The Atari 400 Mini is here! With 25 built in games, and the ability to expand the library with hundreds more games, this is the ultimate nostalgia fest for everyone who wants some of Atari’s 8-bit computer goodness!
In today’s discussion, we’ll talk about the built in games, adding your own library of classics, which controllers work with the mini console and much much more!
Have you played Atari today? Let’s get ready and deep dive in!
I love Atari hardware, and I love Atari games. That’s why I’m so excited to get my hands of Retro Games’ latest mini computer release in the Atari 400 Mini. I’ve reviewed a bunch of Atari hardware on the channel, and am perhaps most excited to get this newest console.
My very first video game playing device was the Atari 800, and whilst this new mini console may not have the same look as the machine I grew up with, it is effectively a mini Atari 800 as well as it has a wide range of compatibility.
With 25 games built in, and the ability to add games from a host of classic Atari systems, this is a fantastic device not only from a nostalgia perspective, but also from a game preservation perspective.
The console also allows you to save games using save states, rewind gameplay progress and comes with a funky new take on the classic Atari joystick. But more on all of this later.
The built in games list features Airball, Asteroids, Basketball, Battlezone, Bezerk, Boulder Dash, Bristles, Capture the Flag, Centipede, Crystal Castles, Elektragide, Encounter, Flip and Flop, Henry’s House, Hover Bovver, Lee, MULE, Millipede, Miner 2049er, Missile Command, O Riley’s Mine, Star Raiders 2, The Sven Cities of Gold, Wavy Navy and Yoomp!
I love the work that Retro Games have done with their past releases of the C64 Mini, C64 Maxi, and A500 Mini which I have, and am glad to see this great work continue with them now branching out beyond Commodore and into the world of Atari. With several more projects announced, but at the time of writing, unconfirmed as to what the systems will be, it’s exciting to see that games of yesteryear have a way to be commercially available thanks to these Mini console releases.
The Mini is a very compact system, smaller than the C64 and A500 Minis, but squarer and thicker. As with the other Minis the keyboard is cosmetic only so you can’t use it. You can plug in up to five USB devices so that will allow you to have a USB stick, a keyboard, mouse and two joysticks if you wanted.
Before we get into the built in games, I want to talk about the most exciting feature of the console and that is the ability to expand the library and add your own games.
The process couldn’t be any simpler and all you have to do is add the files of the games not a memory stick and plug it into one of the many USB ports on the Atari 400 Mini. The system shows all the built in games on a carousel, and you’ll gain an option for the USB stick if one is inserted. You won’t get all the games listed with graphics and information, and will just have a list of the names, but this is typical unless some tinkering is done to add artwork and wrote ups. As the 400 Mini has just released, it’s too early for this to have happened, but I expect it won’t take long.
The game menu, whilst I’m talking about it is very much like the one from the A500 Mini, but like I said, let’s talk about adding extra games.
Just like the previous releases from Retro Games, this can play games from a range of systems. The C64 Mini and Maxi could also play Vic20 games, and the A500 Mini was much more than just an Amiga 500 as it could play games that were originally made for the Amiga 500, A1200 and Amiga CD32.
In the case of the Atari 400 Mini, it can also play games from the Atari 800, Atari 800XL, 130XE and Atari 5200.
The bad news is that this isn’t quite the absolute all in one Atari device that can also play the libraries from the Atari 2600, and Atari 7800, which would be easy to expect as these are the consoles usually playable on mini Atari consoles.
Of course, the 5200 was a console and although it’s perhaps the least loved of all of Atari’s consoles, compatibility with the games from it will allow you to access many of the same games although the versions found on the 5200 aren’t as god as the 7800 version or perhaps as iconic as the 2600 versions.
It’s also worth noting that this won’t give you access to play Atari ST home computer games. My suspicion is that it’s only a matter of time until we get an Atari ST Mini from Retro Games, and who knows, maybe an update to this could make those games compatible, but for now, you’ll just have to enjoy the older Atari home computer games.
But if you wanted those, you could an easily have already picked up the Atari GameStation Pro, or an Atari Flashback. If you want to see my in depth guide on how to play Atari games here days, you should check out my recent video that covered every way there is to play Atari games.
If you’re after playing Atari games from the likes of the Lynx, or Jaguar, well, you probably will need to wait a while, but my Spidey sense tells me these projects may be in the works right now.
