The Atari 2600 (originally the VCS) is easily the most well-known Atari game console. After all, it sold over 30 million and even coined the phrase “Have you played Atari today?”
Although most of those old games had blocky graphics and varied greatly in quality, they were usually colorful and fun, at least for a short period of time. If you want to play Atari 2600 games today, what are your options?
Turns out, you have several!
OG Hardware
You can try to find an original Atari 2600 or 7800 on eBay or FaceBook Marketplace, but those older systems are not always easy to hook up to modern TVs (although that’s not a problem if you have an older CRT to use). Even if you do get it working, the picture quality on a modern TV will be poor and you’ll still need cartridges.
Modern Hardware Emulator
You can get modern hardware such as an Atari 2600+ or Atari 7800+ direct from Atari itself, but you’ll also need games on cartridges to play. These systems are technically emulators, but they are easy to hook up to a modern TV using HDMI.
The Atari VCS is another alternative. It is essentially a Linux computer that plays a variety of retro games and includes many from the Atari 2600. It’s not the easiest thing to set up and use, however.
If handhelds are more your thing, the Super Pocket Atari Edition might be up your alley. I like mine, although the screen is a bit small for these old eyes. If that’s also true for you, then you might prefer the (much more expensive) Atari Gamestation Go. I’ve not used this Switch-sized system, but it looks interesting and has a much bigger screen.
There are also “flashback” systems that have some built-in games that were released over the years, which often at least have composite connectors which can be connected to most TVs. The picture quality won’t be great, but it’s better than RF! These systems can be found for cheap on eBay, Facebook Marketplace and perhaps even some discount stores.
Computer Emulation
Setting aside more dedicated hardware options, another option for the more casual gamer is to use emulation with a computer. For the Atari 2600, the Stella emulator is great.
Stella was the code name for the original Atari VCS project in the mid-1970s.
Stella works on macOS, Windows and Linux and can be used to play ROM dumps of Atari 2600 games. These games are readily available all over the internet. Atari 2600 games were anywhere from 2K to perhaps 16K in size, so a folder containing every game would only be a few megabytes! My ROMs folder has about 500 games and is only about 3.3MB!!
Stella lets you play games using the keyboard, but I purchased a USB joystick, the Trooper 2, that I prefer to use. It looks and works like an original Atari joystick although it does not quite have the same feel to it.
If you want to use original Atari joysticks, consider the Stelladapter which lets you connect one via USB. I have not used this adapter, but you can find more information about it here: https://grandideastudio.com/portfolio/gaming/stelladaptor/
Stella is actively developed and at the time of this writing is at version 7. You can download Stella from GitHub: https://stella-emu.github.io
Although it doesn’t have the most beautiful UI, it is perfectly functional and gets the job done. There is a lengthy user guide that explains all its features, but here are the essentials to get you started.
Using Stella
After downloading Stella to my Mac, I had to copy its contents to a folder. When I tried to run Stella, I got an OS error message as it is apparently not code-signed. You’ll have to go to System Settings, Privacy & Security to approve it.
To actually use Stella, you’ll need some ROMs. You can find a big ROM collection at AtariMania.
With the ROM collection downloaded, create a folder called ROM can copy the ones you want to it.
With Stella launched, click the Options button and then User Interface. Click the Launcher tab and specify the path to your ROMs folder and click OK and then close the Options window.
Now when you launch Stella it will automatically display the ROMs in the folder in the game chooser. To play a game, just double-click it.
If you don’t have a USB joystick (or gamepad), then you’ll want to use the keyboard to play. The arrow keys work to move the joystick and the space is fire. There are other keys as well that you can see in Options→Input.
F1 functions as the Select button on an Atari 2600 (to change game modes) and F2 functions as Reset (to start games). Press ESC to quit a game and go back to the chooser.
Stella has way more settings to go through, but this should be enough to get you started resisting your favorite Atari 2600 games. To learn more about Stella, check out the Stella User’s Guide.
Although I own original hardware (Atari 2600 & 7800) and modern hardware (VCS, 7800+, Super Pocket), I often find it easiest to fire up a quick 2600 game while at one of my computers.
What’s my favorite game? For me, I do enjoy blasting asteroids!
