1978-1983 arcade shooter countdown.

[nimitz]

Since I'm in the mood of trying crappy old games I'm gonna try a few I haven't played.

#71 Kozmik Kroozr - NIM - 471,900

This game should seriously be the last on the list, the shield completely breaks the game.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Here is the complete list of official ports to the Atari 2600 of all the games here:

Gravitar
Zaxxon
Asteroids
Omega Race
Star Trek
Phoenix
Gorf
Tac/Scan
Gyruss
Espial
Vanguard
Space Invaders
Carnival
Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom
Super Cobra
Missile Command
Galaxian
Centipede
Millipede
Moon Patrol
Pooyan
Time Pilot
Stargate
Defender

This 80s arcade game thread was pretty cool. It's nice how a good chunk of the games were officially ported (and a few like Astro Fighter and Astro Blaster got games that heavily "borrowed" from them) to the 2600.

I wish there were more home versions of Juno First. It's a very nice game, from what I tried. None of the home ports are dead on to the original either. Very interesting game that I would like to get a hold of in near arcade perfect form (or arcade perfect, if the cabinet and PCB aren't too much).

I'm glad to see Defender in a respectable place. It's my favorite game in this list and one of the few that can deliver a serious balls-to-the-wall challenge every time - unless you're one of the elite few that can claim to have mastered it

Too bad the same can't be said about the 2600 version. The lack of challenge compared to the arcade is disappointing. I still like it, but it's not as fun as the arcade. However, Stargate is another story. Very challenging and much closer to the arcade than Defender. Oddly enough, the 2600 version of Defender was my first version with the Entex tabletop as my second. After playing the arcade for the first time, I was shocked at how it used buttons like the Entex and even more shocked at how the Entex tabletop VFD game played more like the arcade than the 2600 version.

Too bad most new collections don't have accessories in mind. I would like to see a port of Centipede or Millipede with true analog trak-ball support. The 2600 ports (and some others, including the Atari 800) were designed for the joystick and actually play better with it due to the response. 5200 Centipede is one of the few versions with true trak-ball support.

I got ahold of an Atari 2600 Trak Ball controller once to try out with the 2600 ports of Centipede and Missle Command. It turns out that it fared better to use it for diagonal movements compared to moving in a straight line (i.e. move left, right, up and down). I really didn't like it too much so I ended up returning it and getting my hard-earned $$ back.

The 2600 Trackball controller works on the Vectrex stand-alone vector-based console with the built-in game of Minestorm and you could fire three shots in short rapid-fire bursts or even warp much faster than pressing a button on the Vectrex control panel setup (since it uses the same DB 9-pin interface). You just couldn't move/rotate the ship with it though. It makes for a strange and novel way to play Minestorm with a trackball controller indeed.

Atari 5200/2600 Trak-Ball Factoid: It was ex-Atari employee Dan Kramer whom designed the original Atari 5200 Trak-Ball controller whom also did the 2600 version TB controller as well. Even 3rd-party controller peripheral manufacturer, Nyko, had to get Mr. Kramer's expertise and help to get their production PSX Trak-Ball controllers to work properly before it's nationwide retail debut back in November of 1998. Nyko was having trouble getting them to work but in the end, they managed to get it to work 100% in time for general retail release. I personally tried out a prototype version of Nyko's PSX Trak-Ball controller at the 1998 World of Atari expo in Las Vegas...it was cool to try out PSX Centipede with a proper TB controller at last.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[BulletMagnet]

STOP BUMPING THESE, I HAVE WORK TO DO AND CAN'T RESIST READING ALL THE WAY THROUGH THEM AGAIN EVERY TIME THEY SHOW UP

[professor ganson]

STOP BUMPING THESE, I HAVE WORK TO DO AND CAN'T RESIST READING ALL THE WAY THROUGH THEM AGAIN EVERY TIME THEY SHOW UP

Have you got a new job, BM?

[BulletMagnet]

Have you got a new job, BM?

