Plug & Play Consoles - Four Reviews
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- Опубликовано: 13 сен 2024
- Plug & Play consoles are a quick and fun way to get your retro gaming fix. I review the four I currently own and tell you what I like, and dislike about each.
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"But the sound effects are all... well they're all fucked up. It doesn't sound right."
Made me laugh my ass off. I wish more youtubers were more genuine and down to earth like you.
What you mean
CodeNameZ you don't know what genuine and down to earth means? Oh dear LOL
***** I know what that means, but what yoitubers ware not genie about some cheap plug and play consoles?
Back when RUclipsrs didn't have to worry about being censored
The Flashback 2 isn't using an emulator. The Flashback 2 is using a real reversed engineered TIA processor from the original 2600. You can solder a 2600 Cartridge connector to the motherboard of the Flashback 2 and play any original cartridge as if it was a real 2600.
Yes I heard the Flashback 2 is the only FB that isn't emulation. I like that. I like that a lot.
Flashback 2 wasn't an emulation for the 2600 games it had. The circuitry inside was an exact replica of the original Atari 2600 internals, made one of the former Atari employees that helped design it in the 1970's. All the games were put on a ROM chip attached to the board.
I use to have the Namco one. Got it for christmas when I was around 12, loved it and played it more than my Xbox for a couple months.
Ahhh, Jakks Pacific. Before we had any video game consoles, our parents used to buy us a lot of plug and play games and most were by that company. One of my brother's favorites was a WWE wrestling one by them.
The first plug and play you reviewed, Namco arcade, I have had for 10 years and over time the joystick does loosen up to were you can spin the joystick smoothly.
first time ive heard metal jesus swear lmao
What would Jesus do? Um, not that...
A secret for getting batteries out of these when the batteries tend be tightly in there and hard to remove by hand, is to use the battery compartment cover. Take the edge of the cover and use it to get a little leverage between the two batteries, and then pop them out with it.
Super useful for those times when it's impossible to get the batteries out by hand!
I really enjoy your videos. I have the ATARI 2600 FLASHBACK myself. It's nice to see the classics making a comeback.
I only have the tv games namco
Yeah, Bosconian got so intense. One of my favorites.
my dad LOVES all the games for atari (and arcade at the time). Thanks for good insight into a great christmas gift for him! Both my mom and dad have mentioned about the numerous dates they went on that ended up in arcades of that era, and I know my dad would love a gift that reminds him of those times! God bless! You rock!!!
Something cool about the Flashback 2 is it doesn't use emulation; it's essentially original Atari hardware. There's even a mod that allows you to play actual Atari 2600 cartridges on it :D
Wow
The reasons the sound effects are all "fucked up" on the Atari Joystick is because it has an NES sound chip instead of an Atari 2600 one
James from the McMillens here, I grow up on these games I had over 20 at one time, the first one he talked about in this video was the first one I got, but anyway, there was one Plug and play Star Wars game where you used the lightsaber, like a motion thing. does anyone else remember that one, and I still play the Nicktoons one, it had an expansion card
@Uquuvunga - I've been scouring Craigslist for a X-Arcade stick. Those things are sweet! Thanks for the comment
Plug and Play's are actually what got me into older Atari and Arcade games to begin with. A friend of mine in college had several and put together a few "Atari Game Nights" with these and they were a lot of fun. He had the Ms. Pac Man plug and play shown, the Flashback 2 and another one. All very good and introduced me to many games (Mappy is now one of my favorite games).
Something to note that was done wrong often: 4 way joystick with Bosconian, which is designed for 8 directions.
Awesome as always. I love watching and rewatching your vids. You know so much about games, and that gets me to seeking games more. You, John Hancock, Radical Reggie, Kelsey and the bunch are really helping the retro stay alive. For that I am grateful. Keep Rocking bro.
When the Metal Jesus says "it sounds fucked up," he does so in the most casual, clam manner possible. Dig it.
the first atari plug and play is using the same hardware as the NES
Splitting a mono line into 2 lines does not convert it to stereo. On a normal TV just plugging in the white wire will play the mono audio out of both TV speakers. A more inferior designed model won't, and that's when a splitter like this comes in handy.
Just information for some who don't know, there is no way to turn mono audio to stereo audio through an RCA splitter, what you are actually doing is splitting the audio from that one jack to support two speakers. However it is a very useful tool as having sound come out from one speaker is annoying.
I have both an Atari 2600 and Intellivision plug'n'play and I love them both! The controllers are great, they have just the right number of games, and they take standard AA batteries. Plus they're semi-portable.
