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True there are a few games that won't load. But with a 98.9% compatibility, I'd say it's pretty darn close. That's better than the PS1 compatibility on a PS2 which is at only 98%. Nothing will be truly 100% backwards compatible unless you are running the actual hardware on the board. This is why the Atari 7800 is fully compatible with 2600. It has all the 2600 hardware on the board. I spoke the Bil Herd awhile back. He said it has to do with the loading of the software and some c64 software goes in 2mhz mode while trying to load, freezing the system.

@@RetrogamerGenX I think Robin Harbron (8Bit Show and Tell) has made an episode on this issue.

I could definitely do that one too.

But I hope you did watch.🤣🤣 Even though you already knew the outcome.

I knew about the 7800 back then. All of us kids that had Segas and Nintendos used to make fun of it. Like, Really Atari is still making consoles. Lol. Many years later I got a 7800 and found it to be ok. But really it's just an upgraded/ tricked out 2600 is how I feel. But I guess you could say the same thing about the SMS, an upgraded, tricked out SG-1000. 🤣🤣

Agreed.

+1

Yeah everything was about cost cutting at Atari at that time. Plus with Jack taking over they were focusing more on computers than on game consoles.

And for the most part, they're better quality games than the ones that were released with the 7800 back in the '80s.

@@RetrogamerGenX That's because there's better tools now to program it with. The Atari Consoles were actually systems ahead of their time but because their hardware was more sophisticated they took much more in those days to program them.

The SMS was a beast, little did most Americans know. The Europeans knew what was up. 🤣

Yeah, honestly I didn't know about that until I made this video. Some other people commented about it. Cool little history between these games.

🤣🤣

Honestly bro watching your streams got me to buy the backbit adapter for the 7800. Before that I only had Pole Position II for it, and the system pretty much was a dust collector. Now I've been playing it alot more. You know me, I love my Atari's, but I have been playing a lot more SMS lately. Also SG-1000 games with the Everdrive on the SMS. I need to get the new Bentley Bear game for the 7800, it looks awesome.

Yeah, it will be one of my next purchases. I can use it on a bunch of different consoles and computers. I have a wireless Commotron Turbo 2000 Super, but it has not been to doing to well lately. It's been a great controller up until about a month ago. Loses connection and reconnects in the middle of a game multiple times, so I haven't been using it lately.

🤣🤣Yep.

FM rocks!! Oh heck ya man. I miss those days with my kiddo. He's all grown up now. Enjoy it while you can brother. Thanks for sharing!!

My dad wasn't into video games...but he had a job in the early 1980s fixing arcade games (he had experience fixing electronics in the Army). Aside from Windows Solitare and Mindsweeper the only game I think I have ever seen him play for fun...once...in the 1980s...was Hogan's Ally...And he was scary good at it. 😳

If I don't get my Colecovision fixed before the end of the week, you might get your wish brother. I'll keep Popeye in mind when I do the NES one.

@@RetrogamerGenX Thanks man!! :)

Hey your welcome dude.. Thanks for watching and commenting. You definitely need to get a SMS, your missing out brother!!

I dig it. The SMS was an awesome system!!

For my old a$$ it's the 2nd Gen I like the best. That's when they went from the dedicated pong consoles of the first Gen, and brought something new to the table, the cartridge. Then from there they keep enhancing the tech to the likes of the ColecoVision. So within a few years consoles went from a ball and two paddles to games like Pitfall II. An amazing leap in technology.

@ I read ya, but the standard of quality was still not great, overall. Maybe if I had been born 10 years earlier, I’d feel differently, though. In any case, I find the history of the industry fascinating, including the first two generations.

I totally get it. Gen Zers will say the jump from 7th to 9th Gen is the best. It truly is what you "grew" up with and what you've seen in your lifetime. But I would agree with you going from 8 bit to 16 was a huge leap too.

@ it would be foolish for me to deny that my age bracket plays a factor. However, in hindsight, it was a very competitive era. Not just because of Nintendo and Sega, but because NEC and SNK saw some success with quality consoles, too. To me, the only other era that rivals it is Gen 6, but I’m not a huge fan of the GameCube and I was still not on board with PlsyStation.

Right on man. Hope you enjoyed it.

Thanks.. Cool that you still ended up getting one years later to enjoy. Yeah the weird non standard power jack it has sucks. But I found out years ago that if you have a power supply that outputs 9vdc at 800mA you can cut the jack off and replace it with an old cordless phone battery jack. They are an exact fit for the power jack on the 7800. That's if you have an old cordless phone from the 90's still laying around. Lol.

Oh yeah the SMS version of Choplifter is awesome. I'd agree if they had more devs to make good games for it, it would have been way better. Just look at what the homebrew community has done for the 7800. Amazing games.

@@RetrogamerGenX Exactly, as I've seen so many great 7800 games in the last 10 years, that I can't believe it is the same system, night & day differences in quality.

🤣🤣 I hear ya man. Hope you enjoy my other vids too.

@RetrogamerGenX yah, we're prob close in age, and you seem natural, so it makes the videos enjoyable.

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it.

I feel you bro, same here.

Thanks. Yeah I didn't notice that until you said something. Cant believe I missed that in final editing. Maybe one day I can do a lynx vs game gear vid. I'd have to recap my GG though and buy a lynx, which I'm planning on soon.

@ Can’t recommend the Lynx enough. Lynx and GG are my favorite handhelds of the era, and Lynx is arguably my favorite Atari console. Both systems have great exclusive titles. Songbird Productions continues to release new Lynx titles all the time so the console lives on, and many great games are still affordable, even some still factory-sealed for around $20. I’ve got about 30-35 games for each system and worth every penny!

Yeah they were.

Right. Both the NES and SMS were way more expensive than the 7800.

