It Begins, Starting with the 7800

[Stun Runner 87]

You should make a sequel to "Worm".....................Maybe add powerups, bad guys like maybe birds that want to eat, weapons and duel player options..........

 

Some good ideas but I'm not really into sequels. In my opinion its much more fun writing new games rather than revisiting old ideas.

 

if you make new games in the future id be interested in buying more carts.

 

Have a look at my AA profile for links to my WIP 7800, Intellivision and Jaguar games.

I checked your page out. That "halloween" game looks like a winner.......did you ever finish that game, or are you still putting final touches into it.Put me down for a cart when its available.

[GroovyBee]

I checked your page out. That "halloween" game looks like a winner.

 

Thanks for the compliment.

[Jaynz]

Yay, new game came in today as I scour Amazon for the cheapies. Got 7800 Dig Dug, largely for my youngest girl who is a fan of the game. It's actually not too bad, but does suffer a little with the lag between hitting 'fire' and the pump linking up. It's minor, but noticable when compared to the arcade game and SOME other versions out there, but not nearly as bad as other ports. Fun, and a nice addition to the classic arcade library.

[AtariBrian]

Yay, new game came in today as I scour Amazon for the cheapies. Got 7800 Dig Dug, largely for my youngest girl who is a fan of the game. It's actually not too bad, but does suffer a little with the lag between hitting 'fire' and the pump linking up. It's minor, but noticable when compared to the arcade game and SOME other versions out there, but not nearly as bad as other ports. Fun, and a nice addition to the classic arcade library.

I never got into Dig Dug until recently for the 7800, very fun game !

[Jaynz]

Pac-Man Collection

Got this in today, yay! Excellent conversion of Pac-Man (and all its hacks) all around. PMP easily deserves all his accolades for this one. The ONLY downside is that PacMan really shows off the weakness of the 7800 controller design. They'll have to make do for now, but I'm definately going to have to trade up to something in the future - I had heard that there are pass-thru kits for Genesis pads... are they available somewhere?

[+Mitch]

You don't need an adapter of any kind for Genesis controllers on the 7800 unless you need the second 7800 fire button. In this case you don't, so it's plug and play.

 

Mitch

[Jaynz]

Mitch, I'm a little more concerned about eventually needing it, and not having a controller for it. I'm not sure what games require the second button - and I'm sure I'll hit one of them eventually. Or I'll wind up coding one at the very least. :S

 

Anyway...

 

Joust Already had the surprisingly good 2600 version of this game, but snagged up the 7800 version on the cheap from Amazon. I am simply amazed at how this game has been ported over. Not quite arcade-perfect, but very very good visually, and the gameplay is surprisingly smooth and fast. Sounds are poor, unsurprisingly, but are actually better than the 2600's basic noises. Other than the PacMan collection, easily the best of the games thus far.

[+Mitch]

Mitch, I'm a little more concerned about eventually needing it, and not having a controller for it. I'm not sure what games require the second button

 

Here's a list for you. http://www.atari7800.org/7800list.htm

 

Mitch

[Jaynz]

Okay, got the last of the 7800 games currently out at one of the local stores - so I've wiped out three so far! This one was "Desert Falcon", which is a bit of an oddity and Zaxxon clone with ... more oddities. Plays OK... but I admit I would have love to seen Zaxxon instead.

[Jaynz]

Centipede

Not a bad translation to the Atari 7800, though, as always, the sound is a little lacking. All the enemies are there and recognizable and it has some good fast gameplay going. The 7800 controller isn't the best option for this game, which makes me wonder if a track-ball version was in the works.

 

Galaga

I'm going to feel like I'm harping on the Atari 7800's pathetic sound chip.. but I am. This game is a solid port all around, though graphically a little inferior to the NES version. Sound really tries to get all the arcade stuff in there, but the chip just isn't up to it. A very solid addition to the 7800 line up, and it actually makes me wish for Galaxian as well...

[+Mitch]

Centipede

The 7800 controller isn't the best option for this game, which makes me wonder if a track-ball version was in the works.

 

It actually does include trakball code, unfortunately the 7800 trakball was never released. However there is a hacked version of centipede that works with the 2600 trakball.

 

Mitch

[mimo]

And it is awesome

[Jaynz]

Asteroids

Got this one on the cheap from Amazon, as it wasn't high on my priority list. The idiots that stamped it put a 'trade sticker' on top of the front silver sticker! Had to clean it off very carefully and to some creative repair with Sharpies to hide the damage. Morons. The game itself plays close to the arcade original, but with fairly nice raster graphics for the asteroids and UFOs, basically a nice step up from the 2600 version. Oddly, the player's ship is what is lacking in detail, being a flat green triangle. Overall a fun little game, though, and a good port, but nothing that marks it as special or particularly nostalgiac.