The Atari 400 Mini is great as another commercial release after the likes of the Atari GameStation Pro and the A500 Mini that is fully embracing game preservation and making it easy for users to add games.
As for the built in games, there are a good mix of games. Some are to be expected Atari games like Asteroids, Millipede and Crystal Castles, and some games that it doesn’t surprise me to see on a mini console from Retro Games like Boulder Dash and Lee, as they’ve also recently cropped up on C64 Minis and the Evercade C64 Collection games and I think some of the same people are involved in the licensing side of things.
This is a good mix of games, and whilst I’ll never tire of the likes of Bezerk, Super Breakout and Crystal Castles, it’s maybe the fifth time I’ve played versions of these these across the Atari VCS, Atari 50, GameStation Pro and Atari 2600 Plus in recent times.
The newer games are ones I’ve enjoyed dipping my toes into, and there are games which I think I’ll grow to love as much as some of those I know well.
Some of the games like Elektra Slide and Flip and Flop have yet to win me over but think I need more time to get into them. Henry’s House may be ok, but is one of those less fun old school platformers where half the time you’re getting killed by one pixel touching something it shouldn’t and you spend the rest of the time trying to work out what is ok to touch.
Yoomp! Is a 2007 3D platformer that gives me vibes of the Sonic the Hedgehog bonus stages from Sonic 2 and Sonic 3. You play as a sphere who bounces long the inside of a cylinder and must dodge gaps to get to the end of the stage. A great game that shows what inventive ideas can come after a system has had its main years on the market
I think if you just had the games that are built into three console this would still be a respectable list, but that this is so easy to add extra games to just makes this instantly worth the price. It is worth noting that the A500 Mini and C64 Mini have often seen sales online, and I’d expect this to also go on sale in the future, but as a warning, eventually these become harder to find and I literally got the last C64 Maxi available on Amazon, and found it impossible to find a The Vic20. So, I don’t think this is something you should sleep on getting for too long.
The ability to use save states is great if you want to start from later levels in games like Crystal Castles and Boulder Dash, or just want to give yourself a boost to get an insanely high score on the likes of Asteroids.
But how you play the games is something you will have a few choices over. The new version of the classic Atari joystick is neat, but may take a little getting used to. If you’ve not used one before I expect many will find the retro style Atari stick to be quite stiff, and this is spot on in that feel. The clever thing with this new version is that it has many extra buttons which are hidden about the controller. There’s a small button concealed in the base which acts as a second fire button, and there are added menu buttons, and four additional buttons in the ring around the stick itself. I’m not sure any other joystick has hidden buttons like this, and whilst I love these, these are also something that will take some getting used to as I found I accidentally knocked menu buttons more than a few times in my time with the console so far.
If you’re not sure about the stick r just want some other options, I found several other usb controllers worked great. To begin with, the A500 Mini and C64 joysticks work perfectly, but you can also use a bunch of other controllers with the system. Some of these may not fully work, and you may need to use the Atari joystick to start a game, but can then play games pretty well with them.
The PS4 and PS5 controllers both worked great. Alas the Switch Pro controller and N64 Switch controller and Xbox One and Series S/X controllers didn’t work.
I could also control the menu with a Google Stadia controller but for some reason didn’t get any life out of it in the games.
Both the Atari VCS modern and classic controllers worked, although the classic controller doesn’t have enough buttons for every function you may need.
Likewise, the Atari GameStation Pro joystick works great and for many will be a much more comfortable controller to use than the one you get in the box. Still, it doesn’t have all the buttons you’ll need for the menus but will be fine in game.
Maybe my favourite controller to use with it is the Evercade VS pad as it seemed to have enough buttons for everything and is designed well to play classic style games.
I also got some response from my PC Engine Mini and Sega Mega Drive Mini 2 pads, but the PC Engine one lacked enough action buttons whilst the Sega pad would work with up and down directions but not left or right…weird.
So, the big question as always is should you get this Mini console? If you have nostalgia for the 8-bit Atari computers then it’s a definite yes. If you are interested in discovering some of this era of games which is most lost to time then the answer should also be yes. If you’re not interested in the built in games or uninterested in increasing the game library yourself this may be a pass for you. But if you’re interested in Mini consoles and retro gaming this is a must buy to fill in a big gap from the early days of home video gaming.
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