I do agree about the Atari one, as it's the one I own. Stiff, but not unusable, didn't even know that the sound effects were different.
The Commodore DTV makes for a great project... All those delicious pinouts for a keyboard, second joystick port and my favourite - an SD2IEC.
@TheBladeJunker - I don't find the button on the left odd...because that's how the Atari 2600 joystick is, and I grew up with that. But now that you mention it, it's kinda odd!
@Savin97 - That would be fun and cover all sorts of stuff if I include handhelds... I'll put it on the list of potential future episodes. Thanks!
I'm glad you enjoyed playing Mappy. I love that game. Honestly I find your videos to be the best out there.
I just bought a Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man at my local Goodwill they priced them at $2.16 a piece...
If I recall the Atart-Stick is off because it's not actually emulating the Atari 2600.
I think 8Bit Guy explained it's actually an NES-on-a-chip that's running ports of the games coded for it instead of original roms, thus why it's "off".
It is not a NES on a chip, but it is not a 2600 either (as you can see by the menu screen it is around the same level as a NES in graphics or slightly better, but as for the sound...) I think the game logic comes from the 2600 versions but the sound and graphics were ported by eye instead of emulated from the 2600. Look at the easter egg in Adventure.
The C64 plug and play is an awesome unit. It's made by Mammoth Toys who I never even heard of until I found the thing at a thrift store for like 5$. The joystick is nice on it and the design is based off the most popular joystick from the C64. I just want to find a ZXSpectrum plug & play now!
@ZakkandtheJ - Thanks!
@RyanRightN0w - It sucks the Flashback 2's are so fragile...because they are actually pretty cool!
@cvp500 I believe so, yes. They have the same connector/end.
That Atari Flashback 2 has two hidden games you can unlock using a code. 1972, 1972 is the year Pong came out. Press up one, down nine, up seven, and down two. If you do it right, the screen will change and you will see two more games.
Great review. Gotta love them Plug n Plays
I had the Ms. Pacman one, but mine had a cartridge slot, and you could buy these little cartridges that had more classics like Dig Dug, Rally-X, Pacman, etc. It was pretty neat!
Actually the flashback 2 isn't emulation, its a real atari. Infact on the mainboard there are pins to solder a cartridge port to make it into a real atari
i have the Namco one
There is one more plug and play that you may want to check out. It's a Fantastic Four one with some fairly interesting beat em ups on it. It's not too difficult and pretty fun to play
The issue with the Atari one is that there's no white noise, so it substitutes a low pitched tone.
Fun fact: The Flashback 2 can use actual joysticks and is hackable to play actual cartridges.
There is a Sega Genesis one out there now that has 80 games built in and also still plays the cartridges, which is pretty cool, it may have been out for a while but I'm just getting back into gaming so this it's all new/old to me.
Dual mono, not stereo. I do the same thing with my NES
I loved the two namco plug and plays as a kid, mappy was my jam!
Yeah that was the shit back in the day I loved that plug n play!🙂
Used to have the atari flashback. That thing was fucking awesome. Every time there was a party, we used to bust it out, get drunk, and play frog pond tournaments.
@MattTheSpratt - I've read somewhere about the modding of the Flashback 2. I'm not surprised since it has most of the buttons and switches of the original. That must help keep the value up..
I own a Flashback, and I USED to own the Namco one but I loaned it (and a LOT of others to a friend ) whose house promptly burned down a week later.
Yes one of the colors was blue. I think it came with a light gun as well for duck hunt now that I think about it.
It would be terrific if the Atari 2600 plug and play have over 800 Atari 2600 games in alphabetical order making this the most complete fun Atari 2600 plug and play. If that happens soon, I am getting that kind.
The Atari Flashback 2 is great! Mine works fine. If I'm not mistaken you can plug the original Atari controllers into it as well. Which also means a Sega Genesis controller should work, although I haven't tried this. If you're handy with a soldering iron (I'm not), you can mod the unit to play the original Atari carts! I don't think this is an illegal mod since they point this out in the instructions. Rock on Metal Jesus.
I used to have the first plug n play shown, and I did nothing but play Bosconian. That game was so fun to me, wish I still had something to play it
Try a walmart
I have that one too just dug it out of the closet last week! That's all I play too!
I just bought the ms.pacman one of eBay a few days ago! I can't wait until it gets here.
Just discovered your channel, love your reviews!!!
I've got the namco plug and play one it's still so good btw I love your channel
One of my favorite types of those Plug n Play devices was this random paintball game. The controller was a paintball gun and it played like Duck Hunt. I had the most unexpected fun when my nephew had it several years back.
