5200/XL Joust vs. 7800 Joust

[famicommander]

7800 Joust is amazing, and one of the biggest reasons I bought the system years back. I never dug the NES version as a kid, never played the 2600 or 8 bit versions.

[+DrVenkman]

7800 Joust is undoubtedly the most faithful arcade port. That said, as a kid I loved the arcade game and got the A8 version and played the crap out of it for hours and hours. As pointed out above, the ability to bounce off the "ceiling" of the top of the screen is great! Also, the A8 version seems to be a bit faster and your ostrich is more responsive than the 7800 version. As a result, I always score about twice as much when I play on my A8 machines than I do playing the 7800 version.

[Mister-VCS]

7800 Joust is undoubtedly the most faithful arcade port. That said, as a kid I loved the arcade game and got the A8 version and played the crap out of it for hours and hours. As pointed out above, the ability to bounce off the "ceiling" of the top of the screen is great! Also, the A8 version seems to be a bit faster and your ostrich is more responsive than the 7800 version. As a result, I always score about twice as much when I play on my A8 machines than I do playing the 7800 version.

 

The A8 Joust is the easiest version- I grew up with the 2600 version and I think that the control of the 7800 ostrich is similar to the 2600 ostrich control.

[tjlazer]

The Atari ST version is the best!!!

Edited November 27, 2014 by tjlazer

[+DrVenkman]

I played some more 7800 Joust earlier tonight - the big difference in game-play as compared to the A8 version, it seems to me, is that the gravity seems weaker in the 7800 version. The ostriches are more "floaty" and don't drop as quickly between flaps. That makes it harder to drop down quickly on a lower-flying enemy. Also, eggs take much longer to fall and travel much further left or right while doing so.

[Trebor]

The Atari ST version is the best!!!

 

Comparing 16-bit and higher platforms, the SNES has a (near) perfect port thanks to Digital Eclipse and its 'emulation' of Joust and several other William's classic Arcade games under the "Arcade's Greatest Hits" cartridge compilation, which also saw near exact versions to the PlayStation, PC, and other systems.

[MrMaddog]

The Atari ST version is the best!!!

 

So much like the arcade version that it's illegal...

[Lynxpro]

Emulation using arcade ROMs doesn't count. We're talking about true ports here.

 

I rank the 7800 best *but* there's no denying that the A8/5200 versions have better *SOUND* due to the POKEY.

 

Hack the 7800 version to use the A8/5200 POKEY audio - whether for a cartridge based POKEY/HOKEY or a POKEY via the XBoard or XM - in the 7800 version and you truly have the best [8-bit] version possible.

 

Now this is talking through my cartridge port here on speculation…would it be possible to go to a 320 mode version if there was cart-based RAM? [or using XBoard/XM added RAM].

[+wood_jl]

 

The Atari 400/800 is the one I played the most, growing up. The gameplay was EXCELLENT but the single-colored birds were an obvious limitation.

 

The 2600 version I didn't see until years later, but like so many 2600 games, considering the limitations of the hardware, it's really quite good! The only thing I don't understand is why they have the eggs "fly around" after you kill an enemy. If they hadn't done that, I'd put it nearly as good as the 400/800, despite the 2600's limitations. But it's still great. I love it when a 2600 game still manages to capture the spirit and playability of the arcade version. Other than the flying eggs, this does. I like 2600 Dig-Dug, too.

 

The Atari ST version was fantastic, and I played it a lot, later. Considering the machine has no sprites (or player/missiles) the programmers did a great job!

 

The 7800 version is also fantastic. I didn't play it until later years, but it's one of my favorite 7800 games, and the graphics are what I wished the 400/800 (I guess that means 5200 also) version could have been, way back when.

[Trebor]

 

Agreed and exactly what you start to encounter with 16-bit and higher comparisons.

 

Now this is talking through my cartridge port here on speculationwould it be possible to go to a 320 mode version if there was cart-based RAM? [or using XBoard/XM added RAM].

The Xboard and XM does not change the graphic capabilities of the system. You could go 320 mode on a stock system or with an Xboard/XM, but will likely run into available/unique color limitations in either scenario. So the game would probably have a downgraded palette with the higher resolution.

