Atari Flashback 3 in the home – Reviewer Rob Armstrong

Atari Flashback 3 - instructions, controllers and main unit

We gave the Atari Flashback 3 to one of our Team who is getting back into playing retrogames unlike many of us! Here is how he faired playing the Atari Flashback console

"When I was a kid all my friends had the latest Amiga 64 or the Nintendo NES. My parents didn’t want to buy just a games machine and so bought an Acorn Electron, a budget version of the BBC schools computer. Thanks Dad!

So now I have children I was keen to bring joy into our house this Christmas and leave education for the classroom. Which is why I have an Atari Flashback 3 console sitting at the back of the wardrobe but there’s no way I can wait until Christmas to give it go. Once you’ve set up the plug and play system you’re presented with a menu of 60 games to play. I have to be honest some of the games I’ve never played before, however lots of the titles bring back nostalgic feelings. Asteroids, Tic-tac-toe, Centipede, Dodgems and Video Pinball were all games that I spent hours playing at my mates’ houses. 

Many of the games are two player, however they will have to wait until Christmas Day before I can play them properly. There’s a game called ‘Surround’ which is like a 2 player predecessor to Snakes on the old Nokia mobile phones. Its simplicity is infectious but I’ve had to turn the TV volume down because the basic 80’s sound effects become slightly drilling after 20 minutes. I can already see that of the 60 games there are going to be some that see more action in our household than others, plus with so many to choose from, the constant temptation is to constantly try a new one.

If you only played each game for an average of 10 minutes that’s already 10 hours of retro gaming. If you’re interested in getting an Atari Flashback 3, just bear in mind that these are the original games which means the resolution of the image quality isn’t going to be excellent or widescreen, no matter what type of HD TV you play it on. That said if you’re looking for classic retro gaming, with simple yet addictive game play, then this is probably right up your street. There’s not much you could fault about the Atari Flashback 3 however if I could make one recommendation to the manufacturers, I’d point out that the 2 metre controller cable doesn’t quite stretch to the sofa. But theres a new version  the Flashback 4 with wireless controllers to solve this issue!  I’m quite aware that by the evening of Christmas Day my son will probably be better than me at most games. I’d put it down to the amount of time he spends playing on the iPad, which is on a slightly different playing field to my old Acorn Electron. Although for the time being I’ve got a few more weeks of practice."


Thanks to Rob Armstrong for his review of the Atari Flashback 3
To get your hands on a copy click here: http://www.funstock.co.uk/atari-flashback-3-console

To order the wireless Atari Flashback 4 click here http://www.funstock.co.uk/atari-flashback-4-console

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