3:20 that is probably just yours because I have that exact one and it sounds great.
i know. I think it varys
Ahhh, River Raid. My favorite Atari 2600 game, ever. The plane is supposed to be white, by the way, so yellow is an inaccuracy in that particular version, I think. Great game, either way, and I'd say the originator of all those top down shoot em ups.
I remember having that bluish one as a kid. So much fun.
I thinking the same thing. Bosconian was pretty cool in the arcades. Those Atari Joysticks were super-stiff when you first played with them
@kinmanyuen - Thanks! I appreciate it.
I have (or used to have, I'm not sure) a Spider-Man Plug & Play console and it was pretty cool. I remember a platforming style action game that was pretty good, and a neat 3-D maze game where you got chased by The Lizard while you need to solve puzzles.
1:43 actually, it doesn't convert the mono signal to stereo, that's impossible, you just get the mono signal to play on 2 speakers. Something like dual mono if you will.
The first version of the Flashback 2 is the most desired, because it has Activision games. The FB2 "Plus" doesn't have them, neither does the FB 3 or 4. Also, the FB2's were the only ones that used true 2600 hardware, so you could mod them and solder in a cartridge insert that was sold aftermarket. That would allow you to insert real 2600 cartridges. The other Flashbacks are all clone systems.
01:05 recently got one for free from my brother who found it. Didnt got it to work, but now i know it needs te be screwed open. Hopefully it didnt oxyde inside. Helpfull video thank you.
We had a few of these growing up the Namco, Ms. Pacman (I love Mappy!), and Wheel of Fortune ones.
GREAT review man, awesome shirt and great screen name man
Jakk's Ms. Pacman Plug 'N' Play has arcade games that feel the same as the original arcade versions... but, aren't. The Galaga background stars are supposed to be multi-colored instead of just white, also the Galaga enemy sprites don'ts have as fluid animations as the original arcade version.
On Pole Position, the advertising banners are supposed to market Centipede and a few other games that I can't remember. In the Plug 'N' Play version, the marketing banners in Pole Position reflect the games available in the the Plug 'N' Play itself. Also, the actual Pole Position arcade game plays faster than the Plug 'N' Play version; well the car goes faster. This is shown by the in-game speedometer and just the graphics themselves.
You can see the arcade version of Galaga here:
Bally MIdway GALAGA Arcade Video Game plus 2 Production Secrets you may not know! TNT Amusements
You can see the arcade version of Pole Position here:
Pole Postion Arcade Gameplay - WORLD RECORD HIGH-SCORE ATTEMPT! - ATARI 1982
K-Marts usually sell some good Plug&Plays (In the toy sections, not the electronic sections). I don't see them as much at Targets or Walmart's.
There's more than just Atari and Namco.
I've found some weird ones like Star Wars and Spongebob, each with original games of their own. Nothing fancy, but they're pretty fun for a low price.
The sound effects in Xevious were a little off on the Namco game. In the arcade version the intro theme does not have that "electronic organ" sound that Galaga has, and it instead sounds a little more electronic and is slightly more high pitched. Also the sounds for enemies being shot is different. In comparison Xevious on plug n play sounds like a broken Casio compared to the arcade. So much for "spot-on sound".
Great video man. I recently picked up the jaks pacific atari 10-1 thing you showed in the video. I found it in a thrift store for very cheap. I'd never played on a real atari, so I didnt realize the real joysticks weren't that stiff. I did think the plug and play joystick felt a bit weird on that. I also have been looking into buying a plug and play pacman or mspacman, so your opinions on them are helpful.
the atari flashback 2 looks soooo cool! and the mspackman version packs a nice set of games... mspacman and galaga alone make that one out!
Thanx for your videos MetalJesusRocks!... keep rockin' :)
I just got the new intellivision flashback plug and play console. Its fantastic.
From what I have gathered watching a bit of MetalJesusRocks's videos anytime he is a bit down on a game or console means it flat out sucks since he seems very optimistic.
I have to find that Flashback 2 somewhere.
He's spot on when it comes to the other three. The Ms Pac Man one is also my favorite.
I just tried them out on our new big HDTV and was a bit disappointed in the results, as others have also found.
Personally I would rather invest in some sort of an online filter or processor that would allow for smoother less flawed looking retro video on modern hardware than bring back a big old TV into my small den space.
The Atari Flashback 2 is actually not emulating at all. The same isn't true of later/earlier models though.
By the way, the left audio plug is usually designated for monaural sound in most composite A/V inputs.
