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I like Fight Night, even with its flaws.


Devas

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I've been reading some topics in the Atari 7800 forum and I've found great arguments about why Atari 7800 fans don't like Fight Night. I came to the conclusion that I needed to share my opinion with the community: I like the game, even if it gets bad ratings for good reasons...

 

First of all, I don't think this boxing game is underrated: it is bad, but not unplayable. The first time I played it, I was so upset: the characters looked great, but the controls were horrible and the gameplay was confusing and frustrating. My second experience with the game was better: I knew how to make the "super punch" and got used to the controls. But once I discovered how to survived longer and won the Main Event, I started to appreciate Fight Night. I'm not saying that it's the best of its kind(the animation is choppy and the controls are terrible and somewhat unresponsive), but I find it quite enjoyable. It has a neat tournament mode, as well as sparring matches. I've played the XE version of this game but not the Commodore 64 port (which looks superior in many ways, but I haven't tried it yet, so it wouldn't be fair if I compared them). The boxer construction set is a pretty interesting feature, but I didn't like this port because I thought it was too slow. I have a theory that could explain why they didn't include it in the Atari 7800 version: the games in the Tramiel's era (or, at least, in 1987/88) were made with tight budgets and the XEGS was considered the "premium" game system by Atari at the time (situation that probably doomed the 7800 port of Karateka), so the programmers tried to compensate the lack of the construction set by creating six custom characters using parts and colors of the original characters and making them "new" selectable characters. Anyway, even with the quality of the game, I still think it's fun.

 

So, in my opinion, Fight Night could get a 5/10.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I've played the XE version of this game but not the Commodore 64 port (which looks superior in many ways, but I haven't tried it yet, so it wouldn't be fair if I compared them). The boxer construction set is a pretty interesting feature, but I didn't like this port because I thought it was too slow. I have a theory that could explain why they didn't include it in the Atari 7800 version: the games in the Tramiel's era (or, at least, in 1987/88) were made with tight budgets and the XEGS was considered the "premium" game system by Atari at the time (situation that probably doomed the 7800 port of Karateka), so the programmers tried to compensate the lack of the construction set by creating six custom characters using parts and colors of the original characters and making them "new" selectable characters. Anyway, even with the quality of the game, I still think it's fun.

 

A lot of the XE game cartridges were conversions from earlier releases for the 8-Bits on disk. Tramiel bought up a lot of titles for Atari when all these companies were dying off after "the crash". Fight Night was released on disk for the 8-Bits by Accolade in 1985, well before the the XEGS came out and the cartridge version of Fight Night was released. Fight Night was converted over to cartridge for release with the XEGS later, directly from code that was already available from the disk version. So there was little to consider leaving out in the conversions, other than due to possible space constraints -- I think there were a few things left off of the Summer Games cartridge version if I'm not mistaken, as Summer Games originally came on a double-sided floppy disk in it's 1984 release for the 8-Bits.

 

Karateka was another game which was originally released in 1985 on floppy disk -- by Broderbund -- and was later converted to cartridge for the XEGS. I have no idea why they chose to ruin Karateka on the 7800 though. They didn't even use the same graphics from the 8-Bit version, which would have helped it immensely.

 

BTW, I like Fight Night too, on both systems. I always had a lot of fun with it on the 8-Bits, even though it was a little slow -- That's one thing I liked better about the 7800 version. Overall a fun title, in spite of it's weaknesses. It gets a 7.4 out of 10 on Atarimania.com from visitors, for the 8-Bit version. The higher rating is probably due in part to the available construction set, which definitely adds some depth to the game.

Edited by MrFish
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Karateka was another game which was originally released in 1985 on floppy disk -- by Broderbund -- and was later converted to cartridge for the XEGS. I have no idea why they chose to ruin Karateka on the 7800 though. They didn't even use the same graphics from the 8-Bit version, which would have helped it immensely.

 

BTW, I like Fight Night too, on both systems. I always had a lot of fun with it on the 8-Bits, even though it was a little slow -- That's one thing I liked better about the 7800 version. Overall a fun title, in spite of it's weaknesses.

 

Ironically enough, I'm the guy who would post a similar subject on Karateka. I like the game on the 7800. Absolutely, not as fluid and smooth as other ports, but I think it has its own charm and challenge with the way you have to play it.

