The Unoriginal Activision!

[VectorGamer]

As the thread title suggests, name the games released by Activision that lacked originality:

 

Freeway = Frogger

Dragster = Drag Race

Kaboom! = that three paddle "Breakout" game I can't remember the title of

Chopper Command = Defender

[schuwalker]

And your point being is????

[+Psionic]

Freeway = Frogger

Actually, these were both in development and released around the same time, and it's never been established that either ripped off from the other. David Crane insists that Freeway was not inspired by Frogger.

 

In any event, there's only so much you could do with a game back then, so how many games were really totally original? There were lots of rip-offs and derivatives.

 

For instance...MegaMania (Activision) was inspired by Astro Blaster (Sega/Gremlin) which was inspired by Astro Fighter (Data East).

[Gregory DG]

Kaboom! is nothing like Breakout.

[BrianC]

Kaboom! is nothing like Breakout.

 

But it does play a bit like Avalanche. It had more than three paddles, though.

Edited June 1, 2009 by BrianC

[VectorGamer]

Kaboom! is nothing like Breakout.

 

But it does play a bit like Avalanche. It had more than three paddles, though.

 

 

That's the one, thx...

[classicgamingguy]

Heh..this thread's going to heat up.

 

I can't really think of any off the top of my head. I always thought Activision titles were pretty "original" in their implementation, but I could be wrong.

 

-Steve

[Inky]

Dragster, Starmaster and Robot Tank arent really original...

 

BUt really, A lot of the guys from activision had a hand in many of Atari's classic arcade games.

[Aegis]

Activision had quite a few original games (Space Shuttle, Pitfall! + Pitfall II, River Raid, H.E.R.O.) but they also were great at taking established ideas and really polishing the gameplay and visuals (well, for the time).

 

Despite Enduro not being particularly original (it was brought out in response to Pole Position I believe) it was just in another league in terms of graphics and gameplay and it's still one of my favorite VCS games to date (along with H.E.R.O.)

[Red 5]

They also have VERY original games.

 

Pitfall, Barnstorming, HERO, Pressure Cooker, Oink, Cosmic Commuter, Keystone Kapers, Dolphin, Frostbite, Enduro, River Raid, Space Shuttle, Stampede...

 

Those are just off the top of my head. I'm sure there are more.

When you think about it, Activision was incredibly original.

[homerwannabee]

I remember one time at CGE when Steve Cartwright basically admitted that almost all his game ideas were stolen from other games.

Edited June 1, 2009 by homerwannabee

[mwalden]

One additional derivative game is:

 

Beamrider = Juno First - Konami/Gottlieb - 1983

http://klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=8261

 

Juno First was a bit obscure but a fairly good game. Cool sounds and graphics.

[Canadian Paul]

Chopper Command = Defender

 

The first time I popped in Chopper Command, I immediately thought it was an awful lot like Mega Force... but I think Chopper came out first, so the "borrowing" probably went the other way around...

[BrianC]

One additional derivative game is:

 

Beamrider = Juno First - Konami/Gottlieb - 1983

http://klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=8261

 

Juno First was a bit obscure but a fairly good game. Cool sounds and graphics.

 

Beamrider looks like Juno First, but it plays a bit different. It has some Tempest like elements as well. Speaking of Juno First, there's a very nice homebrew of it for the 2600.

 

I agree that Activision did some unoriginal games, but in many cases, it was well programmed, often has original elements, or stands on its own. I agree that they have many original games too.

[Shannon]

I've always figured that although Activision probably did "steal" a few ideas. I always got the impression that most of their stuff (especially earlier games) were built around the limitations of the 2600.

[youki]

Freeway = Frogger

Actually, these were both in development and released around the same time, and it's never been established that either ripped off from the other. David Crane insists that Freeway was not inspired by Frogger.

 

In any event, there's only so much you could do with a game back then, so how many games were really totally original? There were lots of rip-offs and derivatives.

 

For instance...MegaMania (Activision) was inspired by Astro Blaster (Sega/Gremlin) which was inspired by Astro Fighter (Data East).

 

 

Indeed, Freeway never had been inspired from Frogger , i pretty sure it has been directly inspired by the famous joke "Why did the chicken cross the road".

 

Why did the chicken cross the road?

[+Nathan Strum]

Despite Enduro not being particularly original (it was brought out in response to Pole Position I believe)

More likely it was inspired by Turbo.

[VectorGamer]

Indeed, Freeway never had been inspired from Frogger , i pretty sure it has been directly inspired by the famous joke "Why did the chicken cross the road".

 

Why did the chicken cross the road?

 

I guess we'll agree to disagree, in part, on this one. I know when this was released many gamers felt it was commonplace to sum up Freeway as "just like Frogger only with a chicken."

 

I do not doubt the joke was an inspiration as to how Activision could write a game that played like Frogger.

