Atari 5200 Core

I just noticed that there’s no 5200 emulator, and was a little disappointed.

We grew up with one in my house, it is truly an underrated system. It had superior ports of H.E.R.O. (best Atari game ever) and Ms. Pacman, and even though it had a small library of games, it had a lot of good ones.

Kat5200 is the standalone emulator I’m currently using. It’s not perfect. The biggest issue is control mapping. There are enough potential mappings to map the Analog, both fire buttons, and every single button on the number pad, but even after you configure everything, analogs and pressure sensitive triggers, as well as the d-pad, do not function in the emulator.

But it’s also the only 5200 emulator I’ve found that you can map both fire buttons. M.E.S.S. for example, when I tried it a few years ago, would only let you configure fire button 1. A lot of 5200 emulators I’ve found are like that - because they were trying to emulate the Atari 800, which from what I understand is identical hardware.

Anyways it would be nice if Atari 5200 received a little bit of love.

1 Like

5200 is the only pre-PS2 system i can’t emulate in RetroArch for this reason.

MESS seems to be the only way to do it and that has problems with the second button, like you said. It’s impossible to play Moon Patrol for instance.

KAT5200 seems to be the only proper way to emulate the system. There is also Altirra which is supposedly even better but i never managed to make 5200 work, it always nags me about some wrong configuration. I think the later is also open source so maybe that’s the only chance for a libretro version?

Why would you play the 5200 version over the arcade original, which plays fine in MAME?

Why would you play the NES version of Contra, when you have the arcade version?

Because you don’t have nostalgic memories of playing the arcade version every time you had a friend over.

5200 has a ton of games that utilize that 2nd fire button and I always thought it was lame that M.E.S.S. did a half ass job of emulating it. It’s funny to me though, that 5200 has so few fans, but the ones that are, are true fans. All I ever read about it online was “those non-centering analogs sucked”. And that’s funny to me because I don’t ever remember playing a game where you needed the joystick to center perfectly - it centered ‘somewhat’ on it’s own, and you just got used to it.

Super Breakout, for example, had a very unique ‘feel’ to it because of the non centering joysticks, and I can’t imagine playing that game any other way. Much more fun than playing Arkanoid on NES with a D-Pad, although I never got to use the vaus controller.

Contra’s arcade and NES versions are different enough that I could see arguments preferring one over the other or liking both for different reasons. Seems the majority prefer the NES version though. With Moon Patrol the arcade and 5200 versions seem identical besides better graphics and sound in the arcade version.

I guess I just stand on the side of always wanting the best version of a game, nostalgia be damned. I have some nostalgia for the Genesis versions of Paper Boy and Golden Axe for example, but once I found out there were arcade versions with better graphics and sound I never felt the need to revisit the console ports.

At least with the H.E.R.O. example in the OP I can understand wanting to play the best version of that game. Even if it’s a hassle with the current 5200 emulation options. There is a SG1000 version of that game that looks technically better, but maybe a bit too cartoony compared the the original.

I will have to check that out, I wasn’t aware of it’s existence.

Emulation isn’t only about “playing a game”. It’s also about preservation and archiving. I also use it to compare ports. For instance, i recently played all console DOOM ports to make a detailed comparison. Yes, i even wanted the 3DO version. Why not? It has it’s own quirks after all (like the soundtrack).

Also, Moon Patrol isn’t the only 5200 game. You don’t think that a whole system deserves to be emulated properly in RetroArch because some games have better ports to other systems? That’s not what emulation is all about.

1 Like

The preservation aspect is understandable and I find some port comparisons interesting too. I like Retro Core’s “Battle of the Ports” series.

At the end of the day though, if you are just looking to play the specific games in the OP, it’s easier to play the “better” versions with MAME and Genesis Plus GX (supports SG1000). That’s all I was saying.

I just thought I’d share with any Atari 5200 fans that I found an Atari 5200 emulator that is vastly superior to anything else I’ve tried. It is called Altirra.

