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View Full Version : Atari flashback 2.0 revisited



Blitzwing256
12-01-2007, 07:53 PM
http://www.green-ranger.com/nes/finds/adventure.jpg

You know when this first came out everyone tore it apart and said it was a piece of garbage. it defonalty has some serious bugs,

I was digging through some junk today in my closet and came across both the flashback consoles, and being bored I decided to fiddle some more with 2.0, sure the asteroids remake is totally unplayable due to flicker and bad hit detection but I have to say adventure 2 was actually pretty decent (except the fucking bat...god I hate that bat it needs to get bat-aids and die painfull in a dark cave all alone with all the trinkets its stolen from would be heroes) but overall it was a solid game and with a little tweaking would have been a pretty cool release back in the day (if they re-added the random skill level) that game alone made the 2,.0 worth the price i paid for it last year.

i'm wondering if anyone picked it up again this year on black friday? i'm curious if it was the one that sposeldy fixed some of the bugs in the first release?

tom
12-02-2007, 05:06 AM
shame it was never released in Europe

Sweater Fish Deluxe
12-03-2007, 03:35 PM
You know when this first came out everyone tore it apart and said it was a piece of garbage. it defonalty has some serious bugs,
The original Flashback system and the 2.0 version are totally different. The orignal used an NES-on-a-chip design with the games being re-coded clones. The second one used an actual 2600 architecture, which is why it can be modded to have a cartridge port and work with the entire 2600 library.

The games included on the Flashback 2.0 are actually real 2600 ROMs and they run just like they would on the real system, so the flickering and bad hit detection in Asteroids is just the way the 2600 version of Asteroids plays. Adventure 2 was a previously unreleased prototype that was discovered some years ago. I think there's also some homebrew games on there, too.

I never did pick up a 2.0, but I've always planned on it. It seems like a great collection of games and a nice classic design, too.


...word is bondage...

boatofcar
12-03-2007, 05:17 PM
I agree with SFD--the Flashback 2 received almost universal praise when compared to the first model. Plus it looks like a VCS, so it makes more sense :)

TheRedEye
12-03-2007, 05:50 PM
Adventure 2 was a previously unreleased prototype that was discovered some years ago.

I thought this was homebrew too, are you sure you're not confusing it with Combat 2?

boatofcar
12-03-2007, 06:26 PM
I thought this was homebrew too, are you sure you're not confusing it with Combat 2?

I think the Adventure 2 you're thinking of was a homebrew for the 5200...but maybe I'm wrong too :)

Lord Helmet
12-03-2007, 09:10 PM
Adventure 2 is a hack of the original Adventure, but officially licenced by Infogrames/Atari for the FB2. It is actually based on the recent 5200 homebrew Adventure 2 (same names for the kingdoms etc).

Adventure 2 is one of the only good reasons to own the FB2 IMHO (that and the FB 2 has a nice set of joysticks that have a more responsive feel than the original 2600 sticks have).

I liked Adventure 2 for the FB2 so much that I had the rom burned to a cart all its own...

YoshiM
12-03-2007, 09:25 PM
I never did pick up a 2.0, but I've always planned on it. It seems like a great collection of games and a nice classic design, too.

Check your local Radio Shack. My local one carries them, not sure about anywhere else.

Drag0nsfyre
12-03-2007, 09:38 PM
I had to work on Black friday. :( I did give my sister a call since she was going out that day and told her to snag me one when she went to Target. She did! :D I have only messed around with it a bit, the main games I wanted to revisit was Adventure and to check out the Adventure 2. I agree with you 100% I hate that F'n bat in 2!!!!!!!! I ran into a few flicker probs in Adventure 2 but as I said I have not messed around with much more other then Pitfall and a few others. I will give Astroids a go though and see if it has the prob you are talking about.
The only other Black Friday deal I managed to snag (since I work at Wally World) was a price matched Marvel Ultimate Alliance for the 360 for $20 :D

diskoboy
12-04-2007, 12:11 AM
I can't find any 2.0's around here. But the first flashbacks with the god-awful 7800 sticks are plentiful....

Go figure.

Anyone tried the cartridge port mod?

http://www.atarimuseum.com/fb2hacks/

Icarus Moonsight
12-04-2007, 10:09 AM
I thought about trying the mod, but I decided not to. Minus Vanguard, Ghost Manor and a few Activision games it has everything I need built-in already. Namely Asteroids, Pitfall and Yar's Revenge.

I don't like the joysticks though. One broke already. The stick snapped right off the base. It is glued with plastic epoxy. Fixed, but I'm still nervous that it'll happen again and be left unrepairable.

Pantechnicon
12-04-2007, 10:29 AM
I've got to get a hold of one of these 2.0's eventually. I'd probably use it mostly for travel, i.e. - something to do in a hotel room other than veg in front of cable television. I've got the Jakks 10-in-1's; both the joystick and the paddle. The paddle is pretty nice, but I've become all too conscious of stick's gameplay differences owing to it being powered by a NOAC. The 2.0, with a bona fide 6502 inside plus the 2600 games I like best would be much nicer.

As for the cartridge port mod, imo it's a lot easier and cleaner to simply mod an existing 2600 for composite output, which I have done. The total cost for the parts involved is less than what you'd pay for a pre-modded Flashback anyway.

stonic
12-04-2007, 04:35 PM
The second one used an actual 2600 architecture, which is why it can be modded to have a cartridge port and work with the entire 2600 library.

It doesn't work with the entire library: http://www.digitpress.com/eastereggs/pnpflashback2.htm



Adventure 2 was a previously unreleased prototype that was discovered some years ago.

No, it's a hack of Adventure.



Anyone tried the cartridge port mod?

Yes, and it's not worth the effort. See above link.

Sweater Fish Deluxe
12-04-2007, 05:01 PM
It doesn't work with the entire library: http://www.digitpress.com/eastereggs/pnpflashback2.htm
Yeah, I figured it wouldn't be the entire library and I also figured that someone would correct me about that, but...accuracy? I can't be arsed about it.

And I was indeed thinking of Combat 2 when I talked about Adventure 2. I don't really stay up on the 2600 homebrew scene, so I don't know what's available, but do I gather correctly that some of these homebrews on the Flashback 2 were actually original and unreleased before coming built into this system? That's pretty cool, though I guess they're probably all available as ROMs by now, eh?


...word is bondage...

Lord Helmet
12-04-2007, 06:07 PM
Yeah, I figured it wouldn't be the entire library and I I guess they're probably all available as ROMs by now, eh?



Most of them are not *technically* available. They have been dumped, but I have never seen them posted anywhere. Then again, I haven't looked that hard ;)

Lord Helmet
12-06-2007, 10:22 AM
I stand corrected!

I hadn't seen them posted before. Looks like most of them are there.