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  1. Game: Bell Hopper System: Atari 2600/VCS/Sears Video Arcade Publisher: Atari Age Programmer: Tomas Härdin Cartridge Size: 32K w/SARA RAM Copyright: 2011 Genre: Action Controller: Paddle; Joystick Players: 1 Rarity Rating; H (Homebrew) Bell Hopper is one of four homebrew games released on the multi-cart The Byte Before Christmas Bell Hopper Christmas Adventure Naughty List Santa's Scabs I will review each game separately. I've mentioned before that I intend to review every Atari 2600/VCS game given a physical release, ranking everything together on one list. So homebrews & hacks, releases from back-in-the-day (including PAL exclusives), along with prototype reproductions, will all be ranked on the same list. With multi-carts I will review each game on the cart separately however. The one requirement that I have is that I must own a physical copy of a game before I review it. Emulators are fine, but they don't always replicate the same experience as playing it on actual Atari hardware. I am currently using an Atari 7800 ProSystem to play games for the 2600. Game Description: Humanity slept. The animal kingdom did not. The most magical of all creatures, the bunny rabbits, sensed that an evil magical deed had been performed. Being the keepers of good, the rabbit elders knew they had to undo this wrong. They sent forth their youngest jumper. He alone was pure enough to see the magical sky bells, and he alone could jump high enough to ring them. The elders watched him leave on his journey with much anticipation. Would he be able to play the bell song and wake up humanity from the ill slumber? -From the manual. You are a rabbit. You start by jumping up and touching one of the bells falling from the sky. Once you touch a bell you, the rabbit, will hop upwards toward higher bells. If you attempt to hop onto a bell and miss you will fall. All is not lost however. If you skipped some bells on the way up, they are available to hop onto as you fall. So you may want to skip some on the way up. It's what the manual suggests and it's good advice. As you ascend you will encounter birds. Hopping on one will double your score. SCORING When you hop onto a bird it will double the score that you have earned up to that point. It is because of this that massive scores are possible. In fact, it's possible to hit a high score of over 20 digits! Quite a bit more. After reaching a large enough score the game quits displaying a numerical score and instead displays a mathematical equation, which will first have to be converted to a numerical score before being submitted to High Score. For example: 4.14e17 would come out to 414,000,000,000,000,000. Another example, if I interpenetrate the manual correctly, could be 6.32e32, which would be the same as 632,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. The manual doesn't tell you how to convert such a high score, but it does include one example. 8.14e19 equates to a numerical score of 81,400,000,000,000,000,000. So the 8.14 represents the first three digits, and the e19 tells us that there are 19 digits after the first. That's how I figure it. CONTROLLERS: If you wish to use a Joystick, plug it into Port One. If you wish to use a Paddle, plug it into Port Two. The Paddle controller seems to be the most precise method. This is an enjoyable little game. I quite enjoy it. I can't play it on a frequent basis, because it would turn me into a nervous wreck if I did. But that's me. Bell Hopper is a demake of Winterbells. Placed 5th in the game development competition at Assembley Summer 2011. Bell Hopper is still available here at Atari Age. The cartridge and full-color 16 page manual cost $30, with the box costing an additional $20. Those prices are assuming that you aren't a subscriber entitled to a discount. Boxes may not be reprinted once they run out. You can order this game for either the NTSC or PAL60 standards. The manual states that you can toggle to PAL50 using the TV Type switch. https://atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1041 I am the current World Recorder holder at http://highscore.com with a score of 536,707,160,240. I am currently the only one with a score there for Bell Hopper, so I invite you to join (it's FREE) and post a higher score. Then, I will attempt to regain my title from you. http://highscore.com/scores/Atari2600/TheByteBeforeChristmas/26372 ATARI AGE PROMO VIDEO FOR THE BYTE BEFORE CHRISTMAS Bell Hopper starts at the 2:37 mark. RANKING: 3 (out of 5) 1. Worm War I 2. Demolition Herby 3. Bell Hopper (Homebrew) 4. Alligator People (Prototype) 5. Fire Fly Please comment, like, and follow. I have several more games coming, so my next Blog entry will be for either my Game Review series or Feeding My Atari series. http://atariage.com/forums/blog/760/entry-15681-game-review-5-bell-hopper-atari-2600/
  2. My roommate decided his boss would enjoy an upgrade to his office computer to start the new month. I decided to chip in and help. Do you think he'll like it? Happy April 1st, everyone! Attached thumbnail(s) http://atariage.com/forums/blog/480/entry-15680-april-1-2019/
