Trip_Cannon Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 Hey, I'm really curious... I've been jumping in and out of playing with my Atari 8-bit.. my question is, what is the system "known for" as far as its best game.. Is there a stand out title that pushes the platform to its limits? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEtalGuy66 Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 I think the system is best "known for" Star Raiders. The reason I say this is because It's the original platform that the game was written on, and its universally understood to be the best platform to play the game on(I consider the 5200 to be the same "platform" as the 8-bit home computers.) Also, star raiders came out about the time the ATARI 8-bit home computer was first released. Also, the game was way ahead of its time in concept and game play. One of those "often imitated, never equaled" type things. As far as pushing the platform to it's limits. I'd say there are quite a few games that do that. Alternate Reality is one that comes to mind, and most of the lucasfilm titles could probably fall into this category. Also, there are quite a few games made in recent years that use advanced coding techniques to squeeze even more out of the ATARI than any of the old commercial developers did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goochman Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 Id say its known for Star Raiders and possibly the Lucas Arts games. As far as pushing its limits I would guess the AR series does that as well as Koronis Rift. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory DG Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 Yup, Star Raiders. I'd also throw in Donkey Kong. That version is one of the best home conversions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEtalGuy66 Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 Whaohh... heh. That was scary.. We both posted the same shit at the same exact moment.. Are you smokin' the same shit I am? hahah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goochman Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 Whaohh... heh. That was scary.. We both posted the same shit at the same exact moment.. Are you smokin' the same shit I am?hahah. Hey Scooby pass the Dooby (Rated Garbage Scowl ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeventura Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 Star Raiders and MULE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olavese@online.no Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 What brought me to Atari, was for sure, Star Raiders. I had Vic-20 and C64 at the time, even a ZX Spectrum right before I think, but when I saw the Atari run Star Raiders, never been so impressed in my life before (have been after, ie Behind Jaggi Lines/Rescue on Fractalus among the few). I sold all the Commodore stuff and bought a used Atari 800 with 810 drive, 410 tape deck, 850 interface, a few games, luckily Star Raiders among them. Paid about 1500 USD for it. Well worth it, the best times of my life followed that purchase, except for my sons birth, which is a bigger event. Atari sure had the soul no other computers had. Wish they live for ever (might be too, my 800 is the same as in 83) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariAndy75 Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 In the early days may favourites were: Star Raiders Miner 2049er Defender Then later on my favourite has to be: Zybex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross PK Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 (edited) I really couldn't say which game it's best known for, but the game that pushes it to it's limits could easily be Mercenary or any of the Lucasfilm games. Edited September 26, 2007 by Ross PK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 Star Raiders was obviously the early "killer app". It probably sold the Atari in much the same was that desktop publishing sold Macs, Visicalc sold Apple IIs and Doom converted so many to the PC. I'd actually add Elektraglide to the list too. I converted one of my mates to the Atari around 1986 (he was a Commodore fan). We spotted an ad for someone selling an 800 + disk drive. We went to see it and took Elektraglide around to test the system with (which we loaded, then took away when we left). When we returned about 3 days later, after he decided to buy the system, it was still sitting there with the game running (another tribute to the Atari was that you could leave them running for days). Rescue on Fractalus is the obvious choice of the Lucasfilm games. IMO the most durable of their Atari releases and easiest to get into. Koronis Rift is impressive but too frustrating, plus it gets a bit monotonous. The AR games as well, but they're not the sort of games you can just play for 10 minutes - you need a good few hours of immersion to get an impression from them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross PK Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 Star Raiders was obviously the early "killer app". It probably sold the Atari in much the same was that desktop publishing sold Macs, Visicalc sold Apple IIs and Doom converted so many to the PC. I'd actually add Elektraglide to the list too. I converted one of my mates to the Atari around 1986 (he was a Commodore fan). We spotted an ad for someone selling an 800 + disk drive. We went to see it and took Elektraglide around to test the system with (which we loaded, then took away when we left). When we returned about 3 days later, after he decided to buy the system, it was still sitting there with the game running (another tribute to the Atari was that you could leave them running for days). Rescue on Fractalus is the obvious choice of the Lucasfilm games. IMO the most durable of their Atari releases and easiest to get into. Koronis Rift is impressive but too frustrating, plus it gets a bit monotonous. The AR games as well, but they're not the sort of games you can just play for 10 minutes - you need a good few hours of immersion to get an impression from them. I don't know how anyone could leave a computer or games system on for that long, I'd be so scared of risking something happening to it. I have heard that you're not supposed to leave the 800XL on for more than 5 hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwhyte Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 Embargo... lol... