Missing Arcade-Classics on the 7800

[BladeJunker]

I'm willing to bet the developers weren't lazy, they were given a few months to slap something together as best they could and get it on shelves. And/or they were brand new to game development (likely). I bet a lot of the developers of these crappy games worked their ass off just to get something - anything - out the door. That's not being lazy. The GBA market was particularly brutal, cost-wise, for developers whose publishers were hopping on the licensing bandwagon. I was doing GBA games in the early 00s, and my company signed a developer to put out a title in 6 weeks, start to finish, deal signed to rom submitted to Nintendo.. It was absolute trash (it got a 0.0 in EGM), but I'm amazed the team (outsourced somewhere super cheap) pulled off what they did. Then again, from the publishers perspective, that game cost next to nothing to make but it sold enough due to the name on the box. Hence there was little incentive to take a chance spending a lot of money developing a quality (or God forbid, original) game that may or may not sell.

 

The "time of transition" comment is apt, though. Most of the more experienced programmers were working on console titles, which were a lot more... prestigious for lack of a better word.

Yikes sorry to hear that. 6 weeks, it would take at least 3 weeks for me to write a design document for a game. Thanks for shedding some light on the situation for GBA games, the rest of us can only speculate without recorded history. At least these days we're seeing some books being written about lost periods in gaming development history, so much of that disappears once people move onto new jobs and sometimes it was so bad people don't even want to talk about it.

 

I've heard about the phenomenon of making something cheaply, fast enough, and with a popular license that it still makes a profit even if the game ends up in landfills. Enter the Matrix would fall under that, bought a PC copy for $3 in clearance, wow was that product terrible, clunky, twitchy graphics, bugs, and driving stages that I couldn't believe passed a QA stage. Dave Perry worked on this, so much for name developers. Still it sold like crazy when new.

[BladeJunker]

 

Original Arcade Popeye was double the resolution of typical games of that time @512x448.

Defender_2600 has worked wonders (as usual) within the resolution limitation of 320x240.

Well the main sprites are 512X448 in Popeye but the backgrounds look about 128X112, and the signs, grass, and water look about 256X224. I'm not sure why this approach was done but the hardware must have had no trouble doing 2X or 4X pixel inflation per layer but didn't have much memory for bitmaps maybe.

 

I think Defender_2600's version of Popeye graphics look good too, most of the details are still there despite the reduction in resolution.

[kiwilove]

I don't have or used a 7800, nor seen one working in person - but I am interested in knowing what can this hardware really do? I've always been more interested in the shooter styled game more than any other genre - and while Sirius and Plutos look really good, I like to think better could still be done?

I'm no programmer but I like pushing pixels around in graphics design. I'm not interested in recreating early 80s' arcade classics and think that perhaps the 7800 could handle mid 80s' games? Maybe?

Of course it will be no easy feat to try pushing the 7800 hardware - it seems a bit silly that the 7800 was designed only to recreate early 80s' videogames only - given the year it was designed in.

 

Harvey

[+save2600]

Huh? Who said the 7800 was designed *only* for early 80's games? Just so happens to play many of them well thanks to some talented programmers like PacManPlus is all. The kind of games many/most of us want to play. System can handle a wide variety of games, but unfortunately, not every game from the era is going to be as well coded or thought out as others. Look at Double Dragon, Commando, Xenophobe, Rampage, Basketbrawl, Mean 18, Missing in Action, Alien Brigade, etc. Good games as is, but some stood to be improved. And the ones that needed it most, already have been: graphically and/or color wise.

[Jaynz]

Well, the 7800 WAS designed in the early 1980s... so...

[+save2600]

Well, the 7800 WAS designed in the early 1980s... so...

Not following either of your logic. Every computer or game system with removable cartridges is designed in and for the period they were built, duh! Can't get around that law of reality, but they're also designed to be programmable, which means they're always capable of more than what was originally planned or marketed. There are also new programming tricks being discovered and utilized all the time. Look at the VCS and what it's capable of. I've already brought up games of the mid 80's that exist AND have been improved upon years later for the 7800. Just because the system was born in the early 80's, doesn't mean it can't handle games from the mid 80's. Almost as if you're saying that because the NES was designed to play a game like Gyromite, that it shouldn't be capable of playing a game like Final Fantasy.

