Are 7800 games harder?

[+davidcalgary29]

I've noticed that "Ms. Pac-Man", "Food Fight", and "Dig Dug" become more difficult more quickly than their counterparts on the 2600 (or, in the case of "Food Fight", on the XE). Was the 7800 known to have more challenging arcade games than other systems of its time?

[King Atari]

Xevious is harder the whole way through. Your target is closer to your ship, and stuff comes at you from all directions later in the game.

[theaveng]

Ms.Pac-Man and Dig Dug are definitely harder than the 2600 versions. Mainly because the 2600 enemies wander randomly, whereas the 7800 enemies have "brains" and they run directly to you.

 

Since I prefer challenge, I also prefer the harder 7800 versions.

[lonesome_pa]

I believe that 7800 games are harder than their 2600 counterparts; a good example being Asteroids.

[bigdcaldavis2k]

You're definitely right about Asteroids. In the 2600 version, you can practically play forever just by madly pressing the fire button and turning left and right. In the 7800 version, you won't last very long using the same strategy. And the 2600 version gives you an extra ship every 5,000 points...I don't remember what the extra ship requirement is in the 7800 version.

[Witchfynde]

And the 2600 version gives you an extra ship every 5,000 points...I don't remember what the extra ship requirement is in the 7800 version.

 

10,000, just like in the arcade game. And yeah, the game was definitely harder, since it starts out with only three asteroids, and already one of them could be moving fast! If I remember correctly in the arcade version, either none of the big asteroids EVER moved fast or they didn't move fast until after several screens had been cleared.

 

Since I just got it recently, I'd definitely say Donkey Kong Jr. is a bit tough, which must be a port of the Japanese version, since the Japanese version of the original Kong had the elevators as the second screen, which is the same way with the 7800 version. On Kong Jr., the keys screen doesn't appear until the fourth screen--I'm assuming, since I've yet to get past the third!--which is the second screen in the American arcade version. Sheesh!