Games that should have been made for Intellivision

[BladeJunker]

I don't think you got my point. I have zero interest in making lesser versions of old titles. Neither the "challenge" nor the potential for a bigger market attracts me. I don't think I'm the only one here that thinks so, but I don't know.

But isn't that sort of the nature of a port, an approximate but still console maximized version of a game. Your work is so good, how come you don't want more people to see it? Keith seems interested in keeping the Intellivision brand vital in the mind-share of rertrogaming, keeping it visible always helps in all forms.

 

I also wish people stopped pushing for remakes and clamour for more original games. That's where the challenge is.

 

I can play Ms. Pac-Man or Missile Command in any platform I want, even on MAME, so even though I own their conversions for the Intellivision, I have little interest or emotional attachment for their limited qualities. Doubly so for Missile Domination, which utilizes most resources in getting a good simulation of the missile contrails, to the detriment of other features and attributes of the game-play in the original. At least that is my opinion.

 

Reverse engineering an old game is hard, and making it fit on the Intellivision hardware in a way that still is playable, fun, and stands on it's own (rather than relying on its name recognition) is even harder still. Most programmers don't really attain this, whether by laziness, disinterest, or incompetence.

 

On the other hand, a fresh new take on old mechanics and a brand new concept, that's much harder still. I'd like to see more of that.

 

dZ.

I can sympathize with the downsides of remakes but people use that to show the mettle of their consoles IE. my console can do that game too. Personally I groan at all the Flappy Bird clones being made but I recognize how it helps tie the past to the future drawing younger crowds to perpetuate the interest in these retro consoles beyond the original fans.

 

Yeah but people collect all those ports regardless of MAME, they want "their" version, some people don't really play with anything but that one favorite console most of the time. DK2 has some unique elements but largely it is just Donkey Kong a game you can play on several platforms or in the aforementioned MAME so why make it at all, what logic does it serve?

 

You may not have any emotional attachment to limited quantities in theory but if you didn't care somewhat you wouldn't have said that at all. I know what exclusivity can do to any following, it sits with that small group and then dies with it. While some homebrews will get into Flashbacks sometimes a lot of them are just going to be YT videos to the vast majority of the world without more output paths like more cart sales, flash cart+ROM sales, or emulator ROM sales+(store bought)USB INTV controllers.

 

I know things are in there infancy and I've slammed the brakes on my expectations to a more reasonable pace, this is still the training phase so to speak. Things will have to stay within default parameters before limits get pushed later. I think I mistook your conservative stance on the hardware as limiting but you're really just trying to foster new growth.

[+DZ-Jay]

Was it really? I have to admit here that I don't own it yet, and I only listened to the voices once on a Youtube clip - but they didn't sound like the available allophones. I've been meaning to ask for a while. Maybe my hearing was just bad that day.

 

Yes, it's the IntyBASIC "VOICE" command that uses the allophone library provided by Joe Z. I recall at some point that Joe Z. mentioned that he contacted the guys from General Instruments and asked for permission to use and publish the allophone library printed in GI technical documentation, and they responded with something akin to "yeah, sure, go ahead."

 

 

How on earth would my statements divert resources from real potential homebrews, you give me too much credit. I think anyone with true knowledge on the hardware could happily feel confident in what a giant ass I am rather than pursuing anything they deem a fool's errand.

 

And there's the rub. Considering that Tarzilla is one of those programmers working on Intellivision games with "true knowledge of the hardware," I'm sure he happily feels confident in deeming your request a fool's errand -- and he is telling you so.

[+nanochess]

I think we are missing the point that people wants to play in Intellivision and will appreciate greatly a "strong" effort to port an arcade game even if it comes out with some limitations. Myself I never fire MAME.

 

Dz would have not made Ms PacMan but someone did, and even if it misses the top and bottom borders it's an excellent game.

 

I prefer to attempt a game and make a compromise (even calling it differently like my own Space Raid) rather than not working anything.

 

I think Berzerk is doable and someone should attempt it. Remember Atari and its ports, even limited, these are fun!!

[+DZ-Jay]

But isn't that sort of the nature of a port, an approximate but still console maximized version of a game. Your work is so good, how come you don't want more people to see it? Keith seems interested in keeping the Intellivision brand vital in the mind-share of rertrogaming, keeping it visible always helps in all forms.

 

I don't get this comment at all. I don't think I will be the only one to point out that most conversions/ports are lesser versions of their originals and not at all "console maximized."

