Atari PAL Log #1

Entry posted by cessnaace April 13, 2019

858 views

Or, Atari PAL Log: My Experiences Playing PAL Games On My NTSC Atari #1 Kind of a long title for an on-going series, so I shortened it a tad bit.

I know that I can't possibly be the only one living in an NTSC country collecting PAL releases for their Atari, so I thought that I'd share my experiences with these games. Oh, I've only begun to collect PAL games for Atari platforms to be sure, but I figured that this would be a great time to start covering these releases. I've certainly got a long history of collecting PAL games for my NTSC Sega Master System though, but the list of PAL games that I own for the SMS is extensive and, well, where would I begin?

I'll be doing a new log whenever I have a new batch of PAL releases to discuss. I'm already aware of some of the technical issues that I'm liable to experience, as I worked as a Television Broadcast Engineer for 25 years.

Test Machine Atari 7800 ProSystem; NTSC
I have the RF output connected to a Coaxial (F-Type) to Female Adapter, which is connected to the RF Coaxial Input of an old VHS VCR. I am feeding the Composite Output of the VCR to a Composite Switcher, which is connected to an HD Flat-screen TV. No Upscale device is currently being used, although I do own one.

PAL GAME #1 2-Pak Special: Planet Patrol / Wall Defender
Publisher HES
Country of Origin Australia
Rarity Rating Undetermined

I bought this cartridge on eBay from a seller in Germany for $11.26 + $5.64 (S & H) = $16.90. Cartridge only.

HES released several (10 I believe) of these 2-Pak Specials. The label for this release is blue with nothing to identify the publisher. No Catalog or Part number either. It does feature a menu to select which of the two games to play.

Experience Displays in Black & White, but is otherwise fine. No graphical glitches. Sound is similar to the NTSC release that I own. I'm speaking of my NTSC cartridge of Planet Patrol, as I don't as yet have an NTSC release of Wall Defender.

PAL GAME #2 Mission 3000
Publisher Bit Corp
Country of Origin Germany
Rarity Rating 3
This is the re-release

I bought this game from a seller in the U.S. (Florida) for $8.98 + $3.70 (S&H) = $12.68. Cartridge and Box, but no manual.

Bit Corp, like HES, released many games for the 2600. This one they released 3 times. My only other experience that I've had with Bit Corp that I'm aware of is that I own a Bit Corp Gamate, and several boxed games for it. The Gamate is one of the systems in the database at http://highscore.com/

Experience Plays flawlessly. In color as well. The eBay seller warned that this game was PAL and not compatible with American hardware. I'm sure that was stated just in case, well, you know how some people are. That was a statement, not a question by-the-way.* The only other thing worth mentioning is that the sound effects sound different than they do through emulation (EMU7800, Version 2.2), which is why I don't review games that I've only played via emulation.

*The seller and I have exchanged emails since I originally posted this entry. He did, in fact, mention the 'not compatible with American hardware' part for the reason that I speculated. He already knew that this cartridge worked on an NTSC system.

Please Like, Comment, and Follow. My next blog entry will be a game review.

2 Comments

Recommended Comments

RetroRob 153

Posted April 13, 2019

Great, Mark! Should you struggle to get a specific game from Germany let me know. Maybe I can help getting it for you. PM me and I can look into it...