Which game should be ported to ATARI 2600 ?

[supercat]

Actually, Impossible Mission is very doable for the 2600.  The game play is stratified into horizontal zones which is very 2600 friendly.  Just look at Keystone Capers to see what I am talking about. 

933516[/snapback]

 

Impossible Mission on the 2600 might be doable, if (1) the objects to be searched were rendered with playfield graphics, probably using stripe-color techniques; (2) the game were modified so that at most one robot would be on any horizontal 'stripe'. It would probably have to be further modified so that the computer terminals were never on a stripe with a robot [a PF graphics "computer terminal" would probably look pretty bad]; (3) The black orb could not coexist on levels with robots.

 

Given those limitations and enough RAM/ROM, the game might be doable. There would be some very busy scan lines, though, especially when a robot fired a left-facing lightning bolt (a left-facing robot would occupy the right four pixels of a double-width sprite. On the two scan lines before the lightning bolt appeared, the sprite would have to shift left eight pixels (use an early HMOVE) while the head of the robot would be continue to be drawn using the robot's missile. Then on the next few scan lines, the lightning would be flashed using the player. Then the sprite would get shifted back to the right so it could be used to show the rest of the robot.

 

Tricky, but it should make it possible to draw the lightning without any apparent flicker.

[mos6507]

Ballblazer would be amazing. I think Rob Kudla is still working on it every once in a while.

 

Greetings,

Manuel

933200[/snapback]

 

 

Tod Frye was working on this at one point back in the day.

 

So it could have happened.

[mos6507]

I realize the timing may be off, but the best video game ever made is Tetris.

 

I'm pretty sure that atari was DOA by the time tetris came along, but tetris followed the Atari mantra of a game that is "incredibly easy to learn and incredibly difficult to master."

 

--------------------------------------------

 

postscript - just read through most of the responses and realized this was covered about 187 times so far. My apologies.

 

Given that, my next answer would be Super Terrific Happy Pong

933218[/snapback]

 

By the time Tetris came out via Atari, Atari could no longer directly release home versions since Atari Games it was split off from Atari Corp.

 

That's why Atari Games had to create Tengen, and Tengen never made any 2600 games.

 

Atari Corp. did license Atari Games titles, however, and wound up porting Klax to the Lynx and the 2600, which is at least as fun as Tetris. The 2600 version only came out in PAL, though, but the NTSC version was completed and is in the AA database.

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

*Master Of the Lamps (Commodore 64 game)

 

Hm... I'm very sceptical with the portability of Activision titles lately. One might assume they'd done it themselves if they saw a way

 

*Break Dance (a dumb C64 game, but, it would work!)

 

...and, it would suck!

 

*NeverEnding Story

 

Now this is a text adventure. Even with an engine like for Dark Mage, I highly doubt one could port a full blown text adventure to the VCS. No way I fear.

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[Zach]

solitare

39961[/snapback]

Maybe he/she meant solitaire in the British sense. I'm working on it.

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

The End

 

Uihjah, you're sure about that? That is one of the weirdest concepts of a shooter I've ever seen. In a way that it just doesn't make sense. It's just plain *unrealistic*. (I know, I know, all of these games are unrealistic, but you know what I mean when you've played "The End"... )

 

Space Dungeon

 

Well, there can never be enough Tait...

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[Pixelboy]

One game that comes to mind is a sequel to H.E.R.O..

 

It's one of those mysteries that I can't figure out. Aside from Pitfall, H.E.R.O. was (and still is, in a retro sense) one of Activision's most recognizable game icons. Sometimes I like to think of the game as a distant ancestor of Metroid (okay, very distant).

 

Activision tried reviving Pitfall as a franchise several times, with varying levels of success, but it's just plain weird that they didn't try to do the same with H.E.R.O.. Heck, the game could even be cool in 3D, and they could try designing levels other than caves. The possibilities are endless, really...

 

But as far as a 2600 sequel goes, I would have settled for "H.E.R.O. II" with new levels and just a few gameplay upgrades.

