7800 games of choice?
Jack Spencer JR.
w/ the 7800 emulator, I'm now thinking about getting a 7800
So, to those who've had one: what are the ten best games for this system?
If a hypethetical situation helps: If you were stranded on a desert island
where would you plug it in?
--
Jack
It's like steering a train. You have to move the tracks around.
That takes time.
Atari Guy
(Games are $0.80 there!!)
Get Centipede, Galaga, and Donkey Kong!!
(Awesome games)
Dan Meyer
Getting the O'Sheas games is definitely a must. There are some
questionable games in that collection (Scrapyard Dog? Midnight
Mutants?) but definetly some winners. Ms. Pac-Man and Joust are very
well done.
A couple good non-O'Shea titles are Mario Bros. and the ever popular
Food Fight.
Dan.
Eric Jones
If you have a friend handy, the cooperative Centipede and Asteroids are
my favorites of ANY classic system.
Here's my take:
Centipede
Asteroids
Xevious
Food Fight
Galaga (so-so NES is better)
Donkey Kong Jr. (all boards present)
Eric
CGo2541273
>w/ the 7800 emulator, I'm now thinking about getting a 7800
>
>So, to those who've had one: what are the ten best games for this system?
>
>If a hypethetical situation helps: If you were stranded on a desert island
>where would you plug it in?
>
>--
>Jack
I don't have but about 10 for this system so I can't tell the 10 best. I do
however, like Ms. Pac-man, Galaga, and Asteroids.
Jacob M. Kaplan
> Getting the O'Sheas games is definitely a must. There are some
> questionable games in that collection (Scrapyard Dog? Midnight
> Mutants?) but definetly some winners. Ms. Pac-Man and Joust are very
> well done.
I've heard that Midnight Mutants is one of the best games on the 7800 (at
least that's what Joe Santulli and a few other people have said, and I
think they're probably right.) Scrapyard Dog is supposed to be pretty good
too.
But, I think O'Sheas is sold out of a few of the good games.
I bought all the ones they had, but I am STILL looking for a system.
Anyone have one cheap (with the AC adapter, please =)?
Isn't the 7800 one of the most underrated systems in history? The coin-op
translations are supposedly great, and the original games (Alien Brigade,
Midnight Mutants, etc.) are also supposed to be great. I think people are
just biased towards not liking this system because it didn't sell well.
But imagine if it had come out in 1984, and Atari had actually put out
more games on the system....
cheers... -Jacob
Cadimus
> Isn't the 7800 one of the most underrated systems in history? The coin-op
> translations are supposedly great, and the original games (Alien Brigade,
> Midnight Mutants, etc.) are also supposed to be great. I think people are
> just biased towards not liking this system because it didn't sell well.
> But imagine if it had come out in 1984, and Atari had actually put out
> more games on the system....
I'd think so. It was comparable to early NES games plus Atari had the
advantage of their own arcade games for ports. intendo didn't have that
many good arcade then (Wild Gunman and Duck Hunt ain't a good stuff)
There are a lot of if's that could have made Atari better. Like if
Atari choose to release the 7800 when they were ready and not hold off
for a few years because of that crash of '84. If they sold fro less
than NES system. If they didn't release the 5200 (which proved to be a
marketing blunder)
Mark Rathwell
That's fairly easy:
Ball Blazer (Some of the best animation ever seen on an a-bit console)
Midnight Mutants (Wacky, wild adventure with great bosses and lots of depth)
Scrapyard Dog (18 level side scroller that dispels the myths that the
Nintendo Entertainment System is more powerful)
Alien Brigade (See above)
Tower Toppler (Terrific, colorful game with lots of challenge and superb
8-bit animation. The underwater sequence features some of the best
8-bit graphics around)
Mean 18 Ultimate Golf (Sharp graphics, relaxing gameplay.)
Xevious (A terrific side scrolling classic. Everything "Planet Smashers"
should have been but wasn't!)
