Mr. Postman

Jesus. My guess is the IC is fried so I wouldn’t even bother. This is really unacceptable to happen again with an order so soon. Buy a new IC or just get an exchange.

Well post a picture of your interface to verify that the chips are installed in the correct orientation.

Well I had a good run yesterday. The stages build up in difficulty and complexity and reset after 128 stages so the 2-digit level number isn’t the only factor. From 129 onwards for the second go around I think the stages were a different combination until after 256. The game does not end but I believe stage 257 was the same as the first stage 00. I wish I had a recording of my gameplay, I wish I could compare levels 00, 129 & 257 to see if they were identical or not. Either way, with all the different starting seed combinations I imagine that there are thousands of unique stage color/enemy/layout variations.

Yes, I’m guessing that this is a GEM International Sample ROM, a plausible & IMO probable subsidiary or Side deal of Bit Corp with Homevision (due to the Jacky Jump (Bobby) Bit Corp game & cart shell as well as other Bit Corp ties with other Bit originated titles like Cosmic War, Tanks War & Teddy Apple. As we already know it’s not uncommon for South American companies to have sourced unreleased proto ROMS (sometimes apparently claimed by official means) So many previously believed unreleased games have surfaced from retail releases in South America and we’re all quite thankful.

How awesome, welcome to the club! Yes, walking on the turtles is great! You can also land on the crocodiles when they shut their mouth. Be sure to put the right difficulty on A to disable unlimited lives and unlock all stages! ?

I won’t lie, I’m surprised at RomHunter’s post. I’m very proud and excited about this dump. I’ve been searching high and low for over a decade and finally found it. I’d say it’s something special. Heck, I’d say it’s also fun because my gut reaction was to desperately try to dump it and share it immediately so that everyone could enjoy it too. It’s a shame that some people have become so bitter that they want to rain on the parade, but I won’t allow it here. This is an amazing dump and I’m having a lot of fun playing the game. Does anyone remember playing games? I guess RomHunter does not. I used to think he was a cool person. This game is a NEW DUMP, and the first real NTSC dump. The fan Jentsch conversion and “Jone Yuan” funky Mexican built-in multigame console conversion obviously were not what we’d consider real “NTSC dumps” of a game. We finally have a wonderful and fun really authentic vintage NTSC cartridge release version to play at accurate speeds in both gameplay and audio. It’s truly nice. Anyway, happy new year to everyone. This dump is very special to me and I’d like it to be very fun for everyone too which is why at my expense I’ve done everything in my power to make it available for all of you. Please play and enjoy Atari together, Happy 2021.

Well the Jentsch ROM was a fan made conversion (and well done for the time) and the absolute junk speed & color Jone Yuan dump came from some random Mexican multi-game console hack & also not a cart (and the quality showed). In other words, this was absolutely undumped. That was the “hoopla”. This is the only NTSC cartridge of this game that has been dumped to date, and it’s pretty cool. It’s the first non-fake dump, the ONLY actual dump from a cartridge. I’d call that relevant. No apologies.

I thought it just used a 6 pin cable by default (up down left right button ground) can anyone confirm which pin on the Retron 77 is +5v if available ? Edit: I guess it’s pin 7 like the paddles ?

Extremely hard to find this information, hopefully can be answered in a single reply and help others. Does the Hyperkin Retron 77 output 5v at the DB9 controller connector ports? (Typically pin 7)

Not sure if anyone still cares but I’ll try to get box scans in soon. Happy holidays.

I’ll get a box scan in for you guys soon! ??

I kinda’ feel like this is where the real challenge and replay value comes from. Recently I’ve only been able to make it until the late 20s / early 30 in stages because i’ll get hung up on a difficult one. It makes it all the more sweet when you finally do pass the stage! ? Much like a game of pinball, each play through can result in different scores and success. I enjoy the mix of Luck & skill, both in randomized levels and random enemy movements at any given moment that can make for that tiny window of success. That darn Hawk is unforgiving. ?

I was not aware of this, you are correct that you can switch on the fly between “A”dvanced regular mode & “B”eginner infinite lives mode just by toggling the switch. I’ve been learning a lot from this thread! Also yes, tapping reset does randomly create a predetermined set of stage progression based on which “Stage 0” you start with, which could very easily account for 256 unique stages within the game. I’d love if you yourself could compare with the official PAL Homevision ROM if the stages reset to $00 after beating stage 99. You seem to legitimately enjoy the game enough to have beat it on infinite lives mode, you should record yourself and go for an official high score on A difficulty.

So I’m under the impression that if it’s not 256 levels it’s an infinite loop until you run out of lives or hit 100? I wonder why the manual specifically states 256 stages? edit: Ahhhh, maybe there is a grand total of 256 possible randomly seeded stage options available in total programmed into the game, regardless of how many stages there are per loop (99). ——— Off topic, but I mentioned earlier about a rapid jump trick while riding on Turtles to get under the smaller floating platforms. It’s a wonderful trick to get past some of the more tedious stages. Just keep walking forward and jumping once you are at the bottom of the platform and you’ll make it to the other side!

I’ll be honest, I haven’t played this game heavily in a long time. The manual states 256 levels. I dumped it as a 4K ROM, by any chance would I need to do it as a bankswitching one or something different? When I was younger I was positive that you had to not reach 100 lives or the game would end and I thought I’d seen videos of people reaching 256. Can you compare what happens after stage 99 in A difficulty mode in the standard PAL Homevision release?