[Pitfall_Harry]

I second the DN1 and Commander Keen votes. Is there a Dukes of Hazzard game? That would have been perfect, the Dukes came along right at the height of the 2600's popularity. Are there any Rambo games for 2600? The original Metal Gear was an awesome game for NES, but I imagine a 2600 version could be decent.

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

Street Fighter II.  If they attempted it for the Vic 20, why not the 2600?

 

They really did? That would be an amazing feature for this machine. As for a proper 2600 Beat'em up, it has been attempted twice already as well

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[popeal]

everyone said this is an old thread, and they are right - i forgot i even posted anything on here a while back!

 

but, there are some other games i would like to see though for the good ol' 2600:

 

* potty pigeon (anyone remember this commodore 64 game?)

* sokoban

* satan's hallow

* gypsy juggler

* rally x

* square deal (played it on the game boy - a mixture of poker and tetris)

* paperboy

* heiankyo alien

 

and maybe another type of othello game - it's one of my favorite games, and any sort of variation would be fun to see...

 

that's all i got this late at night.

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

Is there a Dukes of Hazzard game? That would have been perfect, the Dukes came along right at the height of the 2600's popularity. Are there any Rambo games for 2600?

 

There's even two Dukes games available, but no Rambo. Maybe the C64 version from Ocean could be ported, along the lines of Commando, Ikari Warriors and Frontline.

 

The original Metal Gear was an awesome game for NES, but I imagine a 2600 version could be decent.

 

Might be another Coleco candidate for Eduardo

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[Zach]

and maybe another type of othello game - it's one of my favorite games, and any sort of variation would be fun to see...

938078[/snapback]

Glad to hear someone is interested. That's on my to-do list. I've basically already done the kernel.

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

Glad to hear someone is interested. That's on my to-do list. I've basically already done the kernel.

 

You should talk with yuppicide then. He had some idea for an Othello variant and even offered $500 for someone programming it

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[Zach]

You should talk with yuppicide then. He had some idea for an Othello variant and even offered $500 for someone programming it

938120[/snapback]

PM sent. Thanks for the tip.

[popeal]

and maybe another type of othello game - it's one of my favorite games, and any sort of variation would be fun to see...

938078[/snapback]

Glad to hear someone is interested. That's on my to-do list. I've basically already done the kernel.

938119[/snapback]

 

absolutly interested! i think i tried to play as many versions of othello as i can on other systems/emulators - no matter what you do to it, the basic game is fun, and anything more is just bonus!

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

* potty pigeon (anyone remember this commodore 64 game?)

 

Sure! One of the first releases from Gremlin! And one of the first tunes from Ben Daglish!

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

"Choplifter"

(Actually, I seem to recall reading that there was some work on a 2600 version, is that true?)

 

It was planned, yes. IIRC it even has a CX number assigned. But I think the only Broderbund title that actually made it to the VCS was Davids Midnight Magic.

 

I don't think Choplifter would make a good VCS conversion. All action is focused on the same horizontal stripe, which is the worst case scenario for any VCS game.

 

On Topic: Here's a list of C64 titles I think that should have been made:

 

Beach Head

Gateway to Apshai

Hard Hat Mack

Hunchback

Jumpman

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[vdub_bobby]

Hi there!

 

"Choplifter"

(Actually, I seem to recall reading that there was some work on a 2600 version, is that true?)

 

It was planned, yes. IIRC it even has a CX number assigned. But I think the only Broderbund title that actually made it to the VCS was Davids Midnight Magic.

 

I don't think Choplifter would make a good VCS conversion. All action is focused on the same horizontal stripe, which is the worst case scenario for any VCS game.

 

On Topic: Here's a list of C64 titles I think that should have been made:

 

Beach Head

Gateway to Apshai

Hard Hat Mack

Hunchback

Jumpman

Hard Hat Mack...one of my favorite old games.

