pocketmego

This topic is largely for the INFLUX of WOS guys that hit the board recently, but by all means anyone chime in. I am wondering how good the Atari ports were to the Spectrum? I'm thinking of games like Asteroids, Battlezone, Stun Runner, etc. Although, I guess you can throw in the 8 Bit versions of 2600 games, such as the stuff from Imagic like Atlantis and Demon Attack. Thoughts? -Ray

Also the sequels to Gridrunner, a game that started out as a Centipede clone, got less and less like centipede and more original. Now don't get me wrong. I like Yak's game. This was strictly an opinion soliciting thread. The truth is I play Gridrunner far more than any version of Centipede I own. I like the sounds and colors in Yak's games. Though they can get a bit...EXTREME, at times. -Ray

AWESOME!!! Back in the early 80's they used to air this on the cable channels between movies. I haven't thought of it in years. Thanks for the pleasent and cool reminder, man. My favorite reference is crazy Climber, which was a great in-joke. -Ray

This is indeed true, but I can't imagine that would have kept them from making a ridiculously simplified one. Sort of like Dark Chambers which was a horribly simplified version of Dandy. -Ray

I found what you said about modern PCs interesting. Obviously they are great. obviously everyone here is either using one or a mac (poor bastards), and we all have a lot of great uses for them. Especially with the internet which is the TRUE source of a PC's power. But, you are right. They aren't fun like the old 8 bits were. There is just something universally appealing about sitting down, firing up your machine of choice, flipping through your Floppies or Cassetts and finding that perfect cheezey arcade port or awesome original title and just loosing yourself in those great games. Classic 8 bit computer games could just draw you in as you had to add your imagination to the minimalistic or lack of graphics (infocom) to really bnecome part of the game. But, that is what really made it fun. I sure miss the good ol' days. -Ray

Now, I am clearly aware that any attempt at Robotron 2084 on the VCS would most likely be called Flickertron. However, I am curious as to why we never saw a version of this game on the 2600? Was it released to near the crash years? It certainly couldn't have been too complex to do, that would neve rhave stopped them. Anyone know? -Ray

Part of my wishes Atari hadn't listened to HSW and made Star Castle for the 2600. I'd love to see what it would look like. -Ray

In this case Yak did have the right idea. He put a limited number of Camels into Attack of the Mutant Camels and once you defeated that wave you moved on to the next and the camels moved faster and shot more. This is probably the way to go with Empire and would have made the game somewhat more conclussive. -Ray

Actually this is the first time I knew these were Arcade ports. I was quite young during the original VCS run and though I played it from 79-84 the games that I knew from the Arcades were the famous ones. I never even knew about these other games and would not have really been looking for them. -Ray

Might as well add the only other 2 7800 commericals on You Tube as well... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ3CJyd-Te0...ted&search= and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaPm1XK6BGg...ted&search= I sure am glad it plays games with "real" jysticks. -Ray

Oh he is certainly hilarious. I love reading interviews with the guy. he reminds me of Warren Ellis and Garth Ennis, though his games are more like "What if Grant Morrison quit writing comics and started making games?" "If this guy was making money on this pile of Wank, I knew there was a place for me in the industry." -Paraphrasing Jeff Minter on Asteroids for the Zx 81. -Ray

Mind that I haven't played the 2600 version, but I think the bad reviews this gets probably show the difference between teh cerebral and action oriented gamers. The 2600 was not good for much more than arcade style gameplay. The rare gems such as Adventure, Secret Quest, Superman, and Haunted House all seem to get a lot of love from the fan community do to their non-arcade, thinking player type nature. This game seems to fall into that category, unfortunately it lacks the kinds of graphics that 2600 players seem to be used too. You may have had to think in the other games I mentioned, but you were provided with the same kind of visiuals present in the arcade style games. This made it easier for people to understand those games. Apparently Stellar Track has to hold its own strictly via its gameplay. This can be very daunting. There is a C64 game called Armageddon Man that you almost never hear about it. In it you play the leader of United Nations. Your job is to over-see relations between countries around the world. Such exciting gameplay ensues as sending memos and giving the OK for food and supply allocation. However, as a simulation it is superb, has very minimal graphics and uses the Joystick togive commands. I enjoy it immensly, but I doubt it makes very many C64 Top Ten lists. I figure I'll enjoy Stellar Track just the same. I'm looking forward to it now, especially with all the fine reviews from people's whos opinions I very much respect. -Ray

