Mayhem

Nebulus was called Tower Toppler in the US. The name was kept when the 7800 version was released in the UK. Epyx distributed the game in the US for computers, as I have that version also for C64 (besides the "original" Hewson version). There are LOTS of name changes, some of which I have documented on my site here: http://www.geocities.com/MayhemNaboo/c64names.htm

There is no such thing, it was only released on NTSC...

Are they far easier to find in PAL land then? I've had 2 Planet Smashers and 4 Mean 18s through my hands and I've only been collecting the 7800 for 5 months! I think I've just about got all the PAL releases now bar a couple (Mario Brothers, Scrapyard Dog) and the HES/Salu stuff. Plus the odd NTSC only game (Summer Games etc)... Of course you will need a PAL Impossible Mission just to round the set off

Not here in Europe it isn't

I think Joe did print a second run of them. They were sold at this year's CGE...

You're right Mitch, it does hang about 2 seconds after start up when the funky visual effects should kick in...

Well I checked my entire 7800 PAL collection... several carts have red writing on the end label, but Ballblazer is the only one to have a red end label. So there you go. Have I got a rarity then (and I only paid $8 for it)?

I will go check for you Mitch, as I have 40 odd PAL 7800 games now... Though does NTSC Ballblazer work okay on PAL 7800? It's hard to know even with the P sticker on the back...

Is it? Well I've got a rare PAL 7800 game then

Yep, the C64 is 320 res across. To get round the 1 byte problem, there's a flag somewhere for the graphics chip to tell it to add 256 to the X position of each sprite if it goes further right than position 255 on the screen...

Okay Jag, he has: Computer Programmer, Mathmatician, Blackjack and Golf. Any of those take your fancy?

Wasn't much Videopac stuff at the convention, but a mate of mine had a few boxed carts. Things like Mathmatican and Computer Programming or similar. I will ask for a full list (for your perusal) and see if I can get any off him...

Don't collect for O2 or Videopac sadly, so can't do any swopping. However... I am going to be at Eurocon 2001 over this coming weekend, so there may be people with some there. Any particular titles I could acquire for you?

Interested in PAL 7800 Scrapyard Dog (presume "sw" means shrinkwrapped). Would you sell this singly for say $6 + postage? Mat A.

Just so you know that it is a worthwhile cause, PAL 7800 Impossible Mission is beatable Yep, I can do quite easily to be honest heh... though it is harder than the C64 version because the man doesn't jump as well, and the robots are fatter (and hence harder to avoid). And there are less passwords to use. Still, there's a reason to get the damn thing working in MESS huh?!

Yes DK PAL wise for 7800 is harder to find than some other carts. It isn't rare, but it isn't that common. Likewise Dark Chambers, that's quite a hard one to track down in PAL format (and yes, I've managed to find one). Some are piss easy and some are rock hard. The figures in the DP guide aren't accurate most of the time for the UK...

I've got Alien Brigade, but the cart doesn't have a P sticker on the back. I don't know if it IS the NTSC version or not (my Ms Pacman doesn't either and I know that is PAL because I've seen the NTSC of that not work properly on a PAL 7800). Is there any way to find out? Some NTSC games do work on PAL machines and vice versa.

French instructions? Well on a dodgy photocopied sheet maybe. I've got a few German instructions in my PAL boxes, in the same style layout as the English ones. And if you don't want your PAL 7800 games (Double Dragon, Kung Fu Master, F18 Tomcat etc), then I'd be happy to take them off you

Is this the US C64 version of Commando perhaps? I think there were two versions, one written here in the UK and one written over in the US. The UK version is decent enough, but only has 3 levels. However the MUSIC is absolutely brilliant, and well worth the reason to download and play on an emulator. Better than anything the 7800 sound chip could hope to achieve now!

Mitch - I would also be interested in Touchdown Football besides Robotron and Winter Games. I know WG doesn't work on PAL machines, but as it wasn't released here anyhows, makes no difference, just want it for the collection. I was told Robotron wasn't released on PAL either, and I haven't found anyone in the UK with a PAL copy of it. If you want to mail me and discuss a trade/sale, then you can write to [email protected] Trade wise I have the following PAL 7800 stuff (boxed w/ instructions unless otherwise noted): Basketbrawl (no instr) Xenophobe Fatal Run Motor Psycho Fight Night Planet Smashers Dig Dug Mean 18 Mean 18 (no instr) Jinks Food Fight (shrink) Hat Trick (shrink) Super Huey (shrink) JagD - sorry, no Videopac stuff, I only collect for C64 and 7800 at the mo. Still interested in the PAL Scrapyard Dog if you want to sell it. Anything else you might be after that I could have?

Well I'm still missing Scrapyard Dog from your list JagD, so I'm interested in that one you have. Maybe Ninja Golf too, currently getting it from someone else, depends if he can find it though. Anything you are after PAL wise? I've got a fair few trades including Motor Psycho, Basketbrawl, Xenophobe and Dig Dug. Failing that, hard cash (US$) I suppose!

Well I'm still missing Scrapyard Dog from your list JagD, so I'm interested in that one you have. Maybe Ninja Golf too, currently getting it from someone else, depends if he can find it though. Anything you are after PAL wise? I've got a fair few trades including Motor Psycho, Basketbrawl, Xenophobe and Dig Dug. Failing that, hard cash (US$) I suppose!

I'd be interested in the Robotron and Winter Games boxed with instructions (as neither were released here on PAL AFAIK), and a 7800 compatible lightgun if you have one (still trying to find something to play Sentinel, Meltdown etc with!). If you want anything PAL back, I do have a fair few to trade, including Mean 18...

It's a undocumented feature of the game to allow you a choice of starting level. Flick both difficulty switches to the right and you should have no problems. I think you flick the left one to the left to trigger the level select...

Well that's good to know that one game I'll be getting (Water Ski), I might actually be able to play then. Will let ppl know how it goes...