Commando (Excellent arcade translation. Sharp graphics and the best music
you'll hear on a 7800)
Ms. Pacman (Excellent arcade classic)
Joust (see above)
Games to avoid:
Karateka (Horrid control)
Fight Night (Too Easy)
Impossible Mission (Well named)
Crack'ed (Boring)
Absolute Entertainment Titles (Generally subpar)
Mark
"Jack Spencer JR." (eev...@dreamscape.com) writes:
> w/ the 7800 emulator, I'm now thinking about getting a 7800
>
> So, to those who've had one: what are the ten best games for this system?
>
> If a hypethetical situation helps: If you were stranded on a desert island
> where would you plug it in?
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Jack
>
> It's like steering a train. You have to move the tracks around.
> That takes time.
>
>
--
Mark Rathwell av...@freenet.carleton.ca
Visit "The Incredible Hulk" television series web-site
http://www.freenet.carleton.ca/~av999/Hulk.html
Mark Rathwell
That's a matter of opinion! :-) I loved both Scrapyard Dog and Midnight
Mutants. Great graphics and deeper gameplay than the arcade classics.
Cheers.
Mark
Dan Meyer (dan....@cybersys.com) writes:
> Atari Guy wrote:
>
>> First, Order from O'Sheas
>>
>> (www.oshealtd.com)
>>
>> (Games are $0.80 there!!)
>>
>> Get Centipede, Galaga, and Donkey Kong!!
>>
>> (Awesome games)
>
> Getting the O'Sheas games is definitely a must. There are some
> questionable games in that collection (Scrapyard Dog? Midnight
> Mutants?) but definetly some winners. Ms. Pac-Man and Joust are very
> well done.
>
> A couple good non-O'Shea titles are Mario Bros. and the ever popular
> Food Fight.
>
> Dan.
>
>
Cadimus
> Ball Blazer (Some of the best animation ever seen on an a-bit console)
I'd agree. But it's more than a best animation, no other games offer 2
separate 3D view with smooth scrolling. Even NES didn't have anything
this close, not until SNES. Big soccer fans would expecially love this
game. Only problem is it needs 2 players.
Vidar "Hawk" Olavesen
is built same way as the Atari 8-bit, which is the version I love most!
Cadimus <cad...@tds.net> wrote in article
<1ds2vid.1u5...@mimiusr1-a42.mill.tds.net>...
Larry Lefebvre
for the 7800 (at least compared in percentage to the 2600).
Larry
Mark Rathwell wrote in message <7i01no$r...@freenet-news.carleton.ca>...
bgdo...@ncn.com
>Getting the O'Sheas games is definitely a must. There are some
>questionable games in that collection (Scrapyard Dog? Midnight
>Mutants?) but definetly some winners. Ms. Pac-Man and Joust are very
>well done.
>
>A couple good non-O'Shea titles are Mario Bros. and the ever popular
>Food Fight.
I just picked up a 7800 and already had a Food Fight cart - it's OK. I ordered
all the O'Shea's titles and the one that has really hooked my interest is
"Dark Chambers". Awesome game! Unfortunately the only 7800 controller I
can find in my stack'o'stuff doesn't work well. I'm forced to play with
a 2600 Wico and can't detonate bombs (and I'll never get past Level R without
them).
Asteroids is kinda nifty too - love the spherical asteroids.
-Bob
The Maverick
>
> I agree and don't think there are any really bad Games
> for the 7800 (at least compared in percentage to the 2600).
Hmmmmm..... how about Jinks! I'd nominate that for the worst of the
Atari released titles for the 7800 (I don't have all the Absolute games
so I can't be absolutely sure about the worst of the worst.) ;-)
Honorable mentions on the "worst of" list would be Karateka (your
martial artist is on valium?), Barnyard Blaster and Cracked.
the Mav
--
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John Denk
>Isn't the 7800 one of the most underrated
> systems in history? The coin-op
> translations are supposedly great, and
> the original games (Alien Brigade,
> Midnight Mutants, etc.) are also
> supposed to be great. I think people are
> just biased towards not liking this
> system because it didn't sell well. But
> imagine if it had come out in 1984, and
> Atari had actually put out more games
> on the system....