You’ll know as soon as you open it that it’s a cut above Kat5200. It’s kind of a pain to setup, and it isn’t the most intuitive setup, but you can fully customize every single button (unlike Kat5200 that won’t properly register numeric pad buttons mapped to analogs), and the analogs (once you configure axis 1 and 2) actually center after releasing the analog back to neutral (unlike MESS).

Best 5200 emulator I’ve found. If this could somehow make it into Retroarch, I would be a happy man.

Here’s the link, check it out.

http://www.virtualdub.org/altirra.html

Also GemaH, the latest version of Mame works with the 2nd fire button. Not sure when they fixed it but it’s good that progress has been made. Analog sticks are a mess though, especially with Super Breakout. The sensitivity is terrible, and the inputs don’t auto center like they are supposed to (as in Super Breakout). But, for games like H.E.R.O. where the analog functions more or less like a D-Pad, it is fine.

You can use MESS softwarelists and the MAME core to emulate Atari 5200. Use my playlist:


A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\aep.zip#aep.bin
A.E. (USA) (Proto)
A:\RetroArch\cores\mame_libretro.dll
Arcade (MAME)
35484751|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\decathln.zip#decathln.bin
Activision Decathlon, The (USA)
A:\RetroArch\cores\mame_libretro.dll
Arcade (MAME)
F43E7CD0|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\asteroid.zip#asteroid.bin
Asteroids (USA) (Proto)
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38480891|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\achase.zip#astrchse.bin
Astro Chase (USA)
A:\RetroArch\cores\mame_libretro.dll
Arcade (MAME)
4019ECEC|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\barbball.zip#barbball.bin
Barroom Baseball (USA) (Proto)
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21D19C8F|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\bzone.zip#bzone.bin
Battlezone (USA) (Proto)
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B3B8E314|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\beamridr.zip#beamrid.bin
Beamrider (USA)
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9BAE58DC|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\berzerk.zip#berzerk.bin
BerZerk (USA)
A:\RetroArch\cores\mame_libretro.dll
Mame
BE3CD348|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\blckbelt.zip#blckbelt.bin
Black Belt (USA) (Proto)
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ED47B0D8|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\blaster.zip#blaster.bin
Blaster (USA) (Proto)
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C8F9C094|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\blueprnt.zip#blueprnt.bin
Blue Print (USA)
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0624E6E7|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\boogie.zip#boogie.bin
Boogie (USA) (Demo)
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3BD5FDD6|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\bbsb.zip#bbstrksb.bin
Bounty Bob Strikes Back! (USA)
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7873C6DD|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\buckrog.zip#buckrog.bin
Buck Rogers - Planet of Zoom (USA)
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04807705|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\riveraid.zip#riveraid.bin
Carol Shaw's River Raid (USA)
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09FC7648|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\cblast.zip#cblast.bin
Castle Blast (USA) (Unl)
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7C988054|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\ccrisis.zip#ccrisis.bin
Castle Crisis (USA) (Unl)
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D50E4061|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\centiped.zip#centiped.bin
Centipede (USA)
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536A70FE|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\choplift.zip#choplift.bin
Choplifter! (USA)
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9AD53BBC|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\congo.zip#congo.bin
Congo Bongo (USA)
A:\RetroArch\cores\mame_libretro.dll
Arcade (MAME)
F1F42BBD|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\cntrmsre.zip#cntrmsre.bin
Countermeasure (USA)
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FD541C80|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\pitfall2.zip#pitfall2.bin
David Crane's Pitfall II - Lost Caverns (USA)
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4B910461|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\defender.zip#defender.bin
Defender (USA)
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BD52623B|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\digdug.zip#digdug.bin
Dig Dug (USA)
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6A687F9C|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\dfactor.zip#dredfctr.bin
Dreadnaught Factor, The (USA)
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460DEF2D|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\flegacy.zip#finalleg.bin
Final Legacy (USA) (Proto)
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D3BD3221|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\friskyt.zip#friskyt.bin
Frisky Tom (USA) (Proto)
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04B299A4|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\frogger.zip#frogger.bin
Frogger (USA)
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AE7E3444|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\frogger2.zip#frogger2.bin
Frogger II - Threeedeep! (USA)
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0AF19345|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\galaxian.zip#galaxian.bin
