Must Play Atari 8-bit games???

[zenassem]

Can anyone suggest some "Must Play" atari games/demos? Please don't assume that they are to common to list. It's been a long time since I've played many of the games, and unfortunatley my memory seems to be skewed.

 

And the games I do remeber were choices I made when I was 7-12 years old, so I'm sure there are a lot of complex games that I would enjoy now that I didn't have the patience or instructions for back then. ie. "Seven Citied of Gold". I have no idea how to play, but it looks interesting.

 

If you post a game that it complex, it would help me if you could include an online instruction link if you know about them.

 

I know about Alternate Reality series (but I don't know how to play it, so I think I might need to read the manual).

 

 

Thanks for anyone who can help. I'm also interested in must have utilities, Demos (ntsc), speech tools, peripheral's, art packages, sound graphics, programming, books, mods, SIO2PC apps (ie atari810, atari800winplus, EnvisionPC etc..),articles...

 

Pretty much everything. So if you have something that is a "MUST PLAY", "MUST HAVE", "MUST READ" for an Atari Enthusiast/Programmer, please share it with me.

 

Lastly, I have seen some ATR conversion utils, but is there anyway to take .exe .bin files for the emulators, and put them on an .atr disk so that I can SIO2PC them to my Actual Atari via Atari810 drive emulator.

 

Thanks to everyone for your help and recommendations!

 

~zen

[bjk7382]

I would say a few must play games are

 

Mr. Do! (one of the best arcade ports ever, I think)

Gyruss

Hero

[+davidcalgary29]

You'll probably get a huge thread started, as everyone has his/her A8 favourites. The A8 library has thousands (if not tens of thousands) of programs, so your question isn't an easy one. There were also several generations of A8 programming, so it's not easy to rank games comparatively. For example, "Star Raiders" revolutionized home computer gaming when it came out for the A8 in 1979. Compared with Atari's late '80s efforts, and most European games of the '90s, though, its graphics and sound effects seem very primitive. It's still a great game, though.

 

I would recommend:

 

The DataSoft multicart from Sunmark (which has most of DataSoft's very best games for the A8);

Any Infocom game;

Any Atari XEGS release, with the exception of "Into the Eagle's Nest", "Bug Hunt", or "Flight Simulator II";

All of Atari's brown- and silver- label games, but especially:

 

"Defender"

"Ms. Pac-Man"

"Joust"

"Pole Position"

"Millipede"

 

"Castle Crisis"

 

and one or two of almost any commercial Polish, Czech, or German game from the '90s, just so what you can see how far graphics and sound was pushed on the A8s.

[zenassem]

Thanks. So far that's a great start. Being American we seem to be out-of-the loop when it comes to the releases and the scene in other countries. Well at least I am.

 

If someone good give me a link to some of the 90's games/demos that I should look at that would help. I tried going to the ABBUC site to get links, but since I can only read English I get lost at many of the sites, and don't know where to go to download. Any help in this area is appreciated. Damn I wish I could speak Polish!!! My mother speaks fluent German, so I might have to employ her to help me out there.

 

 

Oh yeah, If there any active User Groups Clubs, I could Join, I would like to know about them.

 

~zen

[+davidcalgary29]

There are no active users' groups in New York for the A8 of which I am aware; you will probably find other Atari enthusiasts at a local C64 club (they do tend to be more numerous).

 

The active Atari users' groups in North America are:

 

MIAUG (Miami);

ACEC (Columbus);

SCAT (Chicago);

IMAGE (Indiana/Michigan);

SPACE (probably your best bet, Minneapolis);

ABACUS (San Francisco, limited Atari);

San Leandro Computer Club;

GCACE (Victoria, B.C.)

[Goochman]

Necromancer

Alley Cat

Ultima IV = this one could take weeks

Alternate Reality as you mentioned - these never end

Donkey Kong is a good conversion

Shamus I

Shamus II

Jumpman

 

 

Once you run out of fun things let me know and Ill give you some more

[zenassem]

Thanks. I lot of these games I have never played. I have Ultima IV but I'm going to see if I find the manual somewhere. I remeber playing this when I was younger. If anyone one has strategy information on Ultima IV, please let me know. (ie. How much of the game is really determined by the responses is set by the responses to the Cards in the beginning?)

 

~zen

 

I am also looking for a text/graphic adventure I used to play. It was based on the Incredible hulk. The opening sequences you have to bite your tongue to turn into the hulk and break free. I have searched for Incredible Hulk, and adventure games but I cannot seem to find it.

