5 classic Atari 5200 games

Realsports Baseball

In my opinion, this is still one of the best baseball video games of all time. The graphics were sharp, the sound excellent, and you could control pretty much everything on the screen. There were even line scores!

Zaxxon

Though many gaming fans were not impressed by the version of Zaxxon for the Atari 2600, this version for the Atari 5200 set many things right, mainly moving back to the isometric, sort-of-3D viewpoint.

Space Invaders

Space Invaders might have been old hat in 1982 when the Atari 5200 came along, but this gaming console still managed to bring some new, entertaining qualities to this classic arcade game.

Gremlins

With the huge success of the Gremlins movie in 1984, it was no surprise Atari produced video games based upon the movie, the best of which (in my opinion) was this game for the Atari 5200 which came out in 1986. Lost of frantic action here with solid graphics and great gameplay.

Defender

This version of the classic Defender video game is darn close to the original arcade version by Williams Electronics from 1980. The graphics are fantastic and the sounds are awesome. The gameplay is somewhat chaotic, but that's just how the arcade Defender was, with lots going on on the screen at any time.

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Classic Video Gamers, a blog for old school gamers

Video game of the week: Realsports Baseball on Atari 5200

In the early 1980s, if you mentioned sports video games and Atari in the same breath, you were usually laughed at. The Atari 2600, despite being one of the best-selling home gaming consoles of all time, just didn't have quality sports games, at least not early on.

In 1982 Atari released Realsports Baseball for the Atari 2600. This won over some fans, but it still wasn't quite enough.

Then in 1983 when the Atari 5200 system was released, lots of sports gaming fans had high hopes. And they weren't disappointed.

Soon after the 5200 was released, Atari also put out a 5200 version of Realsports Baseball.

This game had everything. Line scores. Nine different complex pitches. Base stealing. Solid graphics. Great sound, including umpire's calls. You name it, this game had it.

In my opinion, not until the mid-to-late 1990s when graphics improved tremendously on gaming systems, did a better baseball video game come along.

But before then, there was Realsports Baseball for the Atari 5200.

As many owners of the 5200 can attest, this gaming console did not have the easiest of joysticks. In fact, the Atari 5200 had clunky joysticks with buttons on the side that were sometimes hard to push and a keypad that was just about useless. This did not make for ease of play when dealing with more complicated games, which Realsports Baseball was at the time.

Still, once you got used to the joystick and could figure out all its little quirks, Realsports Baseball was a thrill to play. It seemed like you could control just about everything on the field, and you could, or at least you could control each and every player (with a little help from the computer, of course). Also, controlling the pitches and the batters is a highlight of fun in this game.

As a little added bonus, you could also play against a friend, which could double the fun.

Game of the week: Zaxxon for Atari 5200

In 1982 when Sega released Zaxxon to arcades, the game was an immediate hit with gamers, and this was well deserved as this was such a groundbreaking arcade game. Of course by today's standards Zaxxon is no big deal, but in 1982 it was the first game that most gamers got to experience in some sort of three-dimensional environment, even though the 3D effect in Zaxxon is actually only a simulation.

Zaxxon was so popular that there just had to be a home version of it for the most popular console of the time period, the Atari 2600. Unfortunately for many fans of the game, the Atari 2600 version was a let down. Though the 2600 game was fun to play in its own way, the graphics were flat and had none of the edge of the arcade game.

But then something else happened in 1982. Atari released its new Atari 5200 home gaming console, which had much better graphics than the 2600 console.

Soon after the Atari 5200 was released, a version of Zaxxon for this console also was released.
And suddenly many fans were quite pleased.

Back were the isometric graphics and bright colors that gave Zaxxon much of its thrill. Back was the awesome gameplay of lying a small ship over top of a gigantic enemy ship while avoiding crashing into objects and shooting at enemy missiles and ships. Even the big boss robot was there at the end of the stages, just waiting to be blown to smithereens by avid Zaxxon fans.

Zaxxon was back, and it was well worth the wait.

The only real problem with the Atari 5200 version of Zaxxon is the same problem with many Atari 5200 games: The controllers just aren't that great. Still, you could get used to that to some extent, or you could be new, second-party controllers.

Either way, Zaxxon on the Atari 5200 was a blast to play, and still is if you have an old Atari 5200 sitting around.

Game of the week: Space Invaders for Atari 5200

When the Atari 5200 home video game console was released in 1982, the Atari corporation was hoping their new system would be just as popular as their classic Atari 2600 system had been. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. The Atari 5200 was never that popular of a console with game fans, which was unfortunate because the system had decent graphics for the time period and a good number of great games.

