The "Fabulous Eleven"

[Lynxpro]

 

Awesome material. Interesting to read that Pole Position II was planned to eventually be built into the console itself. That's certainly much better than the built-in game on SMS! However, it probably would've been better had they planned to build an Atari owned game with wide appeal to it, like Centipede.

 

 

I dunno about that cause Hang On was pretty darn good (better than PP2 IMO) and the extra Safari Hunt being on there also was a nice touch so you have both a game for the controllers and the gun right on the machine as soon as you plug it in.

 

 

Not Hang On... I'm talking about "Snail Maze" that was built into the SMS that would play if you didn't have a cartridge inserted.

[Xo4]

My Master System automatically plays Hang On when no cartridge is in it.

[Lynxpro]

My Master System automatically plays Hang On when no cartridge is in it.

 

 

You have a later edition version, and/or the Master System II.

[Xo4]

Its a later model then, I know for sure its not a II.

[gdement]

Awesome material. Interesting to read that Pole Position II was planned to eventually be built into the console itself.

I'm surprised they never did that. The board will support a bigger boot ROM, and it surely would have cut costs vs a separate cartridge.

They did this in Europe with Asteroids but never in the US.

Somebody found an incomplete PP2 console ROM, but it doesn't work.

[DracIsBack]

My Master System automatically plays Hang On when no cartridge is in it.

 

 

You have a later edition version, and/or the Master System II.

 

I think the Master System II's only had Alex Kidd In Miracle World (at least in North America). There may have been one with Sonic in Europe.

 

My Master System also has Hang On and Safari Hunt built in.

[+MattelAquarius]

 

Awesome material. Interesting to read that Pole Position II was planned to eventually be built into the console itself. That's certainly much better than the built-in game on SMS! However, it probably would've been better had they planned to build an Atari owned game with wide appeal to it, like Centipede.

 

 

I dunno about that cause Hang On was pretty darn good (better than PP2 IMO) and the extra Safari Hunt being on there also was a nice touch so you have both a game for the controllers and the gun right on the machine as soon as you plug it in.

 

 

Not Hang On... I'm talking about "Snail Maze" that was built into the SMS that would play if you didn't have a cartridge inserted.

 

On my SMS, the snail game was an easter egg. It took a special key combination upon power-up to play. Did yours default to the snail game without a code?

[DickNixonArisen]

I have one SMS that does snail game (does NOT play cartridges anymore though, , and one SMS that has missile defense 3-d built in. Isn't the one with alex kidd built in the euro model?

 

in all cases, you need to hold some buttons down. I never remember since I only play the carts really

[tyranthraxus]

In relation to the other thread on the "Top 5" the Fabulous Eleven make a pretty good starter set for the 7800. However the most visually impressive of the early releases, Xevious and Desert Falcon, I think are pretty weak.

 

Was Desert Falcon really a launch game? As its the only one of that group to have a colour label.

[Atarifever]

I think Xevious is awesome.

Edited April 27, 2010 by Atarifever

[Atari Joe]

Okay so dig this..

 

 

"What the Fabulous Eleven are" is really super simple.

 

 

They are the first series of games developed by General Computer Corporation (GCC) stemming from an initiative to launch the 7800 system with the very best arcade games intended to deliver a "true arcade experience in the home" that eventually resulted in eleven released titles.

 

 

 

They include:

 

1. 
    
   
2. CX7801 -- Centipede
   
3. CX7802 -- Asteroids
   
4. CX7803 -- Dig Dug
   
5. CX7804 -- Food Fight
   
6. CX7805 -- Galaga
   
7. CX7806 -- Joust
   
8. CX7807 -- Ms. Pac-Man
   
9. CX7808 -- Pole Position II
   
10. CX7809 -- Robotron: 2084
    
11. CX7810 -- Xevious
    
12. CX7811 -- Desert Falcon
    

 

 

That is a definitive answer.

