Atari 5200 (1982) Library | Trying all 69 Games

No sound from the games. Pass. The sound is so freakin' important, narrator's voice not so much.

Someone needs to make a third party 5200 controller. I wonder if it's simple IO or if there are ICs in there?

I would just get an Atari 8 bit computer instead. More games with more controller options. 800xl for the win!

Fun fact, that cool intro music to Mountain King is called, "In the hall of the mountain king" by Grieg.

The controllers sucked!

Thank God that the Atari 5200 software library wound up on the 8-bit home computers. Ahem, cough. The controller may be the worst ever designed (and by even talking about it, we just broke a couple more joysticks) but the games are quite excellent.

I got the 5200 for Christmas in 82. I once had a run on Centipede that felt like an hour. My hand was so cramped that I couldn't let go of the controller.

I agree on the controllers as far as being stock out of the box and being faulty, with the age you just can't help it. However for under $100 I got a gold set contact replacement kit and you simply open the controllers replace the contact sheets with these gold ones which don't oxidize the same way the original ones did and they play like brand new and you would never know anything was wrong with them. So don't let non-working controllers stop you from collecting this system, you can just Google gold-plated controller contacts for 5205 tackett ranging anywhere from 75 to 100 and $10. Problem solved.

The 5200 was unnecessary and they should have just released the 7800 at the time. Atari might have had a chance.

I just found your channel and ive enjoyed going through your videos, one thing im curious about is you often dont include sound effects of the games on screen, is there some hardware reason why this isn't the case or an editorial choice? Anyways, love your channel, just finished your lynx video which was excellent.

Too bad he talks so much, would be nice to actually hear the gameplay.

IDGAF whenever I need some peace I say YEAH FRAMERATER and turn on this vid

My brain is breaking here....

So back in the day my folks got me a Atari XEGS ... (still have it) and I never knew it could do 5200 games until way later in life..... that being said, the 5200 library looks bad across the board. I think Hero, Breakout, Kaboom would be my choices.

Worth mentioning the 5200 used the exact same chip set as the Atari home computers from the era

What makes 5200 controllers even more annoying is you could easily use atari 2600 or a genesis controller to play most games, but an adapter is never consistently available.

FUCKING MASS PRODUCE THOSE THINGS, MAKE THEM ALWAYS IN STOCk, RAIN THEM FROM THE SKY! it's like the one thing holding back another worse solid console.

Trackball needed for star wars arcade

I also Agree the controller ruined the system.

Riverraid on the 8 bit Atari is still such a nice bump up from the 2600. Ball Blazer has a computer opponent mode.

If nothing else, the 5200 can be used to replace dead custom chips in an Atari 8-bit computer. Keep those 8-bits running a while longer.

Great video thanks man!

Alternative joysticks were readily available at the time. My older brother had one.

I had the 5200 when I was a kid. And their version of Space Invaders was actually good. After the first 2 waves, the top row of Aliens would be replaced with different Aliens, that did different things. After every 2 waves, a new set of Aliens in one row, would replace the old Aliens, and some of them shot faster, some of them needed to be hit twice or turn invisible, or had a hard covering for a few seconds before you could shoot them again. After wave 20, the last set of new Aliens would eventually replace all the old Aliens and the new ones. They were a gold wired shape Aliens, that had every thing that I mentioned before.
And if your one of those people who played this version of Space Invaders, then you know that this version was ahead of its time and how fun it was to play. 😃

Yeah framerater! This vid brings me multiple comforts

I loved this system when it came out. The graphics were so mind blowing to us...the difference between the 2600 and the 5200 was like vhs and dvd. My family played this system together for a few years...from 4th ish grade up to probably 7th or 8th grade. My dad quit playing when i beat him in football like 120 to 14. I played farther into games than i would have in the arcade. I got to a level in galaxian when they disappear and come in in flashing slow motion teleport.
My father amd i pearned how to fix the controllers at least 4 times before we had to buy a new one....but still 60 dollars in 1987 was a lot of dollars.
But in my memory the games had the most amazing graphics, because i remember playing pacman on the 2600 a few years before.
I had
Qix
Kangaroo
Football
Pacman
Defender
Galaxian
Qbert
Star Raiders
Super Breakout

Nice number Atari

Your ratings are way off... have you ever played these retro games when they were new in store, or are you some 30 year old kid trying to get clicks on a video who has no idea how amazing these games were in their time period...

I grew up with the 5200 and never cared for the 2600 (despite it's grand library) because the graphics looked like sh*t by comparison.

I'll admit that the analog joysticks were a bit stiff (even when brand new), making them less than perfect. That said, they were still analog and not digital and lot of the 5200 games catered well to them.
My biggest gripe with the controllers were the red buttons on the side. Being a young kid at the time, those damn things were so hard to press and my thumb and fingers would get sore trying to press them!🙂

Great video! I very rarely agree with others' ratings on games, but these ratings were ON POINT. All 69 of them!

Also, dude sounds like Randal from Clerks😄

👍

This console SUX! I wanted one when I was 7. A few years I received an Nintendo Entertainment System instead.

Space Dungeon is awesome. I'd spend hours playing that game. Yes, you have to use both controllers which slides into a cartridge to stabilize them so that you can play. The left joystick controls the ship and the right joystick contols the gun. Each level gets harder and harder. You can also notice the game get slower with the number of enemies that come into each room. LOL

Today i unearthed my 5200 and all the games that I owned as a child. I still have both controllers. I also have the adapter that plays 2600 games. Pretty cool.

