Glorkbot

Well... May 8-12 is now in the past. Did it happen?

Each dot appears double, and sometimes the double of the dot appears in the adjacent row so it looks like there's still a dot in a row that you've already cleared.

I like having some kind of on-screen notification about what difficulty setting it's set at. It could definitely be improved on, though.

Oh! I didn't even know you could also use the difficulty buttons to access the galactic map. Well, thank you very much!

If I hold down the TV mode button I can access the galactic map, yes. I press fire, begin the warp and it automatically switches back to the action screen, then let go of TV mode. But after the warp is completed it automatically switches back to the galactic map, and from then on I can only see the action screen by holding down the TV mode button. It's impossible to play keeping one finger on the TV mode button the whole time. For me the TV mode's function changes after the game begins. When the game begins pressing it brings up the galactic map, but after the first warp pressing it brings up the action screen. It works like this is Stella too, but in Stella we don't have the TV mode button problem.

And mine actually had a scratch UNDER the screen protector!

The green light is the one on top, the light on front turns red when the charge is low.

Actually, that's why the TV Mode switch on the Flashback Portable is bad. It doesn't work the way these games expect it to. The only game it works correctly for that I know of it Secret Quest, because Secret Quest wants you to quickly flick the TV mode on and off to access the status screen. Games that expect you to switch the switch and keep it in that position don't work properly. To make Secret Quest work great they kinda broke the switch for every other game. Starmaster is unplayable. After your first warp you're basically stuck on the galactic map for the rest of the game.

Yes, it comes with a screen protector on it.

Soon after posting my screen protector actually bubbled up and it was finally obvious.

For me it would be partly for nostalgia, but also for if you're playing on a Black & White CRT TV. Some games in color are unplayable on a Black & White TV, that's why the TV switch is there in the first place. Some games use a whole different color shading scheme when played in Black & White mode, rather than just translating the colors into gray shades. You can plug your Flashback portable into a CRT TV, and it's pretty awesome that way actually. I think they did it on the Flashback Portable this way just for Secret Quest, which requires you to flick the TV mode switch on and off quickly to access the menu screen. Unfortunately it kinda screws it up for other uses.

1. I've been lurking here for weeks (on this thread, years on the forum) and finally signed up. First of all, thanks everybody! Especially thanks for everyone testing things, offering suggestions, and especially for rewriting code to make certain games work on the Flashback Portable. 2. If you're on a mac and having trouble with ._ files messing up your SD card layout, another way to fix it is to use this program: http://pixelchimp.net/blog/pixel-chimp/clean-invisible-mac-files I prefer this to having to use command line to clean it up. Just drag the SD card onto the app and it deletes all invisible files. 3. Although the game Alien plays well on the Flashback portable, there are some issues. Dots appear double and in not quite the right spot on the playfield. 4. Does everyone have the same problem with the TV mode button? It changes the screen to black & white, but only briefly while the button is actively held down. Is it supposed to behave this way? It's not that useful as is. (When I was growing up, I played Atari almost exclusively on a black & white TV.) 5. Did your Flashback portable come with a screen protector on it? Mine did not, as far as I can tell, and the screen was scratched in shipping. It also looked like the box had been opened already, like Bed Bath and Beyond sold a returned unit. (I didn't send it back it because it was a Christmas gift from my sons, and I don't really notice the scratches while playing).