Giovanni Colantonio / Digital Trends
I ’ve accumulated a lot of retro console reproductions in my day . The Super NES Classic Edition andGenesis Mini 2are both prized possessions , giving me easy access to a mess of great ( and weird ) games . Last yr ’s excellentAtari 2600+would especially win me over thanks to it near 1:1 replication of the original machine — it could even run my old magazine with ease . While these run to go on a ledge after I ’ve had my fill of them , I appreciate get a tangible way to get video game history .
The newAtari 400 Minitakes that to another storey , even if it come with some trade - offs . The new retro organization takes the NES Classic Edition route , shrinking the original 8 - routine Atari computer down to an lovely size . And though it ’s a shame that it does n’t include a amply usable tissue layer keyboard like the actual Atari 400 , it includes one key emulation feature that every retro organisation like this should have .
Giovanni Colantonio / Digital Trends
Changing the past
While the 2600 is Atari ’s most iconic system , gaming account buffs incline to have a subdued spot for the 400 . Originally put out in 1979 , the home estimator was home to a host of out - there games . It featured a built - in tissue layer keyboard with most no tactile feedback , as well as onboard reset , get going , and select buttons . Those extras allow for developers to make games with slightly more complex controls than the one - button Atari CX40 joystick set aside for .
The Mini version captures every detail of that equipment and recoil it down to the size of an SNES Classic . Though there ’s a lot to praise about the machine , I ’m pull up stakes with some pocket-sized letdown after the revelatory Atari 2600 + . That latter machine does n’t just keep old games , but the smell of in reality playing them in the 1970s . You could feel what it was like to plop a cartridge in , press down a metal reset perch , or secure in a boat paddle . Those things are n’t possible on a miniature innovation like that of the 400 Mini , but it ’s a shame that I ca n’t in reality open up the cartridge one-armed bandit or feel the keyboard . The new version hear to make up for the latter with an on - screen keyboard , but it ’s not the same experience .
Thankfully , the machine does have a clever way of gravel around its lack of onboard buttons . It comes with a redesigned version of the iconic Atari joystick that stealthily sneaks in seven supernumerary buttons . They ’re so hidden as to not destroy the flavor of the original controllers that you might not even notice they ’re there at first . Two small release on the front side take the place of functions like reset , while each direction around the stick can actually be press in . That ’s round out by a midget release on the leftover - side street corner that makes it easier to hold in the stick and perform an action in bm - heavy games .
It ’s an ingenious , but respectful redesign that I appreciate — even if I have some gripes . I ’ve had a lot of bother with the stick itself since testing , which feels more unreliable than what came package with the 2600 + . Connectivity is also an annoyance for retro collectors . The 400 Mini uses standard USB ports to connect up to four controllers . That ’s convenient , but it ’s vexatious if you just buy the 2600 + and its add-on , which use a period - appropriate Atari connectedness . The thought of having to rebuy new versions of quondam controllers I just got a few month ago is a bite maddening .
Those are small complaint though , unity that ’ll only bug those who are bought in on the 2600 + . If you love let tiny versions of old consoles that can all neatly correspond on a shelf , the Atari 400 Mini is a great short ode to an unsung hero of gaming .
Emulation potential
When looking at the 25 games that come preinstalled with the 400 Mini , the equipment may go like a toughened sell . Devices like the SNES Mini have a more mainstream note value proffer since they come preloaded with iconic game . The titles that come with the 400 Mini are recession by compare . It ’s an eclectic hodgepodge of creative and , at metre , bewilderingcomputer gamesthat I imagine a passel of today ’s actor have never heard of .
There ’s Au in that include assemblage , though . Those who want intimate favorites will get games likeAsteroids , Missile Command , Millipede , and more . The real joy , though , number from its more way-out inclusions . Jeff Minter’sHover Bovveris a must - wreak oddity about steal your neighbour ’s lawn mower ( it ’s also included in the latterly releasedLlamasoft : The Jeff Minter Story).Wavy Navytakes the basic musical theme ofSpace Invaders , but places players on a ocean of actuate waves . My personal favourite of the bunch isYoomp ! — an excellent labyrinth biz where instrumentalist take a hop a ball down a 360 - degree vacuum tube . game like that show window the nonsensitive creative thinking of the tardy 1970s to mid-1980s epoch of base computers quite well .
But those game are n’t the actual marketing point of the Atari 400 Mini – it ’s the system ’s emulation potential that stands out . The gadget include one central feature that you wo n’t rule in most Mini console : a USB slot . With that , players can download older Atari game onto a thumbstick and secure it in . I was sceptical of how that would work ab initio , peculiarly since the 400 Mini include its own custom user interface to expose its subroutine library . I decided to try anyway , downloadingSuper Pac - ManandPac - Man Jr.onto a driving force and stick it into the 400 Mini .
I was shocked by the final result .
As I scroll through the library carte , I run into a Media Access box neatly cuddle between the preloaded game . I open up it , and sure enough , bothPac - Man gamespopped up . I fired them up and both mould dead on the redesigned control stick without any need for button remapping . All of this took no more than three minute of arc to set up , end to closing . It ’s nothing short of a miracle for retro enthusiast looking to maintain their favorite Atari 8 - bit computer games .
That feature film alone take the Atari Mini 400 a must - own for a specific kind of history devotee , and I have n’t even covered the full entourage of feature uncommitted on the twist . Modern features like save state and rewinds are welcome extras for those looking to add more flexibleness to some very sturdy previous game . All of that makes the 400 Mini a equipment that I ’m happy to come in next to myother retro reproductions . Though , unlike those , I do n’t expect this one to collect dust quite as tight . The ease of which I can add game to it create it the one Atari auto I ’ll ever really require .
