BrianC

I'm playing this one via Stella since I down own the cart. My score is 8,610. One warning about this game. The switch settings are reverse from normal and difficulty B is actually the harder setting. This is one tough setting. Excellent choice in games, though. From the manual: "Choose a skill level. To start at Level 1 (easy), set the LEFT Difficulty switch at A. To start at Level 6 (difficult), set the switch at B." Also from the manual: "Look at the qube in the upper left portion of the screen. This is the target qube. The object is to color-match a row (or rows) of four qubes to this target qube. To make a match, Q*bert must jump off the qube in the appropriate direction -- as if he were tumbling that qube. (This may have to be done several times.) Once the qube matches the target qube, it becomes one color. In lower levels, a matched qube is locked in place. As you'll see in higher levels, matched qubes can become unmatched by Shoobops -- or by Q*bert himself!"

Freeway seems to be patterned after Space Race, not Frogger. Is this correct? River Raid is not similar to Vanguard at all. About the only thing they have in common is that they are both shooting games. River Raid doesn't have automatic scrolling and you have to run over fuel things to get more fuel. The enemy patterns of both games are vastly different and River Raid doesn't have a boss.

Marble Craze!

I actually tried the vis in store, if it's what I think it is. I agree that it sucks. If I remember correctly, there was a very odd version of Megamania for it that I tried at an in store display. I actually avoided the 2600 Megamania at first becuase of it (bad idea!).

Oystron. I can't think of other games that mix Tetris and space shooters quite like it. From some reason, when I think of Stampede, I also think of Steeplechase. They are very different games, but they both have a similar galloping sound.

"Several of the main people had gotten together to form Imagic. This happened in two different places. I am not sure how they found each other. Brian Dougherty and Jim Goldberger wanted to for a company to do Intellivision games. They worked for Mattel Electronics. Bill Grubb and Dennis Koble wanted to do Atari games. They worked for Atari. They recruited talent. In the case of the Atari guy, they got Bob Smith and Rob Fulop. The only other experienced fellow they brought from Mattel was a very smart young technician named Dave Durran. For programming, Brian turned to two people working in the computer industry who he knew from his UC Berkeley days, Pat Ransil and me." From the interview at http://www.dieterkoenig.at/ccc/ . So the company was made up of former Mattel Employees, but not entirely, though the non-former Mattel programmers being lead by former Mattel staff is a much better start than starting completely from scratch. And, yes, I know Coleco didn't have any Mattel staff. Just becuase I understand that Donkey Kong was their first effort and thus giving good reason for it to not turn out well doesn't mean I have to like it. I didn't appreciate getting a long lecture about how I shouldn't talk bad about Donkey Kong either, especially since I was defending Coleco.

Your opinions aren't facts either. I'm not trying to state my opinions as facts, I'm trying to get you to respect them! You also keep assuming that I dont know stuff that I actually know. I know that Activision, Atarisoft, and Imagic hired some former Mattel programmers, but some of the Imagic games weren't handled by former Mattel programmers. If I read correctly, the programmer of Demon Attack had to find a way to figure out how to get the game working on the hardware by scratch. BTW, I like quite a few arcade translations that are different from the originals and I find the assumption that I find the 2600 library to be one big glob to be insulting. I also like the arcade Tac-Scan quite a bit. As you said, Solar Fox isn't a good translation just becuase I like it. I find it to be good translation becuase it manages to translate the game in a way that works on the 2600 while still keeping the fast pace and fun of the original. Honestly, I don't know how to explain why I think Solar Fox and Tac-Scan are good translations from the originals in a way that you won't scoff at, but it's not just because I think they are good games like you keep assuming. In fact, the way you keep assuming things and making generalizations is the reason I keep replying to you. It's annoying when someone keeps coming in and assuming incorrect things just becuase of a difference of opinion.

I know the timeline. Venture and Mouse Trap were also released in 1982 and turned out much better than Donkey Kong. Imagic's first games for the Intellivsion also came out in 1982 and their games turned out very well, despite how they were new to the hardware. Activision ported games to a bunch of different systems and quite a few of them only have minor differences from the 2600 ones (though some like Pitfall 2 5200/800 and River Raid 5200/800/C64 have some major ones). BTW, I try to evaulate games on their own merits, not based on if they are "as good as they should be". I understand that you feel that Pac-Man is a fine translation of the 2600 game, but I don't. I even played the 8k version that looks closer to the arcade game and I still don't care for it much. It's not the color scheme or the fact it's different from the arcade I don't like. The maze design is lacking and I feel the gameplay of the 2600 Pac-Man is lacking.

