¶ Technical data
- Manufacturer: Atari
- Year of release: 1982
- CPU: MOS 6502C "Sally" @ 1.79 MHz
- RAM: 16 KB
- Video: ANTIC + GTIA
- Resolution: up to 320x192, 256-color palette
- Sound: POKEY, 4 channels
- Media: cartridge
¶ Presentation
The Atari 5200 SuperSystem is the console Atari launched in 1982 to succeed the 2600 and answer Mattel's Intellivision and then the ColecoVision. Technically it is not a new machine: it is an Atari 400 computer dressed up as a console, with the keyboard removed. It inherits its 6502C processor and, above all, the famous ANTIC and GTIA chips, which give it a display far beyond the 2600's, along with the POKEY sound chip.
Its controller stayed famous for the wrong reasons. Atari fitted it with an analog stick — a first on a home console — but without self-centering, which makes aiming a gamble in most games, on top of a membrane keypad and contacts that age very badly. The console also suffers from being incompatible with 2600 cartridges, an adapter being required (and missing from the early four-port models).
Despite excellent arcade conversions — Star Raiders, Ms. Pac-Man, Centipede, Space Dungeon, Robotron: 2084 — the 5200 never found its audience and was swept away by the 1983 video game crash. Atari dropped it as early as 1984 after a little over a million units sold and around seventy published games, refocusing on the 2600 and then on the 7800.
¶ Emulators
New in Recalbox 10.1: the Libretro Atari800 core moves up to version 6.1.0.
Emulator availability per board:
| Emulator | RPI3/RPI02W | RPI4/400 | RPI5/500 | OGA/OGS/RG351 | PC | RG353 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Libretro Atari800 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Libretro A5200 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Atari800 is the default emulator: it emulates the whole Atari 8-bit family, including the 5200, and it is the only one of the two flagged as compatible with CRT output. A5200 is a core dedicated to the 5200 alone, simpler to run, worth trying if a game gives you trouble. Both report high compatibility and high speed on every board. Netplay and softpatching are not available on this system, and RetroAchievements are not supported.
A controller is mandatory. 5200 games used an analog stick and a numeric keypad: on a modern controller the left stick replaces the joystick, and the keypad keys are reachable through the core's mapping — see the controllers in the Recalbox shop.
¶ BIOS
The Atari 5200 BIOS is optional in Recalbox: both emulators can start games without it, and the BIOS checker will not report its absence as an error.
| File name | Description | MD5 | Emulators |
|---|---|---|---|
5200.rom |
Atari 5200 BIOS (optional) | 281f20ea4320404ec820fb7ec0693b38 | Atari800, A5200 |
If you do choose to install it, place it like this:
/recalbox/share/bios/atari5200/
└── 5200.rom
If a game refuses to start or behaves oddly, adding this BIOS is the first thing to check.
¶ Roms
Put your games in:
/recalbox/share/roms/atari5200/
Supported extensions per emulator:
| Emulator | Extensions |
|---|---|
| Atari800 | .a52 .zip .7z |
| A5200 | .a52 .bin .zip .7z |
The
.a52format is recognised by both cores: prefer it over.bin, which only A5200 accepts. Archives must contain a single game.