Chock full of 'Indy' goodness....

[River Raider]

Just played Indy 500 yesterday after about a 28 year hiatus. (Last time I played Indy 500 had to be as a little kid way back in '77 or '78.) I got the Indy cartridge and one driving controller on Ebay. Then I snagged another controller from the 'bay and it arrived yesterday. This second controller was a bit dirty and didn't work right. (The first controller I got is practically mint) I opened it up and saw that one of the wires had broken loose....I soldered it back in place. Then, following directions from AtariAge's forums, I cleaned out the controller's 'pot' with Q-tips and alcohol. I put everything back together and cleaned up the exterior of the 'troller with more alcohol. Looked great and tested great.

 

My brother, who is 25 (I'm 35) dropped by yesterday afternoon for some reason, and I had him join me for some Indy action. Man! That game is friggin' awesome!!

We went through each game selection, and by the time we got to the 'grab the dots' version, I was laughing my butt off. I could tell my bro was enjoying the games too....even though he kinda gave me that "Aw man, Atari? With those archaic graphics?? Don't make me play that!" attitude before we started.

 

Yessir! Indy 500 is one sweet 2-player game in my opinion. Right up there with some of the 2-player (and 4 player) greats like Outlaw, Warlords, and the much maligned (but still fun-as-heck) Combat.

 

Does anyone know of any other simultaneous multi-player games I should check out? I am going to composite video mod one of my 2600's for party use, and I would love to know of some other games like Indy 500 that are chock full of multi-player goodness!

[maibock]

Indy 500 is indeed a classic, fast and furious action! Excellent two player game

 

If you enjoyed Indy, and you're into sports, may I suggest a few titles which are always a blast to play two player.

 

Activision Tennis - really a challenging game

 

Home Run - Set both levels to expert to slow the players down a bit and it's a fun game

 

Atari Football - yeah, the bland one.. once you get the hang of the plays, it's a fun game of football

 

Also can't forget Fishing Derby, Pong, Air Sea Battle etc etc etc

[yuppicide]

If you get something like a Cuttle Cart.. allows you to download games to play on your 2600 you should check out Indy 500 XE. It's a hack that has different tracks.

 

http://www.atariage.com/hack_page.html?Sys...twareHackID=274

[D.Yancey]

Sprintmaster, Ice Hockey, Freeway, Steeplechase, Dragster, Street Racer, Slot Racers are a few that are pretty good if you have 2 players at the same skill level.

[Ringman]

Oh! Don't forget one of the all time 2 player greats: Frogs and FLIES!!!! That's fun as hell, especially on the harder modes, and getting pissed off at your friend and sticking your tongue at him or jumping on his head rules!!!!

[River Raider]

Unfortunately, the Cuttle Cart seems to have been discontinued. Too bad, seems like a great accessory for a 2600 fan to have. Of course, I guess I could get an Atari 7800 and get the Cuttle Cart II to use with it. (Oh great...an excuse to start collecting for another Atari system! lol )

 

Thanks for the game suggestions. I'll check 'em out!

Anyone know of any other good multiplayer games for the 2600?

Edited September 8, 2005 by River Raider

[The_Laird]

California Games, Winter Games and Summer Games by Epyx are all time classics.

 

On the fighting front Double Dragon, Rampage and Title Match Wrestling are all great fun in 2-player.

 

Or a few more that use the paddles Super Breakout, Video Olympics and of course THE best multiplayer game Warlords.

[D.Yancey]

The Cuttle Cart II is not in production either.

 

I think Double Dragon is fun on game 3 where you fight against player 2. However, the 2 player cooperative (game 2) version is almost unplayable because each player can only move on half the screen. There is no room to evade the enemy.

[frank_c]

My brother, who is 25 (I'm 35) dropped by yesterday afternoon for some reason, and I had him join me for some Indy action.  Man!  That game is friggin' awesome!!

We went through each game selection, and by the time we got to the 'grab the dots' version, I was laughing my butt off.

926726[/snapback]

 

that one's good. my brother and i used to play the ice racing game all the time.

[shadow460]

I hear you, man. Currently in my gaming "stack" I have a 7800, a Saturn, and a PS2.

