Activision Anthology ROCKS!

[tillenterprises]

Just picked up my copy of Activision Anthology today- right off the delivery truck at Funcoland! Nice job- good emulation and the unlocked features are pretty cool. First thing I did was make sure the Keystone Kapers wall were not pink! However, I did notice the colors were a little off in Frostbite. Too bad no one can find a way to use real Atari joysticks and paddles, though.

[Tempest]

What prototypes are on the disc?

 

Tempest

[ubersaurus]

I know Kabobber and Thwocker are on there...

[Rhindle The Red]

The other prototypes were supposed to be downloadable, but Sony nixed it. (No matter what IGNps2 says, it wasn't because of "time and budget constraints".)

 

BTW, they give it a solid 8.5:

 

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/378/378255p1.html

 

 

And Gamespot gives it a 7.3:

 

http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/revie...2897989,00.html

 

Yup, right on schedule. There's the ol' San Fernando Valley out there now.

[Cupcakus]

8.5 from IGN isn't bad.. I think they only gave Halo 9.2 :-)

 

Way to go Activision!

[tillenterprises]

Well, that article explains why some of the Imagic titles, like Demon Attack, Moonsweeper, and Atlantis (again!) are on the Anthology, but Dragonfire, No Escape, Riddle, and others are missing. Since Sony nixed the download idea, I hope Activision might offer an expansion disc to Anthology owners to load the missing games. It's a small complaint, but I kind of wish that Activision would have used the original Imagic silver label scans, instead of the Activision plain blue label rerelease scans of the Imagic games.

[GrizzLee]

Well, that article explains why some of the Imagic titles, like Demon Attack, Moonsweeper, and Atlantis (again!) are on the Anthology, but Dragonfire, No Escape, Riddle, and others are missing. Since Sony nixed the download idea, I hope Activision might offer an expansion disc to Anthology owners to load the missing games. It's a small complaint, but I kind of wish that Activision would have used the original

                     Imagic silver label scans, instead of the Activision plain blue label rerelease scans of the Imagic games.

 

Yes, what is the deal with that? Furthurmore, why did the packaging reflect Atari Cart styles, rather than Activisions?

 

Other than that, it is a very well done package. I have only minor complaints about the emulation, but they don't effect gameplay. Overall, I like it. My son is fighting me to play it as well. I hope there is a way to unlock all the FMVs of the games. The ones I have seen are very cool.

 

-Lee

[Flojomojo]

This all sounds great. I'm going to snag it at lunchtime. I'm so glad Activision finally implemented the patch idea, which many of us have been complaining about on the Stella list and RGVC for years. It was their idea first, after all.

 

When I saw that FMV still of the Pitfall running man in 3D, my first thought was that they put the Projecto Goldenshower video on the disk, which would have been very nice indeed. Having custom animations isn't bad though. :wink:

 

Having games missing because of an online feature that wasn't implemented just plain sucks, though. If it was for some prototypes I had never heard of, it would have been fine. But to leave out Cosmic Ark and Dragonfire??? Noooooooooo!!! I am Pitfall Harry's raging ire!

 

My other dilemma is whether to get this or Dragon's Lair 3D first. Fook it, I just got paid, I'll get both.

[tillenterprises]

The other prototypes were supposed to be downloadable' date=' but Sony nixed it. (No matter what IGNps2 says, it wasn't because of "time and budget constraints".)

 

BTW, they give it a solid 8.5:

 

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/378/378255p1.html

 

 

And Gamespot gives it a 7.3:

 

http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/revie...2897989,00.html

 

Yup, right on schedule. There's the ol' San Fernando Valley out there now.

 

 

Nice articles, but it bothers me that they give each collection low marks for graphics! What are they thinking? These are 20+ year old games- are they comparing them to today's games??? These games had state-of-the art graphics for the Atari 2600, and were awesome back in the early 80's! They should've compared the graphics to other games of that generation, like videogamecritic.net does. Besides, graphics aside- these games are still more fun and addictive to play now than most of these "high-tech" games being released for the PS2, XBox, and GC today. As a side note, the bouncing screen, and whirling screen, etc. unlocks are kind of cute, but I would've prefer that Activision include the exact-same games, but with all-new enhanced graphics versions of all the games to unlock. Could you imagine the same blocky-looking Pitfall Harry, running through a realistic-looking jungle scene? Or Keystone Kapers, with actual merchandise to knock over and shoppers walking around the department store in the background? That would've been cool, too!

