littleman jack

Was Kick the same as Kickman and Pinhead? I remember playing it on an Atari 800 and in the arcade. It had a guy on a unicycle who could kick and could catch and pop falling balloons on his head. After a certain amount stacked up, the balloons would pop. Every so often characters from Pac-Man fell. Pac-Man himself could be caught and used to eat the balloons. It looked a little like Breakout or Snood, with a bunch of balloons on top and your kickman on the bottom. That was a great game. I wish it had been released for the 5200 or 7800.

CPUWIZ is an excellent person from which to buy! He's also a fantastic label artist. Everything was top notch. I highly recommmend trading with or buying from CPUWIZ. Thanks!

I've heard that they sold quite a few in Ireland. I never saw one in the 80's growing up in Florida, but I did see several in Ireland.

I liked Apple Panic for the Atari 800 better than the arcade Space Panic. Also, Spy Hunter on the 800 better than the arcade. And Crystal Castles better on the 2600 than in the arcade.

Castle Park was the best, followed by Showtime Pizza or Chuck E Cheese (I can't remember which it was) in Hollywood and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Plus there were arcades in the malls and one tiny one off of Sheridan St. and 56th Ave. where I used to go to play Tempest. And there was a Donkey Kong machine in a pizza place across from my aunt's house where my cousins and I spent many, many quarters in Pembroke Pines, FL. Those were the days!

Did anyone see the rerun of the TV show Psych this Saturday morning? It was an episode that parodied horror films. The characters went to a summer camp where there was a killer on the loose. And in one scene, one of the camp counselors took a time out to play Moon Patrol. He went into another room and you could clearly see the game in the backround as he played and as the other characters in the foreground talked. And I'm pretty sure it was the 5200 version, but not totally sure. So my question is, "Did anyone else see it and think it was the 5200 version?"

Are there Atari 8-bit ports of Manic Miner or Jet Set Willy?

Hello. Thanks for the answers! Elite sounds quite amazing.

Being an American in my late 30's and having read Retro Gamer Magazine for quite a long time now (I started with the issues that came with a disc), it appears that the three most popular games in England during the 8-bit era were Jet Set Willy, Manic Miner, and Elite. Is this true? And having never played any of them back in the day, I have another question. It seems like the first two resemble Miner 2049er and Montezuma's Revenge, while the third resembles Star Raiders. Is this a fair assessment? Thanks for any answers.

Star League Baseball for the Atari 800, followed by Home Run, the Odyssey 2 Baseball, World Series Baseball for the Genesis, and the 2003 Baseball for the Dreamcast. Too many, I know. But each of them has its strengths.

I have an O2, and I like it a lot, but it just doesn't have the number of great titles of other systems. However, it does have some gems, like the games listed in a few earlier posts. The sports games (at least baseball and football) are fun with two players. Smithereens is fun with two players. Plus it has a very good homebrew scene (KTAA--Kill the Attacking Aliens--is a great game) compliments of Packrat Video Games. And there is a multi-cart out there with European games and Imagic games that work on American consoles. I can't recall the site from memory, but if you google Odyssey2/Videopac multicart, it should come up. That website also includes Vectrex homebrews and Colecovision homebrews.

I think the 7800 version is a little bit easier. The elevator screen plays differently. It seems like the NES elevator board is a little more difficult from the start.

There are a lot of great ones on your list. I picked Seaquest because it was one of the first vcs games I ever bought, plus it always keeps me going back for another go at my high score.

l- I found a bug of sorts in my Wolfenstein VCS, but it only happened once, and when I turned off the 2600 and restarted it was gone. The bug was that all the rooms were closed off, I couldn't enter any of the rooms on the first level after completing just one. But it was gone when I restarted, and it's never happened since. I think along with Seawolf, Wolfenstein VCS may be my favorite game from Atari Age for the 2600. Lots of fun. -littleman jack

The only reason I really wanted a 2600 after having an 800 was to play Adventure. However, there were many great adventure games for the 800 that kept me quite happy, such as Montezuma's Revenge, Pharoah's Curse, Castle Wolfenstein, Journey to the Planets, and Seven Seas of Gold. But I did have an urge to play Adventure. However, I never got a 2600 until 24 years after getting the 800! Quite a long wait, but the 800 was quite fun in the meantime, and still is (although I'm on my 2nd 800). I love the 2600 now, however, for the quantity of games, the homebrews, and the cartridges (which are way easier than disks to use and maintain).

There are a lot of good ones on that list, but I'd go with Adventure. I think it may be one of my very favorite games on any platform ever.

bob 1200XL has a good point about the loose connections and bad contacts. If the temp changes by a lot, then circuits can get loose and unconnected. I've seen it happen in guitar amps on circuit boards and with wiring. Of course, if it does happen, you can just have someone rewire or solder it back together.

Countermeasure Centipede Adventure II

Best Electronics and Video 61 both have 7800 joypads in stock.

Four way tie: Solar Fox, Montezuma's Revenge, Seawolf, Wolfenstein VCS: the next mission.

I like the 7800 d-pad for many of the 7800 games, and many 2600 games as well. However, it doesn't respond quickly enough for some games, such as Choplifter, at least not for me. You can also get them at Video 61. I picked up two through them about a year ago. The d-pads are still going strong. They seem pretty durable, just not always responsive enough for all games. And I agree with the sentiment above, take off the thumbstick part for a better experience.

I've got 4 CX-40's, one wico ball, one wico bat, one wico command control or boss (the grey and black one with a white button on top), two European 7800 joypads, and two strange and slighty vulgar looking Kraft joysticks with suction cups on the bottom. Plus, I sometimes break out a Sega Genesis pad and use that, especially when my young cousins come to visit, as they like using the pads better than the classic joysticks. And for now, I still have two Flashback 2 controllers, but they may be gone soon.

I'd repeat several others above and advise buying homebrews. You could get three to five homebrews for that money, and they'd be fun and playable. And you'd be supporting more development, perhaps, of future games.

Thanks Thorsten!

I know that the standard 2600 CX-40 sticks are digital controllers. And that the 5200 controllers are analog. Are the 2600 paddles also analog? or digital? I ask because the paddles seem much more sensitive than the 2600 sticks, and as sensitive as the 5200 controllers. Thanks for any input.