaving the other genres out, the atari had several excellent rpgs (Alternate Reality, Ultima 1-3 etc...) and a ton of adventure games, but they are not included! Seven Cities of gold is the only strategy game included in the list!
river raid, moon patrol. D.O.S. but if it can use thumb drive, golden. if it can read thumb drives USB, it should see track ball and paddles, USB printer? if not then it is a 5200 console not a Atari PC
Umm, I disagree with your Astroids comments… I love this version of Astroids, how many other 8 bit versions (or any) let you play 4 player at the same time !!! Also you can select to have shields, hyperspace or flip over as your defence option when you pull back in the stick… Which brings me to another point I do hope that the include the manuals (even if just electronically) for all the games as you did struggle to know how a number of them actually worked while you demoed them… Any suspect many others will too… great review otherwise 😊
You keep saying "I wish Atari would do this and Atari could do that." This Mini has ZERO to do with Atari. The machine is made by Retro Games Ltd and they have licenced the name, design and games from Atari and others.
What game do you wish had been included with this system? Or does it even matter considering you can add your own?
Why I love Atari: th-cam.com/video/YE7FbLzMA4Q/w-d-xo.html
Donkey Kong! th-cam.com/video/tUWKXlOMoyw/w-d-xo.html
Miner 2049er & BBSB: th-cam.com/video/7d_RxmeM8CI/w-d-xo.html
Like you say Greg, it probably doesn't matter, but my vote for one of the very best games for this system would be Dropzone. Also, I'm glad that Encounter is in the collection. It was a critically acclaimed game back in 84 and I played it a lot. Something I didn't know, was that it was later ported to the ST & Amiga, but played pretty much the same. Novagen, the publisher of Encounter, went on to release Mercenary on the XL/XE. Yet another cracking game and there's an argument it should have been on the 400 Mini too.
Alternate reality the City and Dungeon and probably a handful of other rpgs like Ultima and adventure games, Asylum for instance would be a great showcase! The Atari had so much more than just simple action games in its lineup, but on the other hand adventure games relied on keyboard input so did ultima back then!
By the early 1980s the Flymo hover lawnmower was threatening to take the crown from the more traditional cylinder mowers in the UK. Qualcast, one of the larger cylinder mower manufacturers, hit back with an advertising campaign where the tagline was 'It's a lot less bovver (bother) than a hover'. This could have been where Jeff got the inspiration for the name of his game, which is pronounced like Hovva Bovva.
Thank you! I always wondered about that name. That game is hilarious (as is MULE).
Thanks as always Greg.
Wow, thank you Teddy!
Didn't even know this existed till this video. The 5200 compatibility adds an extra layer of interest to me if it happens to be easy and plug n play. I went to website and they are only allowing US customers to order, so that's that for now at least, unfortunately (I am in Australia).
I'll be keeping an eye out as I do want this.
Another great vid, cheers! You are becoming the retro gaming Lord of TH-cam!
Lord Greg… lol
LOL! Will send a fiver you way as soon as I press submit on this comment just to say thanks. By the way, do you know anything about the 5200 support? Obviously it will support roms? What concerns me the most is 5200 control support.@@GregsGameRoom
The atari 400 is basically the 5200 hardware coming out 5 years earlier having about 5000 games in 5-6 different genres! There is not a single 5200 game which was not released a few years earlier on the atari 8 bit systems!
@@werpu12 More great info, cheers werpu!
Thank you for going through this. Any luck side loading 5200 games and what control options did you use as fast as analog and autocentering etc.
Thank you for the super thanks! Well, I haven't tried playing 5200 games on the system but some others have and it looks to work good. If it doesn't work, you might want to try some different ROMs.
You sound like a wholesome kinda guy!
A+ video!
Thank you so much for going through the games!
Henry's house, hovver bother and miner 2049er were 3 of my favourite games on the Atari 800XL and the reason I really want this now. I wish jet boot jack and zybex was on here too.
I will get this thing solely for Wavy Navy. I played this game to death on my C64 back in the day!
Same on the Apple II. Underrated game…
Never heard of it until I got my Atari 400 mini. So much fun. After you become Cook it gets tough for me.
Cannot wait for this one to come out. I love the games that came with it, but I look forward to adding my own. Ordered two of these.
Great video. Thank you for covering this! 👍
Very interesting selection with Berserk. That game was never officially ported to the 8 bit back in the day. They are giving us the 5200 version which is a fantastic port. I just find it interesting they would include this.
They should include more 5200 games IMO
@@GregsGameRoom The problem with many 5200 ports goes back to licensing issues. The 5200 had arcade ports equal to the actual arcade games at the time. They were that great. Sadly, today's Atari would never be able to afford the licenses.
