r_type2600

Bump for a superb Blog. Anybody interested in Arcade history ought to check up the many great in-depth articles, in particular on the smaller manufacturers. Thanks Keith for a profoundly researched, well written, very entertaining and informative read !

It definitely has an ending, if not several - it's been a long time since I've played that one through (it takes quite a while), but IIRC the end is graphically slightly different depending on the character you play (similar to Zarlor Mercenary).

Originated from atarigames.com Cool to hear that Franz Lanzinger was involved with this. He really had a golden hand for whimsical yet addictive games. Crystal Castles of course (a pity he never got to do a true sequel to this), but also the Tengen update to Ms Pac Man - pure game fun at its best with its dozens of clever new mazes and subtle gameplay additions...

"Moi" please...

Really awesome!!! I love the originality of the backgrounds It's always nice to see conversions of classics on our retro-systems, but what really injects new life to them are games with an original edge And with these very cool Atari related locations, the game already got all the marks Gives them a touch of that typical Lynx / Jaguar oddity ... Will be definitely great if you can pack in quite a few more original scenes. (how about a couple of locations revisiting some Lynx games for example) Hope you will also get to animate the background characters to some extent. A superb effort in any case

So does this mean we can hope that the "release version" will be pumped up with all the great improvements you have planned ? What's there looks very promising and is already quite entertaining, it would be most desirable to see this clever game raised to its full potential - e.g. another exciting and addicting homebrew based on an all original concept. This game could become another modern classic for the 2600, just as Toyshop Trouble, Lead, and hopefully one day Man goes down (to name a few).

"I was welcome as a kind of exotic star, it was really nice and fun. as for the proper interaction with Disney Studios - it's a huge company, it's something completely amazing, I was... Were you really the star? I was star in the sense that I was very well received, I was well paid, I had a car, I had an apartment, even a mansion, etc...it was a thing of dreams, for two months I really lived the dream of a hollywood star. But workwise, there really is no stardom - it's super efficient teamwork" :-)

Probably one of the the largest and coolest videogames posters ever made indeed (pic curtesy of Walter L.)

Mine arrived today and happily joined Vong as a worthy companion homebrew Both now looking forward to Muncher's release

Love this one! Rockford could maybe do with a small carotene injection (I know there's little sun in those caverns, but still), but otherwise this label conquers. Even manages to make one forget the memorable original artwork.

That's one great little game! Smooth original gameplay and very addictive! Also like how it somehow manages to feel like an early Atari effort (graphics) and play like an early Activision classic (intense gameplay) The game variations already provide a number of logical additional game elements, but I think it would be better to merge them into one full-fletched game with increasingly difficult levels. That would really boost the long-term appeal of the game. This game has the stuff of a classic, so I think you should really consider 4k to max out its potential (even if you only end up needing 3k). Only for additional game elements tough - presentation extras (like a title screen etc.) would only water down the raw charm of this little gem. A few small suggestions: - a couple more "dumb" enemies with different bouncing patterns. - more (than 2) on-screen enemies in later levels - the different type of enemies should be distinguishable. Different (invaders) graphics for the various "dumb" moving patterns, different colors for different speeds. The smart enemy could then look like the invaders UFO. Don't really see the necessity for color backgrounds, the "food" surface changes color with every new level anyway, so that already provides enough variation, without getting confusing. And I love the player "block" sprite

Due to the display type we have chosen and the limited capabilities of the 2600, there is not much we can do about that. Therefore we implemented the look around function which should help a bit. Also the screen scrolling anticipates in which direction you are moving and scrolls a bit ahead. We could scroll one more row ahead vertically, but I am not sure if that wouldn't be too much (ff you go towards the left and right borders, the screen will scroll 3 columns; if you go to the upper and lower borders, it will only scroll 2 rows; we could make that 3). No worry - that's actually one of the cool things about 2600 ports from superior systems. No matter how possibly close the conversion is, the 2600 game will always feel and play slightly differently - so it's almost like experiencing a new original game, spiced with a welcome sense of familiarity. That's the real fun of getting to play an old classic on the 2600 (compare that to playing the 47th iteration of Namco Museum on the latest console). Harder is ok, essential is that the gameplay remains smooth and fair, and that's why I voted for the screen adjustments where necessary