The first level seems designed for the 2600, but the 2nd and third would be very tricky, I think.

 

And about Choplifter. I think that would convert pretty well. The action is nicely separated into layers:

The sky, with the helicopter and enemy planes

The first ground level, with buildings and hostages

The 2nd ground level, with tanks

 

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

And about Choplifter.  I think that would convert pretty well.  The action is nicely separated into layers:

The sky, with the helicopter and enemy planes

The first ground level, with buildings and hostages

The 2nd ground level, with tanks

 

 

Hm... but the helicopter needs to land to grab the hostages... (...and there can be many hostages!)

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[vdub_bobby]

Hi there!

 

And about Choplifter.  I think that would convert pretty well.  The action is nicely separated into layers:

The sky, with the helicopter and enemy planes

The first ground level, with buildings and hostages

The 2nd ground level, with tanks

 

 

Hm... but the helicopter needs to land to grab the hostages... (...and there can be many hostages!)

I didn't say it would be easy!

[mos6507]

8:  Death Race 2000:  Atari gave porn people a license to create games, and they did make Crossbow, another Exidy game, so why not?

 

Death Race 2000 is being ported by Glenn Saunders. It has been under development as "Death Derby" for a couple of years now. It looks great. But 2600 games are *hard* to write, and Glenn's a busy guy.

 

I finished my Evil Project From Hell, Glenn...now it's your turn!!!!

 

-Chris

456190[/snapback]

 

Now that the debugger in Stella is out I don't have much of an excuse although I do have that other Supercharger replacement project to keep me busy. There is a lot of testing code to write for that.

[mos6507]

X's and O's Atari Football was my favorite bowling alley arcade came very early on.  The vector graphics can't be done on the 2600 so any port would need to be totally redone like SI or Asteroids.  Heck, that's what the Vectrex was for, Blitz is a good football port. 

 

Atari should have designed their own Vector console with all their great Vector arcade games instead they chose to do adaptations, Asteroids, Gravitar, SI, etc.

456408[/snapback]

 

Xs and Os is not a vector game.

[A.J. Franzman]

X's and O's Atari Football was my favorite bowling alley arcade came very early on.  The vector graphics can't be done on the 2600 so any port would need to be totally redone like SI or Asteroids.  Heck, that's what the Vectrex was for, Blitz is a good football port. 

 

Atari should have designed their own Vector console with all their great Vector arcade games instead they chose to do adaptations, Asteroids, Gravitar, SI, etc.

456408[/snapback]

Xs and Os is not a vector game.

950876[/snapback]

Neither is Space Invaders (assuming that's what "SI" means).

Edited October 19, 2005 by A.J. Franzman

[sandmountainslim]

Lets see... Top Five...

Fonz

Fonz

Fonz

Fonz

And Fonz! The Greatest Video Game in History and it still remains unported

Where is the justice? Stand up for Fonzie or Sit on it Bucko!

[Sayton]

So if someone made a homebrew, what would you like to see made? Who knows, maybe someone will like the idea and make it!

 

Anyways, I would LOVE to see a Terminator homebrew. My idea is it would be a hack of Berzerk. I don't think your characters sprites would need changing. Maybe the robots could be changed a little or possibly turned into a skull (representing the endoskeleton). As for Evil Otto....maybe it could be a nuke missle that Skynet would send out if you took to long on a board. If it hit a certain spot you would lose a man. Don't know about that, but it's a thought. Or Evil Otto could be taken out and replaced with HK's. They could be larger characters on the field and take a few more shots to destroy than the T-800 terminators. Also, I guess the levels could be changed (especially taking away the walls of death) and instead replace the walls with a few objects representing the battlefields.

 

I dunno, that's just my idea. If I knew how to program and the rest I'd give it a try, but I've always been terrible with programming. Oh well, tis a dream (btw, yes I'm a HUGE Terminator fan).

 

Crap, I just found the homebrew forum. Can somone move this there please?

Edited January 12, 2006 by Sayton