Robert Carrion

Well you can demake them all on any system, just depends on how far you want to go with it. Personally I'd try to make a really good SMB1 on 2600 and leave it be. Because SMB1 is simple enough in gameplay to work on a 2600. But you'll still need to severly gimp the graphics. But I think that's part of the fun. I love playing 2600's Mario Bros. after playing the NES Mario Bros. Its hilarious and fun at the same time.

I used to play hours on end with Super Mario 3. I played it before school, after school, sick days. While I did go to a Genesis, not an SNES. Of course I played World (friends/kiosks, later on emulators) and they are both fantastic, they deserve to be 50/50. I liked the format of 3, I liked the look of it. Super Mario 3 did things with the NES, that you just may have not thought possible. While World was just a great entry game into SNES. I think how most people will vote for this is what they played more when they were younger. But even then I go with 3, I always felt 3 had the perfect difficulty layout, every world was harder then the last. I also liked the powerups in 3 more.

Thanks Underball, thats reassuring, I am looking to get one from Atariage. They seem awesome. Is there anyway to tighten up or fix the connectors so the "pull forward" method can be eliminated or reduced. Another words a better connection between the cart and system. Because I've found that while it's not perfect, it does help alot to pull the games forward. But the moment I let go, the image scrambles. I tried opening the machine to see if the slot could be disconnected for cleaning or tigtened, and it feels like it is welded onto the motherboard. Is there any way to actually try and improve upon that using home repair. Or is it just absolutely, your screwed, get another 7800 console sort of deal. Let me say, while at least the console I have has been a pain, when it works, its a ton of fun. I love it. But it doesn't work much unfortunately.

Thanks, I'll look into those high score cart and XM modules. How do you think a Harmony cart would work on a 2600? Given that it would be new and clean. Would it work well or do you think it would have problems like the normal 2600 games

It is a 9V output but not a real original battery pack, its an AtariGuide.com replacement. I didn't see any 1A markings though.

I will say this, the pulling it forward method, while turning it on, does help for 4 out 5 games. Is there a way to fix this though, that I don't have to always be pulling it forward, because I can't hold it forward all the time and play a game. Also since it seems like the 7800 portion works well, but the 2600 portion is problematic, would buying the Harmony flash cart help or would that be risky. Another words, would it be far more reliable then your average old 2600 cart, that I just pop it in and it works. Then I've got a menu full of the roms to play. Or would it be prone to the same problems that are effecting the 2600 carts I currently have. Keep in mind, its not just Activision carts, most of my 2600 carts are giving me grief, Activision or not. I would buy a Harmony cart but I would hate to spend $80 and it doesn't work right on the unit just like every other 2600 cart seems to be tempermental with my 7800 unit.

Virtually every 2600 game, it just so happens about half of my 2600 games are Activision games yes. But there is also some Atari games, ones with the closed bottom. Pole Position gives me trouble. I have two coleco made Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr white Cartridge games, one works decently well, Jr. though it starts garbled and I have to reset it for some reason for it to start. Donkey Kong gives me a rolling picture. Basically anything 2600 gives me some sort of grief. 7800 games work well, some work straight away, others I might need to take out and reinstall..then they work. Thats equal to a Nintendo for me. Thats how an NES works. Here and there, you have to pull it out, occasionally clean it. Thats that. But 2600 games though are brutal to get to work. The hard thing is, since I only have this one system, never owned any Atari in my life to really remember or compare it with. I don't know if it is the system, the cartridge or both. If I had 3 units lying around, then I'd know, I could compare. If I had an Atari when I was younger, I'd remember how things went. But I don't. I'll try your recommendation of pushing forward a little bit when possible but at this point, my hopes are way low. I had a copy of Freeway that worked perfectly two days ago. Now, it gives me vertical bold colored lines. Will not start. What happened between two days and today for it to not work. I tried pulling out and putting back in many times, I tried cleaning. It suddenly won't work anymore.

I dunno, more and more, I'm starting to think my 7800 I bought was a junker. It fights me on playing 2600 games, I mean fights me. I almost never can get a 2600 game to play straight away. But most games it fights me and I lose. Cleaning doesn't work. Games that work, suddenly won't work. But always 2600 games, never 7800 games. They work great. I wonder how its possible that nearly every 2600 game and I have about 15. How they always give me hell, while the 7800 games work great. I can't believe that a system would be this painful. I shouldn't have to work up a sweat to play a game of Berzerk

Wow for that money, just buy the games you want. It seems like an awesome cart though, I heard of the Harmony 2, I hope that or something similiar comes out. I wonder why they stopped making the Cuttle Cart 2, seems like they could make some good money with it.

Thanks for the info, I will try everything stated, Cellphone Shack...ha, so true.

Thanks edweird13, I'll give it a shot, I was too young for the Atari, my first was an NES at 5 years old. But that needed to messed with too. If I only knew that rubbing alcohol and Q-Tips were alot better then blowing into the cartridge and console. Well I would have saved alot of breath. But I will try the slight movement method on games that givem e trouble. Armonigann, I have no idea who that is, why do you say?