 

I am also looking for a text adventure with script font, that was based on spiderman. I can't find this one either.

[www.atarimania.com]

Should keep you busy for some time

 

Must-haves from Atari

Pole Position, Asteroids, Defender, Robotron, Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Junior, Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Jr. Pac-Man, Super Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Pengo, Crystal Castles, Mario Bros., Star Raiders, Star Raiders II, Joust, Missile Command, Jungle Hunt, Qix, Centipede, Millipede, Excalibur, Final Legacy, Eastern Front (1941)...

 

Must-haves originally programmed on the A8

Alternate Reality - The City, Alternate Reality - The Dungeon, Alley Cat, Boulder Dash, Boulder Dash II, Bruce Lee, The Great American Cross-Country Road Race, Jumpman, Jumpman Junior, Miner 2049er, Bounty Bob Strikes Back!, Zenji, Oil's Well, Pharaoh's Curse, Necromancer, Archon, Archon II, Fort Apocalypse, Mercenary, Encounter!, Dropzone, Spelunker, Shamus, Shamus II, Montezuma's Revenge, Ballblazer, Rescue on Fractalus!, MULE, Seven Cities of Gold, Murder on the Zinderneuf, Zorro, Bristles, Flip and Flop, Agent USA, Blue Max, Rainbow Walker, Rally Speedway...

 

Blockbusters from the eighties

Airball, Attack of the Mutant Camels, Arkanoid, Infocom games, Ultima series, Level 9 adventures, MicroProse programs, Magnetic Scrolls games, Bandits, Beach Head, Beach Head II, Chessmaster 2000, Choplifter!, Conan, Deflektor, Draconus, Drol, Druid, The Eidolon, Feud, Flight Simulator II, Frogger, Frogger II, Gauntlet, Ghostbusters, Gyruss, The Goonies, Gumball, Hacker, HardBall!, Head over Heels, HERO, Hover Bovver, Infiltrator, International Karate, Into the Eagle's Nest, Joe Blade, Kaboom!, Karateka, Kikstart, Koronis Rift, Leader Board, Lode Runner, Lode Runner's Rescue, Mail Order Monsters, Master of the Lamps, MegaMania, Mountain King, Mr. Do!, Mr. Robot and His Robot Factory, Ogre, One Man and His Droid, One-on-One, Pinball Construction Set, Pitfall!, Pitfall! II, Pooyan, Q*bert, Raid over Moscow, River Raid, Saracen, Satan's Hollow, Sea Dragon, Serpentine, Shanghai, Spare Change, Spellbound, Spindizzy, Star Fleet I, Starquake, Summer Games, Tarzan of the Apes, Temple of Apshai Trilogy, Threshold, Tomahawk, Trailblazer, Universe, Warhawk, Wizard of Wor, Zybex...

 

Nice rip-offs, unique titles, new-wave games

Abracadabra!, Adax, Assault Force 3-D, Atomia, Bang! Bank!, Blockaboo!, The Brundles, Captain Beeble, Captain Gather, Cavernia, Chop Suey, Clowns and Balloons, Crazy Scooter, Cultivation, The Curse, Czaszki, Dandy, Deimos, Deluxe Invaders, Dredis, Drop It!, Dwie Wieze, Electrician, Enigmatix!, Eureka!, Fred, GemDrop, Ghost Hunter, Hans Kloss, Hawkquest, Herbert I, Herbert II, Imagine, Incydent, Inside, Jawbreaker, Johny's Trouble, Journey to the Planets, Kasiarz, Killa Cycle, Krucjata, LaserMania, LaserMaze, The Last Guardian, Lemmingi, Lemmings, Line-Up, Logistik, Mad Stone, Magia Krysztalu, Magic of Words, Magnetit, Magnex, Master Head, Megablast I, Mental Age, Microx, Miecze Valdgira, Miecze Valdgira II, Miny 2.0, Mirax Force, Misja, Monstrum, Naturix, Numblines, Operation Blood, Operation Blood II - Special Forces, Power Down, Preppie!, Preppie! II, Pungoland, Ra, Robot Battle, Robbo, Saper, Schreckenstein, Smus, Snowball, Space Hawk, Spy Master, Starball, Starblade, T-34, Tactic, The Tail of Beta Lyrae, Tales of Dragons and Cavemen, Tawerna, Tekblast, Thinker, Thunderfox, Tommingi, Tron, Tube Baddies, Tumble Bugs, Universal Hero, Valgus², Warlords, Wloczykij, Zebu-Land...