[+Cafeman]

I am extremely affected by sound quality - and thats why many 7800 ports are distasteful to me. Once I got used to POKEY sound, 7800 TIA sound is pathetic. Until Tep did his new DK + Pokey, I'd never play 7800 DK because the TIA sound was awful. Same goes for 7800 Joust- I never got past the lack of POKEY even though the graphics were superior to the 5200 version.

 

(To quote "Mr. Monk", its a gift and a curse. I am bothered that my Xbox 360 doesn't do true Dolby digitial via my HDMI cable-to-Panny_plasma-to-surround-amp) - even thought the Pro-Logic is good enough for everybody else.

[Lynxpro]

Agreed and exactly what you start to encounter with 16-bit and higher comparisons.

 

The Xboard and XM does not change the graphic capabilities of the system. You could go 320 mode on a stock system or with an Xboard/XM, but will likely run into available/unique color limitations in either scenario. So the game would probably have a downgraded palette with the higher resolution.

 

Ah. Thanks for clarifying that; I mistakenly thought the limitation on 320 Mode was available RAM...

[Trebor]

Ah. Thanks for clarifying that; I mistakenly thought the limitation on 320 Mode was available RAM...

Wish it were the case...The Xboard and XM would then properly handle that scenario as could any PCB with added memory as a possibility - such as CPUWIZ's Versaboard.

 

The XBoard and XM are unlike the NES expansion memory management controller chips regarding video. The additions from MMC1-MMC5 for example, which enhances the graphic capabilities of the NES console considerably to tremendously, the Xboard and XM does not provide.

 

It would have been great to have a chip comparable back in the day which allowed the versatility of 160 mode palettes (or even greater) with the 320 mode resolution and was also massed produced. On the other hand, impressively, games such as Alien Brigade, BasketBrawl, Commando, Midnight Mutants, Tower Toppler, etc., is just the base MARIA graphics chip with no improvements or additions to its graphic abilities.

 

Also, depending on the game (playfield layout), there still may be some technique(s) that could be utilized, as seen in Froggie:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNU1iJzfPFA

 

In Joust's case, I don't believe the above could be applied; however, one of the seasoned devs could provide a more thorough explanation; or better yet, make the statement incorrect

[Mister-VCS]

I am extremely affected by sound quality - and thats why many 7800 ports are distasteful to me. Once I got used to POKEY sound, 7800 TIA sound is pathetic. Until Tep did his new DK + Pokey, I'd never play 7800 DK because the TIA sound was awful. Same goes for 7800 Joust- I never got past the lack of POKEY even though the graphics were superior to the 5200 version.

 

(To quote "Mr. Monk", its a gift and a curse. I am bothered that my Xbox 360 doesn't do true Dolby digitial via my HDMI cable-to-Panny_plasma-to-surround-amp) - even thought the Pro-Logic is good enough for everybody else.

 

 

The Joust-sound (7800) is ok - but 5200/XL-Joust-gameplay does not "feel" right IMO.

[+Cafeman]

 

 

The Joust-sound (7800) is ok - but 5200/XL-Joust-gameplay does not "feel" right IMO.

 

It's what you're used to. I'm not the only one who preferred the 5200/XL Joust feel. The coin op makes you flap a LOT and I really never got to play it a lot, back in the day. On the 5200/XL version, I like the way the birds intelligence is done and the creepy bird howls as they bounce off each other. I like how one button press is kind of like 2 coin-op flaps and how you can bounce off the ceiling. I played 5200 and A8 Joust for many years. Then, when coin-op perfect Joust was available via the Digital Eclipse discs on Playstation/Saturn, I realized how different the coin-op feels . If the 7800 gameplay feels closer to the coin-op feel, I can see why the 5200 version would feel off.

[Mister-VCS]

 

It's what you're used to. I'm not the only one who preferred the 5200/XL Joust feel. The coin op makes you flap a LOT and I really never got to play it a lot, back in the day.

 

Right- I "grew up" with the 2600 version (since 1984!) and the 7800 control is similar to the 2600 version.

[+Stephen]

The Atari ST version is the best!!!

 

Stop making me wish my ST was hooked up again!