Jakks Atari Joystick

Jakks Pacific has a whole series of Arcade and console TV game devices. The Atari Joystick is one of the most popular. Introduced in 2003 the Joystick design fits well with the Jakks Arcade TV games even if based on a console. The Atari Joystick contains 10 LICENSED Atari 2600 games and is modeled after an original Atari Joystick. It is also a one player device that uses batteries like most other Jakks products.  

The Atari Joystick looks like the original 2600 stick with a larger base. Most of the games in the Atari 2600 Joystick are covered by the Flashback series or the paddles or both.

What is in the box

1 joystick with a audio and video RCA cable that is permanently attached to it and an instruction manual.

The Setup

To setup is like most plug and play TV games, you simply plug the audio and video cables into the corresponding jacks on your TV set. The hardest part is unscrewing the back cover to put in the required 4 AA batteries.

The Manual

The manual is a large single piece of paper that unfolds into a poster sized sheet with instructions on both sides. It contains information on how to connect the joystick to the TV and how to put batteries in it. It also explains how to select and play each game. The instructions are okay but to large  to be convent and easy to use,

The Console (controller)

There is no real console as all the chips are contained within the joysticks. The controller contains all the necessary circuits, chips and programming to play the games. This controller is just slightly larger than an original Atari Joystick so fits well into an adults hand. It does have three extra switches. One switch is for Power, one is to select a game and the other is to bring up the menu system.

The Menu

The main menu is simple to use, by moving the joystick up or down you move through the list of games. Once you have highlighted the game you wish to play you simply press the joysticks fire button to start it.

The Games

The games have variations just like the original cartridges, some even have 2 player versions. In the two player versions of games you share a joystick and compare high scores. There is no way to play at the same time as there is only one joystick. But this is a nice option.

Like most of the retro games these seem to be recreations and there are a few noticeable errors, like the purple dragon in Adventure. It is also easier to find the secret room in Adventure although the message seems to have been forgotten. .The formerly paddle games are noticeably jerky and make playing the games very difficult.  Breakouts colors are not right. The sounds are not right in a most of the games and is very noticeable in Missle Command. The games are still enjoyable, although Pong, Breakout and Circus Atari are hard to play with a joystick and the inclusion of  Volley Ball for one player is odd.  

The Internals:

It is my understanding that it does not use an Nintendo on a chip but isn’t an Atari on a chip either. It is definitely not using the same same sound chip. There seems to have been at best minor rewrites to the originals. It is more likely the games are recreations, running on some custom hardware, since there are a few major differences in the games and at least one Easter egg clue to the re-written nature of the games.

Final Thoughts:

The Atari Joystick design is great and works really well for the joystick games, but the paddle games suffer. There are other issues mostly problems with colors and sounds. Most of the quirks in the emulations you get use to fairly quickly although a few just don’t cut it.  Unless you are a real fan of Gravitar or Volley Ball there are better systems out there to spend money on. It is overall a nice controller and would be a nice addition to an Atari collection. It is in many was just a novelty though and is unlikely to attract people who don’t know what an Atari is.