Atari Flashback 8 Gold: Vintage gaming on your HDTV

Do you want to spend $80 (which converts to around £61 and AU$100) on an Atari gaming box? The Flashback 8 Gold costs that much.

It comes with two 2.4GHz wireless controllers, and a plastic console... with HDMI.

The original Atari 2600 (yes, we have one) next to the Flashback 8 Gold (left).

Note the plastic ridges... and the really bad wood grain sticker.

Pitfall! This is one of many Activision games in the system's memory. Do you even remember Pitfall?

The HDMI port, oddly, is on the side.

The console supports original Atari controllers, like these paddles (Breakout, Warlords and other paddle games are included, and some are up to 4 players).

The plastic buttons mirror similar functions on the original game system.

The in-game menu shows all the game boxes. The navigation gets a little wonky, though.

It feels lightweight, and it's fine. Nothing fancy-looking.

What's that? One controller is studded with extra side buttons to pause, select games or even rewind up to six seconds. 

Why is this rated 15+?

The controllers feel good enough, but Atari controllers were always awkward. They use AAA batteries, which need to be replaced with a screw.

The power jack. The adapter is tiny.

These buttons could have looked nicer.

Difficulty controls, modes... even back in the Atari 2600 days, it was confusing.

Frogger is one of the best games among the system's 120 titles.

You have to press buttons and move the stick in odd ways to navigate the menu and access game saves. It's unintuitive.

Adventure: a classic, and also weird and abstract.

The Flashback 8 Gold next to the Nintendo NES Classic. The NES is so small!

Yars' Revenge looks like a Cronenberg acid trip.

An original Atari paddle (not included, and that's a shame).

How many can you recognize?

Each game comes with an information screen.

Breakout is better with a paddle.

Space Invaders. These games sometimes feel choppy, but they all look crisp and super-pixely on a big TV.

Atari Flashback 8 Gold, Sega Genesis Flashback HD and NES Classic side by side.

Game save slots are on the Atari Flashback 8 Gold. I don't know many Atari games that deserve game saves.

I liked the Atari system's build better than the