rorysl Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Hey, as mentioned in a separate thread I finally got a 7800! I've been collecting 2600 carts for a long time and have a fair-sized collection. Was wondering about titles available in both 2600 and 7800 form. Since I know the 7800 is backwards compatible I was wondering if there were any titles that are vastly improved given a 7800 makeover and are worth douple dipping. I know the obvious answer is "all of them" but I'm looking for titles that are really worth rebuying in 7800 format. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirage Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 (edited) Fortunately, most of the titles available on 2600 and 7800 are pretty common, so shouldn't be hard to get BOTH versions! That doesn't answer your question really, but it's my thought on the issue. I really like some of the 7800 titles that aren't on the 2600 like Ballblazer, Robotron, Jinks, Xevious and Food Fight. Centipede, Dig Dug, Asteroids, Desert Falcon, Ms Pac Man, and Joust I think are all significantly better on the 7800, but of those, I think Ms Pac Man and Joust are just as playable on 2600. Edited February 23, 2009 by Mirage1972 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Centepede, Joust, Dig Dug & Ms Pac are the ones I would get both of if your looking to have 2600 and 7800 versions of good 2600 games that are better looking on the 7800. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rorysl Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 Cool! That's great info guys...just out of curiousity, how many games were released in both 2600 and 7800 incarnations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirage Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 (edited) Cool! That's great info guys...just out of curiousity, how many games were released in both 2600 and 7800 incarnations? This site has an incredible archive of information to browse. Start at the top page and look at the links on the left. You'll find most general background info there, including lists of all the games that aren't perfect, but are pretty good. Another good resource is atarimania.com Edited February 24, 2009 by Mirage1972 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HammR25 Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 (edited) Pac-Man Collection Asteroids Deluxe Edited February 24, 2009 by HammR25 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Cool! That's great info guys...just out of curiousity, how many games were released in both 2600 and 7800 incarnations? Here's a list of ones that I can remember from the commercial life of 2600 and 7800 systems. Almost half of the games ever released on the 7800 also appeared on the 2600. In the latter half of the 1980s, companies would do the (IMO) silly thing of having a 7800 version and then a 2600 version marked as "for 2600 and 7800" without necessarily explaining that a 7800- specific version existed! I remember bringing home my 7800, plugging in my old 2600 WINTER GAMES and expecting the title to transform into the graphics that I saw on the back of the 7800 box! Centipede Asteroids Dig Dug Joust Ms. Pac-Man Desert Falcon Summer Games (7800 version published by Atari, 2600 version published by Epyx) Winter Games (7800 version published by Atari, 2600 version published by Epyx RealSports Baseball Crack'ed (not sure this was actually released on 2600, though it was announced) Dark Chambers Commando (7800 published by Atari, 2600 version published by Activision) Crossbow Donkey Kong Donkey Kong Junior Mario Bros. Fatal Run Xenophobe Ikari Warriors Sentinel (I believe this was announced for 2600 but I could be wrong) Kung Fu Master Title Match Pro Wrestling Pete Rose Baseball Tomcat F-14 Flight Simulator Rampage Double Dragon Klax (2600 was released, 7800 was later released after the commercial life of the 7800 had ended) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow460 Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Save Mary was on both consoles as well. It is on the Flashback 2. 7800 carts aren't terribly difficult to get. Try for a whole set! Oh, yeah Space Invaders was released as a home brew recently in 7800 format. If you can find a copy, buy it. It has a simpler game select interface that the 2600 counterpart. Otherwise, I think everything is all there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerG Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 The versions that have two player cooperative mode are great on the 7800 (Centipede, Astreroids, + ??). This really adds something new to the gameplay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Crack'ed (not sure this was actually released on 2600, though it was announced) Sentinel (I believe this was announced for 2600 but I could be wrong) Klax (2600 was released, 7800 was later released after the commercial life of the 7800 had ended) Nice list! Here's a few updates: Cracked was only a proto on the 2600 Sentinel was released for the 2600. 7800 version was released only in PAL format, NTSC is proto only 2600 Klax was only released in PAL format, the NTSC 2600 and 7800 versions are both protos Save Mary was on both consoles as well. Save Mary was not released for the 7800. The one Video 61 is selling is just the 2600 version on a 7800 cart board. Mitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow460 Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Oops, my bad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racer raul Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 IMO... all of them are better on the 7800. But I recommend owning both if you can... why not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Oops, my bad! They do market it as a 7800 game. It's a weird one where it doesn't really work on a 2600 (as Mitch mentioned) but it also doesn't make any use of the MARIA architecture either. "When is a 7800 game not really a 7800 game but not totally a 2600 game either ..." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 (edited) IMO... all of them are better on the 7800. But I recommend owning both if you can... why not? I'm in agreement with the exception of Winter Games. I actually found the 2600 version of that a bit more fun even though the 7800's graphics were substantially better. Had a few extra events that I quite liked. PS - I made this rough mockup years ago for a website on the 7800 that I've never finished. Shows a few of the games side by side. Design is a bit crude but you get the idea. Edited February 24, 2009 by DracIsBack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rorysl Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 Excellent stuff - I had no idea so many games were released in versions for both systems. That mock-up is great. Wouldn't hurt to have a website like that up -- the graphics comparisons are really clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Wouldn't hurt to have a website like that up -- the graphics comparisons are really clear. At the time I did it, there were some debates on one of the big video game forums (can't remember which) over the first "backwards compatible" system. Lots of PS2 fanboys were claiming it was the very first system to offer backwards compatibility out of the box. Someone brought up the 7800 and there were a lot of dismissive responses like "yeah, but that was just a 2600 with a different name ... it had no new real graphical capabilities." Lots of misinformation about the 7800 out there but that one always bugged me. Especially when you play the bobsled event in Winter Games on the 2600 and then again on the 7800. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rorysl Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 Totally! I'm looking forward to getting mine up and running! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Well, Save Mary works just fine on the 2600, it just requires a custom cart board and RAM chip. Apparently it was cheaper to just use a 7800 cart board. For a really nice screenshot comparison check out this one at ataritimes.com Mitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow460 Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Nice work, Drac! I expected Winter Games to be totally different, but Klax bears little similarity also. I wonder how it plays? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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