Galaxian (USA)
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3EF4A23F|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\gorf.zip#gorf.bin
Gorf (USA)
A:\RetroArch\cores\mame_libretro.dll
Arcade (MAME)
E955DB74|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\gremlins.zip#gremlins.bin
Gremlins (USA)
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063EC2C4|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\gyruss.zip#gyruss.bin
Gyruss (USA)
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CFD4A7F9|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\hero.zip#hero.bin
H.E.R.O. (USA)
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18A73AF3|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\jbond.zip#jamesbnd.bin
James Bond 007 (USA)
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D9AE4518|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\joust.zip#joust.bin
Joust (USA)
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BFD30C01|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\jrpacman.zip#jrpacman.bin
Jr. Pac-Man (USA) (Proto)
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59983C40|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\jungleh.zip#jungleh.bin
Jungle Hunt (USA)
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2C676662|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\kshoot.zip#krazysht.bin
K-Razy Shoot-Out (USA)
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EE702214|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\kaboom.zip#kaboom.bin
Kaboom! (USA)
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420F5D0B|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\kangaroo.zip#kangaroo.bin
Kangaroo (USA)
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ECFA624F|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\keykaper.zip#keystone.bin
Keystone Kapers (USA)
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8FE3BB2C|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\koffiyk.zip#koffiyk.bin
Koffi - Yellow Kopter (USA) (Unl)
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917BE656|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\laststar.zip#laststar.bin
Last Starfighter, The (USA) (Proto)
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83517703|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\looneyh.zip#loontoon.bin
Looney Tunes Hotel (USA) (Proto)
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84DF4925|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\mario.zip#mario.bin
Mario Bros. (USA)
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873742F1|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\meebzork.zip#meebzork.bin
Meebzork (USA) (Proto)
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9FB13411|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\megmania.zip#megamnia.bin
MegaMania (USA)
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240A1E1A|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\meteorit.zip#meteorit.bin
Meteorites (USA)
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AB8E035B|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\microgam.zip#microgam.bin
Microgammon SB (USA) (Proto)
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931A454A|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\milliped.zip#milliped.bin
Millipede (USA) (Proto)
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969CFE1A|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\mine2049.zip#mine2049.bin
Miner 2049er Starring Bounty Bob (USA)
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7DF1ADFB|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\minigolf.zip#minigolf.bin
Miniature Golf (USA) (Proto)
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C597C087|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\missile.zip#missile.bin
Missile Command (USA)
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44D3FF6F|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\montezum.zip#montezum.bin
Montezuma's Revenge featuring Panama Joe (USA)
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2A640143|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\mpatrol.zip#mpatrol.bin
Moon Patrol (USA)
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D0B2F285|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\mking.zip#mntnking.bin
Mountain King (USA)
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0F24243C|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\docastle.zip#docastle.bin
Mr. Do!'s Castle (USA)
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AA55F9BE|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\mspacman.zip#mspacman.bin
Ms. Pac-Man (USA)
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752F5EFD|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\pacman.zip#pacman.bin
Pac-Man (USA)
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8873EF51|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\pengo.zip#pengo.bin
Pengo (USA)
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E4F8BA8C|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\pitfall.zip#pitfall.bin
Pitfall! (USA)
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B2887833|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\polepos.zip#polepos.bin
Pole Position (USA)
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ABC2D1E4|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\popeye.zip#popeye.bin
Popeye (USA)
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A18A9A40|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\qbert.zip#qbert.bin
Q-bert (USA)
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3FE4A401|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\qix.zip#qix.bin
