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Overrated games. EXPOSED!


LightestEnd

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I hate how it takes along time in pitfall II to get back to the last save point. You also lose most of your points.Why can't I just teleport back there with less point loss? Harry doesn't move very fast anyway.

 

As for Jr Pacman, the author must have written some routine to have all the ghosts make a b-line to where Jr Pacman is. It's like they are all homing missiles. They don't seem to have a pattern either. That is what I like about Pacman 4K and Ms Pacman, the ghosts are predictable.

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I agree with the Pitfall thing. I just don't really like multi screened games except Vanguard. The game I didn't get into that much is Night Driver. I heard it was good but I could not enjoy it that much when I played it.

I change my mind. Now I do love Night Driver.
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I forgot about Ms. Pac-Man! Very well done game for the 2600. I also feel that original Pac-Man 2600 gets more shit than it deserves, though it's obviously a rush job.

Although it seems like a rush job it actually took Tod Frye 6 months to program Pac-Man, possibly because he had a kernel with variable flicker working and then scrapped it for the kernel that was actually used after his supervisor made a comment about the variable flicker kernel.

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I change my mind. Now I do love Night Driver.

I picked this title up not long ago. It really is quite a fun game despite the gut-wrenching graphics. I added paddles to my custom made joystick, and my decision to go with 470kohm pots instead of 1M really made a difference in many of these paddle games, especially with the extended range of movement greatly improving accuracy.
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Here's one no one mentioned...

 

Asteroids. Is it a terrible game? No. It's just too easy. It has its merrits but the simple up down and lazily listing to the side movement just doesn't provide enough excitement to keep me playing longer than five minutes.

 

Difficulty switch is your friend. I used to hate Asteroids as a kid, because of the lack of horizontal movement (just spin in the middle of the screen and shoot and you'll never die) But once I found the difficulty switch on the back of the console and flipped it over to B, oh man, I got my ass kicked quickly.

 

I always wondered why the uber easy setting was the standard setting, I mean, it would have sucked to have all Atari's other games locked into "teddy bear" mode as the stock boot setting, so why was this the case with asteroids?

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B is supposed to stand for Beginner and A is supposed to stand for Advanced.

 

http://atariage.com/...areLabelID=1007

DIFFICULTY SWITCHES

 

The ASTEROIDS game has two difficulty levels, A and B. The B level is normal game play for beginning players. The A level offers a bigger challenge with the addition of UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects) and satellites (see Figures 3 and 4). UFOs are tough to hit, but each one is worth 1,000 points. (See Section 5 for SCORING.)

 

Satellites are larger and easier to destroy. UFOs and satellites may be firing back at you, so be on the lookout for their stray artillery. UFOs do not attack until you have reached over 15,000 points. When satellites and UFOs sneak up to attack you, you'll hear their engines. The satellites have a low pitched engine sound and the UFOs have a higher pitched sound.

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B is supposed to stand for Beginner and A is supposed to stand for Advanced.

 

http://atariage.com/...areLabelID=1007

 

DIFFICULTY SWITCHES

 

The ASTEROIDS game has two difficulty levels, A and B. The B level is normal game play for beginning players. The A level offers a bigger challenge with the addition of UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects) and satellites (see Figures 3 and 4). UFOs are tough to hit, but each one is worth 1,000 points. (See Section 5 for SCORING.)

 

Satellites are larger and easier to destroy. UFOs and satellites may be firing back at you, so be on the lookout for their stray artillery. UFOs do not attack until you have reached over 15,000 points. When satellites and UFOs sneak up to attack you, you'll hear their engines. The satellites have a low pitched engine sound and the UFOs have a higher pitched sound.

Can I ask you something? Do the "A" and "B" settings apply to Nintendo made games as well? Most Game-N-Watch games had and "A" and "B" difficulty switch, and several of the 1st party arcade ports to NES (namely Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong jr) had an "A" and a "B" setting. I always believed that the "B" mode was more challenging than the "A" mode on Nintendo games. For Donkey Kong, the game would have more barrels, etc.

 

So is it correct to assume, in general, that Nintendo games are harder on "B" mode while Atari games are harder on "A" mode? Am I correct on that assumption, or am I blowing smoke into the wind here?

 

When I got into Atari collecting, I noticed things seemed a little bit backwards. For instance, "A" gives you a shorter paddle in Video Olympics / PONG Sports. Also, on many two player games, the right difficulty switch only affected player 2. Then there are games with multiple variations and difficulty switches do different things in different games or in some cases nothing, so it's hard to know what the differences are if you don't have a manual. Most games are loose, so without a manual to consult, there's a lot of trial and error involved in finding that sweet setting that works for you. I believe a lot of Atari games can unlock a lot more replay value once you know what these various settings do, and that game you thought was mediocre, isn't so bad anymore.

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I have to say anything Pitfall. I hated it, too much precision twitch movements, no reward as you progressed. And other reasons. Technically Pitfall might have been a worthy achievement, but when I got the game it sat around on the shelf. Eventually I traded it for something else.

 

I didn't like Pac-Man in any format either, home, arcade, computer, whatever. I didn't like the controls, the repetitive noise, the extraordinarily high difficulty.

