Are there any true RPGs for the 2600?

[chairmonkey4406]

I'm just wondering because I keep hearing all these RPG like titles around this board like "Midnight Magic" "Quest" and others.

[smile_walle]

There have some few true RPG on Atari 2600:

 

Dragonstomper (Supercharger)

Adventure

 

 

That all what I think....but someone here can answer more games which RPG available for Atari 2600.

[Big Player]

I'd say Dragonstomper is the only true RPG for the 2600 right now.

 

But Paul Slocum is working on a Homestar Runner RPG.

 

[EDIT] Removed the repeated "right now". I should really read my posts first.

[Paul Slocum]

Manuel is also working on Gateway to Apshai.

 

-paul

[Major Havoc 2049]

These are what I would call RPG's for the Atari 2600:

 

Adventure

Secret Quest

The Air, Fire and Water World games

Dragonstomper

Raiders of the Lost Ark(my favorite 2600 RPG)

 

Some people might classify some of the above as adventure games with some RPG elements.

[bjk7382]

Dragonstomper is quite repeditive, but has all of the elements of an RPG. It is quite a long game, and I haven't beaten it yet (no saving, and you have to play it all at once)

 

I wouldn't call adventure an RPG, it is just a simple adventure game with keys and swords.

[Cootster]

I mean, really . . . ET is the closest non-Supercharger thing to a real RPG the 2600 has until Homestar Runner comes out . . . Then, there will be no contest, unless Manuel's comes out shortly thereafter and has even a smidgen of the greatness HRRPG does . . .

 

Honestly, this is the first video game release I've actually awaited since SMB3 . . .

 

And don't forget the text adventure games, either . . .

 

And the much-maligned Dark Chambers . . . Crud, both the 2600 and 7800 versions, while not exactly great, are better than super-pathetic Tengen NES Gauntlet . . . If you compare any 2600 game to the arcade, obviously it looks sucky (with the possible exceptions of Q*Bert, Frogger, and Ms. Pac-Man) . . .

 

But you can't buy arcade ROMs on handy little carts and play them on your TV . . .

[Room 34]

I keep hearing all these RPG like titles around this board like "Midnight Magic"...

 

That's a pinball game!

 

I do believe Paul's Homestar Runner game will be the first... and I can't wait for it!

[Room 34]

And the much-maligned Dark Chambers . . . Crud, both the 2600 and 7800 versions, while not exactly great, are better than super-pathetic Tengen NES Gauntlet . . .

 

 

Please explain your criteria for that assessment.

 

I find both versions of Dark Chambers unplayably boring, but NES Gauntlet's quite addictive.

 

(BTW, you do know Tengen was, for all intents and purposes, Atari, right?)

[Adrian M]

I find both versions of Dark Chambers unplayably boring...

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

[Gateway]

Manuel is also working on Gateway to Apshai.

 

-paul

 

And I'll be the first one in line to purchase it!

 

And to beta-test it, and contribute, and ( well, maybe )

 

I can't wait!

[gamerz]

I always thought that adventure was a RPG...you played the role of a square.

[moycon]

I always thought that adventure was a RPG...you played the role of a square.  

 

How is that different than day to day though??? Well...Cept for the ducks.

[A2600]

Swordquest!! There I said IT!

 

(hides behind a wall, and watches tomatoes flying by before beint struck in the head!!)

[JB]

Why do people insist on classifying adventure games as RPGs?

[bjk7382]

Why do people insist on classifying adventure games as RPGs?

 

I agree with you. I think in order to have an rpg, you need turn based fighting (such as dragonstomper) Adventure has none of that. And in normal rpg's you can hold more than one item (also HP (hitpoints) and magic and all that crap goes along with an rpg) Most 2600 titles have none of that.

 

Adventures are just that, adventures.....

[moycon]

Why do people insist on classifying adventure games as RPGs?

 

I guess because there are certain elements that are there between the two.

I'd say if you like RPGs you might enjoy Raiders OT Lost Ark.

The only thing missing is hit points and character stats.