Pitfall Marble Craze Solaris Demon Attack Enduro Cosmic Ark River Raid Megamania

I honestly don't think Coleco purposely makes games bad for the Intellivision either. Mouse Trap, Venture, and Donkey Kong Jr. (not Donkey Kong) are actually pretty darn good. I also enjoy the 2600 ports of Carnival and Venture. I like Mouse Trap 2600, though I wish it had more intact. The darkness mode is nice, though.

The 2600 version is missing a lot of elements from the arcade like being able to shoot the things shooting at you, bonus point items, moving on a grid, obstacles, etc. Much of the missing stuff was probably done due to the 2600 hardware. My opinion of it still stands, though.

No, we just disagree on what a good translation is. I feel that accurate and good translations are two different things. I'm sorry if you can't accept that. Anyway, this is getting silly. It's getting to be like a tomato/tomoato argument with posts trying to correct each other, even when someone isn't wrong. However, there is one thing we can agree on. Hack 'em is one fine translation of Pac-Man.

I have seen the original Defender, Mario Bros, Popeye, Tac-Scan, Q*Bert, Jungle Hunt, Crystal Castles, and Frogger in arcades and I still love the 2600 translations of them. Donkey Kong was also one I played quite a bit in arcades, but the 2600 one is only ok (good thing I have the Atari 800 version. That one rocks). I only tried Solar Fox in MAME, though. A translation isn't ONLY defined by it's accuracy for me. Fun factor, game design, and how the game stands on its own are important for me too.

They may not be close to accurate translations, but I still think it's a bit unfair to lump them with Pac-Man. Also, I feel that accurate and good translations are different things. I feel that Tac-Scan and Solar Fox are good translations. Also, my issues with Pac-Man have nothing to due with the ghost color (and there is actually more than one ghost color in the 2600 Pac-Man if you look closely). The maze design is terrible and the game feels nothing like Pac-Man. Tac-Scan and Solar Fox may be missing elements from the originals, but they still feel like Tac-Scan and Solar Fox. Actually, I was probably harsh on Donkey Kong. It's missing quite a bit from the original, but it still feels like Donkey Kong and actually looks pretty decent. I don't like the lack of difficulty progression, though. Now, Donkey Kong Jr., that's a whole different story. IMO, it's one of the worst if not THE worst 2600 arcade translation.

Here we go. Tac-Scan and Solar Fox are great 2600 games, but they were Godawful translations of the originals. As far as replicating the arcade experience goes, these two games were worse than Pac-Man or Donkey Kong. But few people know that because few people ever saw Tac-Scan or Solar fox in the arcades. If Tac-Scan had been a monster hit, the 2600 version would have made you angrier than Pac-Man ever did. Tac-Scan has one level out of the original three, only one type of enemy, and they completely dropped the 3D effect (the same way Zaxxon did). Solar Fox is so far off from the arcade there's no sense in going into it. Tac-Scan 2600 may have only one level, but one level in the arcade is simply the same as the first with a 3D effect and the third level is very brief (though I think it should have been attempted). The difficulty progression is different in Tac-Scan 2600 too. The game has a more noticeable difficulty push after each level and gets harder much faster. Tac-Scan dropping the 3D is NOT the same as Zaxxon switching from isometric to 3D. Zaxxon didn't drop a 3D effect, it switched from isometric to a 3D perspective. I'm actually glad the second stage in Tac-Scan wasn't attempted on the 2600, since it's just the first one in 3D and might not translate well to the 2600. However, I think the third level could have been done in the 2D style. Anyway, Tac-Scan is not an accurate translation, but worse than Pac-Man and Donkey Kong? It's quite a different beast from the original and missing elements, but it does keep some of the feel of the arcade intact and I feel the different difficulty curve makes up for the missing boards. I actually don't miss board 2 much at all. Solar Fox may not be close to the arcade, but comparing it to Pac-Man? Unlike Pac-Man, it still has much of the fun of the arcade game intact. It is missing quite a few of the elements like the whirpools and bonus items, but the 2600 version is still far from a awful translation. It still has level progression and bonus rounds intact too. No sense in going into it? By that logic, there is no sense in going in to the NES versions of Contra or Life Force either. It may be different from the arcade, but it still keeps some of the charm intact and is quite fun on its own.

