parker bros vs activision

[bohoki]

ive had a 5200 for years and ive always been under the impression that parker brothers games are better than the activision games

mainly because the activision games are all nearly identical to their 2600 counterparts

 

but just recently it hit me that activision shot themselves in the foot by baking the 2600 games too good that it was hard to make any improvements when brought to the 5200

 

lets look at the 2600 versions

gyruss

frogger

montezuma's

popeye

 

they look like crap compared to their 5200

gyruss

frogger

montezuma

popeye

 

 

 

but activisions 2600 games look great

riverraid

kaboom

keystonekapers

pitfall 2

 

 

river raid

kaboom

keystone kapers

pitfall2

 

see what i mean they did too good on the 2600 and were victims of their own sucess by having no more room for improvement

i kind of feel bad now i first got my 5200 around 1986 and had no problems finding used games but i always ended up snubbing the activision games cause trying them out i already had them on the 2600 and they jsut looked to similar but while having the same parker bros. games they looked like clumsy lego versions and the 5200 looked like arcade quality by comparison

 

what do you think

Edited January 25, 2009 by bohoki

[Inky]

MInd you the 5200 Pitfall II has a second screen not on the 2600

[fiddlepaddle]

Yeah, I got my first 5200 and 2600 about the same time in 1982, came to the same conclusion, and did the same thing... I loved Space Invaders in the arcade that I didn't want it for any of the home consoles since they were so inferior. I just finally got 5200 Space Invaders last year. Still haven't even dug out the 5200 and played it yet!

 

I always thought Activision was just being cheap by doing minimal work in translation to other platforms. Once I started collecting for the collection's sake, though, anal stuff like "completeness" became more important than game play when it came to the decision of whether or not to buy the game.

 

Funny how our interests evolve over time, huh?

[slampam]

Activision maximized the 2600 hardware but barely touched the 800’s. That’s the problems with ports. Imagic’s ports of Atlantis & Demon Attack from the 2600 to the 400 have that same noticeable lack of platform zaz - but still fun. Games designed specifically for a platform, Rescue On Fractalus / Ballblazer, are mind-blowing by comparison. Activision finally did just that with Master of the Lamps 1985 (sadly it was too late for the 5200). I agree with this comment from Atarimania: “A classic! This was one of those memorable and original games that really used the 800's graphic and audio muscles to the fullest.”

Parker Brothers programmers 2600/A8 are best explained here: “We could have built 10 additional worlds for the 5200, but the Marketing folk wouldn't have allowed that because it would have been a 'different' game from the 2600.”