If I’m not mistaken, I believe Atari actually developed Berzerk for the 400/800 but reprogrammed it to work on the 5200 and sell it exclusively there and shelved the 400/800 version. This might have that version.
You could always put the ROMs you want anyway.
Dan Kramer, who worked at Atari back in the day and is THE TrakBall man, had a hacked version of Missile Command with three bases that you can play with a hacked (extra buttons crammed in it) TrakBall controller.
Man, I've been waiting for any news on the full-size Amiga and instead they came up with this. Such an anticlimax.
Just make one, these little fake machines are stupid, get a pi4 and turn it into an amiga
4 Player MULE! 4 Player MULE!
That's all that really matters. Having the ability to load my own collection of games is just the icing on the cake.
You can just pronounce it "mule" as in the animal. And it's arguably the greatest videogame ever made. Multiplayer is a must. Just practice on Tournament mode for a while and you'll get the hang of things after a couple matches.
Seven Cities of Gold is an exploration game, one that actually inspired Sid Meier to create Civilization. You build a crew and supplies and then explore the New World. It's very open-ended, so how you play is up to you. You can make nice with the native peoples, or you can fight and conquer them. You can build forts or missions (although they cannot live on their own without supplies), you can steal as much gold as you can carry. Best part is that you can create new worlds to explore, and I'm not sure how that will work here, but I do hope that feature will be included. This game was created by Ozark Softscape, the minds behind MULE, and was an enormous success in its day. Highly, wildly recommended.
I would have liked to see Bandits, Centipede 5200 (instead of Centipede and Millipede from the 400/800), Fort Apocalypse, Dandy, Picnic Paranoia, Alley Cat, Dropzone, International Karate,...
So good choices.
These games seem like they would be good games for me to start with. 😂 or something like these. I am sooo not tech savvy. I appreciate your sharing. Fun vid friend!
They’re fun for everyone. :-)
I think it’s a decent collection with a good mixture of classics and more graphically impressive but less well known games like Yoomp or Capture the Flag, but… too few? Especially if you don’t like every game or every type of game. Arkanoid, Ballblazer, Pole Position, HERO, Archon, Dropzone, Alley Cat, Pastfinder, International Karate would’ve been nice - and more homebrews! Last Squadron and/or Atariblast spring to mind. But I get that they can’t licence whatever they want for however much they are willing to pay.
30 games would have been just about right. That’s why I suggested 5 more games to round it out.
@@GregsGameRoom The "THEC64" got 64, so 400 games would be appropriate here. I kid, I kid…
I want:
Gateway to Apshai
Montezuma’s Revenge
Space Dungeon
Countermeasure
Galaxian
I tried not to include ones that would require a license. For example Dig Dig would be great to include but expensive to license from Namco. Same with Galaxian.
If you’re looking for a great way to play Star Raiders, I’d go with the version that’s in the Atari 50 collection. They came up with a good control scheme for modern controllers, and it has some nice options including the ability to overclock the game to disable slowdown.
Very true. Playing it right now.
i loved Kangaroo on the 5200! my older step-sister bought it for me for Christmas
Great choices by Atari. You'll need to try 7 Cities of Gold and Mule, Greg.
If I ever find the time!
I was hoping for Caverns of Mars.
I'd love to see the Lucasfilm Games brought back:
Rescue on Fractalus
Koronis Rift
The Eidolon
Ballblazer
I loved Electraglide - some say it's like a tech demo with all the colours and some 16 bit sound (rarely used of the 8 bit?) but I find it a fun challenge though. Maybe you can improve that handling slipperyness a little by selecting a different steering control envelope on the title screen?
Spare Change! LOL Forgot about that game. I played it a ton on the Apple ll. Bruce Lee was great too. They should have Lode Runner (or was it available on Atari computers?).
I feel like they should have had a bit more from the proper Atari 400 period, caverns of mars, mountain king, canyon climber, etc.
Agreed but then again some of those games have been done to death.
You need a keyboard to play Miner 2049'er too
You need to press 1-4 for the elevators
It helps, but you can also just wait and cycle through the floors.
Also, the stick will include 4 buttons in the ring plus 2 more hidden. You could also use the A500 mini pad and map those keys.
Furthermore, the thing has four USBs. You could plug any keyboard, maybe 2 or 3.
I really have never understood that pet peeve of these minis not having a real keyboard, unless you want them to program or die to play text adventures, you’ll rarely ever use a keyboard.
Seven Cities of Gold was a great game! (hint: once you sail you need to go West as the goal is to conquer the New World). Other great games worth playing: Rescue on Fractalus, Fort Apocalypse, Ghostbusters (but requires a keyboard), The Quest (but also requires a keyboard)
Lot of great games, just a shame Atari never took the opportunity to update the video resolution, the standard colour palette in a single video mode (16 on the C64), nor the sprite system, even adding enhancement to the sound chip. Should have done this with the 800XL, 130 range. Sprites should have been 24 or 32x32, and should have had 32 of them.
