Mr. Postman

Jesus. My guess is the IC is fried so I wouldn’t even bother. This is really unacceptable to happen again with an order so soon. Buy a new IC or just get an exchange.

Well post a picture of your interface to verify that the chips are installed in the correct orientation.

Well I had a good run yesterday. The stages build up in difficulty and complexity and reset after 128 stages so the 2-digit level number isn’t the only factor. From 129 onwards for the second go around I think the stages were a different combination until after 256. The game does not end but I believe stage 257 was the same as the first stage 00. I wish I had a recording of my gameplay, I wish I could compare levels 00, 129 & 257 to see if they were identical or not. Either way, with all the different starting seed combinations I imagine that there are thousands of unique stage color/enemy/layout variations.

Yes, I’m guessing that this is a GEM International Sample ROM, a plausible & IMO probable subsidiary or Side deal of Bit Corp with Homevision (due to the Jacky Jump (Bobby) Bit Corp game & cart shell as well as other Bit Corp ties with other Bit originated titles like Cosmic War, Tanks War & Teddy Apple. As we already know it’s not uncommon for South American companies to have sourced unreleased proto ROMS (sometimes apparently claimed by official means) So many previously believed unreleased games have surfaced from retail releases in South America and we’re all quite thankful.

How awesome, welcome to the club! Yes, walking on the turtles is great! You can also land on the crocodiles when they shut their mouth. Be sure to put the right difficulty on A to disable unlimited lives and unlock all stages! ?

I won’t lie, I’m surprised at RomHunter’s post. I’m very proud and excited about this dump. I’ve been searching high and low for over a decade and finally found it. I’d say it’s something special. Heck, I’d say it’s also fun because my gut reaction was to desperately try to dump it and share it immediately so that everyone could enjoy it too. It’s a shame that some people have become so bitter that they want to rain on the parade, but I won’t allow it here. This is an amazing dump and I’m having a lot of fun playing the game. Does anyone remember playing games? I guess RomHunter does not. I used to think he was a cool person. This game is a NEW DUMP, and the first real NTSC dump. The fan Jentsch conversion and “Jone Yuan” funky Mexican built-in multigame console conversion obviously were not what we’d consider real “NTSC dumps” of a game. We finally have a wonderful and fun really authentic vintage NTSC cartridge release version to play at accurate speeds in both gameplay and audio. It’s truly nice. Anyway, happy new year to everyone. This dump is very special to me and I’d like it to be very fun for everyone too which is why at my expense I’ve done everything in my power to make it available for all of you. Please play and enjoy Atari together, Happy 2021.

Well the Jentsch ROM was a fan made conversion (and well done for the time) and the absolute junk speed & color Jone Yuan dump came from some random Mexican multi-game console hack & also not a cart (and the quality showed). In other words, this was absolutely undumped. That was the “hoopla”. This is the only NTSC cartridge of this game that has been dumped to date, and it’s pretty cool. It’s the first non-fake dump, the ONLY actual dump from a cartridge. I’d call that relevant. No apologies.

I thought it just used a 6 pin cable by default (up down left right button ground) can anyone confirm which pin on the Retron 77 is +5v if available ? Edit: I guess it’s pin 7 like the paddles ?

Extremely hard to find this information, hopefully can be answered in a single reply and help others. Does the Hyperkin Retron 77 output 5v at the DB9 controller connector ports? (Typically pin 7)

Not sure if anyone still cares but I’ll try to get box scans in soon. Happy holidays.

I’ll get a box scan in for you guys soon! ??

I kinda’ feel like this is where the real challenge and replay value comes from. Recently I’ve only been able to make it until the late 20s / early 30 in stages because i’ll get hung up on a difficult one. It makes it all the more sweet when you finally do pass the stage! ? Much like a game of pinball, each play through can result in different scores and success. I enjoy the mix of Luck & skill, both in randomized levels and random enemy movements at any given moment that can make for that tiny window of success. That darn Hawk is unforgiving. ?

I was not aware of this, you are correct that you can switch on the fly between “A”dvanced regular mode & “B”eginner infinite lives mode just by toggling the switch. I’ve been learning a lot from this thread! Also yes, tapping reset does randomly create a predetermined set of stage progression based on which “Stage 0” you start with, which could very easily account for 256 unique stages within the game. I’d love if you yourself could compare with the official PAL Homevision ROM if the stages reset to $00 after beating stage 99. You seem to legitimately enjoy the game enough to have beat it on infinite lives mode, you should record yourself and go for an official high score on A difficulty.

