Atari 7800 Backwards Compatibility Question

[Czernobog]

I was given a very nice condition boxed Atari 7800 for Christmas, which makes me ecstatic beyond control. It came with karateka, which isn't a very good game, but works fine on the system.

It's my understanding that these are supposedly nearly fully backwards compatible with 2600 games aside from a small handful of games. That being said, I tried Pole Position, Haunted House, and Space Invaders for 2600. Pole Position worked fine, but I couldn't shoot in Space Invaders and I couldn't move in Haunted House.

I've never owned an Atari system aside from the Jaguar so I may just be doing something stupid but I couldn't find anything saying these games won't work with the 7800. Can anyone here shed some light on this for me?

[dsheinem]

did you hit reset?

I've played both of these on my 7800.

[Czernobog]

did you hit reset?

I've played both of these on my 7800.

I knew I was just missing something simple! Thanks a bunch! Two seconds after I post and my problems solved! Gotta love this site.

[Betamax001]

The only problems i've had for me is that they can be a bit of a tight fit and you really have to jam them in. But when you get it just right then everything works perfectly.

[Gooseberrysoda]

You can't play the 2600 Kool-Aid game on the 7800. No big loss.

[bryan_65]

Can use 2600 and Sega Genesis controllers with it also?

[valgalder]

never had a 2600 game not work on my 7800, but i'm sure there may be a few. My buttons (power / reset) wore out on my 7800 long ago. I'd like to find a new in box one at some point

oh yeah.. Kareteka is one of the worst games ever!

[CRTGAMER]

7800 has a few very nice exclusive versions of some known Arcade games.
Tandem play in Centipede and Space War game play in Asteroids.

[Czernobog]

Can use 2600 and Sega Genesis controllers with it also?

I can for the 2600 games, but if I try to use it with my 7800 Kareteka game every button, including the d-pad, acts as the 7800 controller's trigger button.

oh yeah.. Kareteka is one of the worst games ever!

No kidding! They could have at least made it a 2-player game seeing as it's a fighting game. I remember reading somewhere that it was rushed through development though. Sort of explains a lot.

[CRTGAMER]

Can use 2600 and Sega Genesis controllers with it also?

I can for the 2600 games, but if I try to use it with my 7800 Kareteka game every button, including the d-pad, acts as the 7800 controller's trigger button.

Same with 7800 ASTEROIDS, won't work with a Genesis controller.

However, two Genesis controllers and 7800 BALLBLAZER.