QIX (USA)
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AEA6D2C2|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\quintana.zip#questroo.bin
Quest for Quintana Roo (USA)
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B5F3402B|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\rsbaseb.zip#rsbsebll.bin
RealSports Baseball (USA)
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44166592|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\rsbasket.zip#rsbktbll.bin
RealSports Basketball (USA)
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DD217276|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\rsbasket2.zip#rsbktbll2.bin
RealSports Basketball (USA) (82-11-05) (Proto)
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0F996184|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\rsbasket1.zip#rsbktbll1.bin
RealSports Basketball (USA) (83-10-31) (Proto)
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C90196FA|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\rsfootb.zip#rsftball.bin
RealSports Football (USA)
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4336C2CC|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\rssoccer.zip#rssoccer.bin
RealSports Soccer (USA)
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ECBD1853|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\rstennis.zip#rstennis.bin
RealSports Tennis (USA)
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10F33C90|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\fractal.zip#fractal.bin
Rescue on Fractalus! (USA)
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762C591B|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\roadrun.zip#roadrun.bin
Road Runner (USA) (Proto)
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A97606AB|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\robotron.zip#robotron.bin
Robotron 2084 (USA)
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4252ABD9|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\spcedngn.zip#spcedngn.bin
Space Dungeon (USA)
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B68D61E8|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\spaceinv.zip#spaceinv.bin
Space Invaders (USA)
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DE5C354A|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\shuttle.zip#spceshut.bin
Space Shuttle - A Journey Into Space (USA)
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387365DC|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\spitfire.zip#spitfire.bin
Spitfire (USA) (Proto)
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3C311303|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\sprtgoof.zip#sprtgoof.bin
Sport Goofy (USA) (Proto)
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73B5B6FB|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\starraid.zip#starraid.bin
Star Raiders (USA)
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7D819A9F|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\startrek.zip#startrek.bin
Star Trek - Strategic Operations Simulator (USA)
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69F23548|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\jedidsb.zip#starwars.bin
Star Wars - Return of the Jedi - Death Star Battle (USA)
A:\RetroArch\cores\mame_libretro.dll
Arcade (MAME)
0675F0A5|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\starwars.zip#swa.bin
Star Wars - The Arcade Game (USA)
A:\RetroArch\cores\mame_libretro.dll
Arcade (MAME)
75F566DF|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\stargate.zip#stargate.bin
Stargate (USA) (Proto)
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1D1CEE27|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\sbrkout.zip#sprbreak.bin
Super Breakout (USA)
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A0642110|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\scobra.zip#scobra.bin
Super Cobra (USA)
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97DEBCD2|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\spacman.zip#spacman.bin
Super Pac-Man (USA) (Proto)
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0A4DDB1E|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200	empest.zip#tempest.bin
Tempest (USA) (Proto)
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1187342F|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200	rackfld.zip#trackfld.bin
Track and Field (USA) (Proto)
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0BA22ECE|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\vanguard.zip#vanguard.bin
Vanguard (USA)
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CAAEA0A4|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\wow.zip#wow.bin
Wizard of Wor (USA)
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D6F7DDFD|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\xari.zip#xariarna.bin
Xari Arena (USA) (Proto)
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B8FAAEC3|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\xevious.zip#xevious.bin
Xevious (USA) (Proto)
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382634DC|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\yllowsub.zip#yllowsub.bin
Yellow Submarine (USA) (Demo)
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F47BC091|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\zaxxon.zip#zaxxon.bin
Zaxxon (USA)
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741746D1|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\zenji.zip#zenji.bin
Zenji (USA)
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DA228530|crc
Atari - 5200.lpl
A:\RetroArch\content\mame\a5200\zonerngr.zip#znerangr.bin
Zone Ranger (USA)
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Atari - 5200.lpl



