Atari 7800 Homebrews with Physical Releases

[Jaden (JRH)]

Well hey, I posted elsewhere.

 

Anyway, I wanted to share this list because I haven't seen anything else that properly documents this. This is every homebrew that has had some sort of physical release, whether through AtariAge or independently sold. I didn't include ROM hacks or prototypes or anything like that. Just games made from the ground up. I mainly created this list to help with my blog, which I might share here later down the line. However, I want to post it here for anyone who may find it helpful. Hopefully, this wasn't a waste a time and another thread did this before me. Let me know if I missed anything.

 

 

atari 7800 physical.txt

[TrekMD]

Cool.  Thanks for taking the time to do create this.

[electronicsibley]

This is great! I was thinking recently that the list here at Atari Age was missing some games from the home-brew scene; especially ones that weren’t published through AA. Ideally, you could add other metadata like programmer, date published, etc. to add into the existing AA database. 

[Jaden (JRH)]

Oh yeah, definitely. I could make a spreadsheet with all of that info. In fact, I may just do that later. Stay tuned...

[Cousin Vinnie]

Nice job... I just glanced at it but you are missing a few

ET Book Cart (I mean...it is what it is), Merlain, (non VE) Beef Drop, Dragon's Cache, Pac Man Plus... 

 

Good job!

 

[Jaden (JRH)]

I got Merlain on the spreadsheet. Speaking of which, here it is! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TWG0W3bmlJrtGmO5p9rLiCwYUyXIF4uqqOveJMSqeKI/edit?usp=sharing

This is definitely much nicer to look at than a list, but I'll probably keep both for people who just want the list of games and nothing else.

I didn't include E.T. because it's not really a game and I don't think non-games belong. Dragon's Cache hasn't came out yet, as far as I know. So, I won't add that until later. I'm debating on whether to including Pac-Man Plus, since it's already on Pac-Man Collection. But maybe I'll put in on there. And I also didn't know there was a non VE version of Beef Drop. At least, I haven't seen one. I'll probably add it later.

 

Thanks for the response!

[Cousin Vinnie]

30 minutes ago, Jaden (JRH) said:

I got Merlain on the spreadsheet. Speaking of which, here it is! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TWG0W3bmlJrtGmO5p9rLiCwYUyXIF4uqqOveJMSqeKI/edit?usp=sharing

This is definitely much nicer to look at than a list, but I'll probably keep both for people who just want the list of games and nothing else.

I didn't include E.T. because it's not really a game and I don't think non-games belong. Dragon's Cache hasn't came out yet, as far as I know. So, I won't add that until later. I'm debating on whether to including Pac-Man Plus, since it's already on Pac-Man Collection. But maybe I'll put in on there. And I also didn't know there was a non VE version of Beef Drop. At least, I haven't seen one. I'll probably add it later.

 

Thanks for the response!

VE meant Value Edition... the early ones had Pokey chips and were just called Beef Drop. 

[Shawn]

48 minutes ago, Jaden (JRH) said:

I got Merlain on the spreadsheet. Speaking of which, here it is! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TWG0W3bmlJrtGmO5p9rLiCwYUyXIF4uqqOveJMSqeKI/edit?usp=sharing

This is definitely much nicer to look at than a list, but I'll probably keep both for people who just want the list of games and nothing else.

I didn't include E.T. because it's not really a game and I don't think non-games belong. Dragon's Cache hasn't came out yet, as far as I know. So, I won't add that until later. I'm debating on whether to including Pac-Man Plus, since it's already on Pac-Man Collection. But maybe I'll put in on there. And I also didn't know there was a non VE version of Beef Drop. At least, I haven't seen one. I'll probably add it later.

 

Thanks for the response!

 

There have been many different Pacman cartridge releases. They all count. Just cause the collection exists doesn't mean the prior releases are not valid.

[+sramirez2008]

 

20 minutes ago, Cousin Vinnie said:

the early ones had Pokey chips and were just called Beef Drop.

