A few years back, Atari launched the Atari VCS, a sleek looking PC/console hybrid that comes loaded with a bunch of classic Atari games and some new remakes. I’m not all that excited about the VCS, but I always thought the VCS’s controllers look amazing. In particular, their upgraded version of the classic Atari 2600 controller caught my eye. Unlike the original 2600 controller, this VCS Classic has two action buttons, plus a start and select button, and a “home” button. It has bluetooth, but I think that only works with the VCS console. To use it on your PC, you’ll need to use a USB cable.
As I mention on the Mastodon post, this controller works great with Kingdom Eighties, Qomp, and Luftrausers, but I’ll try to keep a list of other modern games that work great with the Atari VCS Classic controller.
- Kingdom– I beat Kingdom Eighties with the Classic, but I imagine it would work great for all the Kingdom games. I did use the Steam controller system to make the “b” button a “left trigger” button. Also, when you press down on the joystick, it drops a coin. I have no idea why!
- Luftrausers– This just works great. No notes, it’s perfect!
- Qomp– Qomp is a fantastic single button game made by Stuffed Wombat. I actually think any of Stuffed Wombat’s games might work with the Classic controller, but this game feels particularly nice. It’s also worth noting that Atari published Qomp, probably for the VCS system, so he may have designed the game around the Classic Controller in particular.
- Minit– Thanks to Paul on Mastodon for recommending I try this controller with Minit. It works great. Two buttons is all you need to enjoy this game and the minimal graphics are nice fit with the Classic controller.
Leave a Reply