Next to them is a stack of games. They are:

NiGHTS into Dreams

Shining the Holy Ark

Pole Position II

7800 Asteroids

7800 Desert Falcon

7800 Donkey Kong

and the ultimate--11 indy 500!

There are no PSX pr PS2 games anywhere near the stack.

I just got two driving controllers myself and posted a thread on how to celan them up. It got buried, but the purpose of creating it was so that it would appear in a list if someone used the search engine.

[River Raider]

Thanks, Shadow! Your post about repairing the driving controllers was the one I used. It was exactly what I needed to know, and now my controllers are working like new! It kinda gives you a feeling of satisfaction to make a 20 to 30 year old piece of equipment work again. Almost like refurbishing a classic muscle car....but fortunately for me, working on Atari equipment is much cheaper than working on muscle cars!

 

So you have a 7800? Do you recommend getting a 7800 to a 2600 fan? What are the advantages or disadvantages of the 7800 system? (Or the 5200 system for that matter.) I do like the backwards compatibility of the 7800 to the 2600 cartridges.....

[Laner]

The Cuttle Cart II is not in production either

They're available for purchase, at least...

 

http://www.schells.com/cc2.shtml#Status

[shadow460]

Whther or not a 2600 owner should buy a 7800 depends on what games they play.

Assuming total compatibility, the 7800 cannot accurately run Phaser Patrol, Commando Raid, and Mountain King.

Other games that require the use of the Color/BW switch will not be 100% accurate. It's like trying to play NegCon controlled games on a PS2--it just doesn't happen.

If you're playing any Starpath, Tigervision, or Imagic title, 2600 Dark Chambers, Pitfall II or Robot Tank, you still need the 2600 in most cases. You would decide on the 7800 based on the actual 7800 library as opposed to the convenience of backward compatibility.

 

If you don't mind modding systems, then a 7800 is great to consolidate to one system. It can be modded to play any game except Tigervision, and a TV Type switch can be added. Tigervision games can be made to work on the 7800.

Also remember that the 2600 is built like a tank. Only the GameBoy shares that honor, so if you throw your controller or you like to nuke the carts when they cheat, don't buy a 7800.

 

So I guess if you're really interested in several good arcade ports, the 7800 is a steal at a price under $50. Centipede, Galaga, Joust, Asteroids, and some others can be found for $2 to $5 each, and they are worth every penny.

 

Personally, I have a 7800 that runs anything I put in the slot (except my N64 games).

I've run Phaser Patrol, but the shields are always on (a good thing if you have a penchant for pain). Mountain King does not display all the platforms, but there are plenty of them for you to win the game with. Commando Raid will not kick into auto fire. I think many US Games titles used the TV Type switch to set difficulty levels.

 

Pros:

7800 Asteroids!

Backward compatibility in most cases (perhaps better than PS2 to PSX compatibility)

Smaller system, less space used

Awesome arcade ports of several games

Small library size makes for easy collecting, easier if you can make your own carts

Almost all the pros of a 2600!

Location of the console controls will not cause large carts to move in the slot when the controls are operated.

 

Cons:

Uncomfortable controllers (this is worse on a 5200)

Cartridges are difficult to remove even in the best case

Karateka

Price of Tank Command

Some 7800's are incompatible with two of the most important 2600 companies--Imagic and Starpath.

Difficulty finding actual 7800 titles in the wild--usually you gotta go online.

Cart labels are easily damaged in the corners.

 

Things I didn't like about my 5200 were the controllers, although they did work, they just weren't meant for playing any games!

I also hated the combination switchbox.

The controllers never stayed in their little case, and some of the games have no end labels.

 

BTW, I'm glad the Driving Controller FAQ helped out. Since these controls are so old, I wonder if we have a section where people can look for repair techniques. Someplace that's concise, that is. Maybe we could lump all the info together into a repair FAQ and post a link to it on the main page.