[NE146]

I would've prefer that Activision include the exact-same games, but with all-new enhanced graphics versions of all the games to unlock.   Could you imagine the same blocky-looking Pitfall Harry, running through a realistic-looking jungle scene?   Or Keystone Kapers, with actual merchandise to knock over and shoppers walking around the department store in the background?   That would've been cool, too!

 

Well it's kind of late now dude.. Where were you when they were soliciting input for the game?

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.p...5189&highlight=

http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.p...6904&highlight=

http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.p...4904&highlight=

http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.p...4591&highlight=

[NE146]

oops double post..

[Flojomojo]

Nice articles, but it bothers me that they give each collection low marks for graphics!    What are they thinking?   These are 20+ year old games- are they comparing them to today's games???   These games had state-of-the art graphics for the Atari 2600, and were awesome back in the early 80's!    They should've compared the graphics to other games of that generation, like videogamecritic.net does.

I agree with everything else you said -- the Pitfall scenario in a new jungle would rock -- but these sites MUST rate the graphics like this for the benefit of the punks who expect graphical perfection from even a budget-priced game. Those of us who know these old games know what we're getting into, but a kid used to PS2 graphics is in for a rude awakening if the oldest game he's ever played is Metal Gear Solid on the PSX. You can't expect a review to treat stuff from the early 80s as "state of the art" in the early 00s.

 

I'm off to buy the collection now. Something tells me there will be plenty of copies.

[Tempest]

I was just looking through the instruction manual and I noticed they have Thwocker in there. How did they include this when you can't beat a level due to the exit bug? Was this fixed somehow?

 

Tempest

[Alex]

No, it's not fixed. It's just in there for what it is.

[Tempest]

Darn. I was hoping they might have noticed what the problem was when they tried to emulate it. Oh well...

 

Tempest

[Velvis]

Please please Xbox version.....!!

[MegaManFan]

Well, that article explains why some of the Imagic titles, like Demon Attack, Moonsweeper, and Atlantis (again!) are on the Anthology, but Dragonfire, No Escape, Riddle, and others are missing.  Since Sony nixed the download idea, I hope Activision might offer an expansion disc to Anthology owners to load the missing games.   It's a small complaint, but I kind of wish that Activision would have used the original Imagic silver label scans, instead of the Activision plain blue label rerelease scans of the Imagic games.

 

More to the point, I wish they'd agree to let AA re-host the ROM files again since there's no longer any chance of using the Anthology or the PS2 as a 2600 emulator. At the very least they could let us access the ones that aren't on it, and the prototypes; or as I've suggested before they could let us download a WHOLE PACK of them for a reasonable fee. Why not? What have they got to to lose? I'd like to play them both ways.

[Rhindle The Red]

I'm going to take a moment and make a few comments on this title. I'm not sure how many of you are aware of this (I know Thomas Jentzsch is), but I did graphic hacking for this project.

 

I was originally brought in to change the graphics in Ghostbusters so it could be included at a time when the package was intended to include a much larger number of games. Ultimately, the work I did on Ghostbusters (which included changing names of items, character sprites and even concocting a new scenario) was for nothing as Sony (who currently owns the game rights to 'Ghostbusters') dicked Activision around about whether they would re-license the property or not. By the time Sony made their last dollar demand (which was ridiculously too high) it was too late to try and complete the hack. So, no game.

 

But after the Ghostbusters thing fell by the wayside, I was employed by Ken Love at Activision (the title's producer) to make slight alterations to other games to reflect current copyrights, etc. You may notice "Skworks Technology" on a couple of the Absolute titles (Baseball, Title Match Pro Wrestling, etc.). This is the name of Dennis Kitchen's current company and he requested the changes. I also updated a few games that didn't make it (like turning Double Dragon into Double Dukes). These were supposed to be downloadable. Again, please feel free to blame Sony for this cock-up.

