Could have been a contender.
Written: Mar 21 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Can play every Atari 2600 game out of the box, and use all 2600 controllers.
Cons: Not very many games were made specifically for the 7800.
The Bottom Line: If you can find one, pick it up. Either for its nostalgia value, or for little kids to play with, before they realize it's not a PS2.
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| coyote-seven's Full Review: Atari 7800 |
I first heard of the Atari 7800 Prosystem back in 1984, when the prototype was being featured in a sneak peak in a popular videogame magazine of the era. The glut of horrendous games at the time caused the videogame market to crash, however, and it wasn't until 1986 that I ever saw Atari 7800 units in production and for sale. Even then, they were a bit hard to find. I had to scour all the local Toys R Us stores in my area until I found one for sale.
The 7800 represented the state of the art in home videogame consoles for the early to mid eighties. It wasn't until the advent of 16-bit game systems such as the Sega Genesis that graphics for home game consoles became significantly more sophisticated. The unit is styled after the Atari 5200, though it is smaller and more sleek. The game cartridges resemble the ones for the Atari 2600, the reason being that the Atari 7800 can play any title designed for the 2600. Simply plug the 2600 cartridge into the slot and turn the machine on. The unit will automatically switch into emulation mode.
The original box came shipped with the game console, two joystick controllers, and the Pole Position II cartridge. The game was pretty exciting and as close as you could get to the actual arcade version at the time. The graphics of the 7800 were superior to that of the Nintendo Entertainment System, its chief rival. Unfortunately it was never marketed very well. Its sales were utterly dismal in comparison to the NES, and the 7800 fell into near obscurity.
Atari Corp. only made a handful of games for the 7800, most of which were translations of once popular arcade titles such as Xevious, Ms. Pac-Man and Dig Dug, though they are all rather faithful to the originals. Indeed, the 7800 version of Joust comes strikingly close to the original. No third parties ever made games for this machine, as it was never popular enough compared to the NES, again due to lack of adequate marketing. Its ability to play all 2600 titles did nothing to save it, as by 1986, the Atari 2600 was already woefully ancient and primitive.
If you can get your hands on an Atari 7800, by all means pick one up. It will play all of your old Atari 2600 titles nicely, and the games that are made for 7800 exclusively are superb.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
coyote-seven
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Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 1 member
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