 

Had the whole 1984 thing not happened there would have been more "Fabulous" games available around launch including Tempest. Some work was actually done on Tempest but I'm told it was only 1/3 complete and nobody knows where it is. (Matt Reichert) Tempest might know a lot more about (the 7800 game) Tempest. It's out there somewhere.

 

Hi,

 

Why is Ballblazer ommited from this list? IMO it's as good as nearly every other game on the list?

 

Mike

 

The 11 titles chosen are subjective. ...I wanted to know why BallBlazer (a title I happen to think is more interesting than at least half the titles in the fabulous 11) wasn't included (or seemingly otherwise considered a "must have".

 

 

There is absolutely nothing subjective about the list. It's not a subjective heehaw list of somebody's opinion of what games are good and what games arent (although most 7800 owners would agree that they are must have titles) it merely refers to those early GCC arcade ports.

 

Ballblazer and Rescue on Fractalus were to be the first Third Party titles for the 7800. They were not arcade games and they were not designed by GCC. They were something entirely different and were the result of a different effort by a different team with different objectives. So I suppose you could consider them "The LucasArts Two" if you really wanted. Ballblazer was the only one that ever made it out the door and it is a fantastic game! It's just not an arcade port done by GCC to launch the system and that's the difference.

 

Desert Falcon technically isnt an arcade game but it was developed as a creative answer to Zaxxon which was popular at home on the Coleco and a Sega license which Coleco had at the time so Nile Flyer/Desert Falcon was to achieve the same ends as porting an arcade title.

 

This was all defined in the original article that was up at the time I was there and contributed to its writing.

 

As for the origins of the "Fabulous" part of the term "Fabulous Eleven" it's something I don't feel necessary or comfortable posting openly to AtariAge in part because it's not something that I think could ever really be shown in paperwork and it didn't stem from GCC so it's not exactly "cannon". Plus it's no big deal. It's just referring to that first chunk of 7800 arcade titles that some of us happen to really hold dear. If you really really want to know the origins PM me and I'll tell the first few people the story if it matters that much. It's not something I want to be highlighting because it has nothing to do with the games and doesnt really matter anyway.

 

GET IT?? GOT IT?? GOOD!!

 

Game On!

 

Your Friend,

Atari Joe

 

 

 

PS -

 

Whats up with the atari7800.com website?.When i go to the site i get redirected to this weird getdevious.com site,with a big photo of a 7800 console that moves around with mouse Or my browser flashes the web address,non stop!

 

At the time of your posting the site was being redone and was a little wonky. A brand new site is up now at www.Atari7800.com and works great in every browser except for Microsoft Internet Explorer but screw them. It should work fine and it's totally bad to the bone no kidding. And also my new website will be ready sometime soon I have to finish it first which is why I'm here.

[GroovyBee]

Had the whole 1984 thing not happened there would have been more "Fabulous" games available around launch including Tempest. Some work was actually done on Tempest but I'm told it was only 1/3 complete and nobody knows where it is. (Matt Reichert) Tempest might know a lot more about (the 7800 game) Tempest. It's out there somewhere.

 

Its here :-

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/159728-7800-tempest/

 

Its an adaptation from the BBC micro version.

[Dittohead Servbot #24]

And what exactly makes these 11 games the "Fabulous Eleven"? After all, you got the "Black Box Thirty" for the NES, and the "Original Nine" for the 2600, so what's so fabulous about the "Fabulous Eleven"?

[Atari Joe]

And what exactly makes these 11 games the "Fabulous Eleven"? After all, you got the "Black Box Thirty" for the NES, and the "Original Nine" for the 2600, so what's so fabulous about the "Fabulous Eleven"?

 

 

I just explained this in full detail. Scroll up a post or two. It's all there. As for the "fabulous" term specifically you can PM me about that.

[Dittohead Servbot #24]

Sorry, I guess I overlooked it. But that does make perfect sense as I know many consoles were all about "bringing the arcade experience home", especially the Colecovision and the Genesis. So I guess Atari figured that if they wanted to project that kind of image for the 7800, they wanted to pick 11 blue chip arcade games and use them to show just how well the 7800 could handle them.