[River Raider]

Cons:

 

Karateka

 

 

Wow that title must really REALLY suck to be mentioned specifically as a 'con' to buying a 7800 system! I have noticed a couple of other AtariAgers mention Karateka with disgust during my lurking in the 7800 forum area....lol

 

In spite of that particular con, I think I am going to acquire a 7800. The arcade ports, from what I can tell, look spot-on. Heck, it's almost worth it to me to get the 7800 just to be able to play one of my all time arcade favorites, Xevious. It looks sweet! I wish the 7800 had been given more of a chance to succeed, it would have been good for all of us if the NES had been given some more competition....And who knows what sweet 7800 game titles may have come out had the 7800 system been around longer....

 

As far as the controller issue with the 7800, I think I have that covered, I have a couple of TAC-2 joysticks and some FB-2 joysticks from a failed FB-2 cartridge mod attempt...(At least I got some sweet joysticks to use after destroying my FB-2 with a solder gun... )

[D.Yancey]

I just use a 2600 stick for all games except the ones that require 2 buttons like Double Dragon.

[shadow460]

The TAC-2 should work. I know where there's one for sale for $2. I thought it was a PC stick til I looked at the plug, then I thought it was a Commodore stick til I looked on here.

The Pro Line sticks are exactly why I don't play Rampage and Desert Falcon more often.

Asteroids, Galaga, and many others run from an FB2 stick, and CX-40's are pretty easy to find. Donkey Kong is very difficult with the Pro Line stick, but it works with the CX-40 just fine.

Try to get a unit with at least one third party title, and try for one without the blemish where the expansion port was (Full port or no port at all is OK).

I've never actually played 7800 Karateka. I played it on the GameBoy and I hated that version. I loaded 7800 Karateka once to make sure it worked.

Jinks is just about as bad as the Gameboy Karateka IMO. Others may like Jinks, but I found it boring.

I recommend Asteroids, Galaga, Centipede, Donkey Kong (get both the 7800 version and any 2600 version), Desert Falcon, Dark Chambers, Rampage, Ballblazer, Food Fight, Crossbow (with a light gun), and Pole Position II. That's just out of what I've got, though. I hear a lot of good things about Alien Brigade, Joust, Ms Pac Man, and Scrapyard Dog.

As for rare titles, I know firsthand Rampage is worth the price you pay to get it. They say Alien Brigade is, too, but that Sentinel is not. Frogger is close to finished, and I have not gotten my emulator to work with it properly. I liked what I saw of Frogger. Q Bert is also close to if not complete, but I didn't like it as much as other folks did. It will not be called Q Bert, I think. Burger Time is finished, and it's under the name Beef Drop. I have not played that one.

A lot of times the 2600 titles and the 7800 counterparts do compliment each other. In fact, I discovered that I didn't have a 2600 Asteroids after I got the 7800 one, so I went out and spent $1 on a black Atari picture label Asteroids cart.

 

Anyway, if you're thinking of getting a 7800, start hanging around that forum. It's slow over there, but there's a slew of good information regarding the system and how to modify it for various things.

BTW, you'll be happy to know that both versions of Driving controllers and my Indy 500 cart all work fine with my 7800.

Edited September 10, 2005 by shadow460

[Room 34]

Indy 500 is one of the all-time classics for two-player. Doesn't matter how rudimentary the graphics are, or how intolerant of "old school" games the other person you drag into it is... I guarantee it will be a blast for everyone involved. Especially if you're playing the "Crash 'n' Score" or "Tag" variations!

 

[Inky]

I still need to get Indy 500 and the driving controllers...

[River Raider]

Yikes! I see what you mean about Tank Command for the 7800, Shadow. I just checked it out on eBay, and they have 2 copies for sale....$120 and $400....too rich for my blood!

 

Doesn't matter how rudimentary the graphics are, or how intolerant of "old school" games the other person you drag into it is... I guarantee it will be a blast for everyone involved. Especially if you're playing the "Crash 'n' Score" or "Tag" variations!

 

 

Agreed, Room 34. The "Crash 'n' Score" and "Tag" variations freakin' rock. Indy 500 is much like Combat and Pong to me.... They all have primitive graphics,(even compared to other 2600 titles) but they make up for it with great gameplay. And to me, the gameplay is what makes many of these Atari titles so memorable....Unlike much of the glitzy-graphics trash that modern game programmers are pumping out.....