Using Atari's 2600+ Pac-Man edition takes me back to pumping all my pocket money into arcades

Date: Sat, 03 Jan 2026 13:00:00 +0000

Description:
Atari's Pac-Man-themed retro console has me reliving childhood memories all over again and returned me to a simpler, pixelated past.

As a retro console, the Atari 2600+ is a strong example of how to do things right. The fact that it allows you to use cartridges rather than pre-loaded ROMs not only allows you to pick up rereleased games for it but also gives your classic Atari 2600 cartridges a new lease of life. And despite its few missteps, the Atari 2600+ Pac-Man Edition builds from this strong base.

In our original Atari 2600+ review , we described how the retro console was a loving recreation of the original hardware and thats very much the case with the Pac-Man Edition. The main differences? It now comes with a wireless CX40+ joystick, rather than the awkward wired one we criticised in our original review. Oh yeah, and every inch of it is covered in Pac-Man styling.

Honestly, if youre of a certain age which I am and prone to nostalgia no doy youll likely be charmed by this console. From the yellow color that references the puck-shaped protagonists hue to the light-up image of him
being chased by his ghostly foes on its front, this edition wears its affiliations on its sleeve. And, as a game, Pac-Man is every bit the classic you remember even if the original 2600 port thats also included is a bit of
a bust.

Atari 2600+ Pac-Man Edition review: price & availability

Given the game's ghostly antagonists, its pretty apt that the Atari 2600+ Pac-Man Edition was released on October 31, 2025. You can buy it for a list price of $169.99 / 129.99 / AU$260.99, which feels pretty decent value to me.

Yes, retro consoles like the SNES Mini or PlayStation Classic were cheaper at $79.99 / 69.99 / AU$119.95 and $99.99 / 89.99 / AU$149.99, respectively, but they were glorified emulators in an attractive package. Although its technically still using emulation, the Atari 2600+ runs off cartridges rather than ROMs and is backwards compatible with the original cartridges, making it far more flexible than these consoles.

Im less convinced by the pricing of its games, though. New cartridges retail for $29.99 / 24.99 / around AU$50.48 each. This feels like a fair price for some original retro game cartridges perhaps after all, they have an innate collectors value that re-released games dont.

But Ive bought recent AAA games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 for this
kind of money, which does force me to ask whether theyre really equivalent in terms of the new labour thats gone into them. Charging modern market prices
for
ports of decades-old games feels like it's becoming a bit of a trend
these days, and it's not one I'm totally comfortable with.

Atari 2600+ Pac-Man Edition review: design

Ive gotta hand it to Atari: it knows how to pull all of the little levers and buttons in my soul to get my nostalgia flowing. The look of the Atari 2600+
is delightfully retro it's redolent of those 6am Saturday mornings where my brothers and I would sneak downstairs early to play luridly colored, blocky pixel worlds like Pitfall! and Frogger .

The Atari 2600+ maintains so many of the details that made the original
iconic.
Toggles still run along its top edge, triggering everything from
power and reset functions to switching between color and black & white and setting player difficulty on either side. Atari has resisted the temptation
to tidy up even little details like the way the cartridge awkwardly juts out have been kept exactly as you remember them, which is definitely to Ataris credit.

But, naturally, given this is a Pac-Man special edition, not quite everything is as you remember it. First off, theres that bright yellow colorway, which
is 100% on-brand for anything involving the pill-necking ghost chomper. Additionally, the 2600s usual front wood veneer has been replaced with a light-up panel showing Pac-Man in flight from the games spectral antagonists I love these little details, and they show a real thoughtfulness to Ataris
design
process here.

Rather than the CX40 joystick that was packaged up with the standard Atari 2600+, the CX40+ included here comes with a few upgrades. Most materially,
the wired connection we criticized in our original review because of its awkward connection to the back of the console has been exorcized here,
replaced
with much superior wireless dongle connectivity.

Aesthetically, it has also had a glow-up, adorned with the same banana yellow colorway and a cute Pac-Man symbol on top of the stick. My only grumble here
is
that Atari didnt send me any of the Ghost Edition CX40+ optional accessories they sell, which are similarly branded with the colors and likeness of Blinky, Inky, Pinky, and Clyde and are objectively adorable. Come on, guys: its like youre actively trying to trigger my FOMO.

