Released in 1986, the Atari 7200 looked to resolve where the Atari 5200 had failed.
System Overview
The system offers full backward compatibility with Atari 2600 games and benefits from superior graphics capabilities. They also addressed the previous poor controller design issues and designed a handheld joystick and joypad for the system.
The delay in the system’s release played a big part in its modest success. Gone were the days when Atari was the key player in the industry. Since the release of the 5200, the likes of Nintendo had entered the industry. Nintendo was succeeding with their NES system and gained the exclusive commitment of developers.
This meant Atari were often left out in the cold and did not see anywhere near many games produced as a result. Sega felt the same pain from these deals, but they were able to offset this with their success in Europe and Japan, where Atari did not.
Ultimately, the Atari 7800 performed moderately well and was profitable for the company. They released one more system (the XEGS in 1987) before a hardware hiatus of 6 years, prior to the Atari Jaguar launching.
How To Emulate This System?
All About The Atari 7800 emulation is reasonably well catered for, we recommend taking a look at RetroArch if you are seeking an all-in-one solution. RetroArch emulates a large number of systems including the All About The Atari 7800. RetroArch is a front end that utilises emulator ‘cores’, it is reasonably easy to use and has lots of good supporting documentation on how to use it. RetroArch is available across a number of platforms including Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Raspberry Pi, and many consoles. Take a look at our quick start guide for RetroArch which can get you up and running in 5 minutes.
Also, check out the other All About The Atari 7800 emulators we enjoy using:
| Emulator | Description | Platform |
|---|---|---|
| Stella | Stella is a well established Atari 2600 VCS emulator for multiple platforms | Windows / Mac / Linux |
| Altirra | Altirra is now fairly old, but does emulate the Atari 400/800, 1200XL, 600/800XL, 130XE, XEGS, and 5200 systems | Windows |
| ProSystem | ProSystem is a popular Atari 7800 Emulator | Windows |
Be sure to check out our article on the best Atari 7800 emulators.
Raspberry Pi All About The Atari 7800 Emulator
The Raspberry Pi is a compact single-board computer that has become very popular for emulating retro computers and consoles. You can buy the Pi very cheaply and has a whole community supporting and building accessories and applications that are compatible with it.
Significantly, for Retro Gaming enthusiasts, the Raspberry Pi offers fantastic round emulation of many systems. It offers the ability to play All About The Atari 7800 games on HDTVs via HDMI or older CRT TVs via composite outputs. Combining the Raspberry Pi with Retropie, you have a device capable of emulating anything from the Atari 2600 to the Sony PlayStation.
A lifelong avid gamer and computing enthusiast, Matt has decades of Retro Gaming experience. Now over 40 years old, Matt now even considers himself retro, but fortunately, nobody has developed a Matt emulator (not yet at least!).