The 7800 was a victim of Atari being taken over by Jack( or was it Sam,
both brothers worked at Atari) Tremiel (spelling?, maybe Tramiel). Atari
was poised to unleash the 7800 with full backing, when Tremiel, who was
fresh off of putting Commodore at the top of the home computer heap,
took over.
He immediately announced that Atari was no longer going to be paying
much attention to videogame consoles, as home computers were the way of
the future.
As a result, the 7800, which was just about to be released, had the rug
pulled out from under it. Eventually, it was released, but they didn't
support it very well, and that was the end of it.
I remember how we gamers of the time were drooling over the 7800, it was
the Playstation2 of it's day!
Ok, I guess that's enough reminiscing for this old timer! By the way, I
have my original, made-in-the-USA Atari VCS unit. Anyone know how rare
these are?
Cadimus
> As a result, the 7800, which was just about to be released, had the rug
> pulled out from under it. Eventually, it was released, but they didn't
> support it very well, and that was the end of it.
>
> I remember how we gamers of the time were drooling over the 7800, it was
> the Playstation2 of it's day!
I remember the drooling part. That was part of the reason 5200 didn't
do as well because everyone heard of the even more advanced 7800 system
being released and some choose to pass up the 5200 and wait for 7800 to
come out. Had the 7800 come out as planned, Nintendo and Sega might
have a bit of competition then.
Mark Rathwell
> I remember the drooling part. That was part of the reason 5200 didn't
> do as well because everyone heard of the even more advanced 7800 system
> being released and some choose to pass up the 5200 and wait for 7800 to
> come out. Had the 7800 come out as planned, Nintendo and Sega might
> have a bit of competition then.
According to pretty much all of the stats I've seen, the Atari 7800 and
Sega Master System split the remainder of the market fairly evenly: about
10% each. The NES was the supreme victor and crushed the 7800 in sales but
the SMS really didn't do much of anything. This is a common misconception.
Both the 7800 and SMS were awesome systems but not many people bought either.
In 1989, Ace Magazine had even reported that Atari had slightly eclipsed
the SMS with sales of the 7800. Both were supposedly hovering around the
"two million units sold" mark.
Mark
Peter Pachla
>Hmmmmm..... how about Jinks! I'd nominate that for the worst of the
>Atari released titles for the 7800....
Thanks very much, I spent months converting that one to the 7800....wasn't THAT
bad (you should've seen the unreleased ST version - unreleased for a very good
reason! ;-)).
TTFN - Pete.
--
Spam deflector in effect - it's obvious!
Hardware & Software Engineer. Sound Engineer.
Collector of Arcade Machines, Games Consoles & Obsolete Computers (esp DEC)
ICQ# 12560790
--
David A. Elliott
horrid in my opinion too. My faves are Ms. Pac-Man, Centipede (okay... ALL
the arcade ports are great!) Non-arcade games that were great were Scrapyard
Dog and Dark Chambers. I REALLY have to break out the 7800. I've been
playing ALOT of the 5200 lately..
Peter Pachla <my....@vectrex.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
news:7icrse$q2c$4...@news8.svr.pol.co.uk...
Game Lord
How can you knock Tower Toppler?! That is one fantastic game. I guess it
all depends on one's taste in gaming. I still play this on both the 7800
and the C64. The 64, obviously, has much better sound. Perhaps you should
try the 64 version, if you are able to. It may change your view on this
what Icall a gem of a game.
Fred-GL-Wailin' High!
Mark Rathwell
"David A. Elliott" (dell...@nac.net) writes:
> Yeah... Jinks was pretty bad...Ninja Golf and Tower Toppler are kind of
> horrid in my opinion too. My faves are Ms. Pac-Man, Centipede (okay... ALL
> the arcade ports are great!) Non-arcade games that were great were Scrapyard
> Dog and Dark Chambers. I REALLY have to break out the 7800. I've been
> playing ALOT of the 5200 lately..