If Atari would have had 3rd party devs like Nintendo did, and people actually programmed the maria chip to its fullest potential, it would have been much better, as what is seen with modern Homebrews for the 7800. Yeah they really did drop the ball in not adding the Pokey to the system itself.

I would agree the 7800 has a strong homebrew community that led to games like Bentley Bear being released as an official title by Atari 32 years later. Ballblazer was released on the famicom but not the NES. But yeah, it was a joke. Instead of the first person 3d view you have in say the Atari 7800 or Atari 8-bit computers, it was a over view look at the play field. Lol. The first time I played the famicom version I had to laugh.

@RetrogamerGenX Yes Ballblazer was a mess on the Famicom. Again I love the Master System and the Nes. I'm just excited about the Love the 7800 has been getting through these aftermarket years. Great video!

I had them all too back then, Genesis with the Sega CD , 32X, and SNES. It was a great time in gaming. Yeah I forgot to edit that out. Like I said it's a compilation of all my older and newer history vids, and I forgot to take that out. It will be fixed in next year's history vid.

Yeah depending on how long ago it was man. I started RUclips in 2007 then I quit in like 2013 and I just recently came back in 2022. Not sure if that's what you're talking about but yeah I've been here since 2022, giving all you guys some Retro goodness.😁

I'd agree. I wanted either the NES or the Mater System that Christmas. I saw all the systems on display at the store, and tried them out. The Atari just felt cheap, the controller made creaking noises, the sound was nothing like the other two system, and the graphics just was not up to pair either. But now as a collector... I got to say, no collection is complete without one. Not a system I play everyday, but it is fun to pick up and play every once and awhile. I'd say it gets more use then my newer nintendo systems.. lol

@RetrogamerGenX I get that man. I got my Nes and Master System on Christmas of 1986. I wasn't a gamer at all before I got them. My parents are divorced and were still one-upping each other. My mom bought the Nes and my dad the Master System. I would have been over the moon with just one. As far as collecting them....I'm a Neo Geo AES/MVS/CDZ and 5th generation collector. I don't have many 3rd generation systems or games anymore. Just an NES and like 25 games (good ones), but nothing crazy.

🤣🤣🤣 Too funny man.

I feel you brother, but it was one of only a few games the systems shared.

Awesome man.. Yeah I will be ordering one soon. Oh it works on the Colecovision too, both buttons?? Wow that would be cool. So I'm assuming it would work with the Vic-20, C64, C128, and Amigas too. Thanks for the heads up on it. 😁

Shame the 5200 had such bad controllers because the games and graphics on the 5200 look just as good (if not better) than Colecovision. Kangaroo, Moon Patrol, Centipede were near arcade quality. What could of been🤔

@@pinebarrenpatriot8289Berzerk had voice synthesis too. Still have my copy.

Yeah it kind of does.

There's the answer to why not Gauntlet instead of Dark Chambers.

@RetrogamerGenX yes. I had to look it up years ago as I thought it very off Atari would put what is essentially a scaled back gauntlet in their systems when they owned gauntlet. I mean Atari has a history of bizarre decisions & stuff but even this seemed a bit too odd 😂

It should also be noted that Atari's arcade division wasn't bought out by Jack Tramiel when he bought the consumer division (home consoles and microcomputers). From what I understand, Tramiel had the opportunity to buy the whole company (Atari) from Warner, but he wasn't interested in the arcade division. They would have actually had to acquire the rights to Gauntlet or get Tengen to produce a version for the 7800 (and potentially the 2600, but that seems unlikely). Dandy was published by the consumer division, they may have still owned the rights (I'm not sure how the original publication rights were structured, so the programmer may have owned it).

@mightydegu that is true & I did forget to mention it. Thank you

Well there's always the participation prize. 🤣🤣

Very true my friend.

@@RetrogamerGenX I got one over the NES at first because I was all about the 2600 & thought the 7800 was going to dominate. But I was wrong 😂 however some origional games but especially home brews & tech demos have shown what potential the 7800 had. Poki chip should have been onboard but graphics wise the 7800 was at least on par if programed well & certainly could push sprites well above the NES.

🤣🤣 Yeah it was.

@@RetrogamerGenX. -- it’s quite unfortunate !!!

@@RetrogamerGenX. -- I have been gaming since the very beginning !!

@@BURRITO44 Me too, since Pong!!

Thank you!

Welcome sir !!

Jack Tramiel did the same kind of thing when he was in charge of Commodore. The VIC-20 and Commodore 64 use the same case even though they are different computers that are incompatible with each other. Commodore also used the same obsolete version of Basic from 1977-1985 because Jack got a really good deal on it from Bill Gales / Microsoft ($25,000 Flat fee with no per unit cost). I think the 7800 was already sitting in a warehouse when the Tramiel family took control, but re-using the 2600 sound chip and anything else he could have gotten away with is exactly the kind of cost cutting gimmick he would have done.

The 7800 was supposed to be released in 84 / 85 but Jack Tramiel canned it. It was one of the first things he did after buying Atari because he was all in on home computers and was focused on buying Amiga then when that fell through the shifted his focus to the ST. The 7800 was very advanced for its time, more so than the SG1000 upon which the Master System was based! Sega quickly changed the specs though and came out with the MK2 then MK3 which was essentially the 1st iteration of the Master System but for the JAPANESE market.

The Maria chip had up to 160 sprites on screen with an available 256 colors, with up to a 320×240 screen resolution on the 7800. While the SMS Mode 4 graphics had a max of 64 sprites with 16 sprite colors and 16 background colors at a max resolution of 256x240. So yeah technically the Maria chip out performed the SMS's VDP. But what killed the Maria was it used DMA to access the 4kb of ram that it shared with the CPU. While the SMS used 16KB of dedicated VRAM.