  3. Another ant-filled day here at the Read residence. Mom keeps saying she thinks Terro traps and Terminix are enough. Yeah. I'm beginning to think she's enjoying the ants all over the kitchen counter. Like that old Far Side cartoon where the kids are enjoying the fact that the slugs are back: I'm not in a very good mood. I tried to get saving progress in Frank the Fruit Fly and failed miserably. She refuses to do anything about the ants, citing multiple inane reasons. So you'd think she'd be a messy slob allowing ants crawling around on the kitchen counter, right? Nope. The opposite. She's a total neat freak. Whenever she cleans, she loses my stuff. I eventually found the Super Nintendo I was going to give to my sister in an inane place: In the pantry, in a box, under an Odyssey 2 console. Like I would put it there. Attached thumbnail(s) http://atariage.com/forums/blog/168/entry-15679-ants/
  4. 337 < PreviousIndexNext > http://atariage.com/forums/blog/118/entry-15671-kaizen-i-suppose/
  5. Though I currently do not own a 5200 ( Hey I will take donations LOL). I have played the system. It was a great system graphically superior to the 2600 and even on par with the 7800. So why did this system epically Fail?? There have been tons or reasons and it has in some ways been talked to death. But I will give you my first-hand thoughts and reasoning. 1. The controller was ahead of its time and poorly designed. The first Major mistake was using a cheap flex board for the controller. Also not making itself centring was a horrible idea. However, its major flaw was it was ahead of its time. Most people were not ready for an analogue joystick. They were use to the tried and trie 2600 style joystick. Intellivision disc controller proved that. People were not use to very precise movements and control. The second problem was it had too many buttons. The controller was overkill. Had the 5200 lived longer it may have used them. Star Raiders, for example, would have worked great on this controller and maybe even raiders of the lost ark. You could have simply pushed a button for inventory select. It would have been great but programmers really had no idea what to do with it. 2. The lack of games and not being backwards compatible. Most of the 5200 games were simple upgrades of 2600 games. Yes, the graphics were better but why would I buy another centapied if I already own one. There were very few new games for the 5200 and a small selection when the game system came out. Add to all this the pending video game crash where there was a glut of 2600 and other games It did not have a must have game. Pacman as a free game was a great idea and looked great but with the poor controller, many were not happy with another "crappy" Pacman game. he 5200 was doomed from the start. Retailers were nervous about carrying 2 atari systems plus a Coleco and Intellivision system and a ton of games for all the, Now we have a 4th system and games plus add ons It was a disaster in the making. 3. Atari makes a new 2600 cheaper but now also competes directly with the 5200. This was a bad decision. The game crash is coming Atari has basically 2 new systems they Update the 5200 to fix some issues so in theory at the same time you had 2 different 2600 systems 2 5200 systems and the list goes on. These decisions helped kill the 5200. If they got rid of the storage compartment made the system smaller and a better flex board the 5200 would have done better. 4. Lack of support and game crash. This says it all The 5200 was the system no one loved or wanted. It was supposed to be a game changer and in many ways it was but do to poor advertising marketing design and support it was doomed to fail. I loved the 5200 and hope to add it to my collection soon. There are now many new boards and controllers out for this system that will breathe life into it. Those are my thoughts would love to hear others veiws. Omega Supreme http://atariage.com/forums/blog/761/entry-15678-thoughts-on-5200or-how-to-kill-a-system/
  6. Late last night I ran across a post on Facebook by Kurt Mayer about Adam Savage's Tested. Had trouble sleeping afterwards, thank's Kurt Tested team members Jeremy Williams and Sean Charlesworth decided to build a new arcade cabinet running Starlords, a game they've built from scratch and introduced at California Extreme last year. As the name suggests, the game is an homage to Warlords. They enlisted the aid of Mike Mika and Kevin Wilson of Other Ocean. In this initial video, of a seven part series, they play-test Warlords and Medieval Mayhem on the 2600 and make their plans. The other six episodes are behind the paywall at Tested. I don't know if they'll show up on YouTube, though I did find a couple videos of Starlords in action at California Extreme. http://atariage.com/forums/blog/148/entry-15677-adam-savages-tested/