 

Yeah, I know, I somewhat ruined the thread

 

--

Atari Frog

http://www.atarimania.com

[kevin242]

"Star Raiders" revolutionized home computer gaming when it came out for the A8 in 1979. Compared with Atari's late '80s efforts, and most European games of the '90s, though, its graphics and sound effects seem very primitive. It's still a great game, though.

 

I rem shopping with my dad for a Apple II and seeing an Atari 800 playing

star raiders, sure it looks primitive now (everything on the that runs on

a xl/xe does anyway) but at that time, it was one of the most graphically

compelling games for any platform.

 

my choices for the 8-bit ( in no order and not complete because I cant

rem every one):

 

Alley Cat

Defender

Mr. Do

Shamus

Zybex

Missle Command

Ms. Pac Man

K-razy Shootout

Star Raiders

Rescue on Fractalus

Gyruss

Blue Max

Protector II

Miner 2049'er

Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong jr

 

 

kevin

[zenassem]

Atarimania. That's some list. I better put in for some vacation time. Thankyou!!! And if you run www.atarimania.com that is one hell of a site.

 

 

I just played jumpman and it is a great game. It reminded me of load runner so I downloaded that and began to play (the Broderbund version). And it was as good as I remembered. Very fast paced action!!!!

 

~Zen

[Goochman]

I will 2nd Bluemax and Star Raiders

 

As for Ultima 4 - perform a search on Google - You will the find the 'Ultima Dragons' webring - one of those guys has the manuals in txt form for all the Ultimas. There are hints, clues and wlakthroughs there.

 

Ultima IV takes awhile to complete start to finish but I loved it. Might want to start with Ultima III to see if you like it. I can finish Ult 3 in about 6 hrs with the walkthrough but I would start from scratch.

[zenassem]

Thanks for all the information.

 

There are no active users' groups in New York for the A8 of which I am aware; you will probably find other Atari enthusiasts at a local C64 club (they do tend to be more numerous).

 

It's so crazy, with all the people in the NY area and no Atari Users group/club. I own a C128 So I can infiltrate the Commodore groups and convert them all to Atari.

 

Well I'll have to start my own club. Right now I'm the sole member of

 

L.I.A.R.S. (Long Island Atari Retro Scene).

 

I might have to work on the name???

 

~zen

 

 

[Brad2600]

L.I.A.R.S sounds like something you could use as a band name. Just put it on leather jackets and distribute it to future members.

 

[deathtrappomegranate]

Sounds like a political party to me.

[zenassem]

Hmm. I checked out some of the games form Poland, and I have to say they look and play better than most anything else I have seen. Most are from the 90's. Do they have some sort of secret for coding quality games.?I mean did they discover things that the hardware can do that programmers in the 80's didn't know.

 

Or is it just the fact that gaming in general changed, and had brought forth new ideas and new takes on gameplay?

[Atari Smeghead]

Here are a few of my personal favourites. Some weren't mentioned yet...

 

Apple Panic

Archon

Aztec (not Aztec Challenge) (this is a great adventure game)

Ball Blazer (or Ball Blaster)

Bruce Lee

Crossfire

Dreadnought Factor (may be my all time fav!)

Galactic Chase (Galaxian clone.. starts out easy and builds nicely!)

Ghost Hunter (Pac Man clone - can play two player coop and FIRE makes you invisible once per life)

Gorf

Hero

Juice (Qbert clone)

Karateka

Krazy Shootout (Berserk clone)

Livewire (Tempest Clone)

Oils Well

Pooyan

Protector II

Rally Speedway

Sea Bandits (Super Cobra type...hard!)

Star Isle (another clone...was it called Star Castle?)

Wavy Navy (Space Invaders style shooter)

 

So, there's a few more to tie up any remaining free time!

 

Smeg

[Goochman]

Here are a few of my personal favourites.  Some weren't mentioned yet...

 

Apple Panic

Archon

Aztec (not Aztec Challenge) (this is a great adventure game)

Ball Blazer (or Ball Blaster)

Bruce Lee

Crossfire

Dreadnought Factor (may be my all time fav!)

Galactic Chase (Galaxian clone.. starts out easy and builds nicely!)

Ghost Hunter (Pac Man clone - can play two player coop and FIRE makes you invisible once per life)

Gorf

Hero

Juice (Qbert clone)

Karateka

Krazy Shootout (Berserk clone)

Livewire (Tempest Clone)

Oils Well

Pooyan

Protector II

Rally Speedway  

Sea Bandits (Super Cobra type...hard!)

