Skip to Content

Can The Atari Flashback Play Cartridges?

*This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

 

Have you ever wondered about playing a different gaming system Cartridges on the Atari Flashback? Well you are not alone in this question. If you have a lot of different games, and want to play them on the Atari Flashback, you will want to keep reading. 

So can the Atari Flashback play cartridges? 

Unfortunately the Atari Flashback comes preloaded with games, and does not even have a slot where a cartridge could fit let alone be compatible with the system. 

If you own an Atari Flashback, you will want to keep reading this article though as we will go through and fix common issues with the Atari as how to play on the Flashback. If you don’t like to read though, you can also watch this video.

If you are an old-school Atari lover then you have to get a classic Atari T-Shirt to show it! To see the most popular Atari T-Shirt retro designs that will stay classics for years just click here.

Atari Flashback 8 Gold Console HDMI 120 Games 2 Wireless Controllers

If you love all things Atari then you have to check out this awesome Atari Flashback console.

The Atari Flashback 8 comes with two wireless controllers (YES, WIRELESS!) two paddle controllers, and 120 authentic Atari games.

Why are Cartridges such a big deal? 

Cartridges began all the way back with the original release of the Nintendo Entertainment System. Nintendo was the first system to use cartridges to house its games, and still to this day uses cartridges. Although the ones used today are extremely smaller Nintendo continues to thrive with the cartridge gaming systems. 

A few cartridges in the early days included RAM fueled by a battery. This  allowed games to be saved and not lose their save point when played on a different system. 

the Nintendo FDS wave generator (an adjusted Ricoh RP2C33 chip with a solitary cycle wave table-question sound assistance), and the Nintendo Memory Management Controller 5 (MMC5) are both chips than can be added to enhance the gaming experience.

Atari Flashback

The Atari Flashback Classic Game Console comes with 40 incredible games. When Atari made the Flashback, they made all the games pre downloaded where no cartridges were required. The Flashback doest even have a place for a cartridge to fit on the machine.

How do I set up the Atari Flashback?

1. Locate the A/V in connectors on your TV and then connect the ones from the Flashback console to the back or side of your TV.

2. Connect the power connector from the included power supply into the back of the console, and plug the other end into the outlet. 

3. Change the source on your TV to the A/V connection, or if you have it plugged into a converter and hdmi connector, then you will place the TV on HDMI. 

Connecting the Joystick Controllers

  • For 1-Player Games: Connect a joystick controller to the player one controller port.
  • For 2-Player Games: Connect a joystick controller to the player one controller port for player one, and then add another joystick controller to the player two controller port for player two.

Game Console Specifications:

  • The Power Input of this game is: 120v AC, 60 Hz,7W
  • The Power Output of this game is: 9v DC, 200mA
  • Measurements: 4.5″1 x 2″w x 3″h
  • Controller Ports: 2

Common issues with the Atari Flashback

One common issue that a lot of people have with the flashback is that they do not get an image on the screen when they first set up the console. If this happens, you will want to make sure your av cables are connected and pushed in all the way on the unit as well as the TV. Below are some other issues that people have had with the Atari Flashback console. 

  • No Screen glints or shading
  • No game sound
  • The picture on the TV screen is glitching



Main Menu on the Atari Flashback

The Atari Flashback Classic Game Console comes with 40 virtual game cartridges to choose from. To pick and start a game, use the joystick controller to scroll through the Main Menu and highlight one of the games. 

There are four classes of games. Those classes are:

  1. Adventure Territory 
  2. Arcade Favorites
  3. Space Station
  4. Skill and Action

The last thing you need to do before you start playing is to press the fire button to pick the perfect category and choose a game from the game titles.

What are the controls for Asteroids?

Use the Joystick Controller to point the spaceship and fire photon torpedoes at the space rocks to protect the ship. Move the Joystick right to turn the ship clockwise; move it left to rotate the ship counterclockwise. Push the Joystick forward to push the ship through space. Pulling the Joystick down causes the ship to perform different limits. These limits are hyperspace, shields, and flips. While you are pointing the spaceship with your Joystick toward the rocks, press the fire button to shoot photon torpedoes at the space rock stones. Continue to press and release the fire button as fast as possible to quickly wreck all the space rocks.