Ninja Golf I'll give you (though the graphics were quite good) but Tower
Toppler? Can't agree there! I found it to be lots of fun. Definitely a
challenging game. The graphics and animation were some of the best to be
found on an 8-bit console. I loved the way the towers rotated and the
underwater sequence featured some of the sharpest graphics on the 7800 (or
NES or SMS for that matter).
Jonathan H. Davidson
wrote:
>According to pretty much all of the stats I've seen, the Atari 7800 and
>Sega Master System split the remainder of the market fairly evenly: about
>10% each. The NES was the supreme victor and crushed the 7800 in sales but
>the SMS really didn't do much of anything. This is a common misconception.
>Both the 7800 and SMS were awesome systems but not many people bought either.
>
>In 1989, Ace Magazine had even reported that Atari had slightly eclipsed
>the SMS with sales of the 7800. Both were supposedly hovering around the
>"two million units sold" mark.
If the two were equal in sales, then why does the SMS appear so much
more frequently in thrifts, garage sales, etc?
I have seen one (1) 7800 cart in 5 years of searching (and that at a
used video game store) -- and no hardware at all. In contrast, SMS
carts are plentiful and the hardware is, at best, uncommon.
NES stuff is, of course, ubiquitious.
Jonathan H. Davidson
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
j...@compusmart.ab.ca
http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~ab443/home.html
Snk2112
>If the two were equal in sales, then why does the SMS appear so much
>more frequently in thrifts, garage sales, etc?
>
>
actually come to think about it , i have seen just about as many 7800 in the
wild as sms
(maybe cause people like the sms and want to keep it ) but those numbers
usuallly are what they sold to distributors and stores not what's in people's
homes
digital warrior , gaming historian...
Danno
David A. Elliott
I know of it's status in the classic community, but control seems weird.
I can't get past the first tower and keep falling off. I guess if I read
the directions and give the game some more time and attention my opinion
would change.
I forgot to mention Ballblazer as another top 7800 cart, although the
5200 version is a bit better as far as control with the analog sticks
David A. Elliott <dell...@nac.net> wrote in message
news:VTQ23.73$m4.470@nntp1...
> Yeah... Jinks was pretty bad...Ninja Golf and Tower Toppler are kind of
> horrid in my opinion too. My faves are Ms. Pac-Man, Centipede (okay...
ALL
> the arcade ports are great!) Non-arcade games that were great were
Scrapyard
> Dog and Dark Chambers. I REALLY have to break out the 7800. I've been
> playing ALOT of the 5200 lately..
Mark Rathwell
> If the two were equal in sales, then why does the SMS appear so much
> more frequently in thrifts, garage sales, etc?
>
> used video game store) -- and no hardware at all. In contrast, SMS
> carts are plentiful and the hardware is, at best, uncommon.
That's 'cause you're in Canada, like me! :-) Atari Canada stopped carrying
the 7800 several years before the states because they never did anything
with it. In Canada, only a few places carried the 7800 (K-Mart and Toy
City were two that come to mind) and they generally only carried older
titles like Xevious and Robotron. Newer titles such as Ikari Warriors,
Commando etc. never appeared in Canada. Tower Toppler was one of the last
games Atari Canada ever carried. Trust me - I used to get frustrated
trying to order games from them because they never had any of the new ones.
Cadimus
> If the two were equal in sales, then why does the SMS appear so much
> more frequently in thrifts, garage sales, etc?
>
> I have seen one (1) 7800 cart in 5 years of searching (and that at a
> used video game store) -- and no hardware at all. In contrast, SMS
> carts are plentiful and the hardware is, at best, uncommon.
Probably a regional variation. In my area, I see more 7800 hardware
than SMS hardware. The games have equal rarity. I think the preference
by the owner also plays a factor. (Some likes SMS better, other likes
7800 more)
Peter Pachla
>Yeah... Jinks was pretty bad...Ninja Golf and Tower Toppler are kind of
>horrid in my opinion too.
