Top Games You'd Like to Have for Atari 8-Bits

[Level42]

Yeah I agree on Joust.

 

Thinking about this: it might be what you played first....

 

With Joust, I only played the A8 version for almost decades until I first played an original arcade machine (later owned one). The main difference is that one flap (push of the button) seems to give more momentum on the A8 version. The Lynx version is truer to the arcade in that sense, but it's also a lot slower. Joust on the A8 was also slower for me because of being in PAL territory.

 

DKjr...I played it on arcade first....I think the A8 is a great conversion, I don't think I really prefer one over the other.

 

The PAL slow-down does count in many of the old arcade conversions.

 

For some games, the simple controls made the games a lot easier to play....think Space Invaders (left/right buttons instead of joystick on US machines), Defender (horrible and pointlessly complicated controls on the arcade machine, I only played it once or twice because of it). Of course for some games it will be hard to replicate the controls with just a joystick. I've owned a Gravitar for instance and the buttons control scheme there actually is very natural after getting used to it for a bit....I'd LOVE Gravitar on the A8 by the way....

About conversions: isn't the whole idea of doing such a conversion trying to prove something ? Making something work on much "less" hardware than the original arcade machines, while maintaining the fun. Yes of course we can run MAME but IMHO it's a lot more fun to have conversions on A8

New game concepts are great too of course.....something like Yoomp is simply insanely fun and well done.....but about any game-concept probably already has been invented....

[+Philsan]

I like talented coders/musicians/artists work: demos, tunes, games (conversions, ports or new games), applications...

I like to see the power of our beloved 1979 machine...

[+MrFish]

Trust me, I've tried to like the arcade version of Joust. It has great graphics

and sound, and it's such a unique game idea. But I played it in the arcades

and have tried playing it in MAME many times, and the Atari version is just

so much better in gameplay.

 

I think the best version is really on the 7800. It's got the gameplay close to

the A8's but better graphics and more thoroughly done. The TIA sound is

only slightly less satisfying. They did a commendable job on the sound for

it with TIA.

 

Same with Donkey Kong Jr. I never had it BITD and never played it in the

arcade. So when I got it for the Atari in recent years, I immediately started

playing the arcade version for comparison. I can't stand how slow he moves

in the arcade version. It feels like constipation. And I really prefer a lot of the

sounds and animations.

 

As far as NTSC compared to PAL, I'm always going to be speaking from an

NTSC perspective, and there's often a fair amount of difference for any given

game. So, you may have to play these on NTSC before you can get exactly

what I'm saying.

Edited April 4, 2018 by MrFish

[Level42]

As far as NTSC compared to PAL, I'm always going to be speaking from an

NTSC perspective, and there's often a fair amount of different for any given

game. So, you may have to play these on NTSC before you can get exactly

what I'm saying.

 

 

Very true. I never play in PAL anymore unless neccesary. Once you get used to the slightly higher speed, it makes about 95% of the games so much more fun to play....more fluent...

[+MrFish]

Very true. I never play in PAL anymore unless neccesary. Once you get used to the slightly higher speed, it makes about 95% of the games so much more fun to play....more fluent...

 

Ah, yeah, you're making that NTSC/PAL machine mod. Well, there are

benefits to both machines and speed is one of them for NTSC on a

majority of games. I used to own a PAL machine, for all the games

that wouldn't work on NTSC and for testing development. I needed

some cash and sold it off (to Xuel, actually). I plan to get another

eventually, or pick up one of the mods you're making.

[Gunstar]

Atari definitely did the 7800 classic arcade games very well. I think the best home versions for any 8-bit console or computer. Joust, DK jr., Ms. Pac-man, Galaga, Dig Dug, on and on, all top notch. Too bad they were considered old and stale by the time they made it to the 7800 though, they held the system back. Games like Commando, Ikari Warriors, Tower Toppler,Xenophobe, etc., should have been the head-liners and the classics slowly dripped out among newer arcade titles.

Edited April 5, 2018 by Gunstar

[+MrFish]

Overall the 7800 was given an excellent arcade library

back in the day. These are the games I'd rate from very

good to excellent.

 

Asteroids
Centipede
Commando
Crossbow
Food Fight
Ikari Warriors

Joust
Ms. Pac-Man
Robotron 2084
Xenophobe
Xevious

 

These I'd rate as good with a few flaws.

 

Dig Dug
Galaga
Klax
Pole Position II
Rampage

 

And these I'd rate as mediocre to good.

 

Mario Bros.
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong Jr.

 

These last few are mainly lower on the list for badly

done sound, but have some other graphical or

gameplay deficiencies too.

 

Some of the ones I rated higher, I'd say were the best

on any 8-bit system; but Nintendo had some of these

lower rated ones easily bested like:

 

Galaga

Dig Dug

Mario Bros

Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong Jr.

