4ever2600 Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Hello! After a good week of playing all of the new titles released by DP and VideoSoft, I went ahead and did a full review of all 6 titles for those who might want to know more about them from a fellow veteran gamer. Please follow this link if you would like to read the reviews of the 6 new Atari 2600 games by VideoSoft, click on the 'Atari 2600' link on the column on the left and just click on the titles of the games: http://www.digitpress.com/reviews/index.htm Also, please click on this link if you would like to see videos captured of the 6 games: http://www.youtube.com/user/VideoSoft2010 Below if a brief summary of my experience with these games: Of the three non-3D games, they claim that two of the three are completed. I consider all three of three non-3D games complete. The game, Depth Charge was supposed to also have a second level that was similar to Sega's SubRoc 3D (minus the 3D). This game can stand on its own as a completed game. You can make your own decision on this. All three non-3D games were fun. I enjoyed them and I will continue to play these games for quite some time. As far as the 3D games are concerned, first and foremost Genesis 3D is a great little game. The 3D was decent, and it was in the same game play vein as Tempest. This is the only 3D game that was also considered completed. It has a decent replay value because it was challenging and fast-paced. It was a lot of fun to play the Ghost Attack 3D game. I really wish this title would have been completed back in the early 80s, but I'm really happy the fact that the people who put this together went ahead and made a menu driven 16k multi-cart and put all three levels on it for the sake of completeness. That made it worth the hefty price tag it carries. There is a little replay value with this title. The third 3D title, Havoc, would have been a great title had it been completed. Unfortunately due to the fact that you can only play this game once and have to reset it doesn't give it a lot of replay value. The 3D games are a really cool set of games/demos. They are more of a novelty set of games, something different and fresh. As for the 3D effect, I find that if the room is dark and I sit approx 7 feet away from my 36in regular CRT TV, I can see the 3D effect. There are so many things that can play a factor in 'seeing' the 3D effect, (or messing it up) it's not going to work for everyone. Many things play a factor in getting the 3D effect to work properly. People's vision (or lack of), the type of screen you are using, CRT, LED, LCD, Plasma, Monitor. Brightness and contrast of the screen you are using, and the brightness in the room. It took me a while testing different things to get this right with the different games. So don't think of this as something that will work for everyone. Some people are going to try one title, it may not work for them and they are going to throw the game in their collection and say, "The 3D sucked, it didn't work". That's to be expected. If you aren't willing to try some different combinations, you may have issues. In all fairness, this isn't exactly Disney/Pixar's REAL3D that you see in the theatres these days. It was tricky to see the red/blue 3D in the theaters back in the 70s and 80s (I remember Creature from the Black Lagoon this way) but it did work. The games come in a plastic hard shell case, close to the size of the original Atari boxes. They are accompanied by inserts and well documented instruction manuals. I actually kind of like the artwork used for these games. They have their own nostalgic look to them that sets them apart from other classic titles from back in that era. Still, I believe these titles are absolutely worthy of any collector's shelf. I know that they are steeper in price individually as opposed to other titles, but purchased as a set, not so much. If you buy as a set it's the equivalence to buying a $35.00 game and paying $5.00 priority shipping, per title, (or $40.00 a title shipped.) Not that bad. If your budget doesn't allow for it, grab one or two or wait for the rom images to be released. I would like to thank all of the people who made these titles available to the public possible after being buried for all these years. A find of this magnitude (cmon SIX titles!!!) is a once in a lifetime thing. Especially considering that the people who programmed these titles, Jerry Lawson to name one, is a classic gaming icon and did a lot of good things for the CG community. These were the first 2600 titles to attempt a blue/red 3D effect and for the technology they were working with at the time, this isn't all that bad. As for the question of, "Why didn't they finish the other titles before they released them?" Who wouldn't have wanted that to happen? But that isn't as practical as it sounds, that alone could have driven the cost up even more and taken years more to release. I can appreciate it being released as the original author left it at the time. As far as Im concerned, we got four completed games and two playable demos. I, for one, am a very happy camper. I purchased two complete sets: One for the collection and one to play. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
accousticguitar Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 What controller is used for 3-D Genesis? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4ever2600 Posted February 28, 2011 Author Share Posted February 28, 2011 They all use the standard 2600 joystick. Though I think I know where you were going with this, Tempest style game, paddle. Would have been cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maiki Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 (edited) I like when somebody digs up some obsolete stuff and tries to make fuss around it. Those games are awful looking and probably not even playable. Anybody can make such a cheap fuzz. Why didn't they finish the projects properly and then started to shout around...?! Even, why didn't they finish them in 1986 when Atari was on the market again? Hypocrites... The fact they are from 1982-3 does not make them unique. What a losers. Edited February 28, 2011 by maiki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