[QUOTE=Typhon;49393]I just thought I’d share with any Atari 5200 fans that I found an Atari 5200 emulator that is vastly superior to anything else I’ve tried. It is called Altirra.

You’ll know as soon as you open it that it’s a cut above Kat5200. It’s kind of a pain to setup, and it isn’t the most intuitive setup, but you can fully customize every single button (unlike Kat5200 that won’t properly register numeric pad buttons mapped to analogs), and the analogs (once you configure axis 1 and 2) actually center after releasing the analog back to neutral (unlike MESS).

Best 5200 emulator I’ve found. If this could somehow make it into Retroarch, I would be a happy man.

Here’s the link, check it out.

http://www.virtualdub.org/altirra.html[/QUOTE]

This is great news! The 5200 is one of the few systems I haven’t gotten working because they use cores based on MAME/MESS which I absolutely can’t stand as emulators.

I’ll be integrating this into my HyperSpin system soon.

Now I just need an Intellivision, GX4000, & ColecoVision emulator and I think I can avoid MESS all-together. lol

MESS really is an apt name for that project. I respect what they’re trying to do, but the end result is quantity over quality, and they end up with a bunch of half-assed attempts at emulation.

For 5200 it is terrible. A lot of the games don’t work, and whoever worked on the analog controls must have never played a real Atari 5200, because they really missed the mark on that. But yeah Altirra is the 5200 emulator I’ve been wanting for years.

I knew as soon as I opened it by all of the interface options that it was going to be good. I was giddy when I realized all the controller mappings worked (although setting them up was a pain, and somewhat unintuitive). Then when I fired up Super Breakout and the Analogs worked properly, and fired up Galaxian and realized all the numberpad buttons were working on my PS3 controller, and then when I realized that every single game I was throwing at it was running perfectly… yeah.

Made me day. Devs. please consider looking into this for RetroArch! 5200 needs a good emulator, and this is surely the one!

I never managed to make Altirra work. Always nags me about some wrong configuration or bios. So KAT is my only option outside RetroArch.

I assume a RetroArch Altirra core for Atari 5200 will be easier to setup compared to the standalone. I hope it becomes a thing because i don’t want to use emulators for such old systems without shaders anymore.

[QUOTE=SkyHighGam3r;49465]This is great news! The 5200 is one of the few systems I haven’t gotten working because they use cores based on MAME/MESS which I absolutely can’t stand as emulators.

I’ll be integrating this into my HyperSpin system soon.

Now I just need an Intellivision, GX4000, & ColecoVision emulator and I think I can avoid MESS all-together. lol[/QUOTE]

I just wanted to give you a heads up in case you haven’t gotten around to it yet, and anyone else that wants to integrate Altirra into HyperSpin.

I spent hours trying to figure out how to make it work, but I figured it out. It turns out the module for Rocketlauncher was designed for Altirra 2.60. But you don’t want that version, because the analogs do not function correctly. Additionally, you do not want to use the latest version (2.81 as of this writing), because enough had changed in the emulator to where that wouldn’t work either.

Altirra 2.71 is the one you want. It is the most recent working version that will work with the Rocketlauncher module. The analogs worked fine with Super Breakout (the go-to game to test that), and all the numberpad buttons worked with Galaxian (the go to game to check the numberpad).

So a few tips on how to make it work for anyone who is interested. I’m not going to do it step by step because I am new to Rocketlauncher myself. I’m going to assume you know the basics, and if you don’t, you can learn like I did (and as you will have to if you want to get anything done with that interface).

  1. Add Altirra as an emulator.

  2. Make Altirra the default emulator for Atari 5200.

  3. In Rocketlauncher, go to the modules tab and highlight Altirra, and click the ‘open module folder in windows explorer’ button. There should be a file named Atari 5200 (Example).ini - rename it to Atari 5200.ini. You may have to open up the .ini file to make sure all the names referenced are the same names as your files. They follow the ‘No Intro’ standard, where for example, Super Breakout would be Super Breakout (USA).a52. Again, I’m not positive on this. Everything just worked for me, because all my 5200 games are already named according to that convention, but if you have problems, this would be the first place I would start.