Klax

 

The NES also had at least as good (if not better,

because of sound) versions of these games:

 

Ms. Pac-Man

Xevious

 

And some titles weren't too far behind, like:

 

Commando

 

Other games on the NES were just mediocre

to good like:

 

Ikari Warriors

Joust

Rampage

Xenophobe

 

[Note: I'm just comparing titles that existed on both

systems back in the day. The NES had plenty of

other arcade titles of varying quality that didn't exist

on the 7800.]

Edited April 5, 2018 by MrFish

[carlsson]

Another game I would really enjoy having and spend solid time playing would be Quarth (a.k.a. Block Hole) which exists in slightly different implementations for the MSX2, Famicom and Game Boy to mention a few. I believe there are homebrew versions elsewhere (Rectangle on the Amiga, QBIQS on MSX1, Requarth in Lua), or at least games inspired by it but not always do they catch what makes the original game enjoyable. Possibly there is a tech demo for the Atari already, I just briefly searched on Fandal.

Edited April 5, 2018 by carlsson

[McKong]

Impossible Mission

Rambo

Green Beret (if i remember correctly, the existing A8 version was poor)

[carlsson]

CharlieChaplin already asked for Nemesis (a.k.a. Gradius) and Delta. I could add Salamander to the list of horizontally scrolling shoot 'em ups, perhaps even Uridium. I am quite certain neither of these titles are new to the long time discussion and may previously have been analyzed about doability.

 

However I realize the Atari 8-bit already has a few very good shoot 'em ups in the same genre, titles like Zybex, Humanoid and even Matta Blatta plus the preview version of Menace which would suggest the actual demand for the first group of games may not be that high if you already have decent substitutes, even though they're not identical to the games you were looking for. I mean if I'm looking for a pair of black walking shoes but find a very nice dark grey pair, I might just as well buy those instead.

[Banquo]

Oregon Trail. I would love to see a proper port instead of that that text only version.

 

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego and the various sequels.

Edited April 5, 2018 by Banquo

[+MrFish]

Oregon Trail. I would love to see a proper port instead of that that text only version.

 

I actually started working on this from the Apple II BASIC source files.

As typical of a lot of BASIC code it's not so great to work with (plus

Apple BASIC is quite different from any Atari BASIC language). I figure

the most I'll be able to usefully glean are the formulas for status and

various events and all the textual information that gets fed to the

player throughout the game. Otherwise I estimate it'll just be easier to

write it from scratch based on playing and observing the original game

(which I've already done quite a bit -- with the Apple II version and

other versions as well).

 

Here are some preliminary screens that I've worked on so far. Oregon

is pretty far down the project queue for me though.

 

[Note: the color portion of the main play screen hasn't been edited yet;

it's just scaled to the proper pixel size; so, the colors are slightly higher

than what you'd get; but, because of the good vertical graphic

arrangement, DLI's would get quite close to what's displayed.]

 

 

Edited April 5, 2018 by MrFish

[carlsson]

Regarding porting BASIC games, another one I thought about the other day is The Boss by Peaksoft, later re-released by Alternative Software as Soccer Boss. It used to be my favorite football management game on the C64. What makes that game a bit special is that it began on the Dragon 32 (relative to the TRS-80 CoCo), and was subsequently ported to the C64, Plus/4, Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, Oric, ZX Spectrum, ZX-81, Amstrad CPC and MSX. Since Alternative Software also released Atari 8-bit games, it sticks out as sorely missed in that bunch (together with other more US-centric systems like the Apple ][ and TI-99/4A). I'll admit I haven't investigated how good the existing football management games are - but I know that Football Manager by Kevin Toms in comparison is rather dull on every system it was made for - but it could be a welcome addition in the low end of the market. I might even consider having a look into porting it myself if I wasn't so lazy. Given the wide range of ports for various BASIC dialects, it makes me wonder which of those would be least far from what Atari BASIC, Turbo BASIC XL etc offers in syntax and capacity.

Edited April 5, 2018 by carlsson

[+MrFish]

CharlieChaplin already asked for Nemesis (a.k.a. Gradius) and Delta. I could add Salamander to the list of horizontally scrolling shoot 'em ups, perhaps even Uridium. I am quite certain neither of these titles are new to the long time discussion and may previously have been analyzed about doability.

 

However I realize the Atari 8-bit already has a few very good shoot 'em ups in the same genre, titles like Zybex, Humanoid and even Matta Blatta plus the preview version of Menace which would suggest the actual demand for the first group of games may not be that high if you already have decent substitutes, even though they're not identical to the games you were looking for. I mean if I'm looking for a pair of black walking shoes but find a very nice dark grey pair, I might just as well buy those instead.