Thanks for the replys and info. Well at least it seems 50/50 with the power button thing. I guess if it ever stopped working, I could open it and try to fix it. Eh, I'm lazy but you know if I have to. But why worry about it, it works. Doesn't work perfectly but it works. I think what I might do is get that Harmony cartridge SD flash cart and use that instead of these old 2600 carts, cause honestly, they stress me out. You go through all that work just to play a simple (and fun) old school game. Some carts fit tighter then others, but they all fit, I don't have really unique looking ones, I mean the most unique looking carts I have are the Donkey Kong carts, they are white. I've seen some of those really fancy wildly shaped carts though. But don't have any to play/test. Not yet anyway.

My mother had a Atari 7800 and one game, Galaga. But it was never a big deal to us then honestly. I guess opinions vary, especially if your poor and thats all you got, you make the best of it. At the time, I was a NES guy. But whenever I would visit her (I didn't live with her) we would play the 7800 and Galaga. Man she had that old school controller that everyone hates and she would kick that games behind, she was always awesome at it. I don't mind the controller's feel or the buttons. I do think the lack of movement allowed for the Joystick though is rough. Some games play better, Galaga probably played alot better on it then some games. Never played the infamous 5200 controller though which everyone hates even worse, would love to try it just for the sake of trying it. See where all the hatred is coming from. Cause I don't hate the 7800 controller, I just think its average and somewhat poorly thought out. But I hear the 5200 is even worse, heh.

I got my Atari 7800 today and I have a few questions. First thing, go easy on me, I'm 28, my first system was an NES at 5 years old for Christmas. I remember how things work with systems I had over the years. Atari 7800 and any Atari previous I never owned, so I don't remember or know what should and shouldn't happen with a system. No doubt, if I grew up with an Atari 7800 I probably would know the answers to many of these questions already, just like I know what to expect with NES problems from memory. But I didn't grow up with it, so I can't tell what is perhaps problems due to age or just the way the units are. Even a new NES could be a picky. So thats why I am asking here to people who probably know alot about what is what with an Atari 7800, etc. Ok questions: 1) Is the power button normally finicky or is that just my used unit I bought online, being a little broken down over the years. Times when I hit the power button and it doesn't shut off, other times it does. Basically I usually just keep trying to it works or doesn't work. Although it seems pushing it down hard to start and hard again to stop works most of the time. My other question in connection with that, if it is not normal, is it possible the power switch might simply stop working one day. So that I wouldn't be able to start the unit anymore. 2) what does the select button do, is that just basically the same as a select button would be on an NES controller but its on the unit instead of the joystick/joypad. Probably a stupid question but I am dying to know. 3) is it normal to get a garbled colored mess of a picture when trying games, that is usually all going on diagonals rather then horizontal and vertical. Hard to explain, but it's very odd looking. I almost always only get it on 2600 games, 7800 games usually load up fine. Sometimes just taking the cart out and putting it back in fixes it or sometimes, just restarting the system fixes it. Other times, it needs a cleaning, other times, nothing fixes it. Another image I sometimes get is a black image with very very fine white specks or spots randomly appearing on the screen. I get that almost as much as the garbled mess, usually from the same offending carts. 4) is a rolling picture (in my case, only one game, Donkey Kong 2600) a good sign that the cartridge may be a PAL cartridge. I have an NTSC USA system, I am from Florida. I can't see any UK/PAL or USA/NTSC markings on the cartridge at all to be sure. Tried cleaning it five times with the same result. 5) Is it normal for 2600 games to be fussy particularly with a 7800 system, I realize they are very old. I usually have to clean every NES game I get. But I've never had an NES game not work after at least a few cleanings. I have at least three 2600 games that seem like they aren't going to work again. Is that just the way it is considering the age of the 2600 cartridge or could it be the system, is perhaps the used system not in very good condition and its not playing cartridges that a good system would. On the flipside, at least so far, every 7800 game I've tried works on the first shot or at least the second shot. But those games, while old are not nearly as old as a 2600 game. Also while most of the 2600 games do require a little effort to work. I do have about two 2600 games out of 15 that seem to work really nicely just like the 7800 games. So it isn't like ever 2600 cart gives me a hard time. Just almost every one. Also note, I've cleaned every cart at least once with rubbing alcohol and a q-tip. Ok sorry for the long topic and all the questions, but people on here who have dealt with Ataris alot, especially those who grew up with them, can help me to understand a little better, what I should expect and what I shouldn't expect from a 7800 and 2600/7800 games. I appreciate any responses. Thanks Robert

ah ok...$200+ wow, but I guess for all it does and being hard to find...thats pretty good. Thanks for the info.

Are there any Cuttle Cart 2 equivalents for sale...as in flash carts for the Atari 7800. Also, if not, what does an average used Cuttle Cart 2 go for. I hear you can find them used on forum marketplaces, here and there. That they are slightly rare. Whats the approximate price. I'd like one but not if it's a price that has gone to rediculous extremes. Thanks Robert

Thank you very much every, very happy to hear. Great.

Awesome, thanks for the reply.

I am getting an Atari 7800 CX78 and have heard it has a short cable. I was wondering if it works with the Genesis Extension cords or if that can produce a problem. I already know that Sega Genesis controllers only work as one button controllers on a 7800. What I want to know is, can I use an Atari 7800 CX78 pad, use a genesis extension cord and still have two button support on my CX78 joypad. Or will the extension cord somehow cause issues. Finally if it doesn't work, where should I go about looking for an Atari 7800 extension cord Thanks Robert