Yep...I have number 96.

 

 

Btw, there were Donkey Kong XM carts made too.

[Jaden (JRH)]

Alright, I added both games.

[+Defender_2600]

The PMP Collection - 30th Anniversary Cart

 

Note that exclusively in this collection is included the version of Pac-Man Collection with small dots and an updated version of Scramble in which two red side borders have been added to the playing field to improve scrolling.

 

 

 

Edited June 2, 2021 by Defender_2600

[Jaden (JRH)]

I completely forgot about this collection! I'll add it right now.

[Jaden (JRH)]

Here is the most up to date version of the list. And again, I'll link the spreadsheet here.

Thank you all for checking out the list and letting me know what games I missed.

atari 7800 homebrew physical.txt

[Trebor]

Prior to there being any Pac-Man Collection cart, circa 2005/2006, there were a variety of individual Pac-Man games that were released to cartridge, which ultimately would make up Pac-Man Collection:

 

Dual Pac-Man
Hangly-Man
Pac-Man
Pac-Man Plus
Ms. Pac-Attack
Ms. Pac-Man Fast
Ultra Pac-Man

 

They are pictured in the below capture along with Asteroids VE (Vector Edition), a forerunner of Asteroids Deluxe, which the latter features the title and a 'hidden' Asteroids VE game, that is currently sold in the AA store.

 

 

Although not interested, there were many Pac hacks developed, some released to cart that received considerable distribution as well, such as Pac Pollux and Pac Nestor.

 

Prior to the development of Pac-Man Collection - 40th Anniversary Edition, around 10 years ago, there were individual "320" releases of Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man with POKEY sound.  Graphically, they're not as polished as PMC 40th, but still great:

 

 

 

[TrekMD]

Oh, look at all those Pac-game carts! 

[electronicsibley]

33 minutes ago, Jaden (JRH) said:

Here is the most up to date version of the list. And again, I'll link the spreadsheet here.

Thank you all for checking out the list and letting me know what games I missed.

atari 7800 homebrew physical.txt 812 B · 0 downloads

Awesome! I’m not sure who maintains the AA 7800 list - Al, perhaps? - but they should be able to use this to update it eventually. In any case, it’s great to see how much home-brew attention the 7800 has received, all in one place.
 

I’m sure you’re aware, but there’s potential for quite a few releases this year. If what I’m seeing in the forums pans out, we could see between 6 and 8 new games.

[Jaden (JRH)]

I'm definitely aware of the upcoming 7800 releases. I have a section dedicated to them in the spreadsheet, but it's still a work in progress. I'm hoping that this will be helpful to many people, as I felt the documentation for available 7800 homebrews (especially ones with cartridges) could have used some work.

 

Also, I didn't know there were that many Pac-Man homebrews released. Thanks for bringing those to my attention, Trebor. I didn't add the Ms. Pac-Man ones and Asteroids VE since they say they're hacks and I'm not counting those. ROM hacks might get their own section later on, though. The other Pac-Man cartridges have all been added to the list.

 

Again, I really appreciate all of you guys helping to keep this list accurate.

[Mayhem]

I'm looking at that list and I'm sure there's a few I have that are missing, but I can't cross check as won't be back to my place with my collection until next week.

[+Defender_2600]

https://atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1024

 

"Crazy Otto was developed as an enhancement kit for Pac-man cabinets by General Computer Corporation (GCC). GCC also created an upgrade kit for Missile Command titled Super Missile Command, for which they were sued by Atari, but the suit was dropped and the two companies entered into a business arrangement. GCC went on to develop the arcade games Fight and Quantum for Atari, as well as games for the Atari 2600, 5200 and 7800 game consoles.

As a drop-in upgrade for Pac-Man, Crazy Otto brought many changes to the game, although basic gameplay remained the same. Most notable is the main character (Crazy Otto) had legs and blue eyes. The monsters also have feet, as well as animated antennae. Other changes included new mazes, music, sound effects, and bonus fruit. Otto and his female counterpart were featured in three new intermissions, the last of which shows the arrival of baby Crazy Otto, "Junior".