 

Shooters like these have been discussed endlessly, which I suppose

points to their importance, or it's just an interesting genre to consider

on the machine, or both.

 

Some good recent additions have been made.

 

X-8 is one I found quite fun and have spent a fair amount of time

playing. Supposedly the game was going to be extended, after the

initial release, but never happened.

 

 

 

Ransack is a somewhat unique game, which was ported from

another system (that I can't remember right now -- BBC Micro?) It's

pretty fun overall and I play it off and on; but I find this pogo stick

think kind of odd, and would prefer it to be a more traditional shooter.

 

 

 

HAR'em has good graphics, sound/music, powerups and interesting

enemies. However, the game gets a little difficult quickly -- at least

for my abilities. And I find I can't play it long enough to get much

enjoyment. It's also one of those games that's quite predictable --

although I suppose a lot of shooters could be classified that way.

Maybe that's something needed in shooters too, some randomness.

 

 

 

Callisto is another one with some good potential. It's got good

graphics and sound, and starts out innocently enough, but the

difficulty ramps up quick. So, it's another one I was never able to

get much enjoyment from.

 

Edited April 5, 2018 by MrFish

[+MrFish]

I guess I should also add the yet to be completed Time Pilot.

We do have a quite playable beta already. The game is great

so far.

 

Edited April 5, 2018 by MrFish

[+MrFish]

Atic Atac (ZX Spectrum)

 

Bob The Bug has this on his list of games to work on.

 

 

The Bard's Tale (C64)

 

This one's been talked about quite a bit. I've never played it and

I've never heard people say what's to like about it. What makes it

interesting for you?

 

 

Batman (ZX Spectrum)

 

Another Speccy Iso Adventure. Anything special about this one,

besides having Batman as the protag?

 

 

Emlyn Huges International Soccer (C64)

 

Looks pretty good. Doable on the A8's? I don't know; a lot of

large sprites.

 

 

International Basketball (C64, impossible for A8)

 

Well, maybe not impossible but more a matter of how good

would it be. It doesn't look all that great on the C64, frankly.

It looks rather slow and ultimately boring.

 

 

Match Day II (ZX Spectrum)

 

This looks slow, clumsy, and nearly colorless on the Speccy.

 

 

Match Point (C64)

 

Doesn't look too bad. Any tennis game like this should be

possible for the A8's. Their legs seem to be moving a little

fast for the distance traveled. Something to correct in the

conversion process.

 

 

Microprose Soccer (C64)

 

Not too bad. Interesting view, but seems a little limited for

being able to fixate on the goal as you're approaching. I

haven't played it yet though, so maybe it's not as bad as

it would seem. Another sprite multiplexer candidate on the

A8, I'd say.

 

 

Paradroid (C64)

 

I've heard this talked about before, but I never played it.

What's so good about it? The graphics, at least, look

rather pedestrian.

 

 

Project Firestart (C64)

 

Looks kind of interesting. A monster movie?

 

 

Summer Games II (C64)

 

Yes! Cycling looks like it might be a little tough to pull off.

I'll have to give it another look. I've never checked this

game out too much.

 

 

Winter Games (C64)

 

Yes! There's been a few attempts at this for the A8's (or at

least similar, with some events directly from here; Olympiad

'88 and Circo Bianco come to mind) but they've all fallen a

bit short. It'd be nice to have the original.

Edited April 5, 2018 by MrFish

[carlsson]

Microprose Soccer is among the top 3 football games on the C64, together with Emlyn Hughes and perhaps one more. For a number of years, there were hacks of Microprose Soccer updated every 4 years in time for the next WC, with teams and colours changed to match the upcoming tournament. Some would even call it the very first Sensible Soccer as it was made by the same team and had not Microprose published it, they may as well have called it that. So yes, if you feel this would be reasonably doable on the Atari 8-bit, it would be a very valuable addition.

 

The closest I've seen so far is Fantasic Soccer which shares some of the perspective but plays like a mess. Yet it has a fairly decent score on Atarimania. The C64 version on Lemon64 though is considered utter rubbish and very low score among voters.

 

As for Circo Bianco, I would love if someone worked on it, perhaps with the original programmer or without. Add countries and flags, disallow medals for fault scores, make it more clear whose turn it is, make certain to display scores. Perhaps add a second run on the skating, perhaps change the slalom to allow one mistake (though in the real world, you're not allowed to make mistakes). Perhaps add one more event, like biathlon. Add an opening ceremony if possible. Improve the menu system and make it remember the settings from last game. This game has a lot of potential to be the best multi event winter game on the Atari, and no need to reimplement Epyx Winter Games in the fullest.

[Stormtrooper of Death]

3 games from the MSX system.

