13 replies to this topic

[kyle]

Never played it and wonder is it worth ordering also would like to know about THIS PLANET SUCKS.And the game best electroics has for sale Alfred's challange is it any good?

[JCroniger]

I don't know about Oystron, but I just received TPS and Alfreds. Both are excellent. I contacted Best Buy for Alfred, but they are out. Lukily, I was able to get both of them at Hozer's.

[Mindfield]

Oystron is a side-scrolling shooter, a bit like Astrosmash, only left-to-right. It's a great homebrew effort...

[mos6507]

I think Oystron is the best 2600 homebrew game of all time. It's the winner of the first annual (and only annual) Stellalist programming contest (1997).

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Yes, Oystron is great (although I still suck at the game)! IMO one of the best homebrews ever and one of the reasons, why I started my own 2600 programming.

[ 03-05-2002: Message edited by: Thomas Jentzsch ]

[Adrian]

Oystron is so ****ing good, that I can't believe it's a homebrew. It kicks ass over 90% of all Atari 2600 games EVER.

Piero was born 20 years too late -- he could have worked for Activision or Imagic and made a million dollars.

[Cybergoth]

quote:

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Originally posted by Adrian:
Piero was born 20 years too late -- he could have worked for Activision or Imagic and made a million dollars.

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Piero is one of the best VCS coders ever and Oystron, just like Thomas said, was one of the reasons, why I started 2600 programming - too.

Oystron is totally awesome, one of my favourite 2600 games ever - that's why we asked Piero to join Xype - and we're soooo happy he did!

People should also know Pieros other stuff, like his X-Mas demo and IMHO the best homebrew demo ever: "Look Mom No Flicker!". Actually, even being just a demo, LMNF looks better than most finished games

BTW: There's some neato debugging feature left even in the final Oystron version, you activate it by starting Oystron with...

Greetings,
Manuel

[Thomas Jentzsch]

quote:

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Originally posted by Cybergoth:

BTW: There's some neato debugging feature left even in the final Oystron version, you activate it by starting Oystron with...

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Really? Please, please tell me!

[Cybergoth]

quote:

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Originally posted by Thomas Jentzsch:
Really? Please, please tell me!

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Ok, but psssssssht!

Uhm, ok. From what I was reading in the Oystron source-code, it seems to react on a certain Joystick position, when starting a game

But more I really won't tell

Greetings,
Manuel

[Thomas Jentzsch]

quote:

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Originally posted by Cybergoth:
Ok, but psssssssht!

Uhm, ok. From what I was reading in the Oystron source-code, it seems to react on a certain Joystick position, when starting a game

But more I really won't tell

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Ok, got it. I won't tell too.

[Propane13]

I never really got into Oystron, partially because I never figured it out 100%. Is an instruction manual online? I suppose I could give it a second crack.

-John K. Harvey

[kyle]

You have to figure it out to play it? mmm i hate games that take a alot of thinking eveyrthing else sounds awsome about it tho

[Cybergoth]

quote:

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Originally posted by John K. Harvey:
I never really got into Oystron, partially because I never figured it out 100%. Is an instruction manual online? I suppose I could give it a second crack.

-John K. Harvey

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It's quite easy. Shoot all those things flying around. Some leave little bricks. Collect these. Try building complete horizontal rows on the left side area of the screen with the bricks.

When you've completed enough rows (as indicated by the energy bar at the bottom of the screen), you can battle the evil mothership with bombs.

Gets quite addictive, once you're into it.

Greetings,
Manuel

[wongojack]

I am digging up this thread because Oystron simply does not get enough love on these forums.  I know it gets alot, but that is still not enough.

 

Playing this game is like taking a beautiful lesson in single screen game design.  It has so much packed into one game that I just can't believe it.  Yes it is a bit hard to get into if you don't read the manual, but that is what makes it so great.  You have to learn with the game at the beginning and then develop strategies to improve your score.  There is more to do than just shoot (make rows), and there is a nice sense of progress as the levels build to the confrontation with the Oystron THEN you get the warp mode where you can boost your score before trying it over again.  The 3 difficulty levels are nice and challenging and the left diff A/B variation helps make a common strategy (stay near the edge) a bit harder to pull off.

 

If you have never tried this great homebrew then you need to try it tonight.  It is definitely one of the greatest VCS games ever created.

 

 

Edit - I still haven't figured out the easter egg or the debug feature mentioned in this thread.