Retro Games THE400 Mini

I have original Atari 8 and 16bit hardware but this is perfect for plug and play use in the 20’s. The pick up and play nature of the system is generally good but the control system and interface is a bit clunky and could be better. Most mini systems are pretty intuitive but the 400 mini is less so and takes a bit of work plus some of the games you are able to download yourself and add through SD card take a bit of tweaking to run- adding basic on some games helps, putting it into 130XE mode also. In fairness these issues are also present on Retro Games highly successful and otherwise wonderful A500 Amiga mini too. The 8bit Atari systems are somewhat undervalued in the UK apart from a dedicated hardcore following -this new machine throws a wonderful light onto a computer line that revolutionised gaming - the original system appeared in 1979 and was way way ahead of its time- it took the Commodore 64 to appear in 1982 before a system of comparable power was on the market. I’m going to 5 star it but feel that the beginner may need to watch a few YouTube tutorials to get the most out of it. Given the quality of the games and the Atari 8bit line in general I think that it’s well worth the effort.

Under the hood, it seems to be something like a raspberry pi Or a 5 V powered nano computer with 25 built-in Atari cartridges. The price is reasonable at a penny under £100, considering that it is five Atari consoles in one , the entire range. Oh, one thing to note don’t be like me and spend five minutes scratching your head over why you can’t set up the initial set up because it doesn’t seem to obey the joystick directions that you push the stick iin. I thought the joystick was broken, But what the little startup booklet doesn’t Obvious is that the Atari joystick remake is an improvement on the original because The dotted line around the joystick with the up down left right markers are buttons! D’oh! It is powered by a British ARM processor With 128 Mb of storage memory more than enough for plenty of cartridges. The 30 second rewind function is genius Along with the ability to save your games. The Minoi400 I would say is not even a microcomputer In fact, it is a nano computer, No larger than a paperback and later than an iPhone 14. Upon opening the box, it may surprise you to find how dinky and cute it is. In fact, inside the case, they had to add four small weights to give it a little bit of heft. In order to play other cartridges aside from the 25 that are built in you will need to put them on a fat 32 format thumb drive. One thing you might want to do is remap a control or two in case you accidentally press one of the buttons that resets the game I did this several times with star Raiders two until I realised I was pressing the right direction button on the joystick By accident. Emulation is flawless. Buy with confidence. This little unit will replace all of your Atari consoles and you can sell all of the others because this one is ALL of them. This thing doesn’t even run warm it’s barely lukewarm. its processor has a passive heat sink. I noticed no problems, no glitches no slowdowns nothing. I am thinking very hard of something, but I don’t like about it, but I can’t think of anything. Nothing is ever perfect but this is pretty close hence the four stars. I’m not giving it five because there must be something about it that I’ve missed out is a quirk or a niggle but I struggle to think of one.

Nice little recreation of an Atari 400, in a very mini format, 4 USB ports at the front allow for a proper keyboard to be plugged in and other controllers like PS5 or X-Box may be used. There is a virtual keyboard available if needed. 25 decent games are preloaded and the ability to load in more Atari games via USB add in more utility. It comes with a HDMI cable to plug into tv or monitor and uses a USB cable for power. Only downside the traditional keys on the front are cosmetic but then it'd be a bit too tiny to type on anyhow!

A really good tilt at an Atari 8bit Mini. Nearly perfect too, it would have been 5 stars if it had worked a bit better with the bulk of 5200 ROMs and if they offered a USB paddle option but apart from that it is great. The joystick is first rate, often a weakness on retro remakes.

I had a 600XL back in the 80's so couldn't wait to try out all the old 8-bit Atari games. I highly recommend the 400 mini which is a perfect miniature of the old 400. It's really easy to set up and navigate the menu's etc. There are some great games included and you can add to the library with a USB.

I've held off a few weeks before reviewing. This is very much the same as what you would expect from their other retro products which I also have. The 64 Mini and Maxi, and the 500 Mini. I had an Atari 800 XL and I would have preferred that style of case but this one is actually growing on me. The build quality is good and the provided joystick is excellent. I had concerns about accidentally pressing the additional buttons as mentioned in other reviews but honestly it hasn't been an issue at all for me. I only had success playing 800/XL games from the USB. 2600 games were hit and miss. 7800 wouldn't even show up the files and 5200, though showing, would not run and go straight to the notepad. There may be workarounds or the community may provide fixes. I've more or less got this just for collection. Playing from USB is not perfect at the moment but that could change with updates or patches. For me, it's just about adding to my collection and being on display . It's not my go to console but the controller is great and responsive and I have had fun with the games that I have played. Mr. Do and Bruce Lee were my games of the time but I've played them too much and not much of a challenge as they once were. The only game I have never completed and still find difficult is Manic Miner on the ZX Spectrum, maybe one day I will do it.

The unit looks great, but is almost shockingly tiny. It is wonderful to play eight-bit Atari games on a TV via HDMI. Audio and video are of a high standard. The problem is the control buttons on the CX Stick included with the console. While playing Pole Position, for instance (not an included game, but playable via a USB stick) I accidentally and repeatedly pressed the Top button, which reset the games to the start screen. This happened so many times, especially when I was absolutely immersed in the game, that it became very irritating! Hopefully Retro Games will issue a firmware update that at least mitigates this.

I had an Atari 400 and 800xl back in the 80s and loved them both so pre ordered the 400mini months ago. I've never bought a device from Retro Games before so no previous experience. I watched a short promotional video which convinced me to pull the trigger but to be honest my expectations were very low. I expected a cheap toy with limited functionality. Well I got that wrong. First off, build quality is excellent. The 400 is tiny, it fits in the palm of my hand. I laughed out loud when I opened the box, it's so small but the detail is excellent. There are 4 USB ports on the front for controller or keyboards, the packaged joystick is excellent quality. The games play flawlessly. The joystick contains additional buttons for added functionality such as navigating menus, configurations etc. Crucially, you can load a virtual keyboard. I plugged a physical USB keyboard and it worked perfectly. Power is via USB C which is my preference. USB on the back can host a formatted drive for loading any owned Roms. Overall had a blast with the device, a nostalgia fuelled trip back in time!