highinfidelity Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Yesterday I got a copy of Protector/YASI after reading its excellent review by videogamecritic.com. My purchase came very late as when when this combo of games was released I had already grabbed a Sean Kelly's multicart, so for a long time I didn't think of looking for new releases. My oh my if these games are AWESOME!!! Protector (Defender) is made so well that it may very well compete against its emulation on MAME. Of course MAME is "the original", but Defender is so much vector-oriented that this Vectrex port may even beat it. The smart bomb animation and the explosions are as vectorial as you can get. Terrific. After having seen that, I admit I wasn't expecting much from Yet Another Space Invaders. But when I turned the game on I had another surprise: the game is an almost perfect emulation of the arcade classic. Seen the previous translations made by experienced programmer John Dondzila I figured how hard that game was to port on the Vectrex, so YASI left me literally open-mouthed. It is pure raster display, with sprites IDENTICAL to those of the arcade. I wonder if even the gameplay has been taken from the arcade, as it looks much more like an emulation than a port. Really, I don't know how in the world Alex Herbert could manage to put all those sprites on the screen. Impressive. Not even to mention the fact that the cartridge saves your 5 high scores permanently! Who knows anything about programmer Alex Herbert? Is he perhaps working on something new for the Vectrex? He did such a good job on these games that I could barely believe my eyes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthkur Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 I'll second those sentiments. I love my Protector/Y.A.S.I. cart. At $12.50 it truly is a bargain at twice the price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nonner242 Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Both are wicked games... Id love to hear about something new he could be creating too. Vectrex needs some lovin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Ragan Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Agreed. Sure wish Martijn Wenting would finally release that Vectrex BASIC (HINT, HINT)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nonner242 Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 I really want that Vectrex OS. Ive been waiting soooooooo patiently. I can die happy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fellow Atari Man Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Who knows anything about programmer Alex Herbert? Is he perhaps working on something new for the Vectrex? He seems to be one of those kinds of people that have disappeared for a while, as forums for his website have never shown up (IIRC) and he was working on Berzerk Arena where you could hook up two Vectrexes and go through a maze to seek out and shoot the other player (I think) but I haven't seen or heard any development from that game in like forever either. Hopefully he'll pop back up at some point and post some new news? And yeah, like everyone else, I played the hell out of Y. A. S. I./Protector too. I've never heard a bad review of that one and probably never will. Have you gotten into the unlockable additions on Y. A. S. I. yet? Nice to have some variations on that one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nonner242 Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 I dont think I unlocked anything. But I could be wrong.....it happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrLove0378 Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 ok, so I went and looked at it on Youtube, and I was blown away. And only $12.50? I'm buying. I'm also jonesing for the new Odyssey2 233-in-1 multicart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highinfidelity Posted October 22, 2009 Author Share Posted October 22, 2009 Have you gotten into the unlockable additions on Y. A. S. I. yet?Don't think so... Can you please expand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+moycon Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 I have this game as well. (Although my cover is different) I agree, really well done!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mos6507 Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 I emailed Alex the other day because the new AtariVox/VecVox combo is going to need a new driver to access the EEPROM and I never got a reply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari Smeghead Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 (edited) I'm assuming you all bought it directly from John Dondzila at Classic Game Creations? After looking at John's site, I'm rather blown away by the sheer number of titles. Simply amazing! I don't have a Vectrex myself, but my brother does, and Christmas is coming. I think I'll buy him Protector/YASI, and maybe another game or two from this collection! Cheers, Smeg Edited October 22, 2009 by Atari Smeghead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Ragan Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Have you gotten into the unlockable additions on Y. A. S. I. yet?Don't think so... Can you please expand? You earn a new feature with every 2000 points you score. Get a high score of 2450, for instance, and you unlock the first of these features. Get a high score of 12890 and you unlock (all?) six of them. The point total doesn't carry over so you have to score them all in a single game. However, the cartridge has a save feature (!) so once the features are unlocked, they stay unlocked, even after power off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vdub_bobby Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 I emailed Alex the other day because the new AtariVox/VecVox combo is going to need a new driver to access the EEPROM and I never got a reply. AFAIK Alex has almost completely disappeared from the homebrew scene. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horseboy Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 I'm also jonesing for the new Odyssey2 233-in-1 multicart. Neat! I almost bought the 128-in-1 two weeks ago, but I decided to wait until I got my O2 out of storage. Glad I waited. I need to get a Vectrex too, so I can play all of his other wonderful games. BTW, on his ordering page why does he have 2 different sections of Vectrex games? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthkur Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 ok, so I went and looked at it on Youtube, and I was blown away. And only $12.50? I'm buying. I'm also jonesing for the new Odyssey2 233-in-1 multicart. You and me both. I've had the 128-in-1 for a few years now and have had lots of fun with it. I can't wait to see what new goodies are going to be on the updated one. I'm really hoping for Spiderman and Tutankham. I'm assuming you all bought it directly from John Dondzila at Classic Game Creations? Yes, that's exactly where I got mine. Have you gotten into the unlockable additions on Y. A. S. I. yet?Don't think so... Can you please expand? You earn a new feature with every 2000 points you score. Get a high score of 2450, for instance, and you unlock the first of these features. Get a high score of 12890 and you unlock (all?) six of them. The point total doesn't carry over so you have to score them all in a single game. However, the cartridge has a save feature (!) so once the features are unlocked, they stay unlocked, even after power off. I had no idea about that. Thanks for the info. BTW, on his ordering page why does he have 2 different sections of Vectrex games? I believe the the first section is his own creations of the second is from others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fellow Atari Man Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Yeah Jess Ragan got it right about the scoring, although I think it's in increments of a thousand. Just have a few good games and you'll start noticing the stuff, it's under variations or something, I can't recall offhand... BTW, on his ordering page why does he have 2 different sections of Vectrex games? I believe the the first section is his own creations of the second is from others. Yeah, several of the games--Protector/Y. A. S. I., Vaboom!/Vectrace, etc.--were originally sold by Mark Shaker on his vectrexcarts.com website. John Dondzilla volunteered to take it over for Mark when Mark's dad went into the hospital for a while and he spent a lot of time going to the hospital to see him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highinfidelity Posted October 23, 2009 Author Share Posted October 23, 2009 (edited) You earn a new feature with every 2000 points you score. Get a high score of 2450, for instance, and you unlock the first of these features. Get a high score of 12890 and you unlock (all?) six of them. The point total doesn't carry over so you have to score them all in a single game. However, the cartridge has a save feature (!) so once the features are unlocked, they stay unlocked, even after power off. Oh lord I went higher than 6000 points yesterday, if only I knew... I didn't notice anything special, though, how are these features supposed to be unlocked? I kinda hate "easter eggs" and hidden stuff, I feel deprived of part of the good work the programmers did to fit all thy could into the cart. Personally I really wonder why they like to put "two games plus a hidden third" (groan) rather than three games full stop. It's so cheesy. AFAIK Alex has almost completely disappeared from the homebrew scene.13 pages... In short terms? Did he simply disappear? These things are quite alarming. I wonder if he's doing okay. Let's hope so. Edited October 23, 2009 by highinfidelity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard H. Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Anyone seen the unlockable game in the LE version ? It's called 'Spike goes down' and is the forerunner to MGD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fellow Atari Man Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 You earn a new feature with every 2000 points you score. Get a high score of 2450, for instance, and you unlock the first of these features. Get a high score of 12890 and you unlock (all?) six of them. The point total doesn't carry over so you have to score them all in a single game. However, the cartridge has a save feature (!) so once the features are unlocked, they stay unlocked, even after power off. Oh lord I went higher than 6000 points yesterday, if only I knew... I didn't notice anything special, though, how are these features supposed to be unlocked? I kinda hate "easter eggs" and hidden stuff, I feel deprived of part of the good work the programmers did to fit all thy could into the cart. They're not. Just start up Y. A. S. I., and on the main screen, press 2 for Options, then two again. Keep on repeatedly pressing 2 and you'll see a variety of variations to choose from: you start off with the regular game (A), then others include steerable missiles, cloaking invaders, moving bunkers, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari Smeghead Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 I ordered and paid for a copy of Protector/YASI (and VecMania) from John. His prices are quite reasonable. Makes me really want my own Vectrex, but my brother will be blown away by his Christmas gift. And hey, I can play it on Christmas Day! Cheers, Smeg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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