 

Overall, working on this project was a thrill for me. I never in my wildest imagination thought I would be doing any kind of work for Activision back in the glory days of the Atari 2600. And to actually do work at the request of Dennis Kitchen, have him review my work, request changes, the whole bit. Quite the rush. I'd like to give a big, public thank-you to Ken Love and Activision for the opportunity.

 

I hope everyone likes the game. Although my contribution was small, I am very proud of the whole thing.

 

Now if I only had a PlayStation 2 myself, I might be able to try it...

 

 

And I'll leave you with a snippet from the new scenario I wrote for what was to be Frik & Frak: Spookchasers

TIDWELL PREDICTS:

Greetings, my friends.  For years you have heard stories of the paranormal, tales of the spirit world, accounts of ghostly encounters.

 

Now, I tell a tale of one such encounter.  A tale so terrifying that it may prove too much for some.  A tale so beyond the normal that you may have difficulty believeing it is from this world.  But from this world it is.  You may have read of such events in your local newspapers or seen it on your television sets.  Now I tell the true tale of these events, how they came to be, and how they have affected the world we know.

 

It all began in a little house on the edge of town, out by Moon Lake.  There, at the home of one Francis "Frak" Kimball, came the first accounts of strange happenings.  A noise in the night, a bright flash in the darkness, but always nothing found.  Then one day, a mysterious glow from the cellar drove Francis from his home.  Lucky for him, as a gaping hole to the netherworld had opened up and reality itself twisted in upon itself, reshaping Francis' house into the form of an ancient temple to the demon DRAWDE DOOM.  Immediately spirit forms from all over the city began making their way towards the temple, building its power.

 

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Francis made his way to the home of his friend, Frederick "Frik" Ikarus.  They contacted local authorities, who refused to believe their stories of a hell mouth at the edge of town...

(Can you recognize the influence?)

-

Philip R. Frey

a.k.a. 'Rhindle The Red'

Founder/Editor

The Hunt For Edward D. Wood, Jr.

www.angelfire.com/film/ed_wood/MAIN.html

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Hunt_for_Ed/

[mvigor]

Furthurmore, why did the packaging reflect Atari Cart styles, rather than Activisions?-Lee

 

I had to laugh when I saw that. People are more likely to recognize the Atari picture cart format than an Activision cart. Good marketing choice, I think.

[Tempest]

I'm going to take a moment and make a few comments on this title. I'm not sure how many of you are aware of this (I know Thomas Jentzsch is), but I did graphic hacking for this project.  

 

Yep you and Thomas are listed under "Additional Programmers". Actually there are a whole bunch of AA members in the special thanks section (too bad I couldn't help out).

 

Also note that the Emulator Programmer is none other than Bill "Burger" Heineman who worked on Bards Tale III, Tass Times in Tonetown, Wasteland, and so many other great RPG's from the 80's.

 

Cool story about the copyright issues though. I never thought that Ghostbusters would be a problem (or Double Dragon for that matter). I too hope that Activision lets AA release the roms, there are some neat prototypes out there.

 

Tempest

[liquid_sky]

im going to try to rent it tongiht and go to one of my friends houses and try it out.

[Flojomojo]

im going to try to rent it tongiht and go to one of my friends houses and try it out.  

I never rent something that I know I'm going to love.

[liquid_sky]

im not gonna want to take it back, i know

[DEBRO]

I'm going to take a moment and make a few comments on this title.  I'm not sure how many of you are aware of this (I know Thomas Jentzsch is), but I did graphic hacking for this project.

 

I was going to ask about the hacks and if they made it in there. Great to see you guys getting credit

 

Now if only I had a PS2. I don't have any of the new consoles because nothing, as far as a game, has really appealed to me. I just keep playing my Ataris, Genesis, and PSOne.

[sku_u]

I just bought my copy and threw it in. This is a perfect example of what playstation SHOULD have done with their other classic game collections. I hope to see many more of these projects to come.