  7. Well, with the advent of my UNO Cart I know have the entire NTSC Atari 2600 library at my disposal. What game should I review/play first? Hmmm, there are so many to choose from… How about Tooth Protectors from Johnson & Johnson programmed by DSD Camelot. TP is not as well known as Chase the Chuck Wagon, perhaps it’s due to it not being tied in with a particular product or it just doesn’t have as flashy of a name, I honestly don’t know. Despite it not being as notorious as its counterpart is certainly is more sought after, often being the crown jewel of people’s collections. I’ll just say right now that I think this is a far better game than Chuck Wagon but there is a reason for that. Mike Schwartz, the guy who programmed Chuck Wagon for Spectravision had only a single weekend to make a final product. Considering the final product was apparently finished in three days I’m surprised we got what we did, but enough about Chuck Wagon, we want to hear about Tooth Protectors! The graphics are an odd mix of fantastic and mediocre. This game actually has a title screen and it looks excellent, it has a unique font and the J&J logo looks correct, it even does a little roll call of all the essentials you need for a healthy mouth. The three essentials, toothbrush, floss, and mouthwash, look decent, though you’d be forgiven for not knowing what they are meant to be. The game screen is where the quality drops a bit, those teeth give me anxiety. If the bottoms of the teeth were rounded I wouldn’t have a problem but imagining a mouthful of perfectly square teeth makes me shiver a bit for some reason. The titular Tooth Protector is pure nightmare fuel, he wears the smile of a serial killer, and the Snack Attacker isn’t much better, he looks like a death mask. Both the TP and SA are monochrome, but the SA does change color as the game progresses so things don’t get too stale. The things that I would classify as truly lacking are the snacks themselves, they are just colored cubes, which I think is a real missed opportunity, imagine the food from Fast Food in place of the cubes, that would be awesome! During the title screen a jaunty tune will play after a short while, this is the only piece of music in the game. All of the other sounds are a standard affair of beeps and chirps, nothing to really mention. That tune is REALLY catchy though. This could probably be classed as a Kaboom! clone. All you have to do is bounce back the snacks that the Snack Attacker is dropping on you, it seems fairly standard but there is a twist. You can aim the snacks depending on where you bounce them from and whether or not you’re moving so that you can hit the Snack Attacker with the very snacks he’s attacking you with, hitting him will get you bonus points. Occasionally you’ll hear a threatening alarm noise, this will alert you that the Snack Attacker is about to lunge at you, if he grabs you you’ll lose a life, you only get three so watch out. If a snack hits a tooth it’s no big deal, if a tooth is hit three times though you’ll have to use one of your emergency cleanings. By pressing the action button you’ll initiate an emergency cleaning, a cutscene will play showing the teeth getting brushed flossed and washed with mouthwash while the jaunty tune plays once more. You get three cleanings to start off with and will earn another one every 50,000 points, once a tooth is gone it cannot be brought back by a cleaning so you’d better get on things quick when a tooth starts flashing. This game works on a timer, once it depletes you get some bonus points and move onto the next level. It will be smooth sailing up until you get to level four where you get multiple balls moving diagonally, if your predictive positioning skills are a bit rusty now would be the time to brush up on them because things get challenging. Tooth Protectors is not a bad game, it’s simple and fun, which is something that Chase the Chuck Wagon failed at. It’s rare for a game this… uh… rare to actually be a good time, so I’m honestly surprised. Unfortunately even though this is a good, fun game it still doesn’t account for the cost involved in getting a copy. The only copy currently on Ebay is sitting at 110 dollars free shipping, though I have seen plenty that were more expensive so you’d better grab it now while it’s cheap-er. Obviously this game goes to the Collector’s Zone, but let it be known that Tooth Protectors is NOT a bad game, actually it’s kind of good. Attached thumbnail(s) http://atariage.com/forums/blog/729/entry-15674-tooth-protectors-dsd-camelot/
  8. Ortho Home Defense MAX Insect Killer Granules is sprinkled around the outside of the house and around any storage buildings. Ortho Home Defense Insect Killer for Indoor & Perimeter with Comfort Wand is used in the house, basement, and attic. Read the instructions. Reapply as needed. Use at your own risk. Goodby spiders, ants, and more. Tip Jar http://atariage.com/forums/blog/120/entry-15675-how-to-get-rid-of-spiders-and-ants/
  9. So I went to Wal-Mart to get Yoshi's Crafted World. Wal-Mart is the closest place to me that sells video games, so when I want a video game, I usually go there. I looked and looked at the cages and couldn't find it. So then I looked a second time. There, up in a corner on the highest shelf, was the game. After waiting for a few minutes while the lady there was ringing up someone else, she got the game for me and rang it up. $59.88, which meant I got a dime and 2 pennies back. Like I'm going to use 12 cents somewhere. So is it good? So far it is, but I haven't gotten very far, I'm still in world 1, or what I call the first world anyway. I'm sleepy since I only got 10 hours of sleep. I went to sleep at 2 a.m. and woke up at noon. http://atariage.com/forums/blog/168/entry-15673-yoshis-next-adventure/
