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Post by toei on Jan 12, 2019 10:30:28 GMT -5
Messed with Zaxxon a bit, but that's about it. Too busy when I work. I still keep up with the thread, though.
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Post by bonesnapdeez on Jan 12, 2019 12:07:49 GMT -5
2nd gen Zaxxon is an interesting case. The 2600 and Intellivision ports ditched the isometric view for something else entirely. The Coleco port is pretty accurate to the arcade, and very good.
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Post by Ex on Jan 12, 2019 12:20:07 GMT -5
bonesnapdeez what's your take on the 5200 version of Vanguard?
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Post by bonesnapdeez on Jan 12, 2019 13:31:49 GMT -5
bonesnapdeez what's your take on the 5200 version of Vanguard? That's an interesting question. I dunno if I have a good answer because I own a 5200 system + a copy of Vanguard... I assume you guys would be emulating; I have never emulated the 5200. Long story short: it's a decent port minus the inherently terrible 5200 controls, which would be a non-issue if you emulate. It's more faithful to the arcade original, featuring the persistent map and diagonal levels. Worth a shot for sure.
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Post by Sarge on Jan 12, 2019 14:11:19 GMT -5
I think I might just give it a try. I remember my aunt had a 5200. Wonder if she still has it stashed somewhere? Probably in terrible shape if she does.
EDIT: Well, if kat5200 wouldn't just crash on me...
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Post by Sarge on Jan 12, 2019 18:16:37 GMT -5
Jumpman Jr. on Colecovision is done. And by done, I mean I used save-states. The controls can be pretty fiddly; this emulates the platforming of Donkey Kong, in that you can fall a very short distance, but if you walk off a ledge, no matter how short the drop, you die. The game only consists of twelve levels, but hoo boy, those levels get evil. In some ways, this could be considered a troll platformer, particularly the "puzzle" level where you need to collect the "bombs" (I never knew that's what those were supposed to be!) in a particular order or you'd die from a pitfall appearing beneath you or whatnot. Another stage blacks the entire level out, and it slowly reveals itself as you get close to the level elements. Unfortunately, there are still blind jumps here, so like the other stage, there's some trial and error. Another stage sees each bomb you pick up spawning a hatchling that chases you until you reach the next one, which spawns a new one. That means speed is of the essence. The last level throws wind effects at you, and for some reason, I think it decided to blow me off a ladder. Perhaps you can't stop moving on a ladder or it thinks you're on a hard surface, which means it blows you to the side and you fall to your death? Might be.
Anyway, I really enjoyed the C64 version of the game, so at least seeing all the levels was worthwhile to me for this version. I think the stages bring a surprisingly variance to the proceedings, despite the collectathon nature. For my money, though, one of my favorite games of this ilk (and it also has some trial-and-error elements) is Bill & Ted's Excellent Game Boy Adventure. Definitely worth a play if you're into single-screen "collect all the baubles" games.
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Post by nullPointer on Jan 13, 2019 12:14:36 GMT -5
Jumpman Jr. on Colecovision is done. Nice write-up Sarge . As a fan of platformers, Jumpman is a game that I've always been curious about. I'm hope it's within the scope of this month's Club Retro, being as it's free from any graphical elements, but last night I started up Zork: The Great Underground Empire (which was later retroactively dubbed as Zork I: The Great Underground Empire). This is a game that I'm quite certain I haven't played since the 80's, but it's a series I've always meant to return to. So this month's theme was a good opportunity to do so! This is going to sound weird, since we're talking about a game that's completely text based, but in some ways I had forgotten how sophisticated Zork I actually feels. The text parser seems pretty flexible and lenient for a game of this vintage, which facilitates a better sense of immersion. For the most part the only time it's truly horked on a command is when I inadvertently entered a typo. Another aspect I'd forgotten is the sheer size of the game world. This is a game that practically begs to be played with a pencil and trusty sheet of graph paper for making maps. I'm playing the game through the GOG released anthology, and as usual GOG is very generous with support materials which in this case includes a handy dandy pre-made map. Modern gaming laziness FTW! The last thing I had forgotten is just how humorous Zork is. For some reason I had in my head that this was a relatively staid, 'be serious' type of adventure, but there are so many instances of humor that peek through. Sometimes you have to paly around a bit with the parser (save early, save often!) to see it, but it's often times rewarding to do so. In one particular instance, I knocked a troll unconscious during a fight, and took his axe while he was out. Then when he woke up I gave his axe back to him, and his reaction was great. It's fun to see how the developers anticipated some of these hijinx and used the opportunity to inject levity. It's the characteristic sort of 'adventure game' humor that would surface in Sierra and Lucasarts graphical adventures. So it's been really fun to see some of that lineage. At any rate, I hope to make my way through Zork I by the end of the month, but it seems like an achievable goal. Apparently it's one of those games where you can find yourself in an unwinnable situation (which unfortunately seems to be one of the less than favorable traits of adventure games of this vintage), so I'm hoping not to inadvertently run into that sort of nonsense on my adventures. I wasn't sure I'd enjoy the theme this month, but I've been having a great time with Zork!
