Rebeep

this game keeps bringing smiles on my face. 😁 thanks for such lovely game with true retro vibe.

such puzzle game like GS with level editor ? ... it just sounds like a promised way to immortal.

thanks. i have found this in Soundcloud first, but wanted executable file.

it looks like ABBUC server is down now... i could download xex file from here, but is this just a demo version ? http://a8.fandal.cz/detail.php?files_id=7944

its long since my last check for this project. mine was atr image of December 21, 2019. is there any newer or latest build which i should check ?

purchased. following Nox Archaist, this is totally unexpected gift. thanks for timely release !!

@x=usr(1536) i think its related to ATARI's license of "Space Invaders" (first case). it was such important for ATARI those days and should have been a killer title for VCS. since TAITO made contract to several other US companies thereafter, so its no strange south american nation's getting some chance for being nearest neighbour. though i said A8 computers didn't have a market chance, but as company, ATARI got rather good reputation and earned respect accordingly in Japan. VCS had been welcomed by early video game addicts along with other US consoles like Intellivision or Odyssey. (though affordable only for those "rich and knowledgeable") one of my friend had several of them and used to have shown off to others. yes, he was such a son of rich family. and of course most influential were arcade titles. (titles with "*" are well known even to below average Japanese gamers): Asteroids* popular but rare Lunar Lander* popular Battle Zone rather rare Missile Command* popular. cockpit type cabinet was rare. Tempest rather rare Major Havok quite rare but admired by Japanese devs I, Robot quite rare but shocked Japanese devs in many aspects. Star Wars* very popular and long hit. Return of Jedi not that popular as 1st Star Wars Empire Strikes Back not that popular as 1st Star Wars Marble Madness* delivered strong impact on both of Japanese players and devs. long hit. Paper Boy* showed culture gap and beloved for that reason. Road Runner rare. but my fav ? Gauntlet* a decisive example how ATARI could bring something coolest. long hit. Hard Drivin' popular to some degree KLAX not that popular but got some fans Stun Runner not that popular but got some die-hard fan. Pit Fighter* kinda cult title. though not taken as regular Beat'em'Up Rampart* popular for hard-core gamers. Area 51 rare but appreciated by die-hard gun shooter lovers. ...don't know much about titles after this. (sorry for ugly looking lines. somehow tabbed indent doesn't work in this form?)

there were some chances for me to know and experience how A8 is like in the past. im very instinctive to see things and as i wrote, had been already quite impressed by original Lucasarts games those days. besides, one of my timeless fav, maybe top of my list in action-puzzle genre is Boulder Dash which is originated in A8 platform and the quality being best. furthermore, i did know the fact that a series of ATARI's 8bit machines are Jay Miner's design when i played on AMIGA. these are enough to be killer element in me. when killer element is there, that platform becomes my thing. though i couldn't have reached to A8 computers in my youth (had only Apple][+, IIe, C64 and C128), but thanks to highest quality emulator like Altirra and active community of ATARI's, i can explore A8 world now. ? Apple][ and C64 then A8 as well at last. this is beyond luxury but best since each classic game has born on specific platform. so, i can see newer "US Big 3" of 8bit computers, naturally the next is older one. i have started to dig into TRS-80 though have not enough time or orientation. (i mean, one or two killer games as index)

i remember that name seen in some topics of Japanese magazine those days. A.E. is implying and sounding Japanese name of Manta, "Ei". so that enemy's shape looks like manta. Star Blazer (Sky Blazer for A8) as well should have been related to Sea Bass (player fighter) but this might be wrong. about ports for A8, A.E. and Sky Blazer seems to have been ported by original staff or in-house programmer of Broderbund. original version of Star/Sky Blazer had been released in 1981, and it shows the name of author (Tony Suzuki) and dev company's (Star Craft). the same author made "Alien Typhoon" (Galaxian Clone) as well for Apple ][. btw, that company "Star Craft" is not newer Canadian (of Diablo and WoW) but old Japanese one which once was there in Tokyo. they have actively ported many popular Adventure games and RPGs from Apple][ (and some from other western platforms) to PC-88/98/FM-7/X-1. also, ASCII, Comptiq (Kadokawa shoten), Compac (Kogakusya) and Pony Canyon (former Fuji-Sankei Group) were all racing each others in porting western games. other than that, Tsukumo Denki (computer shop. still exists) had dev team in 80's and released some not-that-impressive games for Apple ][.

