+atari2600land Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 So I've heard that Happy Trails is a ripoff of Loco-motion and that Loco-Motion is the better game. Was Activision aware of Loco-Motion, and if so, why did they even bother to make and release this game? Should I even bother getting Happy Trails if I already have Loco-Motion? (I'm not looking for all 125 games since I can't have the few pricier games, but I would like to come at least fairly close.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+intvsteve Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 According to the Intellivision Lives! site Happy Trails came out before Loco-Motion, and was well received. A lawsuit was considered, but never happened. I haven't played these two in recent enough memory to recall the differences, but from what I remember, they are nearly identical in terms of gameplay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted August 30, 2015 Author Share Posted August 30, 2015 That wasn't the impression I got from the INTV Funhouse site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 Hardly anybody I knew had any of the Activision games made for Intellivision BITD. In fact, I never even heard of the game until the late '90's. But we all had Loco-Motion. Today, I'm glad Happy Trails exists and it's fun for a while, but still like Loco-Motion better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+intvsteve Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 That wasn't the impression I got from the INTV Funhouse site. The 'well-received' description is what the Intellivision Lives site reports. I think the gameplay is pretty similar - you slide tiles to create a path to your targets. That said, my personal opinion expressed on the website, written I don't know how long ago, is still that Loco-Motion is better. It's not that Happy Trails is bad in any way. I just liked Loco-Motion more. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZylonBane Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 So I've heard that Happy Trails is a ripoff of Loco-motion and that Loco-Motion is the better game. Was Activision aware of Loco-Motion, and if so, why did they even bother to make and release this game? Of course they were aware of it, it was a deliberate clone of the Centuri arcade game that came out the preceding year. Activision back then was no stranger to making knockoffs of popular arcade games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 They are most definitely not identical, though of course, they are similar. Personally, I think Loco-Motion is the better game: the game-play seems to have a bit more depth (as far as that sort of game goes), and Happy Trails looks precisely like a rip-off of Loco-Motion. But that could be because I actually had Loco-Motion as a child and not Happy Trails. However, Happy Trails is also a good game, with its own play dynamics. I would recommend playing them both. Here's a video of Happy Trails so that you can see how it plays. It is very similar to Loco-Motion, but while the latter has a train going around and the point is to keep it going and pick up passengers, in Happy Trails you go around picking up bags of money. They both look very similar, but in Happy Trails you can reverse direction and there are a few other different elements that make the game-play more or less challenging in each game, depending on your skills. -dZ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_me Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 The Mattel version is a lot closer to the original arcade Locomotion. Activision added a reverse button, which makes the game easier. Mattel added a panic button which I don't think was in the arcade version. Wonder why Mattel added it, maybe in response to Activision's reverse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_me Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 The panic button is like hyperspace. So in the Mattel version the train can't reverse but its got hyperspace! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 The panic button is like hyperspace. So in the Mattel version the train can't reverse but its got hyperspace! Hyperspace exploits the quantum properties of existing wormholes. Reverse requires a special built mechanical transmission to support differential torque ratios. Therefore, it is much harder to implement. That means that Happy Trails is much more advanced! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+intellivotion Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 And what about the Happy Trails' repetitive soundtrack? I had that game as a child and loved it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 And what about the Happy Trails' repetitive soundtrack? That's probably an artefact of the quantum physics employed in the reverse function. It only plays once, but the recursive nature of quantum travel causes a chain-reaction in the multiverse, resulting in the same melody being played in a loop simultaneously on all dimensions at once. Seriously, I didn't have Happy Trails as a child, but I played it as an adult and enjoyed it a lot. I still find Loco-Motion superior, but that could be nostalgia-fueled passion. Both of them are good, and I recommend them. -dZ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+intellivotion Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 (edited) That's probably an artefact of the quantum physics employed in the reverse function. It only plays once, but the recursive nature of quantum travel causes a chain-reaction in the multiverse, resulting in the same melody being played in a loop simultaneously on all dimensions at once. Seriously, I didn't have Happy Trails as a child, but I played it as an adult and enjoyed it a lot. I still find Loco-Motion superior, but that could be nostalgia-fueled passion. Both of them are good, and I recommend them. -dZ. O God, what have you smoked today?!?! Edited August 30, 2015 by intellivotion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 O God, what have you smoked today?!?! Smoking is for sissies. I take my nostalgia straight up through the vein! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BBWW Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 I played Happy Trails until my hands were numb. No so much Loco Motion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 I played Happy Trails until my hands were numb. No so much Loco Motion. I did the exact opposite when I was young, and I think Loco-Motion is superior. However, it probably had something to do with not having Happy Trails, just Loco-Motion. It's funny how nostalgia colours your outlook. Honestly, both are very good. (Loco-Motion is better, though! OK I'll stop. ) -dZ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+nurmix Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 I had Happy Trails as a kid. And to be honest, I don't remember knowing about Locomotion back then. Both games incorporate an interesting game mechanic - from a technical / game design point of view, but... I never cared for it. I picked up Locomotion in the '90s, but have only played it a handful of times. This sort of sliding puzzle thing just doesn't appeal to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ransom Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 They're both good songs, but I like Locomotion more because I think Kylie Minogue did a great cover of it back in the 80s. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BBWW Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 I did the exact opposite when I was young, and I think Loco-Motion is superior. However, it probably had something to do with not having Happy Trails, just Loco-Motion. It's funny how nostalgia colours your outlook. Honestly, both are very good. (Loco-Motion is better, though! OK I'll stop. ) -dZ. Part of it was I could kick my sons ass on it back in the day. Even my wife got into the action and she could eventually kick mine...the first of the many things that lead to divorce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sixersfan105 Posted October 3, 2020 Share Posted October 3, 2020 On 8/29/2015 at 9:04 PM, atari2600land said: Was Activision aware of Loco-Motion, and if so, why did they even bother to make and release this game? Necro-bump. Sue me. Happy Trails was actually released BEFORE Mattel came out with Loco-Motion. So that could explain why Activision came out with it, since they beat Mattel to market. Both were based on the arcade game, Loco-Motion, developed by Konami in 1982. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight Rider Posted October 3, 2020 Share Posted October 3, 2020 The Intellivisionaires podcast did a great job on this topic. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sixersfan105 Posted October 3, 2020 Share Posted October 3, 2020 Oh cool. Will have to check it out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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