 

If this was the 2600 forum...I would post the same about ET. If this was an NES forum my subject would likely be about Spelunker. Love that game on the NES.

 

Anyhow, may need to give Fight Night another try as I would hate for someone to disregard Karateka on the 7800 due to majority opinion, I don't want to do the same for Fight Night.

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I used to think as a kid that it was a conspiracy to cripple the 7800 in order to make the XE premium. Having since worked in software and managed software budgets, the reasons are probably much more practical. With the XE game system, the source code already existed ... Karateka, Fight Night, Summer Games and the lot were already released a few years earlier on disk by their original publishers. Atari was able to pick up the existing source code by Broaderbund, Epyx and the like ... and slap it on a cartridge. They also picked up the licenses at the same time for the 7800, but then had to pay to have the games ported as well. Since the Tramiels weren't know for spending tons of development bucks, in some cases, they got what they paid for.

 


I have a theory that could explain why they didn't include it in the Atari 7800 version: the games in the Tramiel's era (or, at least, in 1987/88) were made with tight budgets and the XEGS was considered the "premium" game system by Atari at the time (situation that probably doomed the 7800 port of Karateka),

 

 

 

Edited by DracIsBack
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A lot of the XE game cartridges were conversions from earlier releases for the 8-Bits on disk. Tramiel bought up a lot of titles for Atari when all these companies were dying off after "the crash". Fight Night was released on disk for the 8-Bits by Accolade in 1985, well before the the XEGS came out and the cartridge version of Fight Night was released. Fight Night was converted over to cartridge for release with the XEGS later, directly from code that was already available from the disk version. So there was little to consider leaving out in the conversions, other than due to possible space constraints -- I think there were a few things left off of the Summer Games cartridge version if I'm not mistaken, as Summer Games originally came on a double-sided floppy disk in it's 1984 release for the 8-Bits.

 

 

The motivations there aren't entirely accurate. Those computer game companies weren't impacted by the crash; they hadn't been a part of the console industry. In fact, their sales were increasing with the shift of gaming to computers. The reason why they licensed the titles for cartridge versions is because many of the publishers were looking to dump support for the A8 and scapegoating the platform as the cause of all computer gaming piracy. Atari Corp thought the XEGS could bring in new users to the A8 platform and stabilize it and development for it; otherwise, the platform would've cratered and Commodore would've had the low end all to themselves not to mention Corp being stuck with lots of A8 inventory.

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The motivations there aren't entirely accurate. Those computer game companies weren't impacted by the crash; they hadn't been a part of the console industry. In fact, their sales were increasing with the shift of gaming to computers. The reason why they licensed the titles for cartridge versions is because many of the publishers were looking to dump support for the A8 and scapegoating the platform as the cause of all computer gaming piracy. Atari Corp thought the XEGS could bring in new users to the A8 platform and stabilize it and development for it; otherwise, the platform would've cratered and Commodore would've had the low end all to themselves not to mention Corp being stuck with lots of A8 inventory.

 

I don't know where you got your information from, but this is what I was told by someone who personally knew Jack Tramiel and did direct business with him for software. For whatever reasons the companies were getting away from the Atari 8-Bits -- I'm sure it varied -- it happened in the wake of the crash and all amounted to the same thing in the final analysis concerning the point I was making: companies were getting out and Tramiel was buying up their warez, probably at bargain prices. Personally I think "piracy" was just an excuse. They were probably tightening their belts and Atari was the platform they saw best fit to drop.

Edited by MrFish
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Ironically enough, I'm the guy who would post a similar subject on Karateka. I like the game on the 7800. Absolutely, not as fluid and smooth as other ports, but I think it has its own charm and challenge with the way you have to play it.

 

If this was the 2600 forum...I would post the same about ET. If this was an NES forum my subject would likely be about Spelunker. Love that game on the NES.

 

Anyhow, may need to give Fight Night another try as I would hate for someone to disregard Karateka on the 7800 due to majority opinion, I don't want to do the same for Fight Night.

 

To each their own, I can't stand the 7800 version of Karateka.

 

I never played E.T. so I can't comment.

 

Spelunker on the NES would be fine if it wasn't so touchy on the ropes.

Edited by MrFish
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Wait a minute - how do you do the "super punch"? I thought only the CPU could do it to you - at least in tournament mode. Please advise.....

