What is in the box

1 joy pad with an audio and video RCA cable permanently attached to it. There is also an instruction manual for the system and games.

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 3 AAA batteries instead of the 4 AA batteries that most units take.

The Manual

The manual is small booklet that  contains information on the setup of the paddles. It also has instructions for each game. Very similar to the original Activision manuals they also include tips and how to gain a patch (Activision use to award jacket patches if you managed to get to a certain score.)  The instructions are good, the only real complain is that the manual could have been larger as could the print.

The Console (controller)

There is no real console as all the games are contained within the joy pad. The controller contains all the necessary circuits, chips and programming to play the games. Being a game pad it uses a set of 4 buttons for direction, it is relatively easy to hit two at once for a diagonal although it does cause a few  problems  with games like Chopper Command but it is fairly easy to overlook. There is only a single fire button, a power switch, a menu and reset switch. This controller is an odd shape and feels funny to hold at first, until you figure out how it fits into your hands. Then it works okay.

The Menu

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

The Games

Even though this is from a different manufacturer the games selected are different than the last, except Spider Fighter. It is a very nice selection of games that all work well for a single player and the inclusion of Pitfall 2 is pretty cool.  The games do not have variations like the original cartridges at best you have an easy and hard version like the original difficulty switch settings. The games are almost all playable, they look pretty close to the originals and can still provide a lot of fun. Kaboom! Like any paddle game does not translate well to a game pad and has lost its charm. The sounds are not accurate compared with the originals and some of the colors seem to be off, but nothing that seems to cause real game play problems. Overall the games are still fun and very reminiscent of the originals.

Techno Source Activision Game Pad

The Activision 10 IN 1 Plug and play controller from Techno Source plays recreations of Activision games that were originally made for the Atari 2600. The controller is designed like a gam pad. It is slightly better designed than the original Toymax Activision game pad. This new game pad includes 10 more games, with Spider Fighter being the only one duplicated. The selection of games actually makes a bit more sense as none of them are two player dependent.

The Internals:

but are obviously translations most likely running on the infamous NES on a chip

This Activision unit is made by Techno Source and looks like a game pad similar to the Toymax but a much better design.. The system isn’t an Atari it shows classic signs of being a NES on a chip though. The sound and colors are wrong as well as the odd collision issues that shows up. Overall though whatever they are using inside it is a functional unit and the recreations run well. This is the only unit that doesn’t require 4 AA batteries but uses only 3 AAA, this doesn’t really make it any cheaper to operate though.

Final Thoughts:

The design is a little strange but the giant Activision V on it is kind of cool. The button placements all work out okay and the  games are actually playable. Out of the Activision units that have been made this is probably the best of them. It would have been nice if they had included something other than Kaboom, even if it is the best known of the Activision Atari 2600 games, it doesn’t work well on a game pad. If you really want to play some classic Atari 2600 Activision games and don’t have an Atari 2600 this is about as good as you are going to get.