  4. Open an Atari 5200 game in HyperSpin. It won’t load correctly, but you can now exit out of both the emulator and Hyperspin. Now that the module has loaded Altirra one time, Altirra is now using a special config file (or something along those lines, if I understand it correctly) that it was not using before.

  5. Open Altirra outside of Hyperspin, System/Firmware/Firmware images, point it to a working atari 5200 bios. I think mine was named a5200.rom, and it may very well be the same bios file that MESS uses, but I’m too lazy to confirm any of this.

  6. In the Altirra menu, System/Operation System/Atari 5200 OS (this option was not available before adding the BIOS). This will give you those nice Atari logos when you first load a game. Altirra has a built in OS that will load the game, but no Atari Logos.

Now you want to set up some controls. I’m assuming you want to use an Xbox 360 controller, or a PS3 controller pre-loaded with SCP drivers to make Windows think it’s an Xbox 360 controller.

  1. Input/Input Mappings/Add. Type the name of the controller profile (I put 5200 Controller 1).

  2. Check the checkmark to make it active.

  3. Highlight it, and click edit, add controller, and in the drop down ‘controller’ field, choose 5200 controller. ‘Add default mappings for this controller’ should already be checked. Port 1 should already be selected, choose Port 2, Port 3, and Port 4 if you are configuring players 2-4. Ports 3 and 4 have this next to them (800 only), don’t worry about it. I mapped three ps3 controllers and tested a 3 player game of Super Breakout and it worked fine. Click OK once you’ve configured all of this.

  4. Click the Rebind button, and Altirra will highlight each input on the 5200 controller, you just need to press a button or direction on the d-pads and analogs. If you’re using an Xbox or PS3 controller, you’re going to want the left analog for up/down/left/right. You will need to specify Axis 1 and Axis 2 - simply tap left for Axis 1 (the horizontal axis), and tap up for Axis 2 (the vertical axis).

  5. I have my inputs mapped to the following as an example (in terms of an xbox 360 controller), it works very well - All directions mapped to left analog, button 1= X, button 2 =A, *=Y, #=B, 1=right analog UP, 2 = right analog LEFT, 3= right analog press (R3 button), 4 = right analog RIGHT, 5= right analog DOWN, 6=d-pad UP, 7=d-pad LEFT, 8=d-pad RIGHT, 9=d-pad down, 0=left analog press (L3), reset=select, start=start, pause=right bumper (R1)

  6. In the Game Controller drop down menu, by default will be set to “Any.” I’m pretty sure that will work but if you have multiple controllers you will want to specify specifically which controller it is pointing to.

You should be good to go. Open up HyperSpin again and load a 5200 game, Altirra should load up and be the most awesome 5200 emulator in existence as of this writing. The menu at the top of the screen will be present for some reason, you can make it disappear by moving the mouse over it for a second, and then moving it away. If anyone figures out how to make Altirra load without the menu being present and having to go through that extra step, please post it here. I’ve invested too much time into this already - which is why I took the time to write all this.

Atari 5200 fans haven’t had too many options over the years… but this is the one you want. Hopefully it gets added into Retroarch at some point. That would be amazing.

MAME is easy to get working. I think you just need to take some time to learn how to setup your folders properly.

Analog controls are broken in MAME, and have been for a long time. I doubt it will ever get fixed.

I thought most people are using the Atari 800 core for 5200 within Retroarch these days?

I tried using it but stopped because the core uses the dpad which does not work for some games because the 5200 used an analog stick.

Searching through the in depth atari800 GUI I see no option to turn on analog either.

This system is such a royal PITA to get working correctly it’s almost in cursed status. Honestly the best way to play this emulation wise would be playing it with an XBone controller with an attached chat pad for keypad access and the ability to display the overlays for each game on screen via a hot key or something in case you need to bring it up for reference…

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Setup your folders properly and it will work.

You need bios, hash file and roms to be in the appropriate folders. I have this launching through a custom playlist I built in Lakka as well.

All too easy.