YES, this is EXACTLY why I like emulators in some regards. I was able to find a surprisingly good port of "WonderBoy in The Dragon's Trap" for the TG16/PCE titled "Dragon's Curse". Not to mention "WonderBoy in Monster Land" on the Genesis. But anyways, to go on subject I'd have to say there's no real "winner" in my eyes. Each game has its own strengths and weaknesses that makes each of their games unique. So I can't really vote for anything. The poll is interesting so far. I am surprised that the Spectrum isn't much closer to the C64 than it is. Not that it is better or worse a game machine, but because it really was HUGE in a large part of the world and if you didn't own a C64 in those places chances are very likely you owned a Spectrum. The Atari being very high doesn't surprise me either. I am happy to see people compensated for my goof by basically using the 400 I put in the pollo as a catch all for all of Atari's 8 bit machines. The Atari 8 bits seemed to be right there with the C64 in terms of game variety and selection. It was always a shame that Atari had to suffer the crash and let it take both its gaming and computer development departments with it. Tramiel was trying to make the Atari computer line viable, but he was too much of a cheap-ass to ever do it right. I would have loved to see the Atari computer division evolve beyond its console counterpart. The company might still be with us today. -Ray

You might want to check with the AA store. i think those might be also available in pal. perhaps even upon request. If nothign else Aussie, I know they aren't as cool, but most of the ROMS are at least available emulated. -Ray

Congrats on getting it, BTW! It really is a fun game, but it takes a bit more time investment than most. Make sure you read the manual (and keep it up while you're playing!) or you might have a hard time getting going. It's a lot different than the Sega game, but if you like text games then I'm sure you'll find this interesting. As it so happens, Star Raiders is probably the direct descendant of Star Trek/Stellar Track, similar to the way that Adventure was graphically updated. Have you ever played the Star Trek text-game on another computer? As I recall, the BASIC printout from Dartmouth was quite popular among home players. A C port was even included with BSD systems! (It still is, as far as I know.) Yes, that game and many original games based on similar basic text and ASCII type graphics were around in the late 70's and early 80's and I had a chance to play them from time to time. I am curious as to how the 2600 version is going to play. It should be interesting. Plus, I haven't played a game where * represented a ship or planet in a LONG LONG time. -Ray

In the 2600 forum we were discussing Empire Strikes back and of course jeff Minter's name came up. It appears that most of the man's success is based on...shall we say liberal homages of previous games mostly by Atari and Midway. Andes Attack, his first, is a pretty obvious clone of Defender, although it's more than a bit weak. though this is mostly do to him writing it on the Vic 20. His first real success, ESPECIALLY in the US is Gridrunner. This was released both on the Vic20 and the C64 and it is CLEARLY a high tech, and more frantic version of Centipede. Then came the infamous Attack of the Mutant Camels, based more than loosely on the VCS Empire Strikes Back Game. Now, I personally like Yak's games. They are all very fast, frantic, and colorful. But, they do lack a LOT in terms of originality. Now, my question to all of you is... Should he be praised for his "improvments" on some of these classics, or should he be brought to task for some pretty obvious and blatant thefts? -Ray

Yes, but Defender isn't really abstract. You are flying a recognizable fighter over an Earth City. Its not like say Quick Step. Where are that Kangaroo and Squirrel supposed to be? Or Centipede... What are you? Where are you? That is what I mean. -Ray

Looks like fellow AtariAger PocketMego snagged it. You snooze, you lose. I'm thinking that's never going to happen. From what I've seen of the title, manuals are exceedingly rare. The AA entry doesn't even have a scanned copy! If you find a manual and/or boxed copy, you're going to be paying a pretty penny to acquire it. That's why AA's rarity database is such a wonderful service. We can figure out how to play the games without investing massive outlays of cash! Well you guys spoke ridiculously highly of this game, so I figured I'd give it a run. I like the Sega trek game and I like those old computer text sims from back in the day. It could be fun for a few minutes and its rare. 5 bucks is fair. -Ray