[Trebor]

Well the main sprites are 512X448 in Popeye but the backgrounds look about 128X112, and the signs, grass, and water look about 256X224. I'm not sure why this approach was done but the hardware must have had no trouble doing 2X or 4X pixel inflation per layer but didn't have much memory for bitmaps maybe.

 

I think Defender_2600's version of Popeye graphics look good too, most of the details are still there despite the reduction in resolution.

 

Bally/Midway did something similar - some game examples are Rampage, Satan's Hollow, Tron, and Wacko. True, the background details are rendered at lower resolution(s), still the foreground sprites and video output/signal is 512x448. To be more specific, the PCB output is 512x448, 30Hz Interlaced (15Khz).

 

IMHO, what has been provided is fantastic; compromises have to be made one way or another and the balance struck is pretty much even, all things considered. Kudos for the artwork done. Coming from Defender_2600, it's no surprise. We have quite a few talented individuals in the community, and this example is another 'par for the course' and appreciated.

[+Defender_2600]

Thank you.

[BladeJunker]

Bally/Midway did something similar - some game examples are Rampage, Satan's Hollow, Tron, and Wacko. True, the background details are rendered at lower resolution(s), still the foreground sprites and video output/signal is 512x448. To be more specific, the PCB output is 512x448, 30Hz Interlaced (15Khz).

Of sure the highest resolution dictates that actual video output. I was thinking Popeye arcade reminds me little about 2600 graphics construction like the Playfield is chunkier but it fills in the background, a couple of Player Objects with a third on a separated scanline, and objects and details made of Missile or Ball bits. Not exact but a funny layout design similarity.

 

Yeah I mentioned Bally/Midway's Arch Rivals,Pigskin 621 AD as well as Xenophobe using the same board, pretty popular. It does make some crisp main sprites but it was quite a while before home gaming hardware could reproduce that on screen, probably PC SVGA first.

 

Speaking of Wacko that was a pretty fun game I wouldn't mind on 7800 or any port of it really. That was one crazy cabinet, saw one for a few months at the local mall around 1989 roughly. A conversion kit wouldn't replicate that slant lol.

 

A little challenge replicating the control panel without a coupler but I guess they don't need to be together, just adjacent. Secure the joystick for one handed grip while the trackball stays from its own weight. How heavy is the 2600 trackball?

[Andromeda Stardust]

Well, the 7800 WAS designed in the early 1980s... so...

For the record, Famicom, aka NES in the western world, was released in 1983 in Japan. So it technically predates the 7800. Don't think for one second that all those complex mapper circuits like MMC3 et al powering the late greats of the system were planned out much less even thought of in 1983.

[kiwilove]

For any home computer or videogames system able to recreate any coin-op videogame is some kind of miracle in itself - given that the coin-op has dedicated hardware specifically for that game - and the cost of that hardware being so many times more than any home hardware - which is of a multi-purpose nature.

The most remarkable game that was done for the 2600 - for me, is Thrust -seeing a video of this running makes me think that the programmer has virtually achieved the impossible in this.

 

With the home computers especially - you don't usually see any outstanding titles at the time of release of that computer system - and only about 2-3 years later do you see what that computer system is capable of. ie. the programmers need the time to learn how does it's hardware work, and how to make the most out of it?

The home computers perhaps display more ingenuity perhaps in their programming? Due to the creativity of budding programmers who are really passionate in what they create.

Homebrews can display this same passion - where people are doing it more for their own personal satisfaction instead of trying to be commercial with their effort. There are advantages/disadvantages to this of course.

 

What is the 7800 hardware capable of? It would require someone who understands how does it work - then to do things it is capable of within a game design situation. Or not? Make some animation/graphics demos that explores features of the hardware perhaps?

 

There has been some NES and SNES demos made --- are there some 7800 demos around?

 

I don't know the history of 7800 homebrew development. I'd guess the presence of encryption did delay 7800 homebrew development until encryption was done away with.

 

Harvey

[Trebor]

....

What is the 7800 hardware capable of? It would require someone who understands how does it work - then to do things it is capable of within a game design situation. Or not? Make some animation/graphics demos that explores features of the hardware perhaps?

 

There has been some NES and SNES demos made --- are there some 7800 demos around?

 

I don't know the history of 7800 homebrew development. I'd guess the presence of encryption did delay 7800 homebrew development until encryption was done away with.

 

Harvey

 

A plethora of 7800 demos, hacks, and homebrews are linked here.

 

Some videos are available to watch here.