  10. 336 < PreviousIndexNext > http://atariage.com/forums/blog/118/entry-15670-baby-steps/
  11. First Blog Post: This blog will be about my thoughts on old 80s games and Toys. My first video game system was really a Coleco Telstar system then the Atari 2600. I was extremely lucky and got a Promotional use Atari 2600. I still have the system but have misplaced it I hope to find it as it was a heavy 6er Sunnydale. I currently Own another 2600 early addition 6er. Colecovision and a Intellivision. I have over 100 2600 games with 60+ boxed. My Intellivision set is 50 boxed games Colecovision only 20 with one boxed. What I like is the collecting I often trade or give away copies of my extra games. I do not like people who claim they are a collector because of this or that I feel that anyone is a collector and I ate game sealers. Why have a game if you cant enjoy it. I have bought several sealed games and opened them to play them. I only have one sealed game and that's because its a copy and a crappy game. I am tryng to find more about this game. so If anyone knows about it let me know. Its a pink a pink Box and is a NTSC version not pal.. anyone have any info on this? I have pics and would also like to post it on the guide but dont know how to. I will be doing reveiws of Games and maybe even toys. Mainly G1 Transformers..I do not really have enough Megos to do any great reveiws... Omega Supreme http://atariage.com/forums/blog/761/entry-15669-first-blog/
  12. I’m very excited; I finally have an SD cartridge for my 2600! This has been a long time coming since all of the games I’d like to review are the weird and rare games that never show up on Ebay, and are incredibly expensive when they do. I don’t want to shell out $200 just to review Halloween so I think an UNO Cart will do just fine. My rule has always been “if I can play it on actual hardware then I can review it”, so the UNO Cart exploits that intentional loophole perfectly. There are two minor issues, one has to do with the UNO Cart itself, and the other is an issue on my end. The cartridge slot on my 2600 is extremely tight, to the point where Activision and CBS carts are getting scratches on the left side bumps. Matters aren’t helped when the left side screw is poking out a tiny, tiny, bit making it so the cartridge doesn’t fit properly in my 2600. The issue is easily fixed by removing the screw, and the cartridge is solid enough that it will hold together fine without one of the screws. My issue is a bit more serious but just as easily remedied. I don’t have an SD card slot on my new computer, so I am unable to load ROMs onto the cartridge apart from a few that were already on there for use on a Flashback Portable. You may think that the ROMs for the flashback portable would be just fine but the UNO Cart will only show 100 files per folder so the list gets cut off in the mid D’s. I’ve ordered a cheap SD card reader off of Ebay so I’ll be able to get that issued squared away all in good time. Prepare yourselves for a torrent of strange, weird, and obscure games because things are about to get fun! Also I tested it and Air Raid DOES roll on my TV, what a garbage game. http://atariage.com/forums/blog/729/entry-15668-ive-gotten-an-uno-cart/
  13. 335 < PreviousIndexNext > http://atariage.com/forums/blog/118/entry-15667-haters-gonna-hate/
  14. Game: Fire Fly System: Atari 2600/VCS/Sears Video Arcade Publisher: Mythicon Programmer: Bruce de Graaf Serial/Catalog Number: MA1002 Copyright: 1983 Genre: Shoot 'em Up Controller: Joystick (Sega Game Pad compatible); Ball Controller Players: 1 or 2 (Alternating) Game Variations: 5 RARITY RATING: 4 (Scarce+) Also published in Brazil by Canal 3 on tape. The manual has a long and rather silly story of the events that lead up to the game. Basics. The date is March 17, 2093. You're a test pilot of an interplanetary space ship called Delta 12. Your power plant malfunctions, and you wind up on a planet inhabited by giant mechanical bugs. But wait. The twist is that they aren't out to get you. No, your enemies are their enemies, called Bad-Bugs. How creative. Anyhow, they place you in command of their best machine-bug. Wait, they're mechanical bugs who fly machine-bugs? That makes no sense. So we'll ignore that part. You're tasked with saving their last remaining living creature, called the Pixie (or, in the very next sentence of the manual, Pixy). GAME VARIATIONS No menu of course. Use the Select Switch. Variation 1: Practice Mode, 1 Player. No Scoring; Unlimited lives. When this variation is selected a single human (or humanoid type) figure and a smiley face are displayed. Mythicon could have named this variation Pointless Mode. Variation 2: Level 1; 1 Player. Score points by shooting enemies. Additional points for picking up treasures and saving the Pixy (or Pixie, take your pick). Variation 3: Level 1; 2 Players. Play alternates by starting with the left controller. Makes sense. When this variation is selected two humanoid type figures are displayed, with a large gap between them. This is the game's subtle way to suggest that if there are actually 2 people who wish to play this atrocity together they should stay as far apart from one another as possible. Variation 4: Level 2; 1 Player. Enemies are more difficulty to shoot. This makes a really bad game worse. A single humanoid and a diamond are depicted on screen. Variation 5: Level 2; 2 Players. A diamond between them.The Difficulty Switches are not used. SCORING 10 points for shooting a group of enemies. 