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Post by toei on Jan 5, 2019 9:11:37 GMT -5
For some reason I couldn't remember if you'd posted recs in this thread or an earlier one. I'll try a few of them this month for sure.
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Post by Xeogred on Jan 6, 2019 12:57:14 GMT -5
Played Defender for like a minute...
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Post by Sarge on Jan 6, 2019 18:48:52 GMT -5
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Post by Ex on Jan 6, 2019 21:49:41 GMT -5
I'm still planning to put some actual effort into this theme in the latter half of the month.
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Post by toei on Jan 7, 2019 7:13:44 GMT -5
Played some ColecoVision. This is more like it. I decided to check out the Sega games first (all of which are arcade ports, AFAIK), then whatever struck my fancy. I played full sessions of both SubRoc and Buck Rogers (Sega's first scaler shooter), both of which are pretty playable and decent-looking. Made it to Round 5 in Buck and 4 in SubRoc, with a final score of 91,000+some change. I haven't figured out how to take screenshots with Colem yet. Anyway, I doubt it's a very high score. SubRoc is pretty clever - you have both ships and airships coming at you, and you can change your height to either fire shots in the air or torpedoes in the sea. The goal is to shoot off enemies and incoming missiles for a while until a boss ship shows up. It's even got a night and day cycle! It's a slow-paced game, though. Apparently the original arcade release was the first to use stereoscopic 3D. I suck at Congo Bongo, I couldn't get Turbo to run, and I don't get that Star Trek game. This is Buck Rogers Colecovision. Not bad, huh? By comparison, this is what it looks like on the Atari 2600: lol Outside of Sega's output, I tried a Chuck Norris game just because, but it's unplayable trash. I messed around with Pitfall again for 10 seconds. Same game, slightly different graphics. I've got a few more lined up.
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Post by Ex on Jan 7, 2019 9:06:17 GMT -5
This is Buck Rogers Colecovision. Not bad, huh? I'll admit the difference is rather dramatic.
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Post by toei on Jan 7, 2019 15:17:51 GMT -5
As bonesnapdeez had explained, the ColecoVision controller had a keypad, and games usually begin by asking you to choose a skill level, often from 1 (easiest) to 4 (hardest), from what I've seen so far. I've beaten the first loop of Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle on Skills 1, 2 & 3. This is one of the first side-scrolling platformers (1982, same year as Pitfall), possibly the first licensed platformer (and we all know how many of these there ended up being in the '90s), and my favorite pre-NES console platformer so far. On Skill 1, it's basically just an easy obstacle course where you have to jump over stuff. There's a forward jump, which is performed by pressing forward, releasing it, then pressing Up (it's weird, but easy enough to get used to), and also a special jump - you have to press Up while standing still, then Up again when landing for a super leap. Skill 2 to 4 have enemies that you also need to avoid, though a loop is still just a few minutes long. You start from your Mushroom house, walk all the way to the castle, avoid a few spiders, then rescue the Smurfette on top of a skull. It's very simple and straightforward - like all good ColecoVision games - and handles smoothly. It's also one of the best-looking games on the system. The reviewer from "Video" (yes, there was a magazine simply named "video" in the '80s) compared it to a Saturday-morning cartoon then, much like reviewers would do upon Aladdin's release on the Genesis a decade later. I plan to go back for Skill 4. Jungle HuntA port of a Taito arcade game, this one has four sub-levels - the first one has you jumping from vine to vine, about 10-12 of them, and is really boring. Then there's a little swimming stage where you avoid crocodiles and come up for air every now and then (you can actually stab the crocos, but it's risky), an auto-runner stage up a volcano where you jump over falling rocks or duck beneath them, and finally a mini final stage where you jump over two tribesmen to rescue a lady tied up above a boiling cauldron. In other words, the game is basically Tarzan without a license, and is pretty ambitious for the time. I beat the first loop on Skill 2, but I found it to be a chore, as short as a loop is. The action is just dull. Also played: Robin Hood This is an overhead action game - almost a beat-'em-up, or a hack-n-slash. You've got screens where you use a bow and arrows to shoot people (in all 8 directions, notably), and others where you fight with a sword. The third screen has a mini-puzzle where you need to kill a few guards atop a castle, then shoot at a lever to lower the drawbridge. I have no idea what you're supposed to do once in the castle, though. There's a bunch of doors, but when you open them a dude just comes out and instantly kill you. I need to explore this one a bit more. Cabbage Patch Kids - Adventures in the ParkYes, this is the most childish title of all time, but then, it's a Cabbage Patch Kids game. This isn't actually a licensed title, because those dolls were produced by Coleco until their bankruptcy in 1988. This is also a simple platformer. I haven't seen enemies in this one, just series of jumps - it feels closer to Pitfall, in fact, since you have to grab onto ropes to get over lakes, but it's linear and level-based rather than some confusing giant level with treasures to find. Also a good-looking game, and it plays pretty well, with nice jumps, but I'd rather play Smurf. B.C.'s Quest for Tires An auto-scrolling platformer where you can jump, duck, and adjust the speed of scrolling. This one's pretty good, but there's a tricky part involving a bird that I haven't figured out yet. Donkey KongThis was actually the ColecoVision's pack-in game, and is much better port than the Atari version. That said, I'm not really a big DK fan. I do like the Donkey Kong Country games, though... --- I need to go back and read bone's posts on these old consoles. I'm digging the CV. It's got a lot of solid arcade ports, and some nice little originals. I wonder what are the other ports from the big Japanese companies on the system, beyond DK, Jungle Hunt, and Sega's 6 games or so? Makes me want to dig into the SG-1000 library in the future.
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Post by Ex on Jan 7, 2019 17:14:35 GMT -5
Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle has rather great graphics considering its age. I do hope bonesnapdeez shows up for this thread before the month is over. He's the go-to guy for this stuff.
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Post by Sarge on Jan 7, 2019 18:21:30 GMT -5
The Colecovision actually has a pretty decent setup, sharing a bit in common with the SMS with its Z80 main processor. Actually, I think it's nearly identical in setup to the SG-1000. One has to wonder what a bit more time on the system could have produced, and NES-style mapper chips might have accomplished.
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Post by Ex on Jan 7, 2019 18:24:50 GMT -5
NES-style mapper chips might have accomplished. This is something that gets glossed over a lot when people reminisce about the NES. A lot of its better looking, more graphically impressive games, were only possible due to the increased power of mapper chips included on any given game's cartridge. The base NES graphics were a lot closer to its earlier contemporary competition in reality.
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