Look for the Space Invaders plug n play. It's got, of course, Space Invaders, but also Qix, Phoenix, Lunar Lander and one other game (can't remember the title) but it's very similar to Imagic's 'Atlantis'. I think it's called Space Colony 9 or something like that. Really great system. It was made by Radica.
Thanks Metal Jesus! You really do rock! lol, I've been wondering about these for a while, as I lack the funds to really commit to pre-me collecting. (I'm 23) Now I have a couple options for dedicated hardware emulation, that I know won't be total tosh!
actually the 2 buttons on the ms pac man plug n play is very important for both xevious & pole position
Do you still collect these? I saw 4 different Spongebob plug and plays at value village and considered it for a while lol
it's amazing how you can tell when the sound is off 20 plus years later. its also really sad that the sound is horrible on of all the genesis clones
I have 2. One is a 50-in-1 that TVandLust reviewed recently, and a Namco one with 12 games. Love them both, although, the Namco one is much better.
Haha. You nailed it with the Namco one. That notch joystick is a bear. And i dont think i have played it more than a few times due to that.
Believe it or not, the "notchy" joystick design was an intentional decision. The star game on these things is PacMan (or Ms. PacMan), and that's a four-way game. If you accidentally put the stick into a corner, you end up either going nowhere or going in a direction you don't want to go--and you die. Then you hate the thing. So even though it seriously degrades the experience of playing an 8-way game like Bosconian (which I love!), that was deemed an acceptable trade-off for improving the game play experience on the star attraction--and therefore unit sales.
Jakks had a Side-Scrolling Batman game based off the Animated series in 2004, I used to have it and it was actually a pretty fun game.
I have some of these, there's also a nice C64 joystick one, available in gold too for an anniversary edition, which can be hacked for even more games. I like these, but more so my Sega ones, which are more like actual arcade control panels in that the joystick is on the left. A lot of these ones like the Namco ones are no good for left handed players, I had this issue back in the day on my 2600 and would play awkward with a reach around top for the button. didn't know about the spinning ball top though on Ms Pacman one for Pole Position.. that is a nice touch. I may pick that one up still
If you collect plug and play games, I would recommend getting the Commodore 64 version. I really war that won the hell out playing it.
That doesn't convert the audio signal to stereo, it will always be mono whether it's coming from one speaker or two.
I've got the Namco one and i've had it for nearly 9 years now :-)
i have the ms pacman one, i found it at a thrift store for 3 dollars a while back, im glad i have it, has really good gameplay on it :)
there is another version of that one that has a plug in device on the back for more games, i saw one at a thrift store and bought it but returned it because the device was broken, havent been able to find another one since
Very interesting, I never would have considered these things before watching this. Love all of your videos, you do a great job. Subscribed :)
in the u.k where i am the atari 2600 joystick plug n play is great and the sound works the best
yes, you can connect an Atari Paddle to it. I also have an Atari plug and play console that is two paddles instead of the Joystick
i have that first plug and play i found it really fun i liked the games and to me i think the notches helped
You can also plug in a SEGA Genesis controller into the Flashback 2 and it will work, just like on an actual 2600.
Metal Jesus if you are ever in the chicagoland area please check out galloping ghost arcade in Brookfield it is probably the best arcade in the country 15 bucks play all day any machine you want you will not be disappointed their collection is absolutely insane
I grew up playing the first one, always bummed me out that you can’t have high scores saved like an arcade game. Boscovia? However you spell it, the shooter is my favorite!
Great video! I used to have the atari 2600 plug and play controller. It broke after my consistent playing haha Talk about a stiff joystick too!
You've never heard of Bosconian?? Wow.
And the 2600 joystick was extremely stiff until you broke it in. I bought enough of them to replace the ones I killed back in the day.
OMG, how do you not remember Bosconian and Mappy?!?
But whoa - there's a C64 P&P out there? I'm gonna have to google it and find out more about that - I loved my C64.
3:08 wow that was weird hearing Metal Jesus swear haha
3:07 MJ you literally made me laugh so hard I'm trying not to wake up my family. Love your channel!!!
i bought an Atari flashback a while back at a thrift store it was pretty cool loved it but i had all the Atari games on my pc so i bought an Atari retro-bit adapter took the flashback apart tore out the ROM board in it and placed my adapter inside now i have an Atari flashback that plays every game for the 2600. BTW the Atari flashback controllers work really well on a retro-bit adapter i recommend those controllers to anyone that wants to play Atari on the PC
I was wondering about this. So were you essentially able to add more games to the Flashback's internal storage that actually run on the hardware? I would really like to do that myself.