20 points for shooting the pumpkin. 30 points for rescuing the Pixy, or Pixie. Whatever. 99 points for recovering treasure. There is music in the game, but it's a short irritating sequence of tones that play on an endless loop. The maximum amount of points that you can earn are 9,999. The game continues on from there but no more scoring for you. Not even a roll-over. 3 players at http://highscore.com have scores of 9,999 achieved on actual Atari hardware (my current score is 5,690). 3 players have scores of 9,999 achieved through emulation. While I have this game imported into my emulator, I haven't submitted an emulated score yet. I'll save that torturous experience for another time. YOUTUBE PLAY VIDEO OF FIRE FLY - 9,999 POINTS ACHIEVED RANKING: 4 (out of 4) ATARI 2600/VCS GAMES REVIEWED SO FAR, AND THEIR CURRENT RANKING 1. Worm War I 2. Demolition Herby 3. Alligator People (Prototype) 4. Fire Fly OTHER ATARI 2600 GAMES PROGRAMMED BY BRUCE DE GRAAF Gee, they're all Mythicon games. I own a complete set of Mythicon games. All 3 of them. Lucky me. Sorcerer Star Fox http://atariage.com/forums/blog/760/entry-15666-game-review-4-fire-fly-atari-2600/
  15. I tried Magellan, a TI 99/4a map editor. It seem fine to me but I can't import my tiles from ICVGM. Maybe I will use it for future projects. I found threads with tilestudio mentioned I can't find the link to download. I spent two days to figure how to use sound. Most of time, sound is played a too late. I also managed to fix a bug with scrolling. Sometimes, the player does not follow the background when it's scrolling. Still not decide with the next room. That's all for today. Bye. Attached thumbnail(s) http://atariage.com/forums/blog/56/entry-15665-little-progress-ive-made/
  16. Berzerk is an undeniable classic; everybody likes Berzerk it seems, apart from me. I’m not a fan of Berzerk but I can’t deny its legacy. Berzerk was one of the earliest top-down shooters and also one of the earliest games to have voice sampling. Inevitably the game was ported onto the 2600 where it maintained its success, and it was later ported to the 5200 and 8-Bit line as well. The 2600 port is very faithful to its source material, since the arcade wasn’t a very complex game to begin with. The goal is simple, shoot shit and get points. There is no end point; all you do is increase your score until you inevitably die. I feel that this gameplay type has been done better, even on the 2600, I find Marauder from Tigervision to be a very good Berzerk-like top-down shooter, hell I even find Venture to be more enjoyable. For me it all comes down to the gameplay, it just feels so mundane. You’ll wind up running through handful of screens over and over again shooting the same dumb as bricks robots. I know the robot AI was a big selling point back in the day, they made mistakes and acted ‘human’, but these guys have nothing but rust housed in their craniums as they will spare no time in running into the nearest wall. The only time you’ll find yourself outmatched by a robot is if you appear in the center of a pack of them, then you’re toast since you have to be moving in the direction you want to shoot to shoot in that direction, and the robots can be quite trigger happy when they feel like it. Depending on the gameplay mode you choose you may encounter Evil Otto, he is a large smiley face that will quickly chase you around a screen if you take too long to clear it. Depending on which game variation you select Evil Otto is either invincible or can be rebounded by shooting him, basically you shoot him and he vanishes for a few seconds before showing back up again. Otto can be quite annoying when he’s invincible since he moves pretty darn quickly while you move pretty darn slowly, this is not a particularly quick game. So, sometimes when Otto appears you will be too far away from one of the exits and you are guaranteed to lose a life since there is no way to outrun him. I also need to mention that shooting diagonally is absolutely useless and is kinda screwed up. I don’t hate this game; I just find it incredibly boring after a while. The game modes I usually play on are games 5 and 8 just so I can shoot that bastard Otto, but it’s very rare that I would play this game in the first place. So, should you buy this game? Well… I can’t say no, this is a universal game for the 2600, and everybody has at least one copy. I won’t tell you the buying info since if you can’t find one in the wild then something is seriously wrong and boxed copies are also plentiful as well. If you had the option however I’d recommend that you play the Atari 8-Bit version since it has the voice clips and a greater variety of maze screens and, I know it’s a prototype but if you have an SD drive it shouldn’t be a problem. Berzerk may not be my favorite game but I can’t justify sending such a common and beloved game to the Collector’s Zone. http://atariage.com/forums/blog/729/entry-15659-berzerk-atari/