In October 1981 Crazy Otto was licensed to Midway, who had the rights to produce Pac-Man in North America. The only changes between Crazy Otto and Pac-Man are the visual representation of characters and various text strings. The decision was made to use the female character as the protagonist, and the game was renamed to Ms. Pac-Man. Ms. Pac-Man went on to become the most successful American-produced arcade game, selling 115,000 cabinets.

Atari 7800 programmer Robert DeCrescenzo has taken Atari's version of Ms. Pac-Man for the 7800 and updated the graphics to match the Crazy Otto arcade game."

 

 

 

Edited June 2, 2021 by Defender_2600

[+GoldenWheels]

I checked list, and did not see the 30th Anniversary (forget what it's called, and I'm at...not home) carts #1 and #2 which collected the catalog games?

 

There are some (I think Wasp! is an example) where, it was released as a numbered edition, than a "standard" edition.

 

I also own some games I guess I shouldn't....somebody was pirating beta ROMs to ebay from somewhere, and I bought at least one (really good) football game of rather dirty provenance because of this. The programmer made me aware when I mentioned it here, and graciously refused my offer of sending HIM some money. But who knows how many things like that are out there....this had a nice label, the whole deal.

[Trebor]

45 minutes ago, GoldenWheels said:

I checked list, and did not see the 30th Anniversary (forget what it's called, and I'm at...not home) carts #1 and #2 which collected the catalog games?

 

There are some (I think Wasp! is an example) where, it was released as a numbered edition, than a "standard" edition.

 

I also own some games I guess I shouldn't....somebody was pirating beta ROMs to ebay from somewhere, and I bought at least one (really good) football game of rather dirty provenance because of this. The programmer made me aware when I mentioned it here, and graciously refused my offer of sending HIM some money. But who knows how many things like that are out there....this had a nice label, the whole deal.

Bad, GoldenWheels, bad. 

[Jaden (JRH)]

Yeah, I'm not gonna be counting pirated stuff. I'm only looking for ones where the developers approved of a physical release or are doing one themselves. And also, who knows how many pirated games could be out there? It would be a nightmare to try and catalogue all of those. Same reason why I won't count any of those custom 7800 cartridges that people can order. There has to be more than one of it, they have to be a release approved by the developer, and they have to be made from the ground up. Those are my qualifications for what counts for the homebrew list.

 

Also, if the Wasp! numbered edition and standard edition have no real differences between each other, then I won't bother making separate entries for them. However, I probably will make comments for games that had alternate releases like that.

 

I'm not sure what to do about the 30th Anniversary collections, but I'll find a place to put them later. Maybe they would go in the hacks section, but I don't know.

[+sramirez2008]

10 minutes ago, Jaden (JRH) said:

There has to be more than one of it, they have to be a release approved by the developer, and they have to be made from the ground up.

I present to you Baby Pac-Man custom carts by @PacManPlus himself.?

[Jaden (JRH)]

Oh wow, didn't know about these either! If the game inside is the same as the standard Baby Pac-Man release, then I don't think I'll be counting this as a separate entry. But still, these look great. I'll at least make a note of it on the spreadsheet.

[+GoldenWheels]

15 hours ago, Trebor said:

Bad, GoldenWheels, bad. 

Haha yeah, that was it! Jeez my memory has really gone downhill in three years....I honestly forgot a ton of those details. Still....VERY fun little game.

 

Some handsome devil made me a Double Dragon/Rampage ROM hack double cart, that you switch games with a button. I understand that kind of thing won't be included on this list. But to be quite frank....I have far more interest in the awesome releases done kind of commando style here by the hardcore 7800 guys, than MANY of those 'more official' titles on the list. Jeez, we need a list JUST for Bob's stuff!