Split-Screen games on the ATARI 2600 ?

[Lord-Chaos]

Are there any games which use a split-screen for 2-player mode ?

 

Such as the Spy vs Spy games do an the ATARI 8 Bit or the ST ?

 

I have only a little more than 100 games , a none of them uses a slipt screen.

 

Thimo

[Room 34]

Well, does Street Racer count?

[Inky]

Dragster...

 

Didn't Xenophobe?

[Tempest]

Xenophobe had a split screen but the second player didn't play at the same time as the first player. I don't think the 2600 could have handled it.

 

Tempest

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Not a release back in the day...but um...

 

Marble Craze...

[san-d-2000]

Entombed,

not realy splitscreen but the same idea.

 

-sandy

[smf_4ever]

Motorodeo.. i think... (havent played in awhile.)

[Brad2600]

Dragster uses a split screen.

 

It's actually pretty nice!

 

I think Space Shuttle uses one as well..not sure.

[Nukey Shay]

Space Shuttle is only one player. Or did you mean that it has two windows?

[Brad2600]

It has 2 windows then..but I knew it was 1 player only.

 

I think that Dragster is a fine example of split screen though. What game was the original split screen though? I mean, what was the first game to attempt to use this technology?

[Nukey Shay]

The arcade variant of Space Invaders that has both players shooting at the aliens AND each other? Can't remember what that one was called, but it seems like a very early split-screen game.

[Chaotix]

Xenophobe was certainly an odd one Tempest, I guess that stinks of a lazy conversion, there was really no need for the 2600 version to run split screen.

[NE146]

Don't forget that board resident Raindog had that 'ballblazer-ish" demo thing on his site as well. Nothing playable.. but heck it looks neat

 

[Tempest]

Motorodeo.. i think... (havent played in awhile.)

 

Yes I forgot about Motorodeo, it is indeed split screen two player simultanious action game. I guess Xenophobe could have handled it after all...

 

Tempest

[King Atari]

Xenophobe probably could've handled it, though the size would probably be fairly huge, wouldn't it?

 

If the characters weren't on the same line, there wouldn't be any flickering, right?

[Robert M]

Xenophobe probably could've handled it, though the size would probably be fairly huge, wouldn't it?

 

If the characters weren't on the same line, there wouldn't be any flickering, right?

 

 

Yes, There would be no flickering. Its odd that they chose to split the screen, but then not allow simultaneous play. I suspect that the initial plan called for simultaneous play, but the ran into problem. Most likely not enough RAM. The ROM should not matter since with proper programming the same code would draw both player's views on the screen. I would think CPU cycles would not be an issue since the game could alternate between updating the players game state each frame (30 times a second per player rather than 60 for both.)

 

Another possibility is that it was rushed to market before the programmer got a chance to implement simultaneous play. If that's the case, it may be a minor code hack to implement simultaneous play.

 

Cheers!

[bcprs1]

The other 2 games I could think of is Winter Games and Summer games. Not every event is split screen, but in Winter Games you have the speed skating. Summer games has hurdles, running and rowing.

[slapdash]

The other 2 games I could think of is Winter Games and Summer games.  Not every event is split screen, but in Winter Games you have the speed skating.  Summer games has hurdles, running and rowing.

 

Ah... If you call "some events" then there's also Party Mix.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Decathalon?

 

[King Atari]

Another possibility is that it was rushed to market before the programmer got a chance to implement simultaneous play. If that's the case, it may be a minor code hack to implement simultaneous play.  

 

Agreed. It has a copyright date of 1990, so there wasn't much time left for the 2600 in general (if we're talking U.S. releases here).

 

Could anyone take a look at Xenophobe and see what's going on?

[MattG/Snyper2099]

Track and Field, Marble Craze, Edtris?

 

MattG.

[mos6507]

RAM is the only real extra overhead involved in split-screen. Some extra VBLANK/Overscan time is necessary to update the object positions too, but that's normally not a huge problem with 2600 games.

 

Split screen is pretty easy to do with the 2600 because basically you just write one kernel and run through it twice. It's quite efficient vs. split screen on other platforms.

[D.Yancey]

Double Dragon uses a split screen for simultaneous 2 player action(game 2). I think it is even more difficult in 2 player mode because it limits your ability to move around the screen and outrun the bad guys to get better angles of attack!

 

Dragster(as mentioned above) is also more difficult in 2 player because I rely largly on the sound to play. With the sound of 2 dragsters accelerating, it is difficult to differentiate between them and know when to shift your own!

[MegaManFan]

Track and Field, Marble Craze, Edtris?

 

Funny, I was thinking the same thing when I played Track & Field today. You know, even with the actual "arcade controller" designed to play the game, it's still hard as #%! What am I doing wrong that I can't beat the computer in a simple dash to the finish line?

[tiggerthehun]

What about Sneak n' Peak? I haven't played that monstrosity in a long long time, but I vaguely remember it having a split screen...

 

 

 

I think?...