Demonstration - Atari Flashback 2

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Nerdly Pleasures (Great Hierophant)

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Published on April 7, 2021 5:30:45 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VBrLhdAk0M

Game:

Yars' Revenge (1982)

Duration: 23:56

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The Atari Flashback 2 is a really neat little device, and probably the last worthwhile thing Atari has released to date. The Flashback 2 is a self-contained console which includes forty Atari 2600 games (plus two hidden games). Unlike its predecessor or any of its successor Flashbacks, it runs a hardware replica of the 2600 hardware on a single chip. For the built-in games, this means that these games are presented at a high level of fidelity to the original hardware. Also, the adventurous can hack the system to add a cartridge slot to play almost any 2600 games.

The system is designed to resemble a miniature six or four switch 2600. The system comes with two Atari-style joysticks and original joysticks and paddles can be used. The inputs are the 9-pin connectors used on original Atari consoles. There are six switches on the console, just like on an original 2600. The menu would not be reproducible on original 2600 hardware, there must be advanced functionality in the chip.

The Flashback 2 outputs composite video whereas original systems only output RF video. Original systems can be modified to output composite or s-video, but I am not sure if the Flashback 2 can be modified to output s-video.

The system contains a good selection of Atari 2600 games, although licensing prohibited such classics as Space Invaders or Stargate/Defender II or anti-classics such as Pac-Man or E.T. This version of the Flashback 2 has Pitfall! and River Raid, both of which were originally released by Activision. Otherwise all games on the Flashback 2 were developed and released by Atari or are from homebrew authors.

I have played a sample of the original games, if there is a part 2 I will show some of the homebrew, prototype and hidden/paddle games. Here are the start times for each game shown :

0:00 - Adventure
1:53 - Centipede
3:12 - Quadrun (with correct speech)
4:35 - Pitfall!
6:08 - Haunted House
7:54 - Battlezone
10:12 - Yar's Revenge
12:01 - River Raid
13:47 - Secret Quest
16:06 - Missile Command
19:03 - Human Cannonball
20:47 - Hangman
21:51 - Fatal Run
23:08 - Dodge 'Em (played with Color/B&W set to B&W)

I have discussed this console in more detail in my blog post located here : https://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2017/12/atari-flashback-2-only-flashback-worth.html

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