THE400 Mini, the much-anticipated miniature Atari 400 from Retro Games Ltd, is now shipping to some pre-order supporters. Intriguingly, it is already chalking up a number of excited, positive reviews.
Who knew?
As with several recent retro console releases, THE400 Mini has been bundled with secrets. A pair (so far…) of hidden games in addition to the publicised collection of 25 built-in games.
Unlock secret games on THE400 Mini Atari 400
So, how do you find the secret games hidden on the mini Atari 400?
To unlock them, you need to connect a VCS classic joystick to the mini Atari 400. (That’s the one with the rotating paddle effect joystick.)
Doing so adds two new games to THE400 Mini:
- Castle Crisis (a Warlords clone)
- Super Breakout
Here’s a video explaining it all:
Now obviously this dual game unlock is predicated on the fact that you have a specific joystick that is not easily available, especially in the UK. However, there is a small chance (assuming the functional availability of the games is based on connecting a particular device class, rather than an exact model) that a USB paddle may also unlock these titles, so do not give up hope.
THE400 Mini reflections
A few months ago, upon announcement of THE400 Mini, I was – shall we say – dismissive of a device that I felt added nothing to the retro gaming landscape. After all, we’d already seen the Atari VCS, the Atari 2600+, and a LEGO Atari, not to mention the rather excellent My Arace Atari Pocket Player Pro.
But what do I know? Retro Games Ltd have clearly made the right choice, planning, announcing, and releasing a mini computer console that brings some of the A500 Mini and C64 Mini magic to an Atari model that a lot of people have affection for. From a purely UK perspective, it makes less sense, especially to someone (like me) whose formative computing was done in the 1980s.
For US retro computing fans, however, THE400 Mini is a superb choice of new device.
(I just really want a ZX Spectrum Mini.)
You can order your THE400 Mini on Amazon now, ahead of its official launch date tomorrow (March 28th).
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