Parasol Stars?

[christo930]

Over at games that weren't, a site that specializing in unreleased games for the C64, they managed to track down the guy that was working on Parasol Stars for the C64. From what I've read, he was able to get a decent version running on the C64 but a psycho wife in the middle of divorce destroyed all of his disks with the Parasol Stars source code and betas. This set him back by months and the game was canceled as it was towards the end of new high-volume retail releases games for the C64 (IIRC).

 

I was wondering what the feasibility of such a game on the 7800. This game is loaded with sprites and from what I understand, the 7800 is capable of a lot of sprites on the screen in hardware. It was never released as an arcade game, but I think the best version is the TG-16 version (TG-16/Amiga/ST/nes and GB were the only platforms it was released on). I really like this game and play it often and was wondering if you guys thought the 7800 could do a decent version. What do you guys/gals think? Could it be done and remain reasonably close the the TG or ST port?

 

If you've never heard of the game, I really, really recommend that you try it out. Like Bubble Bobble/Rainbow Islands (PS is actually a sequal to RI) it is loaded with secrets that help keep it fresh and the game play is outstanding.

 

 

[Trebor]

What do you guys/gals think? Could it be done and remain reasonably close the the TG or ST port?

It could be done. More like (and could be better than) the NES port, less like the TG or ST (or Amiga for that matter), respecting graphics. TG, ST and Amiga align more with 16-bit console (Genesis/SNES) systems graphically, than 8-bit ones.

[PAC-MAN-RED]

Bubble Bobble sprites are ready for anyone who wishes to program this game. Parasol Stars could follow...

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/200163-bubble-bobble-arcade-sprites-7800/?do=findComment&comment=2556842

[Lynxpro]

It could be done. More like (and could be better than) the NES port, less like the TG or ST (or Amiga for that matter), respecting graphics. TG, ST and Amiga align more with 16-bit console (Genesis/SNES) systems graphically, than 8-bit ones.

 

…or Lynx or Jaguar.

[christo930]

Hmm... I thought it would exceed the NES version due to the sprite handling capabilities of the 7800. The bad part (from what I understand) is that resolution is cut in half for anything other than 2 color, just like on the C64. On the C64 you end up with a screen that is only 160 pixels wide. From what I understand, the NES has higher resolution even when using 2 bit color. What I don't understand is how this is accomplished with such little video memory. With only 2k (IIRC) you can only use tiles, but then I think the NES allows additional ram on the cartridge and I assume it can be mapped to video?

 

From what I can recall, the C64 version of Rainbow Islands is much better than the Nes with the exception of the damn up to jump. When I play it on emulator, I reassign the joy up to another button. I've been thinking of modding a NES controller to do the 7800 second button and the ability to map up to the 7800 second button for games that don't use the 7800's 2nd button (using switches) . This would work with the Amiga, ST, Atari and whatever systems use the Atari 9 pin format. The 'up to jump' takes so much away from some really good games. IIRC, Omega race came with a slide over that added a second button to the 2600 and a cable that you plugged the 2600 into and then plugged the OR cable into the port.

[Rex Dart]

 

 

I've been thinking of modding a NES controller to do the 7800 second button and the ability to map up to the 7800 second button for games that don't use the 7800's 2nd button (using switches) . This would work with the Amiga, ST, Atari and whatever systems use the Atari 9 pin format.

I think that's a great idea. I've done the same to a 3DO pad to make it Street Fighter compatible, and was pleased with the result.