Well, believe it or not 7800 Jinks was nowhere near as bad as the Amiga and C64
versions (I still have both somewhere) which just didn't play as well - the ST
version OTOH was complete rubbish, completely unplayable and the graphics were
absolutely awful!
You didn't like TT!!?? Come on, THAT was a good game (it was developed on the
desk next to mine at USG at the same time as Jinks).
>....My faves are Ms. Pac-Man, Centipede (okay... ALL the arcade ports are
>great!)
My faves tend to be the arcade ports too on the whole, but not exclusively.
TTFN - Pete.
--
Spam deflector in effect - it's obvious!
Hardware & Software Engineer. Sound Engineer.
Collector of Arcade Machines, Games Consoles & Obsolete Computers (esp DEC)
--
Chris Cracknell
> >Yeah... Jinks was pretty bad...Ninja Golf and Tower Toppler are kind of
> >horrid in my opinion too.
Hey! While I agree with Tower Toppler I have to disagree with Ninja Golf.
Infact, of all the Atari 7800 games I would love to see redone on a modern
platform Ninja Golf would be in the top 10.
It was such a warped concept that I just loved it. Imagine what a modern
version of this game could be like. Combine better golf play and different
courses with better fighting play. Throw in a caddy sidekick and be able
to use different clubs as weapons. "I recommend using the 3 iron on the
Green Ninja." Different courses would be neat too. A lovely Japanese themed
gold course, a decayed inner-city gold course, etc. etc. Throw in some other
dangers besides the opposing Ninjas.
I think that Ninja Golf has a lot of remake potential.
CRACKERS
(What is the sound of one hand putting from hell!!!)
--
Collector of Atari 2600 carts - Accordionist - Bira Bira Devotee - Anime fan
* http://www.hwcn.org/~ad329/crab.html | Crackers' Arts Base *
* http://www.angelfire.com/ma/hozervideo/index.html | Hozer Video Games *
Nihongo ga dekimasu - 2600 programmer - Father of 2 great kids - Canadian eh
The Maverick
>
> I have to disagree with Ninja Golf.
> Infact, of all the Atari 7800 games I would love to see redone on a modern
> platform Ninja Golf would be in the top 10.
LOL! Ninja Golf 3D! It was an interesting premise, but a little bland
and lacking in replay value with just nine holes.
Steve Bender
Since you have programmed on the 7800, maybe you can answer this
question for my; Why didn't Atari put the enhanced sound chip in the actual
7800 system rather than the cartridges. I enjoy the 7800 Donkey Kong
/Donkey Kong Jr. visually, but the clanky like sound is just awful.
Steve
Member of the classic gaming community since Coleco introduced their Telstar
Alpha in '77.
Peter Pachla <my....@vectrex.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
news:7jgpni$vtd$6...@news8.svr.pol.co.uk...
> Hi,
>
> >Yeah... Jinks was pretty bad...Ninja Golf and Tower Toppler are kind of
> >horrid in my opinion too.
>
Peter Pachla
>....Why didn't Atari put the enhanced sound chip in the actual
>7800 system rather than the cartridges....
Sadly I'm not privy to inside information on Atari's design decisions. That
said however, I wondered the same thing myself when I was working with the
7800.
The best information I could dig up suggested that this was purely and simply a
cost cutting measure. The 7800 was designed from the outset to be 2600
compatible, and as such is, in essence, a 2600 with a MARIA chip bolted on.
Since the unit therefore contains a TIA chip it made (business) sense to use
the sound capabilities of TIA rather than incur the extra cost of adding a
POKEY to the unit - which would have pushed the retail cost of the machine up
by a non-trivial amount.
While it's quite surprising just what you can do with TIA's sound functions I
do feel that, taking the broad view, not including POKEY (or something better)
was a bit of a blunder. While it was available as a "bolt on" option in
cartridges very few games used it since this was actively discouraged by
Atari....after all it pushed production costs up and ate significantly into
Atari's profit margin! I received several stiff talkings to about the number of
ROM banks "Jinks" used - SHEESH!
Steve Bender
Steve