  17. Game: Worm War I System: Atari 2600/VCS/Sears Video Arcade Developer: Serius Software Publisher: 20th Century-Fox Programmer: David Lubar Serial/Catalog Number: 11001 Copyright: 1982 Genre: Shooter Controller: Joystick (Sega Game Pad compatible) Players: 1 or 2 (Competitive or Cooperative) Game Variations: 9 RARITY RATING: 3 (Scarce) Your mission, as a master tank commander, is to drive through the city of Teriyaki and blast away as many Worms and Blocks as possible without running out of fuel. That's the closest the manual gets to a story. Are these gigantic mutated Worms from Earth, or are they invaders from the planet Slitheron? Who knows, and more to the point, who cares? This game is just plain fun to play. It's a blast shooting the Worms with your tank's blaster cannon. I was first exposed to this game when I saw a play video of it at http://highscore.com , so I downloaded the ROM .bin file into my emulator. I tried it out. I had so much fun playing it that way that I had to buy a physical copy. Fortunately I scored (sorry to hit you with another pun) a manual at the same time. SINGLE PLAYER VARIATIONS Game 1: The "Obstacle Course" begins with side Wall Segments and a clear playing field. Obstacles appear after the first group are demolished and grow denser with each round. That's what the manual says, however sometimes you start off with worms and sometimes you don't, in a random fashion. Game 2: The "Straightaway" maintains a clear playing screen. Game 3: "Invisible Worms: uses Game Variation 1, but Worms are only visible during brief flashes that light up the screen. 2 PLAYER COOPERATIVE VARIATIONS Game 4: Uses the same screen as in Variation 1. Game 5: Uses the same screen as in Variation 2. Game 6: Uses the same screen as in Variation 3. 2 PLAYER COMPETITIVE VARIATIONS Game 7: Uses the same screen as in Variations 1 and 4. Game 8: Uses the same screen as in Variations 2 and 5. Game 9: Uses the same screen as in Variations 3 and 6. Both Difficulty Switches come into play (there I go again) with this game. The Left Difficulty Switch is used to control the movement of the Worms. A Position = Random Worm Movement. B Position = Fixed Worm Movement. The Right Difficulty Switch concerns your tanks's Brake Response. A Position = Slower Break Response. B Position = Faster Break Response. Personally I prefer to use Position A on the Left Difficulty Switch. Maybe it's the way my mind works, but I find the Worms moving in a fixed pattern more difficult than if their movements are random. So with Games 1 and 3 I prefer the Difficulty Switches to be set for A/B. FUEL You start off with 99 units of fuel. The game ends when you run out of fuel. If you are playing Game Variations 7, 8, and 9, the game ends when both players' tanks run dry. You lose fuel when you run into a Worm (10 fuel units), a Block (5 fuel units), and while you move forward (1 fuel unit for each Wall Segment). You gain fuel by driving through a Pagoda Gas Station. The faster you pass through it the more units of fuel that you gain (1 to 12 units). Worms attack in groups. You will start off by encountering 1 Worm, then 2 at once, then 3, eventually reaching 6. SCORING In the first attack group you earn 20 points for each Worm destroyed. The amount of points that you get increases after each group. After a wave of groups you will receive bonus points! HINTS BY PROGRAMMER DAVID LUBAR AND I To avoid being totally clobbered by hordes of Worms, pull back on the stick whenever a new group is appearing.Do this as soon as you exit a Gas Station.If a fuel Pagoda appears on top of a block, carefully shoot away the block, or try just to nick the Pagoda.If you miss and shoot the Pagoda Gas Station instead it will explode, killing all of the remaining Worms on screen, which will trigger the next wave of Worms. ​ You don't receive any points by killing Worms this way (not that I've noticed anyway). You won't lose any fuel doing this, but it will take longer before you gain any fuel because you have to shoot the entire next wave first. When you are refueling, you are safe from collisions. Use this to move over inconvenient Blocks.​Actually, the best time to move over inconvenient blocks is right as the game starts awarding you bonus points. While that is happening you can re-position your tank and pass over those blocks that are in the way, and you aren't in a position to shoot. The far left and right sides of the screen are safe spots, but don't hang there too long. If you don't shoot Worms, you won't bring on any Pagodas. If a Worm has reached near the bottom of the screen I move as fast as I can toward the nearest wall, while accelerating enough to get past him. Or her, we don't know if these Worms have a gender. WORLD RECORD RUN AT HIGH SCORE FOR GAME 1; B/B (w/Play Video) http://highscore.com/scores/Atari2600/WormWarI/67399 ANOTHER PLAY VIDEO :60 SECOND AMERICAN TV COMMERCIAL FOR WORM WAR I Worm War I is in the database at