Flojomojo Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 I love this hardcore game. A friend had it from the Atari Club but found it difficult ... I was the kid who would (over)stay past dinnertime so I could try to beat it. I wouldn't see the arcade version until much later. Being able to buy my own copy of the redbox version was great, and I love that it's always included on every Atari Flashback collection. OIDS seems to be the most popular update to this game I was always partial to CONTINUUM on the classic Mac. It had a kickass level editor. Now it seems to be lost to time, like so many fringe games. Sub Terrania seems like it's an emulator benchmark for some people, maybe because it's hard enough with perfect timing, and impossible with lag? STOP PRESS FOR EDIT: I forgot to mention Thrust! So my questions are ... Do you like this game too? Or am I some kind of outlier freak? I get the sense it was only sold thru Atari Club because it was very difficult. Who made this? Anyone we know? Can someone point me to an interview with the programmer? Thanks! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 No love for Thrust? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted November 2, 2018 Author Share Posted November 2, 2018 Feck!!! Sorry, that's a major oversight on my part. How could I forget that? THRUST is great!!!! Both on 2600 (yeah!!) as well as the sweet free GameBoy Advance version. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 (edited) The issue I have with these "thusting" games is just that, the constant on/off thrusting. It's fatiguing and tedious. Would perhaps be nicer with variable control like in arcade Lunar Lander. I revisit the style of game from time to time hoping I'll take a liking to it. One thing I've been meaning to do is set my rapidfire circuit to control engine power. A PWM style thing you know. Edited November 2, 2018 by Keatah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 For me it is exactly the opposite, the constant balancing of thrust, gravity and inertia is what makes those games so good for me. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skippy B. Coyote Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 I always liked Gravitar and similarly styled games, I just suck really badly at them. I tried Sub-Terrania for the first time a couple days ago and couldn't even get past the second level! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AW127 Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 (edited) I also like those kind of games. The Amiga games "Zarathrusta" and "Gravity Force" are also similar and great. Edited November 2, 2018 by AW127 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Thag Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 You're not alone.Thrust and Gravitar on the VCS are some of my most played games. They are early takes on the 'crazy hard but fair' mechanics that now grace games like Dark Souls and Bloodbourne. Basically, stupid hard at first but totally master-able with lots of practice. I like them because each new level seems impossible... and then you are beating that level regularly and complaining about the NEXT impossible level. Well, at least until it all goes invisible. That's a bit cheap lol. Gravitar is also the best example of the kind of arcade port the 2600 does well: doesn't look like the arcade, but I'll be damned if it doesn't play like it. Sub Terrania on Genesis is fun too. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanJr Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 I like the idea of the game, but I am absolutely miserable at it and playing games of this sort usually devolve into controller throws rather rapidly. I just lack the finesse and patience require to master it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swami Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 I have to say that Gravitar and Thrust are two of my favorite games. I play it for long streaks day after day and get incrementally better until I am mediocre and then come back to it after a month and it is like starting all over again with all the control switching and finesse involved. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Thag Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 I have to say that Gravitar and Thrust are two of my favorite games. I play it for long streaks day after day and get incrementally better until I am mediocre and then come back to it after a month and it is like starting all over again with all the control switching and finesse involved. Glad to see I'm not the only one who does that! Too many games to steal my attention these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CapitanClassic Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 (edited) There is also Solar Jetman on the NES https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xCBF5sqfR0 Edited November 2, 2018 by jaybird3rd 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerx Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 If you can get to an arcade that has one, check out my buddy Shane's Cosmotrons. Fun four player action. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 ^ Played one of those at Geeks Mania in Madison the other day, fun game! Love the cabinet design and overall cool factor of the whole presentation. Sounds, music, et al. Looking forward to seeing what else they produce in the future. And yes, I too love Gravitar and Thrust. Great games!! VCS Gravitar really impresses for the time it was released. Wish I would have known about it BITD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machine Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 I love Gravitar. I bought a Gravitar arcade back in the day and selling it was a huge mistake. Great game, along with Thrust. Anyone ever check out Gravitrex? It is a very limited arcade game, unfortunately they only sold a couple. I tried to buy one but the had stopped making them: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinity Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 There is also Solar Jetman on the NES https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xCBF5sqfR0 Now I want this game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youxia Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 Original Gravitar blew my mind when I played it for the first time in this year's Arcade HS Club. It's beyond tough and brutal but also immensely rewarding when you start geting the hang of it and pulling off some unbelievable moves. It's videogame zen incarnate. Good to see some other games in this style here, will definitely check some of them out, Oids looks particularly interesting. I can recommend 1985 - The Day After from C64 as my recent favourite made in this style. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 I would have loved 2600 Gravitar 100%, but I missed out on it since like Crazy Climber, I never even knew it existed! If it didn't show up for sale at a local store.. I didn't know about it. I was familiar with the arcade game, so seeing the amazing port on the VCS would have been exactly the kind of gaming action I was into. But alas.. it wasn't until the internet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ave1 Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 i played a little Gravitar on my recent video (starts 7 min and 25 seconds in): I am not very good as you can see, but the controller I'm using helps for feathering the throttle above and beyond what you get with the 2600 joystick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Spriggy Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 Some fantastic games in the Gravity/Thrust themed genre, As aforementioned, 2600 Thrust and the legendary difficult Gravitar are the dux nuts. After youxia's comment on the C64, Space Taxi came straight to mind And yes Flo .... you are a freak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asaki Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 (edited) I get the sense it was only sold thru Atari Club because it was very difficult. Do you mean the Silver box was only sold through Atari Club? Because AA says that the Red box is fairly common. We have the red box version, my brother picked it out when we found a bin full of 2600 games at a dollar store back in the day. I like the idea of the game, but I am absolutely miserable at it and playing games of this sort usually devolve into controller throws rather rapidly. I just lack the finesse and patience require to master it. I was going to say almost the exact same thing, I've always been bad at these kinds of games. Even the underwater bubble stage in Earthworm Jim always tore me up. Friends and I would play this game called 20 Games to Play With Your Mates on the XBox 360, and it had a Gravitar styled game. It made me really want to go back and revisit those games, and see if I could do better now that I'm an adult... ...nope, I'm still pretty rubbish at them =) Edited November 4, 2018 by Asaki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted November 4, 2018 Author Share Posted November 4, 2018 Do you mean the Silver box was only sold through Atari Club? Because AA says that the Red box is fairly common. We have the red box version, my brother picked it out when we found a bin full of 2600 games at a dollar store back in the day. Yes, the common red box version was many years later, after the crash. They also sold Venture and Donkey Kong in that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asaki Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 We got Venture from that $1 bin, as well (I was hoping it would be kind of like Adventure, but ehhhh). Also got Pole Position, Dig Dug, Galaxian, and...maybe one other game? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 I can recommend 1985 - The Day After from C64 as my recent favourite made in this style. That looks much like Thrust but without the pod. And the latter is IMO what makes Thrust really "interesting". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 No offensive capability? That's rather...unfortunate. Props to CC for mentioning Solar Jetman. Fantastic game, just don't worry too much about getting to the end (which is a bit of a letdown). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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