accousticguitar Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 They all use the standard 2600 joystick. Though I think I know where you were going with this, Tempest style game, paddle. Would have been cool! Actually, I was thinking driving controller. Tempest style games are unplayable with a joystick imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godzillajoe Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 The game's not fast enough to require a spinner controller. I'll have to give them another try this weekend and see if I can get the 3D effect by screwing with the colors and tint a bit. Atom Smasher is a definite keeper too. I've played that one quite a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4ever2600 Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 Godzilla Joe is correct about that. Plus the square play field means the joystick handles pretty good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bojay1997 Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 I can't speak to the quality or fun of games themselves as I have not played them, but I have some problems with your review in that it ignores a number of the problems others have pointed out with these releases. First, contrary to your claims, several of the games are incomplete. The developer had always intended for there to be more and they simply weren't finished. Even the guys publishing these releases would be the first to admit that several of these are incomplete. The fact that you feel satisfied with essentially half a game is irrelevant. Indeed, these were supposed to be large games like the Starpath titles which were either cassette based or on a very large multicart. Second, the boxes and other materials are horrible. They aren't based on any of the original art to the extent it existed and as original pieces, they are amateurish. Indeed, Atari cartridges in the US were never released in plastic cases of this type as far as I know, so I consider that as a major problem from the collector's perspective. Finally, the releases are overpriced and could have been combined on multi-carts just like they were originally intended to be released. Charging $230 for a set of six mediocre games, several of which are not finished is just the epitome of arrogance. I could maybe understand if additional work was done to complete the games or really professional art and cardboard boxes were created, but this is just six carts in plastic cases with some awful looking artwork. Very, very amateur and sadly, I can't support a release of this type. Hopefully someday someone will come along and actually do some work on these releases to issue them in something which more closely resembles their intended release state. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4ever2600 Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 Cool, we can agree to disagree... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impaler_26 Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 As far as the 3D games are concerned, first and foremost Genesis 3D is a great little game. The 3D was decent, and it was in the same game play vein as Tempest. ... There's a game called Genesis for the Commodore 64, from the description it seems that it is the same game as Genesis 3D for the 2600. Interesting to see that it was also done for the 2600. Are there any major differences between those 2 versions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4ever2600 Posted March 2, 2011 Author Share Posted March 2, 2011 That's very interesting. I never knew that one existed. I'll have to push it through an C64 emu and play it to be able to answer your question. Looks exactly like it though, first look, I'd have to say "Yes". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4ever2600 Posted March 3, 2011 Author Share Posted March 3, 2011 Looks like this game actually started out an arcade game (Genesis 3D), and was also translated to the C64, Apple II, and Atari 8Bit. I believe the arcade game was 3D as well, although I couldn't find much info on in on the web. No info on KLOV, Mame sites didn't have anything, no roms. Heck, maybe the arcade game was a proto itself, who knows. The pic on the back of the box at Atarimania actually shows the arcade game, and it has a similar set up to Sega's SubRoc3D. You looked into a special electronic device to get the 3D effect. That makes this title even cooler. The made the 2600 version similar to the arcade game. The other home versions were 2D. Pretty wierd considering the other systems has more power to be able to pull something like that off. Check out the arcade pic on the back of the box: http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-genesis_2182.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRV Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 Yep, the ad in the back of this issue of Ahoy! says it was based on an arcade game. Design Labs also did Triple Draw Poker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timdu Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Jerry Lawson, the man behind Videosoft, is finally receiving some accolades for all of his accomplishments. Check it out: http://www.mercurynews.com/mike-cassidy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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