http://highscore.com for the Atari 2600. Game 1 is the default. Difficulty B/B is the default for a Novice score, whilst Difficulty A/A is the default for Expert. Game 1, Difficulty B/A and Difficulty A/B are as well. Game 3 is included too, for both Difficulties B/B and A/A. It is also in the High Score database for the Atari 400/800/XL/XE line of computers. All games in the High Score database include an emulation category. Other Atari 2600 Games Programmed by David Lubar Bumber Bash Challenge of Nexar Fantastic Voyage Flash Gordon My Golf River Raid II Sentinel Spacemaster X-7 A special thanks to those who have posted comments to my Blog entries, such as RetroRob, carlsson, and johnnywc (yes, I know who he is). Mind blown. http://atariage.com/forums/blog/760/entry-15664-game-review-3-worm-war-i-atari-2600/
  18. http://www.jedit.com I need to download that tool!! http://atariage.com/forums/blog/547/entry-15663-jedit/
  19. Don't have anything to put up this second......but I discovered the game creation tool, 'Bitsy' a while back at itch.io It is SO SWEET!!! Loads of images to follow soon!! http://atariage.com/forums/blog/547/entry-15662-bitsy/
  20. ......and XBox 360 and a few games for it. http://atariage.com/forums/blog/547/entry-15661-recently-acquired/
  21. What a haul! http://atariage.com/forums/blog/3/entry-15660-i-found-a-st-ton-of-nes-manuals/
  22. So with Yoshi's Crafted World coming out for the Switch, I decided to make an issue of Nintendo Power. What I forgot though was that not only did I make one 6 years ago in 2013, I made three. So this will be the fourth one. It's easy to forget things you did 6 years ago when your computer keeps crashing every couple of years. It's a wonder I've had mine for 3 years now. *knocks on wood* Anyway, issue 4, May 2019, will have a review of Yoshi's Crafted World in it. I even made a cover and the first two pages of this e-zine. I plan on going some time this weekend to a store that sells video games and getting it. I'm hopeful, but doubting, Nintendo's next console will still have physical media, as I enjoy taking games out of boxes and actually putting them into a console. Plus, it's cool to look at all your boxes and see your collection even when you don't want to play it at the moment. I was asleep most of the night. I intended to take a nap at 11 p.m. Ended up sleeping until 8 a.m. Attached thumbnail(s) http://atariage.com/forums/blog/168/entry-15658-how-to-forget-things-you-did-6-years-ago/
  23. Game: Alligator People System: Atari 2600/VCS/Sears Video Arcade Unreleased by 20th Century-Fox Programmer: John Russel Serial/Catalog Number: None Copyright: 1983 Prototype discovered in 2002 by collector Ben Liashenko Genre: Shooter Controller: Joystick (Sega Game Pad compatible) Players: 1 Game Variations: 9 This game was finished, but was cancelled before a manual could be written, so I'm going by my own playing experience and the entry for this game at AtariProtos. I bought my reproduction cartridge from Atari Age. https://atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=199 This game is loosely based on the low-budget sci-fi film The Alligator People, released in 1959 by 20th Century-Fox. You play as Jane Marvin, depicted in the game as a syringe, who must inject (that is shoot) 6 people who are turning into Alligator People. Three are displayed at the top of the screen. The other three at the bottom of the screen. This includes her husband, and five of his friends. As Jane, the syringe, you dart about the screen gathering up vials of antidote and serum. That is if you can avoid the real alligators that travel about the screen. As you go you inject (shoot) the infected people, who you can see slowly mutating from people to alligators. Or should that be Alligator People? As you inject them you can see them gradually change back into people again. Your points are displayed at the top of the screen. At the bottom you will see your extra lives, depicted as syringes. You can have a maximum of 3 at a time. If the Left Difficulty Switch is in the B position you will have infinite lives (reportedly management at 20th Century-Fox were quite displeased when they discovered this). So the Left Difficulty Switch must be in the A position, unless you like games with zero challenge. It can be quite difficult in the A position however, so A it is (for me anyway). The more vials of serum that you gather, the more potent the antidote. At the bottom of the screen, and to the right of the syringes, you will see S: 1 A:01 (as an example). The number beside the 'S' is how many vials of serum you have collected (they are depicted on screen by large red 'S's). The maximum that you can hold is 9, but you will continue to earn points by either shooting them or passing over them. The number to the right of the 'A' indicates how many vials of antidote the you have collected (they are depicted on screen as thin vertical lines). The maximum that you can carry is 99. You can continue to shoot or pass over the vials of antidote to gain points, but once all 6 victims have been cured you automatically move on to the next level. The vials of serum and antidote that you have collected can not be carried over from one level on to the next. GAME VARIATIONS Game 1: Walls are off. No serum. Game 2: Jane can move through the walls. Game 3: Walls on. Jane can't pass through them. Game 4: Moving walls turned off. No serum. Game 5: Jane can move through the walls Game 6: Walls on. Jane can't pass through them. Game 7: Moving walls turned off. No Serum. Game 8: Jane can move through the walls. Game 9: Walls on. Jane can't pass through them. SUMMARY AND TIPS Collect 9 vials of serum to get it up to maximum strength. You will need to do this at the start of each level to do well. There are 6 patients to cure on each level. 