 

- elidon (by Orphius 1985) -

 

 

- The Goonies (platform game on MSX)

 

- Eggerland Mystery

 

If somebody could convert Elidon to Atari, i would be very, very happy old man. Edilon. no scrolling is used, mostly one enemy , sometimes 2. For a remake, what about a digital sample song, for SIDE2 ? hehe.

Edited April 5, 2018 by Stormtrooper of Death

[carlsson]

FWIW, Elidon exists on the C64 as well and seems to be identical gameplay down to the music in case the code would be easier to port. Not sure about Goonies as there seems to have existed a few different but somewhat similar Goonies games on various home computers and consoles so in the case one wants to convert that one, make sure to review exactly which Goonies one ports.

[jefffulton]

Galaga, R-Type (or the best we can hope for), Gianna Sisters.

[jefffulton]

A8

SG Gymnastics.png

C64

SG Gymnastics - C64.png

 

I think A8 palette allows a better skin color...

A8

SG freestyle A8.png

C64

SG freestyle C64.png

 

These seem lazy on the Atari 8bits. The horizontal layout should have allowed the different sections to be very colorful (well 4-5 colors each depending on the mode), and multiple PMGs per swimmer or gymnast.

[NRV]

(Raimais)

This looks like a pretty cool game too. It gets a little

hard after a few stages, but gameplay can always be

adjusted. Also, I think there could be some other cool

powerups to add (maybe there are more in later

stages?).

A nice thing about this one is that the levels fit nicely in 40x25 char mode:

 

 

Also with Turtles, this one is 28x28 (but you could live with 28x26 and a couple of scanlines to show the top and bottom limits)

 

 

These mock ups are done with Envision PC, so they are already in antic 5 char mode, but maybe the colors are a little off.

Another good thing of this type of games (and others, like Rally X for example), is that you could reuse code for movement, collision checking and font based rendering, because the enemies and the player live inside a char based grid (and you get the extra color).

 

(Bubble Bobble)

I think a lot of people are interested in seeing this one

for the system. In fact I believe Tezz has it on his list and

you also had a tech demo of a game based on it (I think I

still have a copy of it), correct?

Yep, I implemented the movement of the player (walking, jumping, falling) and shooting bubbles. Probably my first experiment with software sprites.

With the amount of moving elements this one have, I would say is a better fit for bitmap software sprites, but I have never done char based software sprites so..

 

I agree with you about Rygar, it would look more like a "demake", but I think that the gameplay could be similar and still fun.

 

Try Jumpbug if you can.. is kind of crazy for how old it is

The control is weird at first, but it makes sense at some point x)

[+MrFish]

A nice thing about this one is that the levels fit nicely in 40x25 char mode:

 

raimais_a8.png

 

Looks good. There are games that have the right screen dimension

for translating to the Ataris: like Joust and quite a few others.

 

 

Also with Turtles, this one is 28x28 (but you could live with 28x26 and a couple of scanlines to show the top and bottom limits)

 

turtles_a8.png

 

I didn't like the turtles game too much.

 

 

These mock ups are done with Envision PC, so they are already in antic 5 char mode, but maybe the colors are a little off.

Another good thing of this type of games (and others, like Rally X for example), is that you could reuse code for movement, collision checking and font based rendering, because the enemies and the player live inside a char based grid (and you get the extra color).

 

I think you mean Antic 4.

 

Yes, true: it is somewhat similar to Rally X.

 

 

Yep, I implemented the movement of the player (walking, jumping, falling) and shooting bubbles. Probably my first experiment with software sprites.

With the amount of moving elements this one have, I would say is a better fit for bitmap software sprites, but I have never done char based software sprites so..

 

I think Mads comes with some examples of char based software sprites

(at least it used to).

 

 

I agree with you about Rygar, it would look more like a "demake", but I think that the gameplay could be similar and still fun.

 

Sure, but even so, I'd like to see how well some large, blocky, multiplexed

sprites would look on the Ataris.

 

 

Try Jumpbug if you can.. is kind of crazy for how old it is

The control is weird at first, but it makes sense at some point x)

 

I did play it for a while the other day before I replied to your message

about it. It's kind of funny and crazy, as you say. It was a little too odd

for me, though. Maybe a more serious version of it would appeal to me

(different sprite designs and scenery, etc.).

 

[sack-c0s]

Looking at more modern stuff I've been wondering about the possibility of something like Super Meat Boy.

 

Ignoring the 2-button input for a minute (Mario style - one held to run, another to jump) I think it ought to be about possible, even if it is more like the warpzone levels rather than the main ones

 

[carlsson]

Aren't Super Bread Box on the C64 and both Super 48K Box and Dead Flesh Boy on the ZX Spectrum demakes of Super Meat Boy?

 

Here is an attempt to summarize all known demakes of indie games, including a handful of Atari 8-bit games as well.

http://frgcb.blogspot.se/2017/08/special-modern-game-ports-and-demakes.html