birdie3 Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 I just scored a few games for this system (Parsec, Fathom, Super Demon Attack, and Chisholm Trail) but have yet to find a console to play them with. I would like to start a thread devoted to this system seeing as it appears to be more of an obscure line. Could all of the TI-99/4A collectors please show yourselves and contribute to this discussion. Right now all I am looking for is sort of a "My Top 10" favorite games list from you as well as maybe some "things you should know" suggestions or ideas. Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
accousticguitar Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 Obscure is right. I've had 4 TI games in my trade box for over a year. Nobody seems to be interested in them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultramoo Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 (edited) I would say I'm a 4a collector. Just got a Gram Kracker a while ago, actually the haul I got was the reason I found this board, so I could ask questions about stuff. You don't have a console!? I have 5. I actually haven't had the time or space to fully set up my 4a in a long time so I've never actually played many of my games but as for the ones I have I loved the following as a kid: 1. Alpiner 2. Parsec 3. Tombstone City 4. Chrisholm Trail (I think, can't remember what that game was about!) 5. Burger Time Probably a bunch more but I can't remember them all, plus many carts for the 4a are educational or productivity programs. As far as things you should know, the weak spot on the consoles is the keyboard but I just bought a brand new replacement for $4 bucks a while ago so you can fix it if you get a bad one. Only other thing is that it is TOTALLY worth it to buy or make the special cable that lets you hook it up to regular RCA jacks on your TV instead of the cruddy RF adapter, the picture is crystal clear, something you can never achieve with the RF adapter. Also, if you just plan on using it as a gaming console then you don't really need to worry about any of the expansions or the giant peripheral expansion box, only thing that might be handy is the speech synthesizer and maybe a disk drive and memory expansion but the latter two are only if you need them. Edited October 18, 2007 by ultramoo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultramoo Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 If you really want a console, just search Ebay for "ti 99" and there's usually loads of 'em. You can probably get one for 99 cents as no one bids, you'll mainly just pay for shipping. which we all know is very fairly priced on Ebay! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 I won an auction for something like 10 carts several years ago and still don't have a system to play them on. I had seen some of them before since my cousin had one but it hasn't been a priority for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 Hmm, I've got ~70 carts and two systems (including my original childhood one), maybe I am a TI collector ? Only other thing is that it is TOTALLY worth it to buy or make the special cable that lets you hook it up to regular RCA jacks on your TV instead of the cruddy RF adapter, the picture is crystal clear, something you can never achieve with the RF adapter. Also, if you just plan on using it as a gaming console then you don't really need to worry about any of the expansions or the giant peripheral expansion box, only thing that might be handy is the speech synthesizer and maybe a disk drive and memory expansion but the latter two are only if you need them. A composite video cable is definitely a must. With 32K/floppy/EXT basic you can do neat things like load the GPL sim modules from disk. Of course 32K/floppy/EXT basic also means you're going to need a PEB or sidecars. Unless of course you get your hands on one of these. Also if you're going to keep the system, build or buy yourself a joystick adapter so you can use regular 9 pin Atari type sticks. The TI sticks SUCK! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uzumaki Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 I've got a TI and about 20 carts for it. It's rarely touched now day but I used to enjoy games like Car Wars, Munch Man (pac man knockoff) and TI Invaders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Brasky Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 Snag one of the ti-99 to Atari joystick adapter cables off ebay. There's a bunch of late releases that were mail-order only that I see come up on ebay pretty regularly but they always go for $50 and up. I'm not a collector, I sold off all my stuff. For me it was like collecting for INTV. It's easy to get a bunch of commons but you quickly reach a point where if you want to get the remaining games you're going to have to spend big cash, $50+ per game on ebay. It's pretty cool though because there are classic SNK/Data East arcade games on the TI that aren't on any other system, like Fantasy, Munchmobile, Lasso, Adventure Island, Angler Dangler, Super Astro Fighter, Mission X. Meteor Belt, Hopper, Microsurgeon are cool. You should try to get one of those adapters sold on ebay that plugs into the side like a disk drive but loads off of CompactFlash cards. You can store the entire TI library on it, instant loading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christophero Sly Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 The TI has a great port of Donkey Kong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Brasky Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 The TI has a great port of Donkey Kong. It "looks" great but it doesn't play so well. On the 1st screen, Mario can jump up through the girder above him whenever he jumps(they squeezed all the girders on screen) and get killed by barrels above. I don't recall that happening in the arcade or CV version. You can barely get past the 2nd screen. The fireball AI is relentless. It oftentimes won't let you pass to complete the level. The fireballs will just stay huddled in one area and never move, so you can't get to the final rivet. The hammer is nearly useless in this version and grabbing it usually will get you killed. Barrels and fireballs get right past it easily and nail you. Unless your downswing is perfectly timed to strike a barrel/fireball, you're toast. Since you can't jump with the hammer you have to just stand there and watch your guy die. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Ragan Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 Yeah, the Atari 400/800 version (or the recent 5200 port) is the way to go for all your Donkey Kong needs. I second the TI joystick adapter recommendation. The joystick port is wired out a little differently so it won't function with a standard 2600 stick or Genesis pad, and the standard issue TI controllers are a pain in the... uh, hands. As far as games are concerned, I liked The Attack. More accurately, I liked the CONCEPT of The Attack. You're a tiny little space ship, darting around and picking off spores that hatch from time-release eggs scattered around the screen. If four spores should come together, they combine to create a relentless, horrifying, and altogether nasty alien creature that chases you down until one or both of you is destroyed. It's a great, GREAT idea, but it feels a little choppy on the TI 99/4A. I'd love to see a polished remake on a more capable system! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultramoo Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 I knew there was something else I forgot about, they're right about the joystick adapter, the stock TI ones really don't help you play any better than just using the keyboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultramoo Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 Yeah, the Atari 400/800 version (or the recent 5200 port) is the way to go for all your Donkey Kong needs. I second the TI joystick adapter recommendation. The joystick port is wired out a little differently so it won't function with a standard 2600 stick or Genesis pad, and the standard issue TI controllers are a pain in the... uh, hands. As far as games are concerned, I liked The Attack. More accurately, I liked the CONCEPT of The Attack. You're a tiny little space ship, darting around and picking off spores that hatch from time-release eggs scattered around the screen. If four spores should come together, they combine to create a relentless, horrifying, and altogether nasty alien creature that chases you down until one or both of you is destroyed. It's a great, GREAT idea, but it feels a little choppy on the TI 99/4A. I'd love to see a polished remake on a more capable system! Wow! Are you saying a stock Genesis pad will work with that adapter? If so I never knew that! I always liked their controllers' feel and function. I'll have to try that out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Ragan Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 That's been my experience with other game systems. Just note that only one button will work on the controller... the rest will be ignored. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdie3 Posted October 18, 2007 Author Share Posted October 18, 2007 Hmm, I've got ~70 carts and two systems (including my original childhood one), maybe I am a TI collector ? Cool. That sounds pretty hardcore. What are the best games to get? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toucan Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 Well, if you are interested in seeing what some of the games are you can check out TI-99/4A Videogame House. For the person who liked The Attack's concept but thought it was choppy, you might want to try out Super Fly which was pretty much an updated and fast version of the game. Both are on the website. Be sure to look at the MBX games for the system too. Hmm, I've got ~70 carts and two systems (including my original childhood one), maybe I am a TI collector ? Cool. That sounds pretty hardcore. What are the best games to get? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tursi Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 I've got a few consoles, a couple of PEBs, and a few carts. I actually gave away most of my collection a couple of years ago, it filled several large moving boxes . I still play with the machine, though. I've built a PS/2 keyboard adapter around an Atmel MEGA16 (http://harmlesslion.com/software/adapter) which works pretty well. I've got a couple more projects to finish someday. The joystick adapter can't be overstated. The official TI sticks are miserable, IMO. They also have a tendancy to wear out, due to the contacts being painted on and so wearing off. Once you have an adapter to the Atari pinout (which you can make, diagram is here: http://www.mainbyte.com/ti99/hardware/cables/joystick.html), then you can use any of those sticks, and both Genesis and SMS pads do work. There's no power, though, so don't expect rapid fire features to work (oddly, though, on one of my third party Genesis pads it DID work). There are starting to be great pages on the TI. Mainbyte.com has a lot of beautiful pictures, information, and projects: http://www.mainbyte.com/ti99/ For the low level tech in you, don't miss Thierry Nouspikel's exceptional hardware reference page: http://www.nouspikel.com/ti99/titechpages.htm There are a number of useful resources linked from the Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TI-99 I'm not personally a big fan of TI games, I don't like many of them. But the Atarisoft titles were generally very well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdie3 Posted October 18, 2007 Author Share Posted October 18, 2007 Thanks so far. Still looking for more of a recommendation for some of the best games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AussieAtari Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 Parsec is one of the best TI games by far. TI invaders is a very good Space Invader Clone, I've always liked munchman, and as mentioned previously, most Atari games on the TI are pretty good. I love my TI, it's a great system and you can have fun adding mods to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdie3 Posted October 18, 2007 Author Share Posted October 18, 2007 Well.. Today I picked up Tombstone City, munch Man, and TI Invader so I am all set once I score a console. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PressureCooker2600 Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 Looks like it has a lot of great games on it. I wonder why it didn't do as well. I remember my elementary school had one in the library and I had a lot of fun playing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Ragan Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 It's because they got into a pricing war with Commodore that they just couldn't win. Jack Tramiel fought dirty back in the early 1980's, bankrupting parts suppliers, then purchasing them and nullifying the debts. The price of the VIC-20 plummeted because of Commodore's low overhead and equally low business practices, and Texas Instruments simply couldn't afford to sell their own machines at the same absurdly low prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Brasky Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 Ms Pac Man is really good on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toucan Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 Well, you have to recommend Bigfoot and Super Fly from Milton Bradley. Those are great ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PressureCooker2600 Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 I remember playing Tombstone City the most. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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