Rally X ? GeTAway ? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ISjz0UKbxM Chip's Challenge ? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbheItMR2vg Gauntlet ??? (would be tough to nicely re-interpret the elaborate sprites though)

Please put me down for one copy. Thanks, Eric

Payment sent! Eric

Looks and sounds awesome :-)

...and some deep pockets collector is paying $600 for yet another! What a crazy hobby this is sometimes! More like the playground for some envious lowlifes. This scene has really taken a nosedive in the last few years. So the seller had relisted it with a reserve equal to Ax's purchase? What a coincidence. As to be expected, some jerk(s) around here did not waste a second to point the seller to this thread, ruining an awesome deal to some other collector who was lucky to strike a low BIN. @kevincal: yeah, you did not tell the seller. Why bother indeed - posting the auction on this forum within hours after it ended is far more efficient...

Quite a sight !

Back in the days, Activision, Broderbund or Synapse would have turned this into an awesome game

Punkrock is coming back with a vengeance btw: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Zi5HK6L3Ao There must be something in that Düsseldorf air..

Gratuliere zu Deiner Entscheidung, vor allem wenn das gute Stück Euch so langfristig beglücken soll Der Technologie-Wandel was Fernseher betrifft ist mittlerweile ja wirklich schon rasant. Wie gesagt war letztes Jahr 100hz noch Luxus, mittelweile schon Standard. Das selbe hat sich das Jahr zuvor mit HD-ready / real-HD abgespielt. Schätze, dass es max 3 Jahre sein werden bis dann die jetzige "brandneue innovation 3D" der neue Standard ist. Das mit dem Neukauf so eines Haushaltsgerätes artet leider meist in so unnötigen Stress aus. Da verbringt man Wochen wenn nicht Monate damit jedes kleinste Detail (von dem man vorher noch nie was gehört hat) von hunderten verschiedenen Modellen miteinander zu vergleichen, diese dann in Relation zu etwaigen Preisunterschieden bei noch mal sovielen Händlern zu setzen, nur um ein Jahr später festzustellen, dass man sowie nicht mit der Innovation-Spirale mithalten kann.. Spätestens dann stellt man allerdings mit einem wohligen Gefühl fest wie reichlich wurscht all diese Details Einem wirklich sind

Also, aus eigener Erfahrung, kann ich nur dringendst anraten das 100Hz Model zu nehmen. Habe selbst vor einem Jahr ein 50Hz Bravia Model gekauft, und habe sehr schnell feststellen müssen wie irritierend der langsame Bildwechsel bei schnellen Szenen ist. Der verwaschene Bildeindruck ist so störend (leichte Schwindelgefühle), dass ich meist wegschaue. Du musst auch bedenken, dass schnelle und weite Kameraschwenks ja nicht nur bei Sportaufnahmen vorkommen. Falls Du jedoch nur Opern oder Literatursendungen ansiehst, sollte das 50Hz Model ausreichen Die 80 Euro mehr für das 100Hz Model sind es auf jeden Fall Wert. (im Übrigen bin ich überrascht, dass es noch 50Hz Modelle auf dem Markt gibt - in den Saturns, etc. sieht man mittlerweile ja fast nur noch 100 bzw. schon 200Hz Modelle...)

A highly impressive conversion! It's great to see that a former professional Lynx programmer has discovered the 2600 as a playground for his creativity. For those who are not aware, Mr. D. Scott Williamson is responsible for some of the most prolific and arcade-perfect conversions on the Lynx - Roadblasters and Toki.

Good basic idea, but the proposed implementation is less than exciting and lacks vision or foresight. Wouldn't see much reason to buy another product that's just milking the Atari name... Eric