Nothing full-time, unfortunately, but I have managed to get ahold of a few one-time gigs for a little pocket money. Unfortunately instead of getting on them I'm here laughing at Rob's snarkiness.

[nimitz]

#2 Mad Planets (1983)

Fast-paced, chaotic single screen shooter near the end of their run. The old limitations have been cast aside - move freely around the screen and rotate your ship to meet your bizarre enemies as they get increasingly mad, with many opportunities for saving men and destroying planets for extra points.

I just tried Mad Planets, what a pleasant surprise.

This is one of the fastest game on that list (along with robotron and Juno first). Just the right balance between aiming and dodging (lots of dodging for that period), also one of the few instances of games of that period with really challenging and fun bonus stages (you can die during the bonus stage too)

Another great thing about it is that the credits are short, I got 77,114 and that was about a 5-10 minutes run.

We need more people playing this.

[louisg]

Mad Planets is a total classic

[Herr Schatten]

Mad Planets is a total classic

It also spawned the homecomputer-exclusive remake Crazy Comets and its even better sequel Mega Apocalypse, the latter one featuring stunning music. The artwork of both games, especially the shape of the player ship, makes it very obvious where the inspiration came from.

[nimitz]

#2 Mad Planets - NIM - 117,475

I know you can beat this Rob : P

[Rob]

My current computer is garbage for all emulation, including games from 1983. You should make a high score thread for it.

[Drum]

I dunno ... you really did not give some of these a fair go. Picking a game I don't even like that much: Exerion (I realise you had been taken to task over this one) has way more going on upstairs than you are letting on here. Picking a game I do like but is listed way too high: You can buy high scores in Buck Rogers. It's not as broken as Space Harrier's scoring, but sheesh. Star Fire (1979, not on the list) allowed you to do the same but it had an awesome system where multi-credit games have their own leaderboards (one score for each amount of creds, up to 20). Your Major Havoc ranking gave me an ulcer.

I kind of want to get in-depth with a few of them but ... some of the entries seem thoughtful and others seem like you're just goofing and clearly aren't meant to hold up to scrutiny - just something you just threw together for fun. Are you amenable to persuasion here or are you over this thing?

Also, do you want some suggestions for games or are you just slowly going through your MAME list?


Here is my Buck Rogers Planet of Zoom score, btw: 999,999.

[Rob]

just something you just threw together for fun.

You've got it, but it turned out to not be so fun and Exerion is still garbage.

Also, do you want some suggestions for games

Feel free to add whatever you like.

[Drum]

Do you really want me to list more games? I'm just gonna pick ones you'll hate. I guess that will serve you right for putting Asteroids and Major Havoc so low, so feel free to review: Star Fire, Sheriff, Tunnel Hunt, Tazz-Mania, Space Beam, Jump Bug, Q-B3, Radical Radial, Rougien, Jungler, Warp & Warp, Cube Quest, Ixion, Markham, Stinger, Rock Duck, Space Seeker, I, Robot, Blasto (you really gotta play 2 players tho), Sky Raider, Lunar Rescue, Ozma Wars, Red Baron, Zero Hour, Mars (I think you will like this one, it's like the ancient ancestor of Forgotten Worlds).

Also, you should play IGMO even though its 1984.

[Drum]

Wait, does Rock Duck count as a shooter? Technically you are throwing a ball (I think, the graphics are pretty crude and the emulation is kind of messed). Great game though!

[BrianC]

Only a few of those count as shmups. Warp & Warp is more of an action game and some stages play like Bomberman (which came later). A couple of the games listed are arena shooters and a few others are psuedo 3D shooters (and Star Fire, while great, isn't shmuppy at all). Ixion (which is an arena shooter) wasn't even released (though oddly enough it was ported, though the ports were also left unreleased).

[Drum]

Ok (I guess), but he is covering all kinds of stuff. Moon Patrol, Major Havoc, Robotron, Buck Rogers etc. etc. Also, arena shooters count as shmups. Also also, Rock Duck is just a crappy bootleg of Scrambled Egg.