Sadly, one thing hasnt changed about the CX40+, though: its still as uncomfortably stiff to use as when we reviewed the standard 2600+. Trying to be as charitable as possible to Atari and looking back on my vague childhood memories through the increasingly frosted windows of middle age I do
actually think this is an accurate recreation of how the original joysticks used to handle. I suspect, though, that this faithfulness wont make its
turgid handling more forgiving in the eyes of modern gamers.

Atari 2600+ Pac-Man Edition review: performance

Firing up Pac-Man 7800 triggered almost primal memories in me. Playing the game takes me right back to my childhood, feeding coin after coin into an arcade slot to spend a little longer running round its dark mazes and
gobbling up pixelated fruit. Its a heady nostalgic hit.

However, I will admit that this joy is slightly undermined by how much duller my reflexes are some 35 years hence. Coupled with the stiffness of the CX40+s stick, I found myself dying with an almost lemming-like alacrity. Ive
improved somewhat over my time testing it, partly as a result of learning to anticipate upcoming turns and move the stick way before I hit the bend, but
Im still bad at it. Honestly, Pac-Man and I have a slightly toxic
relationship:
I love it, and it clearly hates me.

Even when you take away the nostalgia, though, the gameplay is still as addictive and frustrating to a newcomer. My partner is hardly a committed gamer, but she quickly found herself hooked by the addictive just one more
turn
gameplay loop. There were points shed be enraged at how pointlessly shed died and then shed fire it up again regardless, which is about as firm an endorsement as she can offer.

Unfortunately, while this is nominally a twin-game pack, I cant really say
the same for Pac-Man 2600 . Within seconds of booting it up, I could see why its always been such a controversial port. In almost every regard, it sits in the original Pac-Man s shadow.

To adapt the arcade hit to the more modest hardware of the Atari 2600, the graphics were devolved considerably. Power pills are now squares, and Pac-Man looks like hes lost all enthusiasm for his work. Worse, the ghosts flicker
and regularly overlap, making it hard to know when some of them might decide
to
peel off, while I could honestly never tell when a power pill had worn
off, as their appearance was almost indistinguishable either way.

Fundamentally, Pac-Man 2600 might be a nice game to have in your collection. But its more of a curiosity, fun to revisit in the same way that archive footage of the Nintendo Virtual Boy or Sinclair C5 is amusing. I recommend
you play it, even if I think 95% of the time youll go straight to the more loyal port of Pac-Man 7800.

Fortunately, youre not limited to playing either as the console is fully backward compatible, you can play any old Atari games you still have or start building your own retro collection from scratch. This is the real strength of the Atari 2600+ for me: so many retro gaming devices force you to make do
with a limited catalogue or skirt into ethically murky territory. The Atari 2600+ makes it far easier to start getting into retro gaming, without having
to
fuss about buying 30-year-old CRTs from eBay.

Should I buy the Atari 2600+ Pac-Man Edition? Buy it if...

Youve got serious Atari nostalgia
If youre wanting to get into Atari retro gaming, this is one of the best ways to do it. Not only can you pick up re-released games, but itll run any of
those
old Atari cartridges you have in the attic.

You love Pac-Man
Alright this ones pretty obvious. But if you loved Pac-Man back in the day
and are charmed by this consoles styling, then youll want to opt for this
over the 2600+ standard edition.

Don't buy it if...

You want cheap retro games
Ataris rereleased games are not cheap, costing $29.99 / 24.99 per cartridge. Second-hand OG cartridges can be more affordable, although this naturally varies with rarity typical prices may range from $5 / 5 to $70 / 30.

You dont like a stiff joystick
Compared to modern, responsive Hall-effect thumbsticks, the CX40+ is stiffer than an 18-year single malt. Thats probably true to the original design, but you might find it requires more force than youre used to.

How I tested the Atari 2600+ Pac-Man Edition

I tested the Atari 2600+ over the course of several days, both hooking it up
to
my 65-inch TCL C8K and a 24-inch LG TQ520S-P monitor.

I played both Pac-Man 7800 and Pac-Man 2600 , trying out as many of the different game settings as possible, including different difficulty levels
and speed modes. First reviewed:December 2025

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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/gaming/atari-2600-pac-man-edition-review
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