In "Main Event", the opponents have a peculiar animation when they make their special attacks(which can't be blocked). Your "super punch" can cause the same amount of damage I think, but it doesn't have any special animation: you just move backwards, then forward and finally punch up or down (it won't work if the opponent blocks it, so you have to be precise). It looks like a normal attack, but it's more effective. In the sparring matches, the computer can't do special attacks.

 

If you don't know how to perform the "super punch" or block attacks, you will suffer against Bronx Bomber: He will beat the crap out of you. You'll need the "super punch", because his health bar refills faster than yours and his attacks are fast and cause a lot of damage. If you block some of his attacks, you will be able to recovered some health. Every enemy follows a predictable pattern, so it's easy to avoid his special attack, which is deadly.

 

You need to understand that Fight Night is a button masher, but you must know what you are doing. You can defeat Dip Stick and Kid Castro with button mashing, but then you'll have to learn how to play the game.

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To each their own, I can't stand the 7800 version of Karateka.

 

I never played E.T. so I can't comment.

 

Spelunker on the NES would be fine if it wasn't so touchy on the ropes.

When I first saw the 7800 port Karateka, my expectations were high... It is just an awfull version of an excellent game and I think that, even if it was an Atari 7800 exclusive, it would be a terrible game.

E.T. has its flaws, but the gameplay is kind of solid and unique. Fire Fly and Swordquest: Fireworld are worse than E.T.

I've never played Spelunker, so...

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

I don't know where you got your information from, but this is what I was told by someone who personally knew Jack Tramiel and did direct business with him for software. For whatever reasons the companies were getting away from the Atari 8-Bits -- I'm sure it varied -- it happened in the wake of the crash and all amounted to the same thing in the final analysis concerning the point I was making: companies were getting out and Tramiel was buying up their warez, probably at bargain prices. Personally I think "piracy" was just an excuse. They were probably tightening their belts and Atari was the platform they saw best fit to drop.

 

 

Where did I get my information on this? From Atari Explorer, Antic, ANALOG, Compute! and the other magazines at the time.

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It's definitely no Punch-Out. If we could improve on Fight Night or develop a Punch-out style boxing game for the 7800, that would be cool. (Hint to all the 7800 programmers out there!)

I would like a definitive version of Fight Night (it isn't exactly a "killer app" on any system). If the game used two buttons for punching and up or down for blocking, it would be easier to get yourself out of trouble. The sound could be improve with the TIA anyway, but with better alternatives it isn't really necessary. Better animation would be a nice touch, but I don't think the characters need to be redesing. You could pull out some special attack by pushing the buttons at the same time. Selecting your character in "Main Event" (at least, Kid Castro, Hu Him and Crazy Craven as playable characters) or creating one using the Boxing Construction Set. Redesing the main menu(which is awfull)... I really think that Fight Night has some potential, but the implementation was mediocre.

A Punch-out style boxing game is actually a better idea in my opinion (with a two-player versus mode that would be awesome).

Edited by Devas
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  • 3 weeks later...

I haven't played Fight Night for a while. I vaguely remember the various controls being very hard to make out, and had bad response. The graphics are super nice though. I guess like any game like this, you either like it or hate it. I'll dig the game out and play again, maybe i'll like it more after playing a while....or not. It's a shame really, this game could have been a real winner if only the controls would've been good. Atari really screwed up some potentially great games with bad control response.

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The controls aren't so bad: I find them responsive and they kind of make sense once you get used to them. I would like to use the two buttons to punch but I think the developers just copied the controls of the other ports. At least it isn't Karate Champ on the NES.

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The controls aren't so bad: I find them responsive and they kind of make sense once you get used to them. I would like to use the two buttons to punch but I think the developers just copied the controls of the other ports. At least it isn't Karate Champ on the NES.

The controls aren't so bad? That's not what you said in post #1 :?

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The controls aren't so bad? That's not what you said in post #1 :?

 

First impressions. Once I got used to them, they started to make sense to me. I was trying to describe how pissed off I was with the game at first.

I've never said that the controls were unresponsive: the response time is pretty good actually.

Edited by Devas
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First impressions. Once I got used to them, they started to make sense to me. I was trying to describe how pissed off I was with the game at first.

I've never said that the controls were unresponsive: the response time is pretty good actually.

Gotcha :)

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