[+Allan]

It actually does include trakball code, unfortunately the 7800 trakball was never released. However there is a hacked version of centipede that works with the 2600 trakball.

 

Mitch

 

I didn't know that. I wonder if you could mod a 2600 trackball to make it work.

 

Allan

[kenfused]

Some page, maybe atari museum, had circuit diagrams for modifying one of the other atari trakballs to be an atari 7800 trakball. I have never tried it to see if it works or checked if the released centipede even has the code intact to use a 7800 trak ball. The source code has it and made it much easier to covert to use the 2600 trak ball controller although it required adding a lot of dlis to sample the trak ball.

[Bones Brigade]

I didn't know that. I wonder if you could mod a 2600 trackball to make it work.

 

Allan

 

You don't need to. Just have Albert or someone else here who makes 7800 carts make you a cart of the modded Centipede-TB BIN and use a stock 2600 CX-22/CX-80 Trak-ball.

[Jaynz]

Xevious

The other half of my previous order (I'm running out of the 'cheap' games now).. Xevious has a rattle in the cart, but it works and I'm loathe to open the cart, ruin the sticker, and see what's shakin' inside. The game is surprisingly true to the arcade, albeit not as pretty and certainly not as good-sounding. I'm amazed at the graphics shown, though, and the smooth vertical scrolling is pretty nice. Easily shows that games like 1941, Dragon Spirit, etc., could have found a home on this console if it had been better supported.

[Jaynz]

Super PacMan

I guess this will be the last AtariAge order for a pit.. my careful plans, destroyed!

 

This homebrew is simply amazing. Super PacMan is a bit of a red-headed step-child in the Pac Family, not doing well in the arcades and missing out almost completely in the consoles at the time. Bringing this one home is a coup, to be sure. The game plays and feels much like the arcade version, complete with intermissions and wonky 'scared ghost' moments. So this one is a real treat to have. PMP has done a wonderful port. If there's a negative here, it is, as always, the sound. The 7800 isn't capable of the muscial interludes that Super PacMan had to offer, so the music falls a little flat. It's not painful (as per Donkey Kong Jr), but it is a... sour note. Otherwise, a must-get homebrew for any 7800 fan.

[Stun Runner 87]

I read on this page about the trackball for the 7800.

When I use the 2600 trackball to play the 7800 centipede, it works just fine for me...........why is this? Am I just lucky?

[+Mitch]

You probably have your trakball set in joystick emulation mode. Not quite the same think as true trakball mode.

 

Mitch

[Jaynz]

Arghle!

 

Had to do a lot of housework today, and the price was the Atari 7800! Well, somewhat. The unit I got had a decidedly ragged power cord running up to it and somehow it got torn in all the housework today. So, that one's ruined and I've got a new cord on order. Guess I'm back to emulation for the meantime, though this means that I'm out PacMan Collection and Super PacMan for now. *sniffle*

[Bones Brigade]

Arghle!

 

Had to do a lot of housework today, and the price was the Atari 7800! Well, somewhat. The unit I got had a decidedly ragged power cord running up to it and somehow it got torn in all the housework today. So, that one's ruined and I've got a new cord on order. Guess I'm back to emulation for the meantime, though this means that I'm out PacMan Collection and Super PacMan for now. *sniffle*

psst...

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/200736-atari-7800-homebrew-thread/

[Jaynz]

Yeah, found them yesterday. I didn't realize that the ROMs posted were the final ones.

[Jaynz]

Jr Pac Man

Should I just make a new thread to sing PMP's praises here? This is a VERY well done version of one of the more obscure PacMan titles, complete with intermissions, all the mazes, and the oddities that make Jr Pac different from his parents and siblings. Picked this one up from the AtariAge store and I'm very pleased with it! If the 7800 line-up had quality and more titles like this in 1984, video gaming history would have been VERY different.

 

Much kudos!

[Jaynz]

Robotron 2084

I'm REALLY scouring Amazon at this point, and I think someone's noticed due to the increasing prices of 7800 games over there, dammit. I want to compare this to the arcade game, but I only saw the old game ONCE in the arcades, and it was destroyed by some irate player soon after. It is a fairly hard game, plays fast, sound okay. The 7800 version feels like a "Wiliams" games, so I'm betting that it came off pretty well as a port. Way too hard for my girls to play, sadly, so it may be a game that won't see much time in the console, unfortunately.