Atari800 is a free emulator for Atari 8-bit computer systems and the Atari 5200 game console. It provides cycle-exact emulation for the 6502 processor and the NMI, POKEY, ANTIC, and GTIA components. The emulator supports ATR, XFD, DCM, ATR.GZ, and XFD.GZ disk images and can emulate as many as eight disk drives. It can load Atari executables and BASIC programs, emulate cassette tapes, and save files to the host computer through the H: device. Controller support includes real joysticks and emulation for paddles, light pens, light guns, mice, and trackballs. Atari800 can save screen snapshots as PCX or PNG and output sound to WAV files. It runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, and Android, with source code and binary packages available through GitHub releases; Linux package instructions are also provided for Debian and Fedora. Written in C, Atari800 is developed under GPL version 2. A BIOS is required.
Who it is for
Atari800 suits people seeking to run Atari 8-bit computer software or Atari 5200 games on Linux, Windows, macOS, or Android. It may also suit users who need varied disk-image, controller, or output options.
What is good
- Emulates Atari 8-bit systems and the Atari 5200.
- Supports five listed disk image formats.
- Can emulate up to eight disk drives.
- Supports Linux, Windows, macOS, and Android.
- Free and distributed under GPL version 2.
What to know first
- A BIOS is required.
- No free trial is listed.
- Linux package instructions name Debian and Fedora.
Verdict
Atari800 offers broad Atari system and peripheral emulation across four listed platforms at no cost. A BIOS is required, so users should account for that before setting it up.
Atari800 plans and pricing
All plansCompared on multi-system emulators
- Free plan
- Yes
- Atari systems
- Atari 400, 800, 1200XL, 600XL, 800XL, 65XE, 130XE, 800XE, XE Game System, 5200 SuperSystem
- Supported platforms
- Linux, Windows, macOS, Android
- Save states
- Yes
- Controller remapping
- Yes
- BIOS required
- Yes