[BydoEmpire]

Care to tell us what the game was? If you're still under a NDA or care not to divulge, I'll understand. Just curious...

I did three GBA games for Midway: Spy Hunter, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance and Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition. Spy Hunter had some good features and tech, but overall it was meh visually and gameplay-wise. The two MK games were really good, I thought (they got good reviews, too). Midway put out some other MK games that were awful.

[+Defender_2600]

... It would be a nice touch if the 7800 version included the optional "Dream-Walking Olive Oyl" level from that cell-phone conversion ...

 

 

...'quickie' :

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BladeJunker]

I did three GBA games for Midway: Spy Hunter, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance and Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition. Spy Hunter had some good features and tech, but overall it was meh visually and gameplay-wise. The two MK games were really good, I thought (they got good reviews, too). Midway put out some other MK games that were awful.

I remember that multi-console game starring Dwayne Johnson which was going to be a movie but then wasn't. Well it's like anything where a decade or more goes by and then they make something new that doesn't remind you of the original in the slightest EGs. NARC Paperboy.

 

You know as bad as the end result is for 3D GBA games it is really hard to find a single GBA video sample that doesn't look absolutely horrible, Youtube can compress things badly but the source videos people are uploading must be pretty bad to begin with to have it look like that. HD too good for the GBA, these games look better than this representation?

 

As a MK fan the 3D era was a dark time for old fans, I just liked MK3 and the 3D graphics approach lost me. I take for granted how many MK games they made that I shouldn't be confused why MK started to be disliked. Coming back to it later on Xbox the quest mode was interesting but it didn't feel like MK anymore. I don't why Midway thought MK could be franchised to the degree of John Madden games and beyond, Capcom had long periods of time between SF2 and SF3, also it was a long time till SF4 happened. At least the last 2 MK games have gotten back to form.

[Andromeda Stardust]

You know as bad as the end result is for 3D GBA games it is really hard to find a single GBA video sample that doesn't look absolutely horrible, Youtube can compress things badly but the source videos people are uploading must be pretty bad to begin with to have it look like that. HD too good for the GBA, these games look better than this representation?

 

I have both Shrek movies on GBA Video carts. The AV quality is abysmal. Watching them on the big screen with the Advance Retro Port plugged into my Super Retro Trio (video carts are disabled to run on Game Boy Player but they run fine on the GBA clone adapter) is even worse. The movie tends to stutter at about 12 fps, possibly lower, with heavy Jpeg like artifacts masking much of the detail that would actually be visible at 240x160 resolution (incidentally, the GBA screen has exactly 1/9 pixel count or 1/3 size of an NTSC 720x480 video frame), and the audio appears to be very low sample rate with heavy compression. It's basically equivalent to like 12kbs encoded MP3 or something (yes 12, not 128). I'd capture some standard definition video samples and upload it but I don't want to get flagged by youtube.

[BladeJunker]

I have both Shrek movies on GBA Video carts. The AV quality is abysmal. Watching them on the big screen with the Advance Retro Port plugged into my Super Retro Trio (video carts are disabled to run on Game Boy Player but they run fine on the GBA clone adapter) is even worse. The movie tends to stutter at about 12 fps, possibly lower, with heavy Jpeg like artifacts masking much of the detail that would actually be visible at 240x160 resolution (incidentally, the GBA screen has exactly 1/9 pixel count or 1/3 size of an NTSC 720x480 video frame), and the audio appears to be very low sample rate with heavy compression. It's basically equivalent to like 12kbs encoded MP3 or something (yes 12, not 128). I'd capture some standard definition video samples and upload it but I don't want to get flagged by youtube.

Came close to getting a Video cart a few times for the novelty of it but passed. That kind of compressed content from the GBA is never going to look good on Youtube no matter how good a capture device since that is capture compression on top of high GBA compression, on top of YT compression. You could use an emulator and capture raw video to 1080p and it wouldn't make a difference. Not many games with lossy compression for in-game graphics except Broken Sword, even on the native screen I could still see block compression artifacts.

I'm not surprised GBA videos have playback problems not on GBAs as the format is very proprietary and difficult to emulate, different developers could use completely different implementation of video compression when trying to squeeze FMV into small cartridges IE. not AVI or MP4 or MOV.

