Whiich classic ATARI 2600 could be done better ?

[Lord-Chaos]

I think that most CBS games are not very good on the ATARI 2600 , everybody knows Donkey Kong with its bad graphics and only 2 screens.

 

The same for Zaxxon - isometric 3D graphics is possible , look at Desert Falcon.

 

There are many more games which could be improved today , what do you think ?

 

 

LC

[Nukey Shay]

I think that Mythicon games would still suck.

[bergbros]

Pac man is the all time champ.

[NE146]

Pac man is the all time champ.

Yeah but Pacman WAS eventually done better...

 

Good question. hmm.. Obviously Stargate proved Defender could potentially be done better...

 

How about Space War! or Amidar!

[Witchfynde]

How about Space War! or Amidar!

 

Oh god...Space War!! No kidding, trying to fly your ships around was REALLY f***ed up!

 

Add fruit to Donkey Kong Jr. for god's sake!!! Make the physics more believable on Video Pinball, they did it for Midnight Magic!

[sku_u]

Not that this is a bad game by ANY means, but I'd like to see a better Asteroids. The control on th 2600 version is great but the graphics/game play could be a little better.

[Nukey Shay]

*cough*Asteroids DC+*cough*

 

*choke*

[sku_u]

*cough*Asteroids DC+*cough*

 

*choke*

 

Didn't know that one existed. Just ordered one. Thanks.

[SS]

*cough*Asteroids DC+*cough*

 

*choke*

 

How exactly does the control work on this one? I'm guessing left and right turns on the driving controller to turn the ship and the DC button to fire. How does thrust and hyperspace/shield work, though?

[Nukey Shay]

The game uses both ports. Left lets you use the joystick just like the original game, and the right is used for the driving controller. So to thrust/hyper you could either use a standard joystick, or a footpedal/joyboard controller. Even if you do not go for the extra controller setup, it's worth it just to have asteroids that look and move more faithfully to the arcade version.

 

Thomas does good work. He must have made a deal with the devil, or something! j/k

[sku_u]

How about a Centipede Arcade port.

[SS]

it's worth it just to have asteroids that look and move more faithfully to the arcade version.

 

Yup. I gave it a try on Z26 and it's the movement of the Asteroids that has me sold. The one thing that I never liked about Atari Asteroids was the somewhat linear movement of the rocks. This hack certainly fixes that to a great extent.

 

Thomas does good work. He must have made a deal with the devil, or something! j/k

 

Thomas never ceases to amaze me. I'm hoping that AA choses to release some of his other controler hacks at some point. (Sprintmaster - hint hint )

[Rob Mitchell]

Oh god...Space War!! No kidding, trying to fly your ships around was REALLY f***ed up!

 

As an Atari Space War player since 1978, I always thought that the movement and control was appropriate for space movement and momentum ... This kinda action is true to the 1960s PDP Space War gameplay. I always enjoyed the gravity sun game and would put my ship into an eliptical orbit.

 

Vectrex/Centronics Space War is a faster quicker SW where you turn on a dime and go the other direction. A new hack along these lines would be fun too!

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[Witchfynde]

Oh god...Space War!! No kidding, trying to fly your ships around was REALLY f***ed up!

 

Vectrex/Centronics Space War is a faster quicker SW where you turn on a dime and go the other direction. A new hack along these lines would be fun too!

 

 

Oh, I LOVED Space War, it was great!

[ubersaurus]

Problem with atari space war is the that the sun really didn't exert much of any gravitation pull...also the fact that you went so damn fast once you got up to speed killed it. A few tweaks and it really could be a fantastic version of space war, but it's just mediocre now.

[trusty]

Pac-Man hands down could've been done waaaay better.

[Nukey Shay]

Yes yes...it has already.

 

But can it be done better using the same restrictions? I think it's a fair attempt for what Frye had to work with.

[King Atari]

I think Kangaroo could be a little fixed up.

[trusty]

Well the story behind Pac-Man is pretty interesting. Todd didn't like Pac-Man and purposfully didn't put much effort into the project. Cmon, he could have at least made it the right color. Video Pinball colors would've been closer.

 

So my answer is yes- It could've been done better with the same restrictions. Thankfully a year later - 1982 we got Ms. Pac-Man.

 

I still love it though!!!

[Nukey Shay]

Aha! But would it be better to have just one aspect of the game match the game that it's modelled after...or having everything completely different where you can still have the option of calling it something else? As PacMan...it reeks. It's not a bad game if it were called something different. Just changing the colors is not enough to call it "better". If that were true, Video Pinball would be the better PacMan (since both games have little in common with the original).

[trusty]

Yes, as Pac-Man, it reeked. For me, it always had the "unfinished" feel to it. Colors would have been a start. Something else that could have been done at the time would've been to model Pac-Man to move through the corridors rather that always see the same side of him. You know, Dodge 'Em was closer to Pac-Man!!

 

A quick Trivia- The Pac-Man start sound his one of the most heard video game sounds on TV. Watch WarGames. You can't miss it!!

[Nukey Shay]

Yep...PacMan's start and dying...Mario jumping in DK...shooting in Asteroids...

Game sounds that nobody seems to have to pay royalties for (which is probably why they use them so often).

[sku_u]

Yep...PacMan's start and dying...Mario jumping in DK...shooting in Asteroids...

Game sounds that nobody seems to have to pay royalties for (which is probably why they use them so often).

 

Don't forget Pitfall Harry swinging on a vine. That one pops up quite often.

[trusty]

By the way, I'm Trusty. Just ran across this site today as a result of a conversation I was having with a friend about Atari's involvment with Unreal Tournament 2003. He thought Atari was back in the mix. (I wish that were the case!).

 

I was gaming back when those UT developers were still wearing diapers! Sheeesh - Now I feel old!!

 

Anyway former member of the Atari Club and proud owner of 7 out of the 11 Atari Age Magazines! I'm glad to be on board.

[NE146]

Well the story behind Pac-Man is pretty interesting. Todd didn't like Pac-Man and purposfully didn't put much effort into the project. Cmon, he could have at least made it the right color. Video Pinball colors would've been closer.

 

So my answer is yes- It could've been done better with the same restrictions. Thankfully a year later - 1982 we got Ms. Pac-Man.

 

I still love it though!!!

 

 

Heya Trusty.. since you're new here you do realize that Pacman WAS done better right? Just click here.

 

'Course it's a hack of Mspac.. but oh what a hack. It even put in the original music and the ghost's siren wail