If the type of game you are playing fuses satellites and UFOs, use your joystick to point and press the fire button to shoot torpedoes at them the same as you would for the space rocks.

When the space rocks are hit, little space rocks crumble, medium space rocks split into two space rocks, and huge space rocks break into two medium space rocks. You will need all of that photon capacity to devastate the entirety of the space rocks. 

Space rocks come at your ship in waves from all edges of the screen. Just when you have cleared the screen of all the asteroids, another wave begins! The problem is each wave you face is more difficult to demolish than the last. In some games, you’ll even face UFOs, which fire photon lasers back at you. Both little and big UFOs explode when hit.

The high score of the game appears when your game ends. This either happens when you pass the game, or when you crash from the asteroids. The high score stays on the screen until the Atari is turned off or the game is changed. 

You can play this game with either one or two players. 

Two player games. 

When two players play, you have double the ammunition to battle the asteroids, but you also have to look out as your shots can be hit by friendly fire and be taken down. 

Games on the Atari flashback 8

If you have not purchased one yet, the Atari flashback 8 is said to be the best Atari Flashback available! It comes with 120 games! The best part is the console is fairly cheap, and today it is even on sale! You can buy it here to get the sale price today. 

Here is also a list of all 120 games that are on the Atari Flashback 8!

3D Tic-Tac-Toe 

Adventure 

Adventure II 

Air Raiders ™ 

Air·Sea Battle 

Aquaventure 

Armor Ambush ™ 

Asteroids 

Astroblast ™ 

Atari Climber 

Backgammon 

Basketball 

Beamrider 

Black Jack 

Bowling 

Breakout 

Canyon Bomber 

Centipede 

Championship Soccer 

Chase It 

Chopper Command 

Circus Atari 

Combat 

Combat Two 

Cosmic Commuter 

Crackpots 

Crystal Castles 

Dark Cavern ™ (Night Stalker) 

Decathlon 

Demons to Diamonds 

Desert Falcon 

Dodge ‘Em 

Double Dunk 

Dragster 

Enduro 

Escape It 

Fatal Run 

Fishing Derby 

Flag Capture 

Football 

Frog Pond 

Frogger 

Frogs and Flies 

Front Line 

Frostbite 

Fun with Numbers 

Golf 

Gravitar 

H.E.R.O. 

Hangman 

Haunted House 

Home Run 

Human Cannonball 

Indy 500 

International Soccer ™ 

Jungle Hunt 

Kaboom! 

Keystone Kapers 

Maze Craze 

Megamania 

Millipede 

Miniature Golf 

Miss It 

Missile Command 

MotoRodeo 

Night Driver 

Off-the-Wall 

Oink! 

Outlaw 

Pitfall! 

Polaris 

Pong (Video Olympics) 

Pressure Cooker 

Radar Lock 

Realsports Baseball 

Realsports Basketball 

Realsports Soccer 

Realsports Volleyball 

Return to Haunted House 

River Raid 

Saboteur 

Save Mary 

Sea Battle ™ 

Seaquest 

Secret Quest 

Shield Shifter 

Sky Diver 

Slot Machine 

Slot Racers 

Solaris 

Space Attack™ 

Space Invaders 

Space War 

Sprintmaster 

Stampede 

Star Ship 

Star Strike™ 

Starmaster 

Steeplechase 

Stellar Track 

Street Racer 

Submarine Commander 

Super Baseball 

Super Breakout 

Super Challenge ™ Baseball (Major League Baseball) 

Super Challenge ™ Football (NFL Football) 

Super Football 

Surround 

Sword Fight™ 

Swordquest: Earthworld 

Swordquest: Fireworld 

Swordquest: Waterworld 

Tempest 

Video Checkers 

Video Chess 

Video Pinball 

Warlords 

Wizard 

Yars’ Return 

Yars’ Revenge 

Conclusion

If you love the Atari Flashback then you are not alone! There are many people that love the game system, and love to play all the games that come with it! Even though you can’t play cartridge games on the system, it is still extremely fun to play, and with over 100 games to choose from, you will never be without a fun game to play!