 

Actual game engine graphics can be captured to 1080p in an emulator, not increasing the game resolution but preserving its native resolution crispness even with compression from Youtube. Works out to 1440X960 for GBA at 6X which would probably need some letter or pillarboxing unless you want to distort the aspect ratio a little to fit YT standards. I Bought FRAPS a year or so ago and haven't tried that yet but I've been meaning to see what I could do with all those varying old aspect ratios using crisp pixels.

It's really hard to get clean native footage from a game console especially when old or portable, like for a Sega Genesis you'd need to mod it to RGB through SCART or at least Component output to get a clean source which makes emulators so much easier to use for getting sharp pixel footage. Seen quite a few YTubers use this approach sometimes adding a scanline filter effect "in post" if that floats their boat.

 

Audio from the GBA is definitely a problem whether video or regular raster graphics as the compression is higher, a lot of people have noticed in the case of SNES to GBA ports that the sound was scratchier than originally heard. I don't know what could be done about that on YT because that is compression with more compression thrown on top. Older game consoles don't have that problem because the sound is chip generated raw before capture compression is added but the GBA is new enough to have compression issues even more severe than PS1 or Saturn.

 

We're started to see more options for capturing better portable console footage with clone systems but it still needs work since I haven't seen or heard of any that work exactly like the native hardware or have enough options to replicate SD-TV images approximately. Sound is probably the hardest factor with multi-systems, I'm no audiophile but hearing the wrong tones in Sonic1 music makes me cringe "That don't sound right." . Still I understand the convenience of clones.

Edited February 15, 2016 by BladeJunker

[Andromeda Stardust]

The Super Retro Trio + Super Retro Advance is a good combo. Sadly there is no S-Video output from the Trio available as the GBA adapter is composite only but you can run composite video plus stereo sound through the console. I don't mod consoles to do RGB. I don't even have equipment that can capture RGB.

 

It doesn't matter though. The GBA video carts are cringeworthy in their compression levels. Interesting to note the max size of GBA carts is 32 mbytes. Most games this size are either 2-in-1 packages from later years or the video carts. In the special case of the full length movie carts (three exist: Shrek 1, Shrek 2, and Shark Tales) which contain more than 22 or 43 minutes of video, used a special bankswitch scheme and so far noone has successfully dumped them. Shrek 1 and Shrek 2 I got for the novelty factor of owning a GBA video cart and because I am a fan of the movies. They were secondhand and pretty cheap.

[Jinks]

Great work defender 2600! Oh and to stay on topic..ahh I have two GBA they are pink and blue.

[+darryl1970]

While I was updating the Popeye graphics for the 2600, 8-bit/5200, and NES, I thought about cleaning up the C-64 version.

I thought it would be cool to try it, since the sprites are a little wider.

(However, the gameplay is such a pile of dog poo, I didn't want to waste my time. )

This is the sprite I made on a C-64 sprite editor.

 

 

This is the equivalent of the 160 mode for the 7800. I don't think that would even be bad, if it allows better gameplay.

 

If 320 mode is a possibility, It definitely will look pretty sweet!

If 320 is too much for the 7800 to handle with everything going on, I think we could get some decent sprites in 160 mode.

I suspect 320 mode would take up too much processing power to really do the game play justice.

I would rather see a lot of bottles, hearts, and skulls on screen at once than compromise game play for higher resolution!

 

Sprites: Olive, Popeye, Brutus, Spinach, Punching Bag, Bucket, Hearts/Notes/HELP (at least 6 at a time), Sea Hag, Bottles (4 at a time from Brutus and 2 from Sea Hag), Skulls (I think 3 or 4 at a time), the buzzard, and the ship's moving platform. Also, Sweet Pea, Whimpy and See-saw.

 

The main downfall of the A8 was the height the players were programmed, and the Players are only 8-bits wide.

Of course, the players could have been taller, but it looks weird when they are TALL and skinny.

 

-- More 160 mode resolution (however limited to 8-bit width and kind of short)

 

At least the 7800 won't have to compromise the punch frame. More hearts, bottles, and skulls, like the arcade, would be great!

 

[BladeJunker]

The Super Retro Trio + Super Retro Advance is a good combo. Sadly there is no S-Video output from the Trio available as the GBA adapter is composite only but you can run composite video plus stereo sound through the console. I don't mod consoles to do RGB. I don't even have equipment that can capture RGB.

