Atari Flashback Portable FAQ and Compatibility List

[+doctorclu]

Hey all, how's everyone been? Pretty excited for my friends who bought the Flashback 9 with the SD card slot and Stella 3+ compatibility.

 

I was checking the game file and I have some new hacks that might be good to add if you have not already. Just check my signature at the bottom of my message for those hacks.

 

Primarily, in the last year I have the Miner 2049er and MIner 2049er II hacks where various improvements by others users were combined into one version and then the game graphically improved.

 

The Battlestar Galactica hack of Space Attack is worth checking out.

The Buck Rogers to be more like the 80s TV show is also fun.

And "Alien Visitors Are Our Friends" is a fun "V" (sci-fi series) hack of Space Ark.

 

There are others, but those might be fun to add to the collection.

[PeterN]

New to this Forum. New to post. Took quite a while to get approved on this Forum.

 

Got the Flashback Portable 2018 for Christmas and downloaded the games noted at the beginning of this thread into a 2g SD card I got from Game Stop for $2.00 (used). Works great.

 

Questions:

 

1. Why was Basketball included in the "built-in" games? It is a two player game that seems to be using joystick #2 (right) for Player One where the AFP emulates joystick #1 (left).
2. Why was Chase-It included in the "built-in" games? It is a two player game that is pointless to play as a single player game.
3. Why doesn't the AFP have a configuration on the paddle emulation (to set motion speed)? It moves too fast, making the "built-in" games like Circus Atari, Breakout, and other paddle games pretty much impossible to play. It seems that Atari merely included the games that the FlashBack # consoles had regardless of their playability on a simulated paddle machine.

In running the Self Diagnostic, the status of the paddle values jitters, implying that the connections for paddles exists on the game control chip and are probably left unconnected. So support for paddles seem to exist.

 

Regards,

 

Peter

 

 

[Arenafoot]

New to this Forum. New to post. Took quite a while to get approved on this Forum.

 

Got the Flashback Portable 2018 for Christmas and downloaded the games noted at the beginning of this thread into a 2g SD card I got from Game Stop for $2.00 (used). Works great.

 

Questions:

 

1. Why was Basketball included in the "built-in" games? It is a two player game that seems to be using joystick #2 (right) for Player One where the AFP emulates joystick #1 (left).
2. Why was Chase-It included in the "built-in" games? It is a two player game that is pointless to play as a single player game.
3. Why doesn't the AFP have a configuration on the paddle emulation (to set motion speed)? It moves too fast, making the "built-in" games like Circus Atari, Breakout, and other paddle games pretty much impossible to play. It seems that Atari merely included the games that the FlashBack # consoles had regardless of their playability on a simulated paddle machine.

In running the Self Diagnostic, the status of the paddle values jitters, implying that the connections for paddles exists on the game control chip and are probably left unconnected. So support for paddles seem to exist.

 

Regards,

 

Peter

 

 

I can answer the second question, as I made the latest ROM pack that is posted here......

 

2.) Chase It! is a 1 or 2 player game - "This 16k game is complete with twenty game variations and a demo mode. The first nine variations are two-player games, and games ten through fifteen are single player challenges. Variations sixteen through twenty are "teddy bear" levels featuring a slower moving handicapped opponent to give younger players an advantage."

 

In my ROM pack when I was putting it together back in 2017, I was just trying to get as many "working" ROMs as I could, so the same built-in titles are also included in my ROM pack. If a future ROM pack update is done, these titles could be removed to make room for new homebrews that would work on the AFP.

[BiggerJ]

I'm glad you're still in this thread. I'm thinking of buying the 70-game model. Is the latest version of the ROM pack compatible with it?

[Arenafoot]

As soon as I get my hands on one I will hit you up for sure!

 

I'm glad you're still in this thread. I'm thinking of buying the 70-game model. Is the latest version of the ROM pack compatible with it?

Yes, Hwlngmad got the new version of the AFP (70 games) and said my ROM pack worked flawlessly!

[Hwlngmad]

Actually, I got the AFP 80 games version (or 2018 as the 70 games version is from 2017). However, if I am not mistaken the 2017 (and obviously 2018) version run more ROMs (for some reason) more than the 2016 version. I could be wrong on that, but I am very happy with the ROM pack on my AFP as I have a big ROM pack on my modded PSP, but being able to do proper game selections is a crap shoot on it, thus I made the decision to get the AFP flashback so I can play 2600 games better than what I was able to do.

 

Yes, Hwlngmad got the new version of the AFP (70 games) and said my ROM pack worked flawlessly!

[Kristista]

Hi,

 

My Atari Flashback 9 sees the ROM's on my SD card, but when I open up the games to play them, they won't play. I used the zip file that was on this thread to download the games. I'm wondering if they need to be named differently ?

[Hwlngmad]

While I don't have the FB9, did you download the appropriate firmware in order to enable the unit to play the ROMs? You may want to check out a FB9 thread and that should help you out as this thread is for the Flashback portable.

Hi,

 

My Atari Flashback 9 sees the ROM's on my SD card, but when I open up the games to play them, they won't play. I used the zip file that was on this thread to download the games. I'm wondering if they need to be named differently ?

[azure]

Just reporting in my results. My SD card was not working when it was formatted by Windows 10. It worked after reformatting with SD Formatter linked on the 1st comment.

