Gunstar Posted November 9, 2001 Share Posted November 9, 2001 I've been an avid 8-bitter since '85, and didn't upgrade until about '93 or '94. I stopped getting new software for my 8-bit about '91 as that's about the time software dried up in the states for the 8-bits. I continued to collect software for it tha was unavailable in the US, from England and Europe (it's about 50-50 chance that PAL or SCART software works right on NTSC Atari's). But there were new games coming out for the 8-bits as late as '98 (from what I've found so far) from around the world, mostly from eastern europe. So many of you may not realize that some very high quality software is available for your 8-bit. Two quality titles among many, I'm going to talk about now. Barbarian and Another World. Barbarian is a fighting game, something that has been all to common for many years, but as far as I know, Only a few quality titles were ever made for the 8-bit; World Karate Champ, Chop Suey and now Barbarian. Barbarian is copyright '93 or '94, I think by Mirage software, a Polish company. It has fantastic graphics for an 8-bit game, but in monochrome (one color, many shades), this does not detract from the game at all and since they chose to use shades instead of totally different colors with the 8-bit's limited (4 color) graphics mode, it looks great. In this game you are in one of several different arenas, battling an opponent (computer or a second player) with swords and there are quite a lot of unique moves including the always fun "decapitation" move. Good, good stuff. The second title is 'Another World,' Some of you might know this title from the ST's and Amiga's and PC's. It was released on the 3DO under the name "Out of this World." The only version I ever played was the 32-bit 3DO version. I must confess, that I found the 8-bit version to be every bit as good as it's 3DO counterpart, actually, with a less than expected drop in graphic quality. The 3DO's gfx on this game were good, but not outstanding, a high point being that the backdrops were originally hand painted watercolors. Well the 8-bit version looks Fantastic for an 8-bit game, and everything about the graphics are instantly recognizable from the 32-bit version. This game, by the way, is the prelude to the much more popular game from the Genesis and Jaguar, as well as the 3DO: Flashback. Same developer's: Delphine software. Same type of game. Good stuff. I got my copies from: http://xlent.nostalgia.pl/XLent.html "Atari Strikes Back" web site. Go get them Grasshopper! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Ferrante Posted November 14, 2001 Share Posted November 14, 2001 Hi, Its easy to Play ALL the european games and demos without the Pal flicker!! all you need to do is order a ANTIC pal chip from Best electronics for $12.00 and pop it in. I have many Atari's here, 2600/Lynx/Jaguar and the 8bit Computer line also an ST 16bit system. I use to run a Multiline BBS on 3 upgraded XL's each of them was eith 512k to 1088k ram all with Hard drives and a MUX network. The BBS ran for 11 years and the 500 meg Hard drive was full of PAL games that just drove me crazy, so I started to research a fix and it was all so easy!! Change the Antic Chip!! I now run ALL Pal/NTSC games and demos perfectly!! /| Atari8Man /| Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Ferrante Posted November 14, 2001 Share Posted November 14, 2001 Oh forgot, Barbarian is a Great game on the XL/E I also have it for the ST but I like the 8bit version better Out of this World has a bug in it, looks like a somewhat playable demo. World Karate Champ is one of the best 8bit games ever!! I just wished that World Karate Champ II was released for the 8bit, I have the ST version and its great. /| Atari8Man /| Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted November 14, 2001 Author Share Posted November 14, 2001 quote: Originally posted by Guy ferrante: Hi, Its easy to Play ALL the european games and demos without the Pal flicker!! all you need to do is order a ANTIC pal chip from Best electronics for $12.00 and pop it in. I have many Atari's here, 2600/Lynx/Jaguar and the 8bit Computer line also an ST 16bit system. I use to run a Multiline BBS on 3 upgraded XL's each of them was eith 512k to 1088k ram all with Hard drives and a MUX network. The BBS ran for 11 years and the 500 meg Hard drive was full of PAL games that just drove me crazy, so I started to research a fix and it was all so easy!! Change the Antic Chip!! I now run ALL Pal/NTSC games and demos perfectly!! /| Atari8Man /| So your saying that all I need to do is replace my NTSC Antic chip with a PAL one and my computer will be compatible 100% with BOTH NTSC and PAL programs? I don't want to turn my computer into a PAL only machine... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Ferrante Posted November 15, 2001 Share Posted November 15, 2001 Yes that it!! its a simple upgrade, most XL chips are on sockets and make the job easy, then some are not and must be de-solder. On the XE's its the same some have the Antic on sockets. I have all my XL/E with this upgrade! Full NTSC ans PAL compatible. All of them also have the Super-Video upgrade and one of them has the Pokey-Gumby STEREO upgrade. Best Electronics has 2 versions of the ANTIC PAL you need the XE version for both XE and XL. Im the old sysop hacker from years gone by But after you install the New Pal Antic chip its like getting a new computer!! All those european demos and games run Perfectly. /| Atari8Man /| Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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