https://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/community/handheld-tabletop-chat/ RVG Discussion Board en-GB Fri, 22 May 2026 07:18:11 +0000 wpForo 60 https://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/community/handheld-tabletop-chat/blaze-atari-handheld-60-game-version-with-sd-slot/ Wed, 06 Apr 2022 15:25:06 +0000

Handhelds really aren't the sort of thing I'm into - but - it's Atari - my first love. It also has Asteroids and 7800 games. Also has a microSD card slot so I picked it up. £18 and I had £4 on my shop loyalty card so why not.

At the price I wasn't expecting much and there are several shortcomings - but - this is kind of OK.

It has 60 built in games inc. 5 7800 games. It has an AV out for composite to a TV - haven't tried that yet - and a headphone output too.

Many of the games work fine. I continue to be baffled by the inclusion of paddle games though. They are next to unplayable and a waste of time. But there they are - inc. Super Breakout, Circus, Night Driver - all nice little games but unplayable without a spinner or equivalent. Even analogue sticks are useless.

However with non paddle games the control works well. It has a spongy dpad and 2 buttons (7800 games use 2 buttons). Missile Command requires good dpad control and it works just fine. 7800 Centipede is an excellent port and it's intact here and controls fine.

The screen is small but it works just fine - nice and clear.

Now the downside. Sound is crap. It's the one thing that cheap emus never get right and this is no exception. It doesn't really bother me that much. It's functional. And some games sound OK. Yars' Revenge - one of my favourites - sounds OK-ish (and is further proof that the dpad works well - as this game requires pretty accurate movement). The sound is no better with headphones.

Sprite multiplexing. Atari devs , trying to port arcade games like Pacman etc had to create a game well beyond the hardware's limits. So multiple sprites (>2) on the same vertical position have to be displayed on alternate frames - creating the infamous Atari flicker. Originally on a CRT isn't wasn't as bad as on modern screens because of the persistence of phosphor glow. But on this device in particular the sprites disappear for longer than they should - rendering some games unplayable - Pacman, Space Invaders are 2 examples - ghosts and bullets disappear for far too long to be playable. According to reviews the AV out image on a TV doesn't suffer from this - you get normal flicker - so the screen refresh rate must be screwing the game up.

Difficulty switches. There aren't any! And the default appears to be the B setting which is the easier mode in any 2600 game that uses them. This means - on 2600 asteroids - no ufos. What an idiotic decision. Clearly made by someone who knows nothing about Atari 2600. It also means some games are not playable - the ones like Space Shuttle which use them and the bw/color switch as controls.

Some of the 7800 games run too fast. Far too fast. Guess which one is unplayable? That's right - bloody asteroids. 7800 asteroids is still the best port of the game to a console that isn't an emulation. But they managed to screw that up here. Centipede plays just fine, as does the excellent Food Fight. But not Asteroids. Gnnnnnnnnn.

There are plenty of the better 2600 games missing because of licencing (though why Pacman is on here instead of the superior Ms. Pacman or Pacman Jr. is anyone's guess).

However the sd card slot comes to the rescue. It really does. I dumped the contents of my Harmony cart onto a card and stuck it in and they all work. Even the homebrew stuff.  The Activision games in particular play great on this unit. This is mainly because those guys were the elite Atari devs who left to get a better deal, but also because they didn't do arcade ports , which means they designed games to the strength of the console. So no flickering for example.

Being able to copy ROMs means I will be able to hack up a version of Asteroids set to difficulty A and other games that are similarly hampered by that.  Some tech videos on YT look at its innards and apparently the spec of this is decent enough so the thinking is the sound should have been better.... shrug.

I have tried the PAL60 roms I created for my PAL woody console and a few suffer from overscan (you lose  portion of the screen at the bottom). But one NTSC ROM (Pitfall) seems to have the wrong colours so I'm not sure what the emulator is doing re PAL and NTSC. Another YT video I saw showed the overscan issue absent when using the AV out. So another thing I need to try.

For £14 I can't complain, but this should have been the definitive 2600/7800 fan's handheld because of it's natty styling with fake woodgrain and the classic Atari joystick styled dpad and buttons.  2600 games when well presented with good control are perfect for handheld quick 5min blasts - and you need real buttons - damn mobiles.