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 In the day, I'd often have my Atari going 16 hours straight. Recently I forgot and left the 130XE on for about 3 days. My main machine (Core2Duo now) is always on - about the only time I power off is when it's upgrade time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 In the day, I'd often have my Atari going 16 hours straight. Recently I forgot and left the 130XE on for about 3 days.My main machine (Core2Duo now) is always on - about the only time I power off is when it's upgrade time. I've read that computers suffer power on/off more than being always on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 (edited) While it was known for many titles I think the landmark title it was known for the most was definitely Star Raiders. No other game drew so much press and if you look at the articles still being printed nothing else Atari specific comes close. Also, if you look at eBay auctions you'll find that it was part of almost everyone's game library back then... obviously a "must have" title then and it still is. PacMan has probably had more press as a whole but I think it rarely focuses on the Atari 8 bits. Game industry wise it probably had the most influence and was the most cloned game. Edited September 26, 2007 by JamesD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian R. Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 In the day, I'd often have my Atari going 16 hours straight. Recently I forgot and left the 130XE on for about 3 days.My main machine (Core2Duo now) is always on - about the only time I power off is when it's upgrade time. I've read that computers suffer power on/off more than being always on. I don't believe that's true. My computer is off when I'm not using it. Why leave it running all day when I'm not even home? I can't see any reason to leave an Atari computer powered on when it's not being used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 (edited) In the day, I'd often have my Atari going 16 hours straight. Recently I forgot and left the 130XE on for about 3 days.My main machine (Core2Duo now) is always on - about the only time I power off is when it's upgrade time. I've read that computers suffer power on/off more than being always on. I don't believe that's true. My computer is off when I'm not using it. Why leave it running all day when I'm not even home? I can't see any reason to leave an Atari computer powered on when it's not being used. I have written that "computers suffer power on/off more than being always on", not that computers must be on when inused. It is also inecological! Edited September 26, 2007 by Philsan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potatohead Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 I used to leave my 400 on for very long periods of time. Sometimes as much as a week. (drawing good fractals took a really long time.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 I have to concur with Star Raiders putting the Atari 8-bit computers "on the map" as far as gaming goes. Star Raiders was actually my first exposure to an Atari 800 back and I was enthralled with it (I was probably 8 or 9 at the time?) Several years later when I finally got my own computer (an Atari 800XL) I did play the hell out of Star Raiders, but I spent FAR more time playing the two Alternate Reality games as well as all the Lucas titles. And M.U.L.E. And Archon. And Bounty Bob Strikes Back. Damn, so many great Atari 8-bit games. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 Agreed on the fractals. That was time-consuming even with a ramdisk. Topic: Star Raiders is the obvious title. A killer app since it's creation. Besides that, I don't believe that Atari ported the game to any non-proprietory platform. The majority of other titles (first party or other) ended up on more than only one of "the big five". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pengwin Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 I have to concur with Star Raiders putting the Atari 8-bit computers "on the map" as far as gaming goes. Star Raiders was actually my first exposure to an Atari 800 back and I was enthralled with it (I was probably 8 or 9 at the time?) Several years later when I finally got my own computer (an Atari 800XL) I did play the hell out of Star Raiders, but I spent FAR more time playing the two Alternate Reality games as well as all the Lucas titles. And M.U.L.E. And Archon. And Bounty Bob Strikes Back. Damn, so many great Atari 8-bit games. ..Al Archon was one of the reasons I went for the 800XL. But Star Raiders was definitely one of the first WOW! games I played. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 The problem with Archon is that it's way too easy in single-player. You have to handicap yourself, or you can win the game in just a few moves. Teleport a quick creature (like the unicorn or basilisk) to the space innediately above or below the enemy wizard...who will never seems to choose "imprison" on the next move. Take out the wizard on your next move. Then just move others onto the remaining power points as the computer continually tries to recapture the wizard's power point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goochman Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 Had a buddy whose Dad left his Atari 400 on for months with nary a crash - he was monitoring sesimic waves in the earths crust - he actually captured Mt. St. Helens volcano eruption on graph paper Sounds alot more technical than it was, however for the time was pretty cool He also hooked it up to search for radio noise in space - never found ET though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beetle Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 (edited) Any SETI client for a8? Edited September 26, 2007 by Beetle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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