MAX Machine should have been officially announced in the end of the year of 1982. so there might have been kids found it in the new year of 83. (one of famous dev of SEGA was the user, if my memory serves right.) it might have shone as budget computer along with SEGA SC-3000 but holds only short span of life cuz MSX has come in 1983. and you know, shop price of cheapest MSX (8KB RAM model from Casio's) was 9,800 Yen ($39) and even decent model with 16KB RAM (de-fact standard for early MSX) could be cheaper than those toy computers. as for Japanese software for A8, there might have been some amateur made programs which were submitted to "Basic Magazine" (at least i saw some program lists for Commodore PET and Apple][) or to some books from Kogakusya or ASCII.

im Japanese and i know some about A8 computers in those days. firstly, most seller of A8 computers in Japan which could be seen in early to mid 80's are of direct import. the price 200,000 yen was $800 in exchange rates of the day. and in that period, Namco was close business partner of ATARI. so their arcade hits of 80's use ATARI font as default. especially, legendary creator Masanobu Endo (father of most of popular titles in early 80's. except for Pacman.) preferred to use ATARI's 8bit computer as dev machine even after arcade mobo became 16bit system. as personal/home computer of overseas in Japan, Apple ][ was most renown and taken as "western standard" for being primal platform which holds tons of advanced games over wide variety of serious genres. Adventure, War, and especially CRPG including original Wizardry AND Ultima. so, in most case, those small import company/shop had been selling Apple ][ computers along with ATARI or Commodore machines. (active shops were Pineapple 6502, Robin Denshi, Akiduki Densho, Ike Shop and so on.) but price of Apple ][+ was around 450,000 Yen to 600,000 Yen ($1,800 to $2,500 !!) which could have seen in magazine ads. (of course there were several cheap knock-off compatible mobos/kits sold only for one tenth of the price, like 39,800 Yen.) later in 1983, Apple had made partnership with Cannon and Cannon became official seller. thereafter the price had been going down but Apple //c still should have been 198,000 Yen in 1986 if my memory was correct. Commodore as well had tried to entering Japanese home/hobby computer market, but retreated after the failure to promote MAX Machine in 1982. even though it's retail price was reasonably cheap 34.800 Yen = $139. (Max Machine is known as Ultimax in western nations. code name was VIC-10, an enhanced VIC-20 with sprite and hardware scroll which are compatible with C64. but was literally Toy Computer of Rom cartridge driven due to much smaller RAM size.) in early 90's, when i had been checking AMIGA, i found several shops still selling ATARI 8bit computers. but price kept ridiculously high. 'twas like 120,000 to 168,000 Yen ($480 for 600XL/65XE to $672 for 800XL/130XE)... again, only for stock machine. while shop price of Japanese personal/hobby computers were... X68000 XIV was 258,000 yen (= $1032), each of older 8bit Big 3 (PC-88FA/X1-TurboZ III/FM-77AV 40EX) was like 128,000 yen (= $512), ALL for full set. (Machine with internal 2 floppy drives and FM+PSG sounds, RGB monitor, joystick/pad, a couple of bonus games, and even some accessories.) so, from the beginning to the end, ATARI had no chance in Japanese market. but for me, A8 computer had revealed totally another dimension of charm since when i happened to see original "Ball Blazer" running. that was a moment of shivering and unforgettable.

where and when can i buy digital version ? i hope it including level editor as a bonus for commercial version. btw, the snake flashed me a new Freddie Krueger's form.