[prostx23]

Okay so dig this..

 

 

"What the Fabulous Eleven are" is really super simple.

 

 

They are the first series of games developed by General Computer Corporation (GCC) stemming from an initiative to launch the 7800 system with the very best arcade games intended to deliver a "true arcade experience in the home" that eventually resulted in eleven released titles.

 

 

 

They include:

 

1. 
    
   
2. CX7801 -- Centipede
   
3. CX7802 -- Asteroids
   
4. CX7803 -- Dig Dug
   
5. CX7804 -- Food Fight
   
6. CX7805 -- Galaga
   
7. CX7806 -- Joust
   
8. CX7807 -- Ms. Pac-Man
   
9. CX7808 -- Pole Position II
   
10. CX7809 -- Robotron: 2084
    
11. CX7810 -- Xevious
    
12. CX7811 -- Desert Falcon
    

 

 

That is a definitive answer.

 

Had the whole 1984 thing not happened there would have been more "Fabulous" games available around launch including Tempest. Some work was actually done on Tempest but I'm told it was only 1/3 complete and nobody knows where it is. (Matt Reichert) Tempest might know a lot more about (the 7800 game) Tempest. It's out there somewhere.

 

Hi,

 

Why is Ballblazer ommited from this list? IMO it's as good as nearly every other game on the list?

 

Mike

 

The 11 titles chosen are subjective. ...I wanted to know why BallBlazer (a title I happen to think is more interesting than at least half the titles in the fabulous 11) wasn't included (or seemingly otherwise considered a "must have".

 

 

There is absolutely nothing subjective about the list. It's not a subjective heehaw list of somebody's opinion of what games are good and what games arent (although most 7800 owners would agree that they are must have titles) it merely refers to those early GCC arcade ports.

 

Ballblazer and Rescue on Fractalus were to be the first Third Party titles for the 7800. They were not arcade games and they were not designed by GCC. They were something entirely different and were the result of a different effort by a different team with different objectives. So I suppose you could consider them "The LucasArts Two" if you really wanted. Ballblazer was the only one that ever made it out the door and it is a fantastic game! It's just not an arcade port done by GCC to launch the system and that's the difference.

 

Desert Falcon technically isnt an arcade game but it was developed as a creative answer to Zaxxon which was popular at home on the Coleco and a Sega license which Coleco had at the time so Nile Flyer/Desert Falcon was to achieve the same ends as porting an arcade title.

 

This was all defined in the original article that was up at the time I was there and contributed to its writing.

 

As for the origins of the "Fabulous" part of the term "Fabulous Eleven" it's something I don't feel necessary or comfortable posting openly to AtariAge in part because it's not something that I think could ever really be shown in paperwork and it didn't stem from GCC so it's not exactly "cannon". Plus it's no big deal. It's just referring to that first chunk of 7800 arcade titles that some of us happen to really hold dear. If you really really want to know the origins PM me and I'll tell the first few people the story if it matters that much. It's not something I want to be highlighting because it has nothing to do with the games and doesnt really matter anyway.

 

GET IT?? GOT IT?? GOOD!!

 

Game On!

 

Your Friend,

Atari Joe

 

 

 

PS -

 

Whats up with the atari7800.com website?.When i go to the site i get redirected to this weird getdevious.com site,with a big photo of a 7800 console that moves around with mouse Or my browser flashes the web address,non stop!

 

At the time of your posting the site was being redone and was a little wonky. A brand new site is up now at www.Atari7800.com and works great in every browser except for Microsoft Internet Explorer but screw them. It should work fine and it's totally bad to the bone no kidding. And also my new website will be ready sometime soon I have to finish it first which is why I'm here.

 

Atari Joe,

Thanks for the great info. At the time I didn't know why those games were lumped together, so I assumed that they might simply be subjective. I obviously now know better.

 

Mike

[Feralstorm]

The "Fabulous Eleven" were intended launch titles, not necessarily the best 7800 games.