Play Old Atari Games on Windows PC with Atari++

Atari++ is an open-source Atari emulator for the 8-bit computers manufactured by Atari in the 1980s. It can emulate Atari 400, 400 XL, 800, 800 XL, and 130 XE. It also supports the Atari game console 5200. It was originally coded for the Linux computers but they have also released a port for Windows as well as macOS.

When launched Atari++ will take you to a limited DOS (Disk Operating System) screen from 1980s. This DOS is very old style operating system where the user had to select a command from the list instead of actually typing the command. The command set was limited to less than 20 odd commands.

But we are not going to use DOS for Atari. We want to play games on this Atari emulator. This is how we can play games using Atari++:

  1. In the Atari++ window, click and keep holding mouse button to make the menu appear. Select Project and then Full Menu from this menu.Atari++ Emulator
  2. Click on Cartridge from the left side menu.
  3. Click on the select disk icon and then pick one of the cartridge images for your games. You can find these cartridge images easily online.Atari++ Emulator
  4. Click on the Prefs, then Cold start the Emulator and then Exit Menu and Continue.Atari++ Emulator
  5. By cold starting the emulator we start Atari with cartridge loaded, this should start your game right away. If not, then we have to select B command from the DOS interface to run the cartridge.Atari++ Emulator

If you cannot start the game, then you should check if your Atari game ROM is compatible with the systems that Atari++ supports. The second thing to check is whether the ROM file is corrupt and try to get a good ROM file from another source. Finally, you can also try changing some settings in the Atari++ preferences as well.

You can download Atari++ from http://www.xl-project.com/.

2 comments

  1. I have some large videos on mobile. I want to project those videos from mobile to windows wihout internet/wifi.

    What would you suggest?

    1. You can try Bluetooth but it will be very slow. If you do not want to connect to any WiFi router then “WiFi Direct” seems like a good option for you.

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