 

I think you're offering an unrealistic scenario, where every single arcade conversion is painstakingly crafted to find that perfect balance between the hardware strengths, its limitations, and the original arcade's essence. I do not think this is the case at all in any console.

 

 

I can sympathize with the downsides of remakes but people use that to show the mettle of their consoles IE. my console can do that game too. Personally I groan at all the Flappy Bird clones being made but I recognize how it helps tie the past to the future drawing younger crowds to perpetuate the interest in these retro consoles beyond the original fans.

 

Yeah but people collect all those ports regardless of MAME, they want "their" version, some people don't really play with anything but that one favorite console most of the time. DK2 has some unique elements but largely it is just Donkey Kong a game you can play on several platforms or in the aforementioned MAME so why make it at all, what logic does it serve?

 

You may not have any emotional attachment to limited quantities in theory but if you didn't care somewhat you wouldn't have said that at all. I know what exclusivity can do to any following, it sits with that small group and then dies with it. While some homebrews will get into Flashbacks sometimes a lot of them are just going to be YT videos to the vast majority of the world without more output paths like more cart sales, flash cart+ROM sales, or emulator ROM sales+(store bought)USB INTV controllers.

 

My point is that a lot of the ports will get played some, impress with some particular technical qualification, and then shelved. I want the Intellivision canon to include really addictive, fun, and enjoyable games that endure the test of time; rather than a bunch of technical demos that showcase one specific thing or another, for the sake of comparing my console versus yours.

 

 

I know things are in there infancy and I've slammed the brakes on my expectations to a more reasonable pace, this is still the training phase so to speak. Things will have to stay within default parameters before limits get pushed later. I think I mistook your conservative stance on the hardware as limiting but you're really just trying to foster new growth.

 

But limits have been pushed harder. We have impressive games that take advantage of the Intellivision's hardware in ways that nobody thought technically possible 30 years ago. This has nothing to do with converting an arcade game onto the Intellivision.

 

I think you're taking the technical challenge of porting code for one CPU to another as the coup de maître of a console's capabilities. I disagree categorically. That is a purely programmer's point of view. I think fun and enjoyable games that people come back to over and over again -- old and new classics -- are what sets one console over another; whether the technical capabilities of the machine are breached or not.

 

-dZ.

[+DZ-Jay]

I think we are missing the point that people wants to play in Intellivision and will appreciate greatly a "strong" effort to port an arcade game even if it comes out with some limitations. Myself I never fire MAME.

 

Dz would have not made Ms PacMan but someone did, and even if it misses the top and bottom borders it's an excellent game.

 

I prefer to attempt a game and make a compromise (even calling it differently like my own Space Raid) rather than not working anything.

 

I think Berzerk is doable and someone should attempt it. Remember Atari and its ports, even limited, these are fun!!

 

Para los gustos, los colores. (Horses for courses.) I rather see people making original games that play to the strengths of the Intellivision. Why does it have to be "ports or nothing"?

Edited March 26, 2016 by DZ-Jay

[freewheel]

 

Why does it have to be "ports or nothing"?

 

It's symptomatic of the society we live in. Look at Hollywood - remakes, sequels, reboots. It's all about "familiar sells". Making something new is HARD. It's RISKY. And to a lot of the buying public, it's SCARY.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm somewhere in the middle of you guys. I do think most ports come off as fancy tech demos more than anything. And yet I'm hypocritically doing the very same thing. At least once, anyway. El shrug.

 

It's OK though. The general engine I could use to make a really shitty Berzerk clone is being repurposed into something - mostly new

[+nanochess]

 

Para los gustos, los colores. (Horses for courses.) I rather see people making original games that play to the strengths of the Intellivision. Why does it have to be "ports or nothing"?

Never said that I made Princess Quest and still proud of making an original side-scrolling game with so many constraints.

[+DZ-Jay]

Never said that I made Princess Quest and still proud of making an original side-scrolling game with so many constraints.

 

Here:

 

I prefer to attempt a game and make a compromise (even calling it differently like my own Space Raid) rather than not working anything.

 

 

 

 

 

It's symptomatic of the society we live in. Look at Hollywood - remakes, sequels, reboots. It's all about "familiar sells". Making something new is HARD. It's RISKY. And to a lot of the buying public, it's SCARY.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm somewhere in the middle of you guys. I do think most ports come off as fancy tech demos more than anything. And yet I'm hypocritically doing the very same thing. At least once, anyway. El shrug.