I don't know why its not better yet for clones except costs in manufacturing, if there was one thing I'd hope to get from a clone console running through emulation is superior video output. They should all be there Composite, S-Video, Component, SCART, and HDMI no matter the unit or adapter. For lack of a better term the output is "fake" so why they can't perfect that when it molds like clay idk. Although on those arcade compilations for consoles over the years, how they couldn't perfect the emulation on a fixed hardware spec boggles my mind, yeah the systems emulated varies but the console itself is static so you're not making a general purpose platform like MAME that runs on all kinds computers.

 

It doesn't matter though. The GBA video carts are cringeworthy in their compression levels. Interesting to note the max size of GBA carts is 32 mbytes. Most games this size are either 2-in-1 packages from later years or the video carts. In the special case of the full length movie carts (three exist: Shrek 1, Shrek 2, and Shark Tales) which contain more than 22 or 43 minutes of video, used a special bankswitch scheme and so far noone has successfully dumped them. Shrek 1 and Shrek 2 I got for the novelty factor of owning a GBA video cart and because I am a fan of the movies. They were secondhand and pretty cheap.

It matters, you said it yourself its cringeworthy, the compression is too high, the cartridge too small, and why they passed a QA test for sale idk. GBA carts probably seemed big at first that somebody thought to run FMV on it but much like CDs before it, nothing is really big enough for FMV except DVDs barely and Blu-Rays beyond hard drives. There's tons of old FMV from the past that looks bad and barely runs well through emulation like Sega CD games or DOS/Win 3.1, somebody figure out most of the kinks in Win3.1 emulation through virtual machines but it doesn't make it look any better mostly because it can't. The die is cut when it comes to FMV compression on old systems.

 

I guess if you can keep them short IE. not Kojima long lol so the compression doesn't have to get so high it might have turned out better but nobody was considering the future and it sounds like they were working by the skin of their teeth in GBA development.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9IYGRkYplM

[BladeJunker]

While I was updating the Popeye graphics for the 2600, 8-bit/5200, and NES, I thought about cleaning up the C-64 version.

I thought it would be cool to try it, since the sprites are a little wider.

(However, the gameplay is such a pile of dog poo, I didn't want to waste my time. )

This is the sprite I made on a C-64 sprite editor.

 

PopeyeC64.PNG

Right wider because the C64 height resolution is smaller. Yeah I played that one quite a bit and its not the best the C64 could do, that needs a redux. Nice sprite, pose and form look good but the face is a little muddled, that pipe makes it hard and its difficult to incorporate into small resolution.

 

This is the equivalent of the 160 mode for the 7800. I don't think that would even be bad, if it allows better gameplay.

 

If 320 mode is a possibility, It definitely will look pretty sweet!

If 320 is too much for the 7800 to handle with everything going on, I think we could get some decent sprites in 160 mode.

I suspect 320 mode would take up too much processing power to really do the game play justice.

I would rather see a lot of bottles, hearts, and skulls on screen at once than compromise game play for higher resolution!

 

Sprites: Olive, Popeye, Brutus, Spinach, Punching Bag, Bucket, Hearts/Notes/HELP (at least 6 at a time), Sea Hag, Bottles (4 at a time from Brutus and 2 from Sea Hag), Skulls (I think 3 or 4 at a time), the buzzard, and the ship's moving platform. Also, Sweet Pea, Whimpy and See-saw.

I think 160 mode looks just fine, I played a lot of good games with double wide pixel sprites, I thought 320 mode might spark some inspiration for a would-be programmer with something to prove lol. Actually was hoping Schmutzpuppe might chime in with thoughts on the feasibility of Popeye in 320 mode. ^_^

 

Hope nobody on this forum thinks that the 7800 has to outperform the [insert console name here] whenever a new game is proposed because that will just slow down the prospect of more games in the long run IE. not every game can be 320X240.

 

The main downfall of the A8 was the height the players were programmed, and the Players are only 8-bits wide.

Of course, the players could have been taller, but it looks weird when they are TALL and skinny.

 

PopeyeResizeA8.png -- More 160 mode resolution (however limited to 8-bit width and kind of short)

 

At least the 7800 won't have to compromise the punch frame. More hearts, bottles, and skulls, like the arcade, would be great!