Star Isle (another clone...was it called Star Castle?)

Wavy Navy (Space Invaders style shooter)

 

So, there's a few more to tie up any remaining free time!    

 

Smeg

 

Some ideas for the HSC club

[Inky]

Caverns of Mars is a great favorite of mine!

[Big Player]

Murder on the Zinderneuf

 

Link to the instructions. It's for the apple II but it looks simlar to the A8 version that I owned. If I can find a link to a scanned version, I'll post it.

 

http://www.textfiles.com/apple/DOCUMENTATI.../murderzind.txt

[Dracon]

Hmm. I checked out some of the games form Poland, and I have to say they look and play better than most anything else I have seen.

it's nice to read it and I think you are quite right... There were many nice titles released in Poland in the first half of 90s - there was a market.

 

Do they have some sort of secret for coding quality games.?I mean did they discover things that the hardware can do that programmers in the 80's didn't know.

sure, they knew more. It's natural, isn't it (after such time from creating atari 8-bit, it was high time to do something more, I guess).

but mostly they WANT to achieve more as looking back to old atari titles, they mostly weren't looking nice....

 

Or is it just the fact that gaming in general changed, and had brought forth new ideas and new takes on gameplay?

yeah, partly... also looking at C64 productions...

 

You should read my interview with old Atari 8-bit programmer - Steve Goss. You'll learn something maybe.

[ubikuberalles]

Games I like to play on my 8-bit when I get a chance:

 

- Defender

- Galahad and the Holy Grail

- Jumpman

- Wizard of Wor

- Joust

 

And, if I'm feeling nostalgic about text adventures, I can't resist booting up the old Atari on the following games:

 

- Zork I,II and III

- Planetfall

- Enchanter

[Goochman]

Galahad - Game frustrated me so I found a way to cheat - On boat screen if you drop the holy grenede its possible to create just enough room to manuever into the ship without having to figure the way there - of course this could take 3 or 4 grenedes to get it just right but thats how I finished the game

[Avram]

More recommendations can be found here: http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.p...9861&highlight=

[Atari8man2004]

Good Luck,

 

You may want to set up a BBS on a dialup and run it 24-7

Its what I did in 1988 the year all the Local BBS's switched from Atari to IBM I ran Pro BBS multi-line for 11 years and was the only support for the 8bit Atari in Miami or should I say Dade County.

 

There was a huge Commorode Club here and when I showed them the BBS multi-line with 500 megs of FAST hard drive storage, 4 of them Called CSS and order Black Boxes! so converting them commie to Atari can be fun.

 

I took the BBS off-line in 1999 but still active with my 8bit's these days.

 

Good Luck!

[+doctorclu]

Atari8Man -

"You may want to set up a BBS on a dialup and run it 24-7

Its what I did in 1988 the year all the Local BBS's switched from Atari to IBM I ran Pro BBS multi-line for 11 years and was the only support for the 8bit Atari in Miami or should I say Dade County.

 

There was a huge Commorode Club here and when I showed them the BBS multi-line with 500 megs of FAST hard drive storage, 4 of them Called CSS and order Black Boxes! so converting them commie to Atari can be fun.

 

I took the BBS off-line in 1999 but still active with my 8bit's these days."

 

@>--'--,-----------------------------

 

You could actually set up that BBS and attach it to telnet is a Lantronix UDS-10... No other computer would be needed. (That UDS is a serial to ethernet interface). Log on to the current Atari BBS's Closer to Home (telnet://cth.dtdns.net) or Boot Factory (bfbbs.no-ip.com) and get with Marius who is on there often. He once ran a BBS entirely off a black box, a UDS-10 and a few other things.. but the Atari BBS ran indepedant and on telnet by itself.

 

So anyway, as you can tell, my big thing is getting on BBS's with my Atari 800, and I try to get more on the Atari BBS's to make that more fun. That is 90% of the Atari to me.

 

When I am not doing that, I play...

 

Dreadnaught Factor

ARCHON

Joust

Blue Max

STAR RAIDERS

Wizard of Wor

Miner 2049'er

Bounty Bob Strikes Back

Moon Patrol

 

And all of those are on cartridge. (Though the APE interface is a great way to try new games, like Cybernoid's "Jellybeans") (Little plug for my fellow JYBOLACian...)

 

And I must mention...

 

Popeye (recent contest on here re-introduced me to that)

 

And Choplifter with it's little people along with Miner2049er were the two games that I saw at my friend's house in 1982 that made me a Atari 800 user, and not a Colecovision player.