Original console The original Atari Flashback was released in November 2004, with a retail price of $45. and its controllers are also smaller versions of the 7800's joystick controllers, but with the addition of "pause" and "select" buttons. The controllers are not compatible with the original 7800 console. It was designed by Atari veteran Curt Vendel and his company Legacy Engineering Group, which designs other home video game and video arcade products. Craig Harris of
IGN was critical of the game conversions and opined that original copies of these games were superior, writing "it's just horrifying to see Atari, a company that outright owns these games and the original hardware, produce such shoddy renditions of the classic 2600 and 7800 games." Harris complained of problems such as flicker, poor
collision detection, and missing sound. He praised the controllers for their reduced size, finding them more comfortable to use, but he was disappointed that they are incompatible with the original 7800. It is a small near-replica of the 2600, about two-thirds the size of the original. Its controllers are also replicas of the 2600 joysticks. He recreated the original Atari hardware on a single chip, allowing games to run as they originally did. The console's hardware makes it easy to
mod. The Flashback 2's
motherboard can be altered to accept 2600 cartridges, a concept that the console was designed around. The Flashback 2 was better received compared to its predecessor. The Flashback 2 sold 860,000 units in the United States. A
PAL version was never released.
Games Aside from the 40 built-in games, A few of the included games are
homebrews.
Atari Flashback 2+ In January 2010, Atari announced pre-orders for the Atari Flashback 2+, to be released on February 22, 2010. It included 20 classic Atari 2600 games and 20 new Atari games. The game lineup was mostly the same as the original Flashback 2. However, games such as
Pitfall!,
River Raid, and
Wizard did not appear and were replaced by sports games.
Atari Flashback 3 The Atari Flashback 3 was manufactured by
AtGames and was released in September 2011. The Flashback 3 included 60 built-in
Atari 2600 games, 2 joysticks, and a case design that was similar to the Flashback 2. Unlike its predecessors, the Flashback 3 used
emulation. It could not be modded to play 2600 cartridges. 15 more than the Flashback 3. AtGames also released several alternate versions, including the
Atari Flashback 4: 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition. This included a set of replica
Atari 2600 paddles, five collectible posters, and a copy of the original Atari joystick patent signed by
Nolan Bushnell. AtGames also developed the Atari Flashback 64, a
Walmart exclusive version with wired controllers and only 64 games, including
Space Invaders. Some versions of the Flashback 4 included a 76th "bonus" game,
Millipede.
Atari Flashback 5 The Atari Flashback 5 was released on October 1, 2014. Like the previous two releases, it was built by AtGames. It was the same as the Flashback 4, with infrared wireless joysticks, but it added 17 more games, increasing the total to 92 games.
Atari Flashback 6 The Atari Flashback 6 was released on September 15, 2015. Like the previous three releases, it was built by AtGames. It was the same as the Flashback 5, with infrared wireless joysticks, but it added 8 more games, increasing the total to 100 games.
Atari Flashback 7 The Atari Flashback 7 was released on October 1, 2016. Like the previous four releases, it was built by AtGames. It is the same as the Flashback 6 with the infrared wireless joysticks, but it adds one more game -
Frogger - increasing the total to 101 games. The Atari Flashback 7 Deluxe includes two wired paddle controllers in addition to the wireless joysticks.
Atari Flashback 8 The Atari Flashback 8 was released in September 2017 by AtGames. Several variations were released. A basic model, the Flashback 8 Classic, featured 105 games and two wired controllers. The Gold edition had "save" and "pause" features as well as
scan line filtering. It also allowed the player to rewind gameplay by several seconds. In addition, it introduced
HDMI output for
720p.
Atari Flashback 9 The Atari Flashback 9 (Model No: AR3050) was released on November 15, 2018, by
AtGames. It included two wired controllers and 110 games. The Atari Flashback 9 Gold (Model No: AR3650) included 120 games and wireless controllers. Both versions featured an
SD card slot and an output of
720p. The SD slot on both basic and gold models was used for firmware updates, downloaded games, and saved game states. The Atari Flashback 9 (Model No: AR3230) was a
Family Dollar exclusive. It included two wired controllers and 110 games, and it featured
composite video output along with an SD slot.
Atari Flashback X The Atari Flashback X was released in 2019 and attempted to capitalize on the mini console trend, started by releases like the
NES Classic Edition and
Sega Genesis Mini, with a case redesign that more faithfully captured the aesthetic of being a near-perfect physical replica of an Atari 2600 in miniature form. Like the previous releases, it was built by
AtGames. The basic model (Model No: AR3060) included two wired controllers and 110 games. The deluxe model (Model No: AR3060S) included 10 additional games. A firmware update through the AtGames website allowed both models to download more games.
Atari Flashback 50th Anniversary Edition The Atari Flashback 50th Anniversary Edition saw a limited release in 2022. Physically it was a slight re-coloration of the Atari Flashback X. It featured brass switches instead of chrome, and it had the gold "Atari 50th" logo stamped onto its wood-veneer trim. Like the previous releases, it was built by
AtGames. The basic model (Model No: AR3070) included two wired standard controllers and 110 games. The gold model (Model No: AR3080) included two wired standard controllers, two wired paddle controllers, and 130 games. Only the gold model supported official firmware updates from the AtGames website to allow more games to be downloaded.
Atari Flashback 12 Gold The Atari Flashback 12 Gold (Model No: AR3080B) was given a limited release in 2023. Although it features Gold in its title, like past Atari Flashback releases, there is no basic model of the Flashback 12. Physically it is a slight re-coloration of the Atari Flashback X and Atari Flashback 50th Anniversary Edition that amalgamates the two prior aesthetics. It features brass switches, as seen on the Atari Flashback 50th Anniversary Edition, but the standard silver Atari logo is stamped onto its wood-veneer trim as seen on the Atari Flashback X. Like the previous releases, it was built by
AtGames. The model includes two wired standard controllers, two wired paddle controllers, and 130 games. The list of 130 games included is identical to the Atari Flashback 50th Anniversary Edition Gold model. The Atari Flashback 12 Gold features support for official firmware updates from the AtGames website to allow for the download of more games.
Games by Flashback version } ==Handheld consoles==