One of those great games was the Atari 5200's version of the arcade classic game Space Invaders.

By the time 1982 rolled around, Space Invaders had been in the public eye for quite a while. Plenty of new games, and better technology, had come along. So what could Atari do to spruce up this arcade classic?

Well, most notably, lots of color was added. The attacking aliens come in a variety of different colors, and even the space shields that protect the player's gun at the bottom of the screen come in varying bright colors. But colors are nothing special, right?

Okay, so you want more changes. How about fast shooting? Or maybe even missiles you can guide? Those are just a couple of the changes that were possible in the many different skill levels and variety of play the Atari 5200 offered for its version of Space Invaders. There were many other possible ways to play as well.

The action here was quite a bit faster than the arcade and other versions of Space Invaders, so gamers had to be on their toes to rack up a high score. The sound, too, is superb and quite eerie in that the sound of the approaching aliens grows louder and louder as they near the bottom of the screen.

All in all, it's still Space Invaders, just with a touch of panache. If you you own or want to own an old Atari 5200, do yourself a favor and get the classic that is Space Invaders. It's still fun to play all these decades later, and it's a proper addition for any serious retro gamer's collection.

Game of the week: Gremlins for Atari 5200

Steven Spielberg is known for his many hit movies, one of which was the 1984 film "Gremlins" about cute, furry critters that could be turned into scaly, nasty monsters if they eat food after midnight.

This film was so popular it just had to have a video game. Right?

Atari ended up getting the rights to make a "Gremlins" game, and the company did a good job, in 1986 releasing the game on the classic Atari 2600 system and on the newer Atari 5200.

Unfortunately, by this time the video game craze had bottomed out and this "Gremlins" game never had the opportunity to become a hit. Still, "Gremlins" was a lot of fun to play and it had quality graphics on the Atari 5200.

Gameplay seems simple at first, but it can become quite frantic. The player's character is in a room with several of the cute, fuzzy Gremlins. About the room are pieces of food and puddles of water. If the cute Gremlins eat the food, they turn into the monster Gremlins. If any Gremlin touches the water, it splits into two Gremlins. The player's job is to gather up the good Gremlins and place them into a container, or to use a sword to kill the bad Gremlins. There is a timer of sorts. The player has to accomplish his or her tasks before six in the morning, or at least try to survive until then because the bad Gremlin monsters can kill you.

It's easier said than done, especially at higher levels when furniture and other items have randomly spawned about the room and get in the player's way.

Still, loads of fun can be found here, and with practice comes skill at the game.

The Atari 2600 did not have quality graphics, but that's not unusual for 2600 games. The Atari 5200 version of "Gremlins," on the other hand, had fantastic graphics equal to many arcade games of the day.

In years to come there would be other video games based upon the "Gremlins" movie and it's 1990 sequel, "Gremlins 2: The New Batch," but these early ones by Atari are still great to play.

Game of the Week: Defender for Atari 5200

Fans of retro video games are familiar with the Defender arcade game from Williams Electronics that was a hit in 1980s. Most are also familiar with the Atari 2600, especially as it was the king of home video game consoles in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

But not so many people are familiar with the Atari 5200, the home gaming system Atari released in 1982. The Atari 5200 had better graphics than its 2600 cousin, but it never caught on well with consumers.

Still, the Atari 5200 had some cool video games. Including its ported version of Defender.

One thing that makes Defender on the 5200 so great is that the graphics are darn near the same as the arcade Defender, which is a good thing since Defender had sweet graphics for the time. Also, the sounds are the same as the arcade game, which is another good thing.

Most importantly, the gameplay itself is quite similar to the arcade Defender, and this is important because Defender is a video game in part dependent upon its controls and its gaming scenario for its awesomeness. Of course the controls here are different because the Atari 5200 utilizes a joystick with multiple buttons as compared to the six buttons and joystick of the arcade Defender, but once you become familiar with the 5200's joystick you won't have any problems with play.

Just like the arcade Defender, you control an onscreen spaceship that shoots at aliens while rescuing humans on the grounds. Also, like the arcade version, your ship can use warps and has a limited supply of smart bombs that destroy all the enemies on the screen.

Still, the biggest problem with Defender on the Atari 5200 are the controls themselves. The 5200 joystick just isn't very good. Yes, you can get used to it, but it still sucks compared to other gaming controls of the day, including the Atari 2600 joystick, and even the Intellivision and Colecovision controls. So, if anything takes away from the enjoyment of this game, it's the sub-par 5200 controllers.