This isn't a bad unit to own - even it's look makes it a nice thing to have on a gameroom shelf. Games that work well with the unit, work REALLY well and are a delight - but I won't be swapping out my real woody consoles any time soon.]]> Handheld & Tabletop Chat davyk https://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/community/handheld-tabletop-chat/blaze-atari-handheld-60-game-version-with-sd-slot/ https://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/community/handheld-tabletop-chat/play-pal-20-in-1-handheld/ Sat, 29 Aug 2020 20:11:50 +0000

I just watched this video by Willie, ArcadeUSA.  Has anyone ever heard of this handheld?  Seems it had different names in different regions (Coleco Sonic in the US and Pocket Gear in Europe).  Looks like a nifty handheld.  All the games can be played either on the integrated 2.4" LCD display or output to a TV via composite video.

Here is the list of games on it:

Game Gear Games

    Columns
    Ecco II: The Tides of Time
    Sonic Drift 2
    Sonic Triple Trouble
    Super Columns

Master System Games

    Alex Kidd in High-Tech World
    Alex Kidd in Miracle World
    Altered Beast
    Assault City
    Astro Warrior
    Aztec Adventure
    Bomber Raid
    Fantasy Zone
    Fantasy Zone: The Maze
    Global Defense
    Kung Fu Kid
    The Ninja
    Penguin Land
    Quartet'
    Snail Maze



https://youtu.be/fbqI0XTAgoY]]> Handheld & Tabletop Chat TrekMD https://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/community/handheld-tabletop-chat/play-pal-20-in-1-handheld/ https://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/community/handheld-tabletop-chat/neo-neo-geo-mini-portable/ Sat, 11 Jan 2020 23:11:42 +0000
https://youtu.be/Q02DwEioBBo]]> Handheld & Tabletop Chat TrekMD https://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/community/handheld-tabletop-chat/neo-neo-geo-mini-portable/ https://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/community/handheld-tabletop-chat/atari-lynx-30th-anniversary-competition/ Mon, 02 Sep 2019 03:48:58 +0000
Check them out here - https://atarigamer.com/pages/celebrating-atari-lynx-30th-birthday


]]> Handheld & Tabletop Chat TrekMD https://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/community/handheld-tabletop-chat/atari-lynx-30th-anniversary-competition/ https://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/community/handheld-tabletop-chat/consolised-atari-lynx/ Mon, 03 Dec 2018 11:11:26 +0000

How cool is the consolised Lynx?

Created by starforcepilot and he did it just for kicks. More here https://starforcepi.wordpress.com/2018/09/02/the-atari-lynx-1-up/

]]> Handheld & Tabletop Chat zapiy https://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/community/handheld-tabletop-chat/consolised-atari-lynx/ https://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/community/handheld-tabletop-chat/coleco-announces-the-return-of-the-mini-arcade-table-top-game/ Wed, 22 Nov 2017 05:00:28 +0000
Excited?

Update: A viewer pointed out that this appears to be a port of the GBA Robotech game.
I haven't played it so I can't say if the game is any good or not.]]> Handheld & Tabletop Chat nosweargamer https://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/community/handheld-tabletop-chat/coleco-announces-the-return-of-the-mini-arcade-table-top-game/ https://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/community/handheld-tabletop-chat/remember-these/ Mon, 25 Sep 2017 22:26:46 +0000

]]> Handheld & Tabletop Chat Rain https://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/community/handheld-tabletop-chat/remember-these/ https://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/community/handheld-tabletop-chat/the-rarest-nintendo-game-boy-systems/ Sat, 04 Feb 2017 19:18:22 +0000
https://youtu.be/Y-1KajoxkCc]]> Handheld & Tabletop Chat TrekMD https://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/community/handheld-tabletop-chat/the-rarest-nintendo-game-boy-systems/ https://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/community/handheld-tabletop-chat/the-rarest-gameboy-games-ever-released/ Fri, 13 Jan 2017 15:54:37 +0000
http://youtu.be/bYtP9D6eIWs]]> Handheld & Tabletop Chat TrekMD https://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/community/handheld-tabletop-chat/the-rarest-gameboy-games-ever-released/ https://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/community/handheld-tabletop-chat/modded-gameboy-backlit/ Mon, 08 Feb 2016 11:58:29 +0000 Has a backlight for its screen, professionaly painted, new buttons, new glass screen, audio mod (removes background noise on headphones) and Bivert chip. The chip is fantastic as it transforms the original screen making it capable of displaying higher contrasts thus removing most blur the old one suffered from one. You can get them done here but I picked mine up from eBay for £75: http://www.gameboymods.co.uk/ Did a bit of shopping at the same time and came up with these on my travels: ]]> Handheld & Tabletop Chat Lorfarius https://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/community/handheld-tabletop-chat/modded-gameboy-backlit/