What constitues a Role Playing game? Stats? Hit points?

 

There's only a few true RPGs on the 2600 and a couple of those havent been released yet.

[JB]

Why do people insist on classifying adventure games as RPGs?

 

I guess because there are certain elements that are there between the two.

I'd say if you like RPGs you might enjoy Raiders OT Lost Ark.

The only thing missing is hit points and character stats.

What constitues a Role Playing game? Stats? Hit points?

 

There's only a few true RPGs on the 2600 and a couple of those havent been released yet.

I would say that the defining point of an RPG is a character that grows(Physically, not that personality crap) with experience in the game and not through power-ups.

 

Through experience does not automatically mean "experience points" though it is usually the mechanism chosen.

 

So yes, stats.

 

Remember, the genre began with Dungeons and Dragons.

That set the baseline.

 

 

The NES title Crystalis is the bottom of what I consider an RPG, having a really minimal stat system(whoopie, FOUR NUMBERS).

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

And I'll be the first one in line to purchase it!    

 

And to beta-test it, and contribute, and ( well, maybe )        

 

I can't wait!  

 

I've a complete month off from work around X-Mas and I hope to spend most of the time on GTA!

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[Snider-man]

I've a complete month off from work around X-Mas and I hope to spend most of the time on GTA!

 

Whoo-hoo! Grand Theft Auto comes to the 2600!

 

Ahem.

 

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

Whoo-hoo! Grand Theft Auto comes to the 2600!

 

That is GTA - Vice Dungeon!

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[Cootster]

And the much-maligned Dark Chambers . . . Crud, both the 2600 and 7800 versions, while not exactly great, are better than super-pathetic Tengen NES Gauntlet . . .

 

 

Please explain your criteria for that assessment.

 

 

Three words. Decent. Collision. Detection.

 

I find both versions of Dark Chambers unplayably boring, but NES Gauntlet's quite addictive.

 

We're talking the first one here? The one that's basically the same game as DC with character selection, except ___ALL___ the hits are cheap? No question, Gauntlet 2 is better . . . Not the first one . . .

 

(BTW, you do know Tengen was, for all intents and purposes, Atari, right?)

 

Yeah, and judging from a lot of their NES titles, they tried to do the same thing to Nintendo that Coleco/Mattel did to them . . . Of course, it never worked . . . Only 2 are really close enough for comparison (and like DC and Gauntlet, was Fatal Run the inspiration for RoadBlasters?) and both are better on the 7800. . . Not prettier, but better . . . Their best NES game was definitely Tetris, but the Big N had to put a stop to that . . . And the later RBI games are OK . . .

 

 

 

 

 

[liveinabin]

There's a really good text adventure 'Dark Mage' - it's probably as close to an RPG as you're going to get right now.

[RCmodeler]

Sorry, but the FIRST role-playing game did not hit consoles until Final Fantasy 1. All the other games mentioned here (ET, Raiders, Adventure) are adventures. *No stats* which is a mandatory component for a true RPG. Final Fantasy 1 on the Original Nintendo was the first stat-based role-playing game.

 

 

 

(Dungeons & Dragons on Intellivision might qualify, but I don't know since I've never played the game. It might just be another dumbed-down adventure game.)

[Adrian M]

Sorry, but the FIRST role-playing game did not hit consoles until Final Fantasy 1.  All the other games mentioned here (ET, Raiders, Adventure) are adventures.  *No stats* which is a mandatory component for a true RPG.  Final Fantasy 1 on the Original Nintendo was the first stat-based role-playing game.

 

 

 

(Dungeons & Dragons on Intellivision might qualify, but I don't know since I've never played the game.  It might just be another dumbed-down adventure game.)

 

RPG's had been available on old PC's since the dawn of time. While not necessarily consoles, games like Wizardry, Ultima, and various D&D adventures hit old computers like the Apple II and C64 YEARS before the words Final Fantasy were uttered.

 

Also, I could have sworn that Dragon Quest (Dragon Warrior in the USA) was the first true NES RPG. At least in Japan since it had come out sometime in 1986.