Atari 7800+: Classic Gaming with a Modern Twist

From the late 1970s to the mid-1980s, Atari was riding high on the wave of popularity in a new craze — home video game consoles. During this time, the company became so well-known for their games and consoles that the name Atari became virtually synonymous with video games. But as they say, what goes up must go down. The company’s meteoric rise soon reversed course into an epic freefall that was triggered by events like the release of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and countless other low-quality, confusing games made by companies that were just trying to cash in on what they saw as a fad.

Around the same time that consumers really took notice of the heaps of terrible games flooding the market, Atari released their first next-generation console, the 5200. But a fateful decision was made to not include backwards compatibility with the incredibly popular 2600 console, and some other odd decisions were also made (I mean, have you ever used those controllers?), which caused it to become a commercial failure.

Atari attempted to salvage their video game console business with the release of the 7800 in 1986. And it was, in many ways, quite a good console. Many issues seen in the 5200 were fixed, and backwards compatibility with the 2600 was included. Graphics and game complexity were also a huge step up from the 2600. This system may well have saved Atari — that is, if it were not for the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System and a certain mustachioed plumber.

Relatively few 7800 consoles were sold, which is a shame considering how good some of the games were, especially the arcade ports. But there is some good news if you are one that missed out on the 7800 because you were preoccupied with stomping on Koopa Troopas in the Mushroom Kingdom. The modern-day Atari has just released a console called the 7800+. Aside from being reduced to about 80 percent of the original size, it looks just like the console from 1986, and works much the same too.

As you might expect, the internals are not at all like the original 7800 console, however. Look as you might, you will not find a SALLY CPU or a MARIA graphics chip. In their place, the 7800+ is equipped with a much more powerful Rockchip 3128 SoC that emulates the original hardware. There are also a number of other modern touches like wireless controllers and HDMI output — no, you will not need that old TV/Game switch box that has been collecting dust in the attic.

Unlike similar retro console remakes, the 7800+ does not come loaded with a bunch of games stored in an internal memory. Rather, it accepts both 7800 and 2600 physical cartridges that need to be clicked into the slot just like God intended it. The 7800+ does come with a copy of Bentley Bear’s Crystal Quest (a brand new sequel to the classic game Crystal Castles) to get you started, however.

The Atari 7800+ is probably not something any of us really need, but it looks like something a lot of retro gaming enthusiasts are going to want. And at $129.99, the console is pretty reasonably priced. If you want to be one of the first to own Atari’s latest throwback console, it is now available for pre-order.