It’s surprising that the 5200 has a slightly bigger game librarry then the atari 7800 system,considering it had no donkeykong & DK jr but it did had a soccor and popeye game for it wich the 7800 does lack.
I do own the 5200 but oh man it’s bulky,i wish atari released the planned 5200 jr
,i do got used with those controllers BUT i don’t like the drifting non-self centering poke stick as it can do drift at certain moments,no while i do have seen great looking great promising 3D printed 5200 controllers on ebay but they could cost as much as $139 wich is absolutely rediculous.

The 5200 controller from what I remember playing it on 2 of my friends systems: The contoller's buttons on the top were hard to press and the joystick itself was notchy. It didn't turn around smoothly. It had notches. The stick would hit or go into these notches when you turned it around 360 degrees. I didn't like that. It was tough to use and annoying. I prefer the different controllers for the original Atari: (this is the second time I've used a colon) The joystick, the paddles, and the keypads. I think they tried to put it all in one on the 5200.. but still had the separate roller for Centipede.

Bit late, but I had one of these growing up. Rescue on Fractalus is a lot more nuanced than just picking up crashed pilots. In later levels, there are alien imposters that will attempt to destroy your ship if you don't kill them first. The only way to tell is their helmet color, and in later levels you don't even get that. You just have to wait for the knock at the airlock or the jump scare. It was easily my favorite game on the console and I figure it rates at least a Great.
Space Dungeon and Robotron 2084 are absolutely excellent games and are worlds better if you have the double controller coupler that came with it. None of the 5200 emus I've tried properly support two-stick. Maybe one day.
Lastly, the failure point of the controllers was due to the buttons all using a membrane for activation instead of a physical switch. The conductive coating on the button would wear off or the membrane itself would corrode or crack. The bext fix was to solder tiny microswitches onto the circuit membrane underneath the button pads and trim the pads so that they'd sit flush. Worked like a charm after that.

I still have my 5200 that I have had since the 80s. Controllers work fine.

I need to say that as a teen in the 80's the 5200 failed because people were upset that Atari came out with a news system so soon after the 2600 came out, they couldn't or didn't understand what a threat the Intellivision ( Intelligent Television ) and ColecoVision (Connecticut Leather Company Television) was , the 7200 only added to this distrust but once again the people wouldn't accept the threat the NES or SEGA was, after the SNES came folks become OK with buying a new system and games.
Even to this day I feel a bit miffed that back wards compatibility with game systems stopped (why I didn't buy the PS4 or PS5)

I picked up an Atari 5200 in '87 I believe, and loved the system, but yes, the controller was a major issue. I had to take it apart frequently to clean up the carbon left on the contacts by the buttons. The analog joystick was great, especially for River Raid. I still have it in a plastic bin along with other consoles.

All these games were the SHIZNIT! Especially Star Raiders.

2023 and i still got my 5200 .

The 5200 was my Eleanor! I finally purchased one/two on eBay after getting scammed. Luckily I have a friend who offered to rebuild all 7 of the joysticks. 40 years later I finally go to play the games and was so frustrated by the non-centering joysticks. Playability was awful and having the use the keypad was another strike against it. The graphics of the games however were insanely good! Just like the arcade for most of them. I guess this was developed during the hay-day of the partying at Atari HQ!

Wizard of Wor requires you plug player 1's stick into the right port because player 1's character comes out of that box on the right. Player two comes out of the box on the left. Makes things much less confusing when playing co-op.

Dude, Wizard of war is great, but only as 2 player. Both players play at once and can kill each other. Worthless game as single player.

Nice >:]

The Dreadnaught Factor was by far my favourite IntelliVision game, and to find a 5200 version was a very pleasant surprise. The biggest difference is the IntelliVision version is side-scrolling like Uridium, while the 5200 is top-down. Hard to say which aspect is better, but I think the ships 'feel' bigger sideways.
Hint, if you blow up the engine pods of a dreadnaught, each one slows the ship down until with all 4 destroyed, it's pretty much a sitting duck and will never get to Earth, allowing you to make unlimited passes until you blow it up. Some of the later dreadnaughts are lethal, launching homing missiles, smart bombs and fighters to take you down along with its gun turrets. Fantastic game on either system.

We had the 2600. I got to play on a cousin's 5200 for a few hours. But my parents were cheap. They didn't think we needed the new one since we had the old one.

I haven't got there yet but Star Raiders better get an Excellent rating!! Spent half my awake time on that have as a kid.

Megamania is a clone of the arcade game "Astro Blaster". I'm sure someone already said it. I just don't feel like going through 650+ comments to find out.

I must say if I was around in 83 I would of stuck with the 2600. It's okay but not an awful lot different. The only thing I can say is the 7800 though to late as saga and Nintendo has finally surpassed Atari in hardware and game catalogue redeemed Atari in the gaming market as the 7800 in 1986 to about 89 was a great budget console.

I also believe the controller for the 5200 would of just confused people in 1982 lol.
This is a western market who are used to turntables and TVs that you tune in via presets. It looks confusing in 2022 imagine how it looked in 82/83.

I much prefer the 7800 controller basically an NES controller with a joystick lol

Um, Frogger 3 Deep was AWESOME. Don't you dare dis my Froggie. And Miner 2049er was my absolute favorite! How could you?

Too many of these 5200 games didn't improve much on the 2600. The 7200 is a much better machine than those two. But not such a big catalogue.

Correction: She told me the 2600 and 7800 wern't origonal. Very sad. They were bought off ebay. =(