videotwit Posted June 21, 2001 Share Posted June 21, 2001 Pitfall may be the most obvious example, but are there any other decent 2600 side scrolling games? Maybe I am just having a brain freeze, but I can't think of any. ...help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
videotwit Posted June 21, 2001 Author Share Posted June 21, 2001 I know it's bad form to follow up your own post, but my brain freeze just thawed - I remembered Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle. The question remains, though... are there any decent side scrollers for the 2600 besides pitfall? (subtle slam on Smurf there) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yiearkungfu Posted June 21, 2001 Share Posted June 21, 2001 pitfall never scrolled, pitfall 2 did though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted June 21, 2001 Share Posted June 21, 2001 quoteFor something Pac-Man and ET...they need a reviews section here at the Age. Reviews of the games for each Atari System. Reviews are something we plan on adding someday. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted June 22, 2001 Share Posted June 22, 2001 Opivy the only time Pitfall 2 scrolls it when you move up or down..not left to right. Twit did mention Side Scroller...so in that respect neither Pitfall! or Pitfall 2 really scrolled from side to side. Now Krull does on the desert scene sorta...or at least the hacked the code to give that impression. Plus Krull owns me currently right now...good game! If you gonna talk about just games that featured more than one scene then don't forget: Adventure Haunted House Krull (Stated above) Tunnel Runner a few others that escape me right now.. [ 06-21-2001: Message edited by: -^Cro§Bow^- ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted June 22, 2001 Share Posted June 22, 2001 Yep. Opivy10 is right. Pitfall never scrolled and I don't remember the Smurf game scrolling either. Keystone Kapers is the same way, just with more levels. -------------------- Twit said, "I do agree that Keystone Kapers rules, however, I think I'd classify it more as a climbing game (in the realm of Donkey Kong / DK Jr., etc) rather than a side scroller." Electronic Games 1983 Software Encyclopedia said the category for Donkey Kong is "climbing." Donkey Kong is a multi level obstacle course with ladders. If you think about it, Pitfall is a variation of Donkey Kong. Pitfall has two levels, obstacles, and ladders. Keystone Kapers has many levels, obstacles but no ladders. All it has are escalators and elevators, so you could argue that it is less like Donkey Kong than Pitfall. -------------------- Albert said, "I think we should categorize the games in our database." You could check Electronic Games 1983 Software Encyclopedia to see what categories they used. Here are some of the categories they had (with examples): Adventure: Adventure, Superman, Haunted House, Riddle of the Sphinx, Venture, Dragon Stomper Adventure-Maze: Escape from the Mindmaster Ball-and-Paddle: Breakout, Circus Atari, Warlords, Video Olympics Catch: Lost Luggage Classic Strategy: Video Chess, Bridge, Checkers Climbing: Donkey Kong, Airlock, Spider-Man Climbing-Shoot-out: Infiltrate Combat: Yars' Revenge, Armor Ambush, Laser Blast, Suicide Mission, Room of Doom Driving: Night Driver, Turbo First-Person Space Piloting and Shooting (How about "First Person Space Shooter"?): Starmaster, Phaser Patrol Invasion: Demon Attack, Communist Mutants from Space, Threshold, Encounter at L-5 Line-Building: Surround, Tape Worm Maze: Dodge'em Maze-Chase: Pac-Man, Mouse Trap, Lock 'N' Chase, Jawbreaker, Maze Craze, Journey Escape Maze Shoot-out: Berzerk, Marauder, Wizard of War, Dark Cavern Racing: Dragster, Grand Prix, Indy 500 Scrolling Shoot-out: Defender, Chopper Command, River Raid, The Empire Strikes Back, Space Jockey Sports: Basketball, Bowling, Boxing, Golf, Ice Hockey Steering: Barnstorming Target: Air-Sea Battle, Astro Blast, Atlantis, Bugs, Carnival, Cross Force, Fishing Derby, Frogs and Flies, Stampede Thrust-Fire: Asteroids Wall-Bashing: Fireball War: Robot Commando Raid These are just examples. I don't like some of their choices. For example they said Journey Escape is a "Maze-Chase" game. Where's the maze? It's a vertical-scrolling obstacle course. I don't know what you would call that category. It plays more like Enduro or Night Driver but it's not a driving game. Games like Defender could be called "Side Scrolling Shooters" and games like River Raid could be called "Vertical Scrolling Shooters." There are so many choices, good luck creating categories. It could drive you crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted June 22, 2001 Share Posted June 22, 2001 Wow, that's quite a list of categories. I personally believe the categories should be much broader than those Electronic Games used. I would consider Pitfall, Pitfall II, and Keystone Kapers "Platform" games in the same sense that Super Mario Brothers. When I think of side-scrollers, I conjure images of Gradius and Vanguard. I'll have to do some research to see how other sites and periodicals categorize games. Many games are obvious, but there certainly are quite a few that are tough to nail down to any one category (and there's no reason why a game couldn't belong to several, except that it's a little more complex to program.. ) Oh yeah, besides adding more detail to individual games, one great benefit to categorizing the games is we could very easily allow you to view games by category. For instance, if you wanted to see all the Side-Scrollers for the 2600, you'd be able to quite easily do so... ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted June 22, 2001 Share Posted June 22, 2001 Yep. That would be cool to bring up all games of certain category. If you make more changes like that, could you also have an # to A to Z link list so that we can also click on "B" for example and see all of the Atari 2600 games that start with "b?" Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted June 22, 2001 Share Posted June 22, 2001 quoteIf you make more changes like that, could you also have an # to A to Z link list so that we can also click on "B" for example and see all of the Atari 2600 games that start with "b?" Yeah, that's on my list of things to do. In general, we have plans to add more advanced search capabilities, which means we'll end up with a separate search page with tons of options. Adding shortcuts to jump directly to a certain letter will be added to the main rarity query at some point (probbaly before the advanced query page gets written!) ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel D. Park Posted June 22, 2001 Share Posted June 22, 2001 I guess I'd concider Keystone Kapers a side scroller, it pretty much rules. But at the moment, I can't think of any others. with the exception of flying games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted June 22, 2001 Share Posted June 22, 2001 quotePitfall may be the most obvious example, but are there any other decent 2600 side scrolling games? Maybe I am just having a brain freeze, but I can't think of any. Although I don't have an answer for you off the top of my head, you do bring up an interesting point. I think we should categorize the games in our database. For instance, these could be: - Sports - Adventure - Action - Learning - Puzzle and so forth. We'd have to come up with a decent list that encompasses most games. Some, like the Color Bar Generator, wouldn't really fit in any category (which is fine). What do you guys think? ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
videotwit Posted June 22, 2001 Author Share Posted June 22, 2001 quote: Originally posted by Joel D. Park: I guess I'd concider Keystone Kapers a side scroller, it pretty much rules. I do agree that Keystone Kapers rules, however, I think I'd classify it more as a climbing game (in the realm of Donkey Kong / DK Jr., etc) rather than a side scroller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
videotwit Posted June 22, 2001 Author Share Posted June 22, 2001 quote: Originally posted by Albert: I think we should categorize the games in our database. That would probably be handy from a research standpoint. How far would you break down the categories? The 5 you listed would work nicely, but "action" and "adventure" would have to be pretty well defined to keep the level of confusion down. Tough questions to bang out, but I think it would be a great asset to have an option to view your database archives by these type of catagories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Primus Posted June 22, 2001 Share Posted June 22, 2001 quote: Although I don't have an answer for you off the top of my head, you do bring up an interesting point. I think we should categorize the games in our database. For instance, these could be: - Sports - Adventure - Action - Learning - Puzzle and so forth. We'd have to come up with a decent list that encompasses most games. Some, like the Color Bar Generator, wouldn't really fit in any category (which is fine). What do you guys think? Perhaps we should add a category for "Good idea ruined by rushed programming". It could include Pac-Man and ET... Ian Primus ian.primus@usa.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted June 22, 2001 Share Posted June 22, 2001 For something Pac-Man and ET...they need a reviews section here at the Age. Reviews of the games for each Atari System. However, Alex and Albert should be selective in this area...but for the reviews to be categorized genre of the game would have to be specified as well. Just thought I would throw more basil into the soup there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sambal Posted June 22, 2001 Share Posted June 22, 2001 I kow another side scroller... really a killer game! gas hog is the name... cya sambal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted June 22, 2001 Share Posted June 22, 2001 Albert: I forgot to mention something else. You said, "When I think of side-scrollers, I conjure images of Gradius and Vanguard." Whatever you call your "side-scroller" category, remember that Vanguard is a "side-scroller" and a "vertical-scroller." It's also a floor wax and a dessert topping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Oberhäuser Posted June 22, 2001 Share Posted June 22, 2001 Yep, Gas Hog is quite a good game. But the best side scroller for me is Vanguard. Laser Gates isn't bad, too. MaO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted June 22, 2001 Share Posted June 22, 2001 MaO: My two of my favorite side-scrollers are Subterranea and Laser Gates, both by Imagic. Unless I'm forgetting one, I think Stargate is my third favorite. I borrowed Vanguard from a guy at school when it was new and I thought it was good, but it didn't compare to the similar Laser Gates. I thought Laser Gates had sharper and more colorful images. I also thought that Vanguard looked sort of blocky and unprofessional compared to Laser Gates. I wonder if Vanguard was another one of Atari's rush jobs. It could have been much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inky Posted June 22, 2001 Share Posted June 22, 2001 Side scrollers that I loved was Fantastic Voyage and Chopper Command (Stargate is awesome too). As far as I'm concerned Fantastic Voyage is one of the most underrated games on the 26. Graphics were minimal, but I loved the play. Reminded me of Scramble. (Now I have to go play my Konami Arcade Classics on my PSX) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted June 23, 2001 Share Posted June 23, 2001 Inky: I sort of forgot about Fantastic Voyage. I played that game non-stop for about a month back when it was semi-new. But, wasn't that more of a vertical-scroller like River Raid? I also thought Activision did a better job on Chopper Command than Atari did on Defender. Atari did do a great job on Stargate though, didn't they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inky Posted June 25, 2001 Share Posted June 25, 2001 You're right about fantastic voyage being a vertical scroller. I forgot about that. Anyone have one to sell? Chopper Command was the Bomb (to quote the youngsters of today ) One of only 2 Atari games I got a perfect score on. The other was Pitfall 2. Stargate kicked major leauge butt! How they got the game virtually indistinguishable from the arcade is incredible! Spelling errors are free, at no cost to you, the consumer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel D. Park Posted June 25, 2001 Share Posted June 25, 2001 Hey, Entombed scrolled didn't it?? And there was no way to stop it. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.