Atari is a line of failures after the 2600, the 8 bit line is a 1979 design and it was so far ahead of things that it even could hold up into the c64 erwa while other computers of that time fell wayside technically. And yes by ca around 84 it showed its age, but then the Amiga and ST already were being released!
Thing is Atari never could bank from its technology, they used it in the 5200 but it came too late and basically with half broken controllers and then they released the technically slightly superior 7800 but skimped on the resolution and did not use the excellent soundchip the already had just to tank the console instead of being able to hold up to the NES! Also fun fact is that the 8 bit line with its endless recycles kept atari afloat during dry eras even into the early 90s by giving them another small wad of cash to reach the next product milestones!
Wish they had added my favourite game of all time - Activision H.E.R.O !!
This at $120 versus a $45 Commodore 64 Mini hmmmm.....................
Atari today is a unique breed
You have some nice prices or great exchange rates! $200 for the 400 mini or $120 for c64 mini here. 🇦🇺
I'm in the USA where the C64 mini is only $45. The 16-bit Amiga Mini with a working mouse and 8 button control pad goes for $101.
I Honestly think this should've been an Atari 5200 mini with all the original Joystick problems resolved. That with a working cartridge port and a trackball controller available to buy for it could have easily justified the price.@@astra6712
Greg, hi. Does this Mini accept actual Atari 8 bit cartridges in addition to the included games? If no, that would be a deal breaker for me. Thanks!
No, but you’ll be able to attach a flashdrive with your own games on it
@@GregsGameRoomand the system supports 5200 rims. I suspect it supports many systems, but glad it supports the 5200 natively.
@@GregsGameRoom How would I download cartridge games onto a flash drive? I know of no way to do that.
@@RagShop1 Pretty much all cartridges known to exist have already been dumped and are availabe for download.
@@PG-gs5vb Sorry, obviously I'm not familiar with this area. Is there a specific website that holds these games for download? Just something I've not done.
MULE was one of my fav games!!!!
You didn't need the voice modulator for voices in intellivision games. Intellivision Baseball had voice when you got out.
Sounded more like a burp!
Good video
I sort of think that Rebellion, owners of 200AD, are rather tight fisted once they get their hands on a new IP, such as Battlezone
i believe the first game you need to point the button upwards
I like this computer
I want Realm of Impossibility
I refuse to pay for Atari Basketball again 😆. One-On-One looked so much better . As far as cart games go I played the heck out of Q-Bert , Archon , Deluxe Invaders , Dreadnaught Factor , Wizard of Wor .
Try and play those 5200 games. I tried… 😢
Did you say the graphics for Atari Basketball are better on the 2600 version? 400 had way better graphics than 2600 all around. Definitely that's the case with Atari Basketball.
Probably a fair comment tho… I do remember in the day being disappointed with a number of the games on my 400 being exact ports of the 2600 games … rather than reprogrammed to take advantage of the better hardware etc
Well they must own, or have the rights to use BattleZone or they wouldn't have. I want to know the story behind Henry's House.
Can you play Atari ST, etc. Today, THE400 Mini price drops.
Seven cities of gold is a strategy exploration classic, you basically set off in spain to the new world build bases discover secrets and take over the new world!
Not an action game hence you probably were thrown off the rails, the selection is very action centric leaving the other genres out, the atari had several excellent rpgs (Alternate Reality, Ultima 1-3 etc...) and a ton of adventure games, but they are not included!
Seven Cities of gold is the only strategy game included in the list!
Drelbs, Shamus and other Synapse games.
river raid, moon patrol. D.O.S. but if it can use thumb drive, golden. if it can read thumb drives USB, it should see track ball and paddles, USB printer? if not then it is a 5200 console not a Atari PC
I love the Atari, but come on, full-size Amiga!
Umm, I disagree with your Astroids comments… I love this version of Astroids, how many other 8 bit versions (or any) let you play 4 player at the same time !!! Also you can select to have shields, hyperspace or flip over as your defence option when you pull back in the stick…
Which brings me to another point I do hope that the include the manuals (even if just electronically) for all the games as you did struggle to know how a number of them actually worked while you demoed them… Any suspect many others will too… great review otherwise 😊
What do you think would help you get into MULE?
TIMESTAMPS, pls!
You keep saying "I wish Atari would do this and Atari could do that."
This Mini has ZERO to do with Atari. The machine is made by Retro Games Ltd and they have licenced the name, design and games from Atari and others.
Atari is awful