In the pre-Nintendo early 80s, two names dominated the video gaming landscape: Atari and Pac-Man. While both have had their ups and downs over the last few decades, their iconic status has held strong. Now, they’ve joined forces in this garishly and gorgeously yellow Atari 2600+ PAC-MAN Edition console.
And It Was All Yellow
Quest Daily has previously put the Atari 2600+ through its paces and we reckon it’s a great device for a specific nostalgia-seeking audience. In short, it plays your original Atari 2600 and Atari 7200 cartridges via software emulation and outputs the video signal via HDMI. This means you can relive your favourite ancient games on a modern TV. It also comes with a joystick, authentically replicating your decades-old memories all over again.
What separates this new release from the original Atari 2600+ is the sheer Pac-Mania of it. The Atari 2600+ PAC-MAN Edition replaces the familiar woodgrain finish of the original console with a bold Pac-Man yellow. Images of our pellet-chomping hero being chased by ghosts adorn the front of the console, lighting up when switched on. The CX40+ joystick bundled in with the console has also been customised, similarly bright yellow with an image of Pac-Man sitting at the top of the stick and pellets dotted around the circumference of the joystick.
It all makes for a wonderful tribute to the highest selling Atari 2600 game of all time. But, what good would it be without the game itself? The package includes a cartridge containing the classic Atari 2600 game, and a newly licensed Atari 7800 port.
Will Pac-Man Leave a Pong?
Be warned: if you haven’t played the Atari 2600 version of Pac-Man before, you aren’t missing a whole lot. In order to try and get the arcade hit running on the 2600’s pretty primitive hardware, many compromises were made. The result is a technically impressive, yet largely unappealing version of the game. However, the new Atari 7800 release, primarily made by prolific Atari homebrew developer Bob DeCrescenzo, is a superb inclusion. It skews much closer to the arcade game, has an array of options and provides that more familiar Pac-Man fix you’re looking for. Also, the fact that this new cartridge will run in an original Atari 7800 is kinda bonkers. It serves as a testament to modern Atari’s retro bonafides.
I tried out my 40+ year old River Raid cartridge in the Atari 2600+ PAC-MAN Edition and it ran with no issues. Furthermore, you aren’t out of luck if you don’t have a stockpile of Atari cartridges just sitting around. Atari are producing new cartridges from their classic library, as well as providing official releases for modern homebrew games. It’s niche for sure, but it also serves as a wonderful appreciation for the history of the company, and the devoted community that have kept them alive.
Quite the Pac-age
Along with the release of the console, there are four additional colours for the joystick, each featuring a different ghost. Given you can only plug in two joysticks at a time, five separate variants may seem like overkill, but these are clearly targeted towards a collector audience that I’m sure will eat these up like Pac-Man on a cherry. The new console is also compatible with the previously released CX30+ paddles and CX78+ gamepad.
The full package retails for $269.95, and includes:
- Atari 2600+ PAC-MAN Edition video game system
- Pac-Man: Double Feature cartridge
- CX-40+ Wireless Joystick PAC-MAN Edition
- 2x USB charging/power cables
- HDMI cable
- DB9 dongle (to wirelessly connect your joystick to the Atari 2600+) and a USB dongle (to wirelessly connect the joystick to a PC, a really neat feature!)
I’m always disappointed when devices like these don’t come with a power brick for the USB cable. That being said, it’s an increasingly common occurrence which I probably need to get over by this point.
Pac-Man Fever
In the end, this is a device made for a very specific audience. And I imagine that audience has already decided if they want to buy one of these or not. Even still, the build quality and attention to detail is top-notch and adds a layer of quality to what is typically a hit-or-miss proposition with these retro console releases.
Atari have been in outstanding form when it comes to respecting their legacy and this collaboration keeps that streak going. While the Atari 2600 Pac-Man game is somewhat dire to play, it deserves recognition for its place in games history. By including a brand new Atari 7800 version of Pac-Man that pays far more respect to its arcade roots, the actual playability of this console skyrockets beyond being just a mere novelty. There’s easier ways to play these games, but the nostalgia and charm of the Atari 2600+ PAC-MAN Edition is hard to match.
The Atari 2600+ PAC-MAN Edition is available December 12th and can be purchased a variety of retail outlets including Amazon, EB Games, Big W and The Gamesmen.
An Atari 2600+ PAC-MAN Edition was supplied to Quest Daily for the purpose of this article.