So I’m under the impression that if it’s not 256 levels it’s an infinite loop until you run out of lives or hit 100? I wonder why the manual specifically states 256 stages? edit: Ahhhh, maybe there is a grand total of 256 possible randomly seeded stage options available in total programmed into the game, regardless of how many stages there are per loop (99). ——— Off topic, but I mentioned earlier about a rapid jump trick while riding on Turtles to get under the smaller floating platforms. It’s a wonderful trick to get past some of the more tedious stages. Just keep walking forward and jumping once you are at the bottom of the platform and you’ll make it to the other side!

I’ll be honest, I haven’t played this game heavily in a long time. The manual states 256 levels. I dumped it as a 4K ROM, by any chance would I need to do it as a bankswitching one or something different? When I was younger I was positive that you had to not reach 100 lives or the game would end and I thought I’d seen videos of people reaching 256. Can you compare what happens after stage 99 in A difficulty mode in the standard PAL Homevision release?

The system needs to be played in “A” difficulty to play all 256 stages. You beat the game once reaching 100 lives or completing stage 256. If you earn above 99 lives the game is over, so you must purposely die a few lives off periodically to not reach said limit if you want the best high score and experience all 256 levels. Since you have infinite lives in B difficulty & you earn 1 life after beating each stage you will eventually reach the lives limit and the game ends.

I do recall an Artkaris console on eBay, but of course the seller said that it didn’t seem to work (which of course my first thought was that a PAL-N console isn’t going to work here.) lots of luck with your acquisition!

Your game is listed as NTSC on AtariMania. As a matter of fact it’s the only “P” designated cart I see. I‘d agree that the label is probably most certainly designating a PAL region as you’ve said. Pretty fun stuff! Do we think that this “P Moon Patrol” cart was not intended to be used on Artkaris consoles? How unique. http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-2600-vcs-p-moon-patrol_36504.html

Looks nice. That is also Ballblazer’s Stella screen capture. He seems to know a lot about the ROM differences in Stella. He’s pretty much an overall historian when it comes to foreign carts too.

All the image info displayed properly for someone in Stella. Has anyone tried this on a Harmony cartridge or something in real Atari hardware? It’s possible that it may display fine on real hardware. I only have my retron handy at the moment and I’m also not very familiar with Stella settings. Also I’ve seen a boxed game before with the box having the same art. Maybe the guy that posted his Pal Artkaris Moon Patrol earlier in this thread could scan his label in for you if it’s in better condition. ^_^

Well, to me it’s seems rather obvious that Lilly is the Spiritual sequel to Bobby, and the Proto Gem cart of “Jacky Jump” was a Bit Corp cart. However when it comes to Bit NTSC vs PAL everything gets confusing. I often find PAL colors to look nicer (Blue skies in PAL Bobby vs NTSC Purple), yet the original Bit sales fliers and I believe the the instruction manuals also show a drawing using the colors of the NTSC versions. As far as comparing Lilly code to Bobby, I’ve been told that they don’t. However it would be interesting to compare gameplay speeds if that’s what you mean? Either way, both really are great games and I’m definitely a fan of the nameless Taiwanese programmer!

The user Ballblazer whom I'd like to think of as a friend has a lot of knowledge about all these strange releases. He's informed me of an existing NTSC ROM that was from some Mexico region (maybe) console with built-in games (Jone Yuan). The Lilly sprite seems to look about the correct colors, but the Speed is way too fast similar to the Jentsch conversion. I assume it's also a PAL to NTSC conversion because of the fast "turbo' speed for both game play and sound just like the Jentsch. None the less I'm going to attach the file here so that everyone can compare all known instances of this title. When comparing all options it seems obvious that the Common PAL is noticeably too slow and the Jentsch/Jone Yuan are way too fast. Thoughts? Lilly Adventure (Jone Yuan Telephonic Enterprise Co).a26

I’ve compared emulation of both my NTSC cart VS PAL and can confirm that on the NTSC the water level has risen by 1 pixel to create the satisfactory image instead of the turtles and alligators being lowered by 1 pixel to avoid the hovering/floating on the PAL.

It Does appear that the Turtle and crocodile sprites are indeed in the proper place on the NTSC version and floaty in the Homevision and others, however the traditional copies we know also look a bit squished. Verrrry interesting. Another Taiwanese can of worms. This is an interesting take on Homevision! Obviously the squished floating turtle hovering in the air above the purple water, paired up with the painfully slow & awful audio is most likely incorrect. We should probably look again at Homevision/Gem. They were probably more of a Zimag (with better funding) than a sole Dev, especially with the Gem Proto/Sample “Jacky Jump” Bobby being a Bit Cart. Who knows, but vintage carts tell no lies. I personally find it of absolutely no surprise that a game developed in an NTSC Country would most likely have originally began it’s life as an NTSC game. ??‍♂️

Hey now! Lol I didn’t know that Toki was available, great game at the Arcade. Have you sat down & played this Lilly yet? Have you enjoyed the gameplay so far? ?