 

It's a SanDisk Ultra II 2GB card and the portable is the 2017 version (70 games).

[tiktok4321]

How would y'all polish scratches off the AFP screen?

Edited January 28, 2019 by tiktok4321

[Flojomojo]

I would keep mine in a soft case so it doesn't happen in the first place.

 

But seriously, not sure -- it's pretty soft plastic. I guess you could try the toothpaste trick.

[sracer]

How would y'all polish scratches off the AFP screen?

I just received a portable that I bought off an eBay seller and it had some scratches on the screen. I had some auto headlight cleaner and used that and it worked without damaging the screen. I suspect that car wax or brasso would work too. I then covered the screen with a fragment of a matte screen protector for a tablet. It helped visibility and viewing angle.

[Arenafoot]

How would y'all polish scratches off the AFP screen?

 

 

I would keep mine in a soft case so it doesn't happen in the first place.

 

But seriously, not sure -- it's pretty soft plastic. I guess you could try the toothpaste trick.

I use the same soft case technic too ...... get a PS Vita hard case with the soft liner after you get the scratches out to protect it.

[tiktok4321]

Yeah, yeah.... LOL.... Protection is always best.

 

I'll try some auto polish. What's the toothpaste trick?

[tiktok4321]

2.) Chase It! is a 1 or 2 player game - "This 16k game is complete with twenty game variations and a demo mode. The first nine variations are two-player games, and games ten through fifteen are single player challenges. Variations sixteen through twenty are "teddy bear" levels featuring a slower moving handicapped opponent to give younger players an advantage."

 

There is nothing obvious about how to select game variants. I did find that the S button (from the opening screen ONLY) is how you cycle through. Perhaps this is intuitive for Atari veterans, but not for folks new to the system (like me).

[Bill Loguidice]

 

There is nothing obvious about how to select game variants. I did find that the S button (from the opening screen ONLY) is how you cycle through. Perhaps this is intuitive for Atari veterans, but not for folks new to the system (like me).

 

Did yours not come with a manual? There's a chart of what each button does.

[tiktok4321]

Probably overlooked it. My bad. Also discovered that the S button works at any time, whereas game reset only takes you to the selected version start.

 

Again, probably obvious stuff to Atari users, but not to a newcomer - especially if purchased 2nd hand without the manual.

 

Another thing about the manual - doesn't really explain gameplay. Just a brief description. Had to go online looking for each have to figure out objective. Things like the Aqua,Earth, etc World series are practically useless without the comics for context.

 

This is fine for gamers, but a kid picking it up without reference would be clueless.

Edited January 31, 2019 by tiktok4321

[Flojomojo]

That's the Atari for you. It made sense to kids from the time, but that was a long time ago.

 

RESET was like a start button for early games. SELECT would choose from a menu of numbered options with different modes, the way we would have a settings menu in modern games. There was no pause button. The BW/COLOR switch controlled gameplay options for a few titles.

 

There's a "companion guide" sold separately which would give a lot of context and history for many (but not all) of the onboard games. It's meant for the TV console but the game options etc are applicable to the portable. The main author is the guy who posted right before your last reply.

 

Atari Flashback: The Essential Companion https://www.amazon.com/dp/0744018862/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_BHUuCb5Q1VDFH

[tiktok4321]

Ahh - so you see, I was going to suggest to Bill - but if he's already got a book out, then maybe not...

 

On the portable, that QR code on the page with the SD Card selection is a great opportunity to link to a page on atgames.com that had all the information that is in the essentials book. I would figure that since atgames has rights to the box art and the ROMs, then perhaps they would be able to post on their website an explanation and scanned manuals for each game. IE: What the different "S" settings do, what the objective of the game is, the "World" comics, etc. Maybe even a little note stating why moving sprites flicker when more than one are on the same horizontal line and why Pac Man and Frogger are not 2600 ports but newer ones.

 

But if there's a book for that...

Edited January 31, 2019 by tiktok4321

[Flojomojo]

But if there's a book for that...

 

The Prima book is nice, and it also comes with a digital copy which will work as long as Prima stays online (I don't know how much longer that will be; I wish it could be viewed offline like an e-book). I was going to do some sample screencaps for you but each section is long and kinda involved, which is a good thing!

 

There's also a website for that. It's called AtariAge, and you're looking at it right now.

Example: http://atariage.com/software_page.php?SoftwareLabelID=342

[Arenafoot]

I received my order of SD cards if anyone needs one just PM me thru here. I undercut the guy who is on eBay selling my work in half. And the couple I've sold already, I've added a few more newer titles to the collection too!

 

Thanks! and enjoy those portables!!

Edited February 19, 2019 by Arenafoot

[technofox]

Hi everyone,

 

I just wanted to say that I am happy to finally join the club here. Is there anything that I should know about the Flashback Portable in terms of firmware updates?

[Flojomojo]

The firmware on the portable is not upgradeable, what you see is what you get. The SD card is where it's at. The game sets are in the top post of this thread. Have fun!

[technofox]

The firmware on the portable is not upgradeable, what you see is what you get. The SD card is where it's at. The game sets are in the top post of this thread. Have fun!

 

Thanks for the info. Yeah, I already took liberty to download those games. I appreciate the quick response.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[AwesomeGuy4784]

Actually the firmware can be upgraded. We just have to wait for Atgames to make new firmware...