[youki]

Indeed, Freeway never had been inspired from Frogger , i pretty sure it has been directly inspired by the famous joke "Why did the chicken cross the road".

 

Why did the chicken cross the road?

 

I guess we'll agree to disagree, in part, on this one. I know when this was released many gamers felt it was commonplace to sum up Freeway as "just like Frogger only with a chicken."

 

I do not doubt the joke was an inspiration as to how Activision could write a game that played like Frogger.

 

Frogger and Freeway have been released the same year (1981) . Considering development time , i don't think one being inspired by the other.

Just 2 smart guys having the same kind of idea about the same time.

[Tempest]

Actually Freeway was inspired by David Cran watching a man trying to cross Lake Shore Drive during rush-hour traffic while attending Chicago's Consumer Electronic Show. Doesn't anyone read my site anymore?

 

http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/freeway/freeway.htm

 

Tempest

[Underball]

All of these games are much better than the Atari versions they simulate, if for no other reason than Activision games had no flicker.

[Herbarius]

Even back in the day it wasn't unusual to just copy a game more or less and release it as a new game. That (amongst other things) eventually led to the 83/84 crash.

 

Also it's debated whether Freeway was inspired by Frogger or not; I read somewhere that Freeway came out earlier, even if just slightly earlier. Also, if it was a Frogger clone, you would be able to move left/right.

 

Yes of course Kaboom! is not original in any way. It's a variation of the Avalanche game. But again I wouldn't blame Activision, there have been too many clones of that game to count, even continuing to modern times, you may find a game like that today that is advertising some product or as a free flash game online.

 

I can't say anything about Dragster/Drag Race. To Chopper Command/Defender... I think again Defender spawned a whole genre of games and Chopper Command was just one of them.

 

Yes of course they did copy stuff from others. Star Master is basically a variation of that one Star Trek game. But it's not an unusual thing, and if you look at other companies that copied game ideas, you can see their games have usually been worse than the original.

 

However, compare the 2600 "Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator" to Star Master: I think the latter has much more polished gameplay, it's more fun to play, better controls.

Some of you mentioned Enduro. Again, very polished game, day/night transition, really good gameplay. Compare Pole Position. I mean, look at the 2600 Pole Position, play it for a while. Then play a round of Enduro. Be honest: Pole Position 2600 is not a very good game. Enduro is. I've both carts and I honestly tried to like Pole Position, but it just didn't work out. That's the only game of the only 7 games I have got so far that I really dislike! Maybe because with Enduro I have an alternative to compare.

 

So to conclude, maybe Activision was a bit unoriginal, but not a lot more than other game companies. They also had some very original titles, think of Pitfall!.

But more important, Activision games, original or not, had that very high quality. The games have a polished feel, it seems everything fits together like a jigsaw-puzzle. Even Atari didn't do it as well, of course there were some games that were of such high quality and polish than the Activision titles, but inbetween there is lots of "trash", while Activision had a much smaller library, but almost every game can be considered grade B or better.

[etschuetz]

So, someone is wanting to lambaste Activision for "unoriginality"? Geesh, rather sad honestly. Yes, some games follow formulas established in previous releases, but who cares? We have seen this through out the age of the industry...heck, board games do this! Every industry does this. It is just something that happens. A winning formula is established, and others will follow in suit to cash in on it.

 

What is the real difference here? Activision took winning formulas and expanded on them. They didn't just "redo it", but they did it better in most cases. There are so many crap games out on the Atari that immitated something, but just fell flat on their labels due to poor development, programming, and design.

 

Also, I wouldn't compare Starmasters to Star Trek, but rather compare it to Star Raiders, amongst others others on the Atari 2600. One that predates Star Raiders on the 2600 escapes me at this moment, but it was vary basic and ugly. I am sure soemone will remember the title. Star Trek's game play mechanics and set up are different in comparison to both Star Raiders and Starmasters.

[Video]

Wha? Pole Position was a great game, thing is Enduro was AWESOME!!! As for similar tanks, what about Battlezone and Adictivisions game (can't remember the name) Lots of people loved it, and said it was better than battlezone, but honestly, I couldn't stand the 'bouncy bouncy' constantly going on, maybe if it was slower so it seemed more part of the game than a tacked on "look at me" type of thing, I don't know...

 

Activision, unlike a LOT of the companies of Atari's time, had a TON of original titles, some titles that even made new genres of their own, and even their obvious copys had something to differentiate them from the one they copied (like Enduro's mentioned shifting day, which made me love it so much)

[Aegis]

That was 'Robot Tank' - a rare example of an Activision game that I thought was inferior to the Atari original (Battlezone) - Activision added some nice ideas to the Battlezone concept but it never felt as fun to play as Atari's effort (plus, I really liked seeing the tank at the bottom of the screen :^)