Atari 7800

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Atari 7800 ProSystem
North American 7800
Developer General Computer Corporation
Manufacturer Atari, Inc.
Atari Corporation
Type Home video game console
Generation Third
Release date NA: May 1986
PAL: 1987
Discontinued January 1, 1992
Predecessor Atari 5200
Successor Atari Panther (canceled)
Atari XEGS
Emulated

The Atari 7800 was a console produced by Atari and released in 1986. The CPU was a custom designed variant of the MOS Technology 6502 that ran at 1.19-1.79 MHz. It had 4KB of RAM and a display of 320x200. It attempted to directly compete with the Nintendo Entertainment System, but ultimately failed to do so. It's best known nowadays as the first ever home console to come with integrated backwards compatibility, specifically for the 2600.

Emulators

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Before editing, review the Getting involved and Recommended pages. See system requirements page for performance demand of the emulators.
See tables for hardware variants, enhancements, hardware features and peripherals.
For more details such as licensing, programming language, emulation method, visit each emulator’s dedicated page.
Name Platform(s) Latest version Active License Compatibility libretro Accuracy Recommended
PC / x86
BupSystem Windows 0.9.6.4 Proprietary High
MAME Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD git artifacts[lower-alpha 1]
0.289
GPLv2
BSD-3-Clause
High
A7800 Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD 5.2 GPLv2 (Copyleft) High
ProSystem Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD 1.3 (Windows)
Rikki & Vikki (source)
git (libretro)
[lower-alpha 2] GPLv2 (Copyleft) ?
EMU7800 Windows 5.7.0.0 GPLv2 (Copyleft) Mid
BizHawk Windows Linux 2.11.1 MIT
GPLv2
?
Pantheon Windows 16.458 Proprietary ? ?
Mobile / ARM
EMU7800 Android 1.8 GPLv2 (Copyleft) Mid
Provenance iOS iPadOS AppleTV 3.3.0
git
? ? ? ?
Manic EMU iOS iPadOS 2.0.0
git
AGPLv3 (Copyleft) ? ? ?
Consoles
PSP7800 PlayStation Portable 1.4 GPLv2 (Copyleft) Mid
Wii7800 Wii git GPLv2 (Copyleft) Mid
A7800DS Nintendo DS 5.2c GPLv2 (Copyleft) Mid
ProSystem Nintendo GameCube Wii U Nintendo 3DS
Switch PlayStation Portable
PlayStation 3 PlayStation 4
PlayStation Vita Xbox One Xbox Series X/S
1.3 ~ [lower-alpha 2] GPLv2 (Copyleft) ?
  1. CI-Windows CI-Linux CI-Macos
  2. 2.0 2.1 Libretro core only.

Enhancements

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Name BupSystem MAME A7800 ProSystem

Hardware features and peripherals

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Name BupSystem MAME A7800 ProSystem
Hardware features Atari 2600 backwards compatibility ? ? ? ?
POKEY sound chip
Ballblazer and Commando game cartridges contain on-board chip to provide for better sound quality than using 7800's own chip. Also supported by Pokey editions of homebrew titles Phoenix and Pengo.
? ? ? ?
Peripherals Atari 7800 XBoard/Pokey expansion board ? ? ? ?
AtariVox ? ? ? ?
High Score Cartridge ? ? ? ?
Keyboard
Starpath Supercharger ? ? ? ?
Telegames 7800 Super Deluxe Joystick ? ? ? ?
XE Light Gun ?
Misc. BupChip audio expansion ? ? ?
Frying ? ? ? ?
lSUBPAR Memory Mapper ? ? ? ?
Rikki & Vikki's SOUPER Memory Mapper ? Tachi's fork and libretro PR support
SUBLET Memory Mapper ? ? ? ?
Atari 7800 Development Card ? ? ? ?

Rikki & Vikki

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PenguiNet's Rikki & Vikki is a special 7800 game using the SOUPER Memory Mapper, you have to add extra code to the emulator to make it work. The developers of MAME never considered buying its game cartridges. Now the new game cartridges are no longer officially available for purchase, and you can only play the Windows version of it (which includes the ROM anyways), so it's impossible for all MAME-based 7800 emulators to ever support this game.

tachimarten or Tachi added Rikki & Vikki support for ProSystem and libretro. It's a pity that Greg Stanton no longer updates ProSystem. You can only download its code from Tachi's Rikki branch and compile it yourself because Tachi does not provide an installation package.

BupSystem is the only emulator officially reported to support this game, despite RetroAchievements users stating otherwise (there are still some unfixed issues such as the audio not playing).

Atari(edit)