 

Donkey Kong, way to difficult to enjoy, but I liked the detail in the graphics overall.

 

Most anything by Apollo, 20th Century, US Games, Commavid, SpectraVision, Data Age, Apollo. Anything Odyssey^2.

 

But I really liked nearly all the original Sears Tele-Games and Atari made titles.

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So is it correct to assume, in general, that Nintendo games are harder on "B" mode while Atari games are harder on "A" mode? Am I correct on that assumption, or am I blowing smoke into the wind here?

 

The Atari 2600 owner's manual says this:

 

In most cases, the LEFT and RIGHT DIFFICULTY switches are used to handicap a more skilled player. Generally, position A is more difficult than position B. Some ATARI Game Program cartridges may use these two switches for other functions.

 

Refer to the instruction booklet enclosed with your particular Game Program cartridge for further details regarding the use of console switches.

 

Atari's Game Standards and Procedures from 1987 also says this:

 

randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-standards-and-procedures.html#difficulty_switches

Players of differing skills may be handicapped by using the difficulty switches. The 'A' position (advanced) is the more difficult setting, and the 'B' position (beginner) is the easier setting. Any game using these switches should poll them frequently.

 

 

Many games use that method, but similar to what it says in the VCS owner's manual, it depends on the game (and probably the company that made the game).

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Difficulty switch is your friend. I used to hate Asteroids as a kid, because of the lack of horizontal movement (just spin in the middle of the screen and shoot and you'll never die) But once I found the difficulty switch on the back of the console and flipped it over to B, oh man, I got my ass kicked quickly.

 

I always wondered why the uber easy setting was the standard setting, I mean, it would have sucked to have all Atari's other games locked into "teddy bear" mode as the stock boot setting, so why was this the case with asteroids?

 

Actually the Difficulty Switches don't affect the asteroid movement. They affect whether the UFO'S come out or not. :)

 

In Asteroids the Game Variations are what make the difference for Asteroid movements.. you want to play the EVEN numbers (i.e. Game 2, 4, 6, 8 etc.) for the rocks to break out of their up/down monotony. :lol: That's why people who just turn it on and start playing (i.e. "game 1") play the most boring game right off the bat.

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If Pac-Man and ET are overrated then it must be their badness that is exaggerated.

 

Is ET the worst game ever? No, I've definitely played worse. It's not even the worst movie adaptation and if you think otherwise, let me introduce you to a NES publisher called LJN

 

Is Pac-Man bad? "Meh" might be a better phrase. In fact it is so meh that I don't have any kind of emotional response to it.

 

I do think you had to "be there" to appreciate some 2600 titles. I don't care for Pitfall (as I mentioned before) but if I'd been 8 or 9 instead of -4 then I probably would have thought it was amazing.

 

I think its worth mentioning that many of the games in this thread are worth checking out. They may not be OMGbESTEVAR but they got overrated by being notable milestones in gaming.

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I think its worth mentioning that many of the games in this thread are worth checking out. They may not be OMGbESTEVAR but they got overrated by being notable milestones in gaming.

 

That is a very important point. To the original poster: please don't let yourself be deterred from checking out the games mentioned here yourself.

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Beat 'Em and Eat 'Em wasn't as arousing as I had been led to believe. :<

 

Only 4 out of 5 for that one.

Beat 'em & Eat 'em (Kaboom clone) and Custoer's Revenge are a wierd bunch. It's kinda hard to play either of those two titles with a strait face. I have both of these games in my collection. Bachellorette party (Breakout clone) is stupid though so i didn't pick that one up. But I do agree Mystique games have more of a novelty value than for actual serious gameplay. Same goes for Panesian titles such as Bubble Bath Babes on NES, though that game is actually a pretty decent puzzler underneath. Mermaids of Atlantis is a PG version of Bubble Bath Babes actually worth checking out if you dig unlicensed NES games.
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Donkey Kong, way to difficult to enjoy, but I liked the detail in the graphics overall.

 

I don't get this comment. I played this game for hours at a time when it first came out. After you learned the general pattern of the baddies, it really was predictable.

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I don't get this comment. I played this game for hours at a time when it first came out. After you learned the general pattern of the baddies, it really was predictable.

Like any arcade game, Donkey Kong is not that difficult once you learn the patterns and game physics, at least not on the first difficulty loop. IMO, VCS Donkey Kong looks like roach poop in the graphics department, but all that is about to change:

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/206497-dk-vcs/

 

The original VCS Donkey Kong does play a little better than it's DK Jr counterpart though. Both aren't the best arcade ports out there.

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I don't get this comment. I played this game for hours at a time when it first came out. After you learned the general pattern of the baddies, it really was predictable.

 

Well the "general pattern" of the fireballs in the 2nd level is they move left/right. :) Although once you get up to the higher levels they move a little less predictably and in one stage they rapidly shake in place.. I remember getting taken off guard by that. :lol:

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Custer's Revenge is underrated in my opinion! Simple and fun game. Dodge arrows, hump, repeat. I actually dig the gameplay and it feels very fluid.

 

(comment away...)

 

I don't know...I always felt the controls were a little stiff and the gameplay so hard you could cut a diamond with it.

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