3 at the top of the screen; 3 on the bottom. The patients on the far left mutate at a slower pace than the ones to their right. Shoot the patients on the left as quickly as you can. If you can collect 9 vials of serum, then it will take only one shot from your syringe to cure the first stage patients. You can see the patients transform to the higher levels of mutations stage by stage. The more stages of mutations they go thru, the more shots they will need to cure them. As you shoot them, you will see them transform to a lower state of mutation with each shot. Extra lives are possible. In fact, you start off with 3. Once you reach a high enough score you will begin to get an extra life at the end of each level, assuming that you don't collide with a real alligator during the level. The extra lives are depicted at the bottom of the screen as syringes. You earn 5 points every time you shoot a real alligator, but as you go from the lower levels to the higher ones the more of them there are filling the screen, making collisions more likely. Another way to avoid some collisions is to shoot the vials of antidote that are near the edges of the screen instead of passing over them, as an alligator (a real one) will most likely appear from off-screen as you try to collect the vials. It's not that they're rare. As soon as all of the vials are either collected or shot, a new batch of them appear. I play all 9 Games Variations, but I play Game 1 the most. My current high score for Game 1 is 172,540 points, but I quit with 3 extra lives left. Game Ranking: 2 (out of 2). This was a tough call, as I really like this game, However I like Demolition Herby more. It was quite the challenge to describe and keep everything straight in my head. As I mentioned, there is no manual. My head hurts. CURRENT RANKING OF REVIEWED ATARI 2600 GAMES: 1. Demolition Herby 2. Alligator People My inspiration and philosophy for my reviews I've wanted to do something along the lines of The No Swear Gamer on Youtube for quite some time, but in my own style and with my own ranking philosophy. I really like his channel (after all it is one of several gaming channels that I support through Patreon), it's just that I prefer to rank homebrews and commercial releases from back in the day together, instead of within separate ranking lists. Obviously I've elected to include prototypes, as long as reproductions are available in physical form. I also plan to include games that were exclusive to PAL territories, such as Acid Drop and Meteor Defense. Everything ranked on one list. The only requirement will be that I own a cartridge of it. Also, I should mention the awesome community here at Atari Age, as well as my friends at http://highscore.com who continue to expose me to games that are new to me. Special thanks to Atari Age members RetroRob (also a user at High Score) and carlsson for both commenting on and liking my first game review. I greatly appreciate it. http://atariage.com/forums/blog/760/entry-15657-game-review-2-alligator-people-atari-2600/
  24. http://atariage.com/forums/blog/56/entry-15656-funny-commercial-ad/
  25. I was looking through AtariAge and noticed the thread where they were talking about trying to make the Odyssey be an online system. it prompted me to get out my Magnavox Odyssey and test it. Found 6 C batteries, put them in, and the console still works. It's amazing because it was released 47 years ago! Then I remembered I was going to release a game for it but never got around to it. Well, I decided that I should do it now. I had to remake the instructions because it had a copyright of 2016 (!) I made a couple more copies since i had two pairs of dice left. So now there are 10 copies. Which means I'll sell 9. The game, as you probably guessed, is called "six2" It uses cartridge #4. And it's a two-player game. Come to think of it, I guess one player could play it as well. I guess I should add the 1-player game instructions as well. While going through my stuff, I discovered I had unsold copies of Captain Bruce and His Cosmic Boomerang as well as some overlays for Dodgeball. I wonder how those materialized. I stayed up all night and fell asleep at 10 a.m. and woke up at about 4 p.m. And only getting 6 hours of sleep, I'm not tired as I was. But at 10 a.m. my back and neck hurt because I was working on my computer all night so it was kind of hard to fall asleep. Lesson learned: Do not spend 12 hours straight working on my computer. http://atariage.com/forums/blog/168/entry-15655-six-for-odyssey/
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