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Post by toei on Jan 13, 2019 12:54:59 GMT -5
Sure, Zork definitely counts. Glad to hear you're enjoying it.
I've finished a loop of Buck Rogers CV. While it looks great for the time (and the arcade original looks downright amazing for 1982), it's really hard to play. You can never really tell where the enemies are in relation to you, so that you're better off just avoiding them rather than trying to shoot them. Space Harrier was really a huge step up, gameplay-wise.
Also, to tie in with last month's theme, there are two Data East games on the console; Burger Time, which is quite well-known, and Bump 'n Jump, a car game were your goal is to avoid crashing or falling into the water. There are tons of other cars on the road that like to bump into you to push you into a wall, but you can do the same to them, and you can leap in the air when expanses of water come up. It's annoying how long it takes for the jump animation to start, though. If you press the button right when the road ends, you die.
One thing that's surprised me is just how many Japanese games there are on these old systems. I'd tended to assume that pre-NES console gaming was almost entirely American, but arcade ports were a huge deal then, too - after all, home consoles were literally invented for them - and many of those arcade games were made in Japan. By my count, there are 8 Sega-developed games on the Colecovision (not counting Carnival, which was made by Gremlin), 8 Konami games (in fact, that Cabbage Patch Kids platformer I mentioned before is apparently a covert Konami game - they just changed the graphics of a Japanese MSX game called Athletic Land), I think 5 by a mostly forgotten company called Universal, whose Space Panic is said to be the first platformer (and was certainly an influence on Donkey Kong), and more from Nintendo, Taito, Data East and Namco. In total, out of 129 games released in the US, 29, to my knowledge, were Japanese, almost all of them ports.
When I have a bit more time, I'm going to look into Vanguard, either the 5200 version or the OG arcade. I want to try Scramble, too.
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Post by bonesnapdeez on Jan 13, 2019 14:11:29 GMT -5
Yes these consoles are loaded with Japanese games. Even more surprising is that Konami and Sega actually served as publisher for some of these releases.
Classic Data East is solid. I've never been in love with BurgerTime but Bump 'n' Jump is a quality title. I'd round out with trio with some Lock 'n' Chase.
Universal is absolutely essential. In addition to Space Panic there's also Cosmic Avenger, Lady Bug, and (my personal favorite) Mr. Do!. Cosmic Avenger is an early scrolling shmup (like Scramble), Lady Bug is one of the better "maze" games, while Mr. Do! manages to out-dig Dig Dug (I have yet to play the Mr. Do! sequel).
One dead and forgotten Western arcade developer from that era is Exidy. They had some great ports on second gen systems (especially ColecoVision). Crossbow, Mouse Trap, Venture, and Pepper II come to mind. Pepper II may be the best overall maze game of the second gen.
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Post by toei on Jan 13, 2019 15:40:30 GMT -5
bonesnapdeezI'm not big on maze games, but I've been playing some Cosmic Avenger since yesterday. It's very close to Super Cobra on the same system (which is the sequel to Scramble), with more colorful graphics, but am I right in thinking there are no levels in this one? Seems you just go back-and-forth through the space and blue cave areas forever. Not that I've lasted that long in my attempts so far. Just for that, I found Super Cobra much more stimulating since it had a clear sense of progress.
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