You made a GREAT choice, I assure you. Honestly they have such a good set up in this game they couyld do a whole run of these set in different genres and they would all be fun to play. In my opinion its actually better than Venture. -Ray

I got it when I was very young and before there was an Intellivision or Coleco. My parents got it for my brother and me on Christmas of 1979 along with a small black and white TV to play it on and we had a blast. I owned it happily all the way up into late 83 and into 84 when I got my C64, and because of that I never even knew ther ehad been a Crash. I always assumed games just kept going, because Commodore always had games. My brother got the NEs eventually, but I stuckn happily with my Commodore (64 then 128) until the early 90's when I got a Genesis. -Ray

I had been trying to convince myself that I wanted either a new Playstation 3 or an X-Box 360. But, the prices were bothering me. I should say the prices vs my interest in having either system. I had just started reading Retro Gamer magazine and I was slowly realizing that I was REALLY loosing a LOT of interest in the same old same old repetitive market of modern games. That what I really misdsed was my Atari and C64. So, I spent the money instead on a new computer which I needed, as my old one was getting along in years and got more heavily into emulators and then the real thing just prior to finding this site. Best decision I ever made, because I'm now alive again in my hobby, vs just sort of buying the stuff off the shelf and barely playing it like I had been. I knew something was really wrong when I played Original Metal Gear games that were on the Metal Gear Solid 3 disc, more than the actualy Metal Gear Solid 3 game. I'm now almost toally about Retro Gaming and am happier than I have been in a while and large part of it has to do with this site and all of you fine people. -Ray

I don't know... I often say to myself... "Chicken Shift", Why didn't I think of that? -Ray

I'm pretty sure the most famouse amongst them is Dan Bunten. But, with him i think there was a LOT more going on than sexual preference. In a world where the word Genius is bandied about TOO much, I prefer not to make use of it. But, in Bunten's case it applies in an almost literal sense. That guy's mind just didn't work like other people's. He thought in ways that most people aren't capable of. So for him to have a sex change...not surprised. -Ray

He's off making cell phone games for the "hip" crowd. *shudder* For some reason that site reminds me of Friday's SG-1. "Yo Wonderbread, how's it coming?" Alright... I can finally get copies of Night Club Diva and Party Night Empire for my Cell Phone...SIGN ME UP NOW!!!! Looks like Trip has simply devolved into what i always assumed he was... A Highschool Jock who could never get away from the glory days of High School. Thus he still makes games for kids many generations younger than him in a desperate attempt to be part of that life. So sad... -Ray

This thread took a direction I never saw coming. I guess when I say realism I need to better define the term. I mean games that are set in some sort of definable reality. Pitfall is realism (in terms of how real the VCS can get), Defender is actually a realistic environment (just with a sci-fi setting). When I say Abstract, I mean things like... Spider Fighter (no reality in that game at all), Q*bert, Pac-Man. These are games that are fun to pla, but have no definable settings. Think in terms of the cartoons based on abstract games. Q*Bert and Pac-Man could never have cartoons taken directly from their games. Instead the creators of the shows had to invent worlds for them to inhabit in order to tell stories. Pitfall, however, did not need such construction of environment. he already had a place realisitic enough to have his stories told in. Yes, I agree because if its inability to create graphics, NOTHING on the VCS is realistic. However, many games are set in definable realities and many are not. As for putting your imagination into the older systems better. Absolutely!!! First with my Atari and my long voyages through space in Star Raiders. That is why I love that game today, I never considered the space travel segments boring, I loved that the game seemed to be a voyage through space with you and your computer. I continued that into my C64 which had many games that I could be part of. Taking a voyage in 1492 with my crew in 7 Cities of Gold as we explored the New World. Or learning to trade and interact with aliens in ELITE. It is absolutely why i hold all these games in higher regard nthan later systems. GREAT STUFF!!! -Ray