Just removed the later from the options list, as I think it's just the U.S. import of Taitos (or Segas?) Monaco GP... Greetings, Manuel Super Speed Race was originally done by Taito, but I doubt it's the same game as Monaco GP. Monaco GP was always from SEGA and was released as Monaco GP in US Arcades.

It's coming along very well. I like the sound effects and level progression. There is one thing I'm confused about, though. I read somewhere that a game thought to be a prototype of Robot City actually turned out to be a Jopac game named Laser.

Actually, that's because you can also die from falling too far off a ledge. However, I think this needs to be worked on. It seems like sometimes you die as soon as you fall off some ledges rather than after falling for a bit. There were a couple times where I jumped from a ledge and didn't fall down far to another platform, but still died thanks to the jumping in air bug. The game is coming along well, though. I like the new counters on the title screen and I like how the hold jumping isn't being used any more. I also like the new game over animation much better than the old one. The new death problem is an annoyance, but the new jumping style feels a bit more natural. The current jumping with the falling detection from the last 8k version would be a perfect mix. Edit: Tried the newest 16k version some more. Sometimes, the Jumpman won't die when falling from a high place. The falling detection seems to be very hit or miss.

Yes and no. One or both titles were variously used for the ESB clone, the sequel to the ESB clone, and the Gridunner sequel. US name changes aside, the original name chosen for the game is Attack of the Mutant Camels and the sequel is named Revenge. I agree. Any game described as a lawn-mowing simulator would indeed sound boring. Hover Bover is really more of a pac-man type game with elements from other games thrown it. I don't find it boring at all. It's quite challenging and the way someone gets pissed off and come at you when you run over flowers is brillant. The way you described Hover Bover is like describing Adventure as a game where you move a square, Trauma Center as a game about surgery, Missile Command as a game about shooting lines with a dot, etc.

It's Attack of the Mutant Camels that is the clone of Empire Strikes Back, not Revenge. Any game sounds boing when you describe it THAT way.

Raiden and Rainbow Islands are already on the Genesis. Raiden came out in the US as Raiden Trad, but Rainbow Islands was only released in Japan for the Megadrive.

I don't think that was the case. The Atari 800 version of Donkey Kong is on cart.

Nobody even mentioned SFII. The 2600 pulled off some impressive versions of Klax and Xenophobe. In fact, I feel that some of the more impressive 2600 games were released after the crash. I thought both Kung Fu Master and Commando were well done for the 2600, though Commando lost more in the translation than Kung Fu Master. Anyway, the 2600 still probably would have died like most systems do when other systems come out if the market hadn't crashed, and the system has limits for what can be ported, but ports like Elevator Action, Sinistar and Zookeeper probably would have been released, which would have helped the system a bit. However, even though Marble Madness probably would have looked ugly on the 2600, there is an awesome non-isometric homebrew game that has some similarities to Marble Madness, a nice control scheme, multiple levels, excellent music, and clever level design. It's not the same thing, but Marble Craze is an excellent game in its own right.

I would also like to see the 2600 get Minter-ized. A 2600 Gridrunner would be awesome.

I think you misunderstood. A.J. Franzman didn't say that Biplanes and Jet Fighters gave Combat a disservice. He was saying that he felt that all of the modes in Combat are inferior to the arcade versions they are based on. Since I haven't played much of the arcade ones, I don't know if I agree or disagree, but considering how Ultra Tank came after Combat and not all arcade versions of Tank are based on Tank 8, I think some of what he said may have been a bit unfair. My previous post was an attempt to figure out if Combat was really as inferior to the arcade as A.J. Franzman was trying to say. As I said, I don't know if Biplane or Jet Fighter arcade have the awesome 3 or 1 or 2 on 2 variations like the 2600 versions. However, I do know that the arcade Biplane has extra barriers that coun't as a point for the oppoent when you touch them. I just tried Ace in MAME and you can't go to one edge of the screen to the other side of the screen like in the Biplane modes in Combat. I'm not sure what the case is with Jet Fighter, though. Personaly, I'm glad that Combat has modes based on other arcade games. Missing mines and smaller mazes from the arcade are somewhat disappointing, but Combat has a wide variety of Tank variations alone and some cool variations for the plane modes too and does play very well.