That's what I'm really appreciating about the 7800 over the A8 or 5200 is the sprite width being able to get as wide as it does, so often width is a bitch to achieve on most 8-bit systems and it just ends up looking like people walking and fighting inside a phone booth. ^_^

[Andromeda Stardust]

I don't know why its not better yet for clones except costs in manufacturing, if there was one thing I'd hope to get from a clone console running through emulation is superior video output. They should all be there Composite, S-Video, Component, SCART, and HDMI no matter the unit or adapter. For lack of a better term the output is "fake" so why they can't perfect that when it molds like clay idk. Although on those arcade compilations for consoles over the years, how they couldn't perfect the emulation on a fixed hardware spec boggles my mind, yeah the systems emulated varies but the console itself is static so you're not making a general purpose platform like MAME that runs on all kinds computers.

 

It matters, you said it yourself its cringeworthy, the compression is too high, the cartridge too small, and why they passed a QA test for sale idk. GBA carts probably seemed big at first that somebody thought to run FMV on it but much like CDs before it, nothing is really big enough for FMV except DVDs barely and Blu-Rays beyond hard drives. There's tons of old FMV from the past that looks bad and barely runs well through emulation like Sega CD games or DOS/Win 3.1, somebody figure out most of the kinks in Win3.1 emulation through virtual machines but it doesn't make it look any better mostly because it can't. The die is cut when it comes to FMV compression on old systems.

 

I guess if you can keep them short IE. not Kojima long lol so the compression doesn't have to get so high it might have turned out better but nobody was considering the future and it sounds like they were working by the skin of their teeth in GBA development.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9IYGRkYplM

My Retrobit NES/SNES/Genesis/GBA clone setup is native hardware running on SOACs, not software emulation, so it is limited to stadard definition anaog output. SNES and Genesis are almost perfect despite some relatively minor audio and graphical artifacts on the NES side affecting only a tiny minority of games. It also runs GB via the official Super Gameboy peripheral. Retrofreak/Retron5 can dump the smaller 32Mbyte GBA video carts but not the larger full length movie carts as they use an unknown bankswitch scheme and nobody cares enough to attempt to dump or emulate them. People inquiring on GBATemp or wherever regarding getting clean dumps of these three oversized movie carts would simply be instructed to torrent the original movies or buy the DVD.

 

DVDs are fairly adequate and yield good picture on most HDTVs through HDMI using an upscaling DVD or BluRay player, even if the image is a bit softer than BluRay. DVDs are by no means unwatchable, and I often question whether a title is worth repurchasing just for the HD upgrade. VCDs are another story though. I've burned ISO bootlegs in the past of certain content that was either heavily censored on release or was never made available to the public. Some were clearly mastered from VHS promotional copies as often evident by horizontal distortion along the upper boundary of the video frame. The 240p video content with heavy artifacting is borderline unwatchable nowadays, much like FMV material on early 4th-5th gen CDROM games like Sega CD, Turbo CD, 3DO, CDi, Jag CD, Saturn, and PS1. PS1 and Saturn were better quality than the former platforms largely due to a faster CPU and more efficient compression algorithms, but overall scenes were hardly ever above VCD quality and often much worse. 90s FMV heavy CD games definitely did not age well and are one reason why I still prefer the cart systems over CD peripherals. Also chiptune sountracks are more nostalgic for me than random BGM CD tracks which clashed with the synthesized or low-sample sound effects often used in CD titles.

[empsolo]

For the record, Famicom, aka NES in the western world, was released in 1983 in Japan. So it technically predates the 7800. Don't think for one second that all those complex mapper circuits like MMC3 et al powering the late greats of the system were planned out much less even thought of in 1983.

Actually, the Famicom was designed with that exactly in mind. There is an article/interview with one of the lead designers of the Nintendo Family Computer. In it, it talks about how one of Mr. Yamauchi's stickingpoints was that the Famicom had to be quasi-futureproofed. So they designed it with the idea of using custom mapper chips to comply with the orders from Nintendo's president.

Edited February 16, 2016 by empsolo

[NostAlgae37]

 

Original Arcade Popeye was double the resolution of typical games of that time @512x448.

Defender_2600 has worked wonders (as usual) within the resolution limitation of 320x240.

 

Defender_2600, I definitely liked the Popeye mockups that you did in 320 resolution better. I think that the 160 mode sacrifices too much of the characters' personalities. By the way, Trebor, I'm aware that there is still a significant difference between the resolution that the original arcade board put out and the maximum that the 7800 is capable of. Nevertheless, there are still certain tricks that can be employed with pixel art to make the image look smoother (I should know, I've done sprite work before for another "retro" homebrew video game project). Unfortunately, when you have limited colors to work with, using off-shade border pixels to make the image look less blocky becomes less realistic of an option.