 

It's OK though. The general engine I could use to make a really shitty Berzerk clone is being repurposed into something - mostly new

 

I understand. It's just that all these threads are about making ports and everybody chipping in with their own idea of the "perfect port" of a game for the Intellivision. That's fine if it wasn't to the detriment of original content. Consider the dismissal and even downright contempt that some people exhibited for Piggy Bank just because it was an unknown title; only to be the subject of a bidding war for Best Game Of The Year (for better or worse), or at least a contender.

 

You hear comments such as "Piggy Bank cannot ever stand against Ms. Pac-Man," or "Christmas Carol doesn't even push the technical boundaries like D2K," and it is disappointing that people dismiss original content as lesser than a technical achievement. I want programmers to expand the Intellivision's canon with rich new titles.

 

I want to see more games like Whale Hunt, Space Versus, Piggy Bank, etc., and yes, even Goatnom.

 

-dZ.

Edited March 26, 2016 by DZ-Jay

[+Tarzilla]

I think Berzerk is doable and someone should attempt it. Remember Atari and its ports, even limited, these are fun!!

It is funny, I never said Berzerk couldn't be done, I said Berzerk should be done properly, with proper voice samples, not just an approximation. Even Frenzy would be doable, (in the right hands,) but again, in this day and age, is it worth the effort, especially if the end result is only "good enough?"

 

I get the desire of people to focus on their favourite console and collect new versions of games that never came out back in the day (and some times even play the games ) but if ommisions have to be made to something as distinctive as the Berzerk samples then it should wait until we can convert sounds, not just be done "good enough" and released.

 

Same with Sinistar, I think the Intellivision could handle it, but without the distinctive voice samples and roar, why bother?

 

Now I'll get back to programming Robozerk 2049.

PS, anyone know where I can get new twin stick controllers made in quantities? The source of hand made ones can't make 100 of them fast enough :-)

Maybe I'll have to make

[freewheel]

 

Consider the dismissal and even downright contempt that some people exhibited for Piggy Bank just because it was an unknown title; only to be the subject of a bidding war for Best Game Of The Year (for better or worse), or at least a contender.

 

You hear comments such as "Piggy Bank cannot ever stand against Ms. Pac-Man," or "Christmas Carol doesn't even push the technical boundaries like D2K,"

 

Wow. I guess I either don't see a lot of that type of comments, or I automatically filter them out. Because quite frankly I'd lose my shit if I saw that sort of sentiment here on a regular basis.

 

There's an *implicit* level of it, in how everyone jumps on yet-another-port-of-something-we-all-remember-from-the-80s - which disappoints me quite a bit. To the point of sometimes thinking "why bother? I can just make clone #432 of 80s game X and the drooling masses will reward me handsomely". But open disdain for original stuff? If people are keen on encouraging developers to not bother doing anything at all, that's a good way to start.

[freewheel]

Now I'll get back to programming Robozerk 2049.

 

 

If you're doing it for the Intellivision, it really should be Robozerk 2047

[mr_me]

Regarding Intellivoice, this is what I found on Wikipedia. It's not necessarily the best source of information so correct me if I am wrong. As DZ-Jay pointed out General Instrument developed 59 allophones for general speech synthesis, and that data is on some of their SP0256 chips but not the version in the Intellivoice. I guess Mattel wanted their own speech sounds and ROM space is expensive. So on the Mattel version of the chip there is data for the phrase "Mattel Electronics presents" and all the numbers and maybe a few other words but not the data for general speech. These are more natural sounding than the GI allophone synthesized words but limited. The 59 GI allophones are in the Odyssey2 voice module, so I think its why Missile Domination speech might sound like the Oddyssey2 speech synthesizer. I'm thinking the 59 allophones from GI must be on the Missile Domination cartridge and they must have been sourced from a non Mattel SP0256 chip. Dz-Jay also mentioned that someone out there has the ability to convert recorded voice to Intellivoice data, so I guess we will eventually have a game with naturally sounding speech to check out.

 

Back on topic, should more Intellivoice games have been made? Only six were originally completed. Mattel's policy was to have speech essential to gameplay. Only one game was made where it's optional, and I don't think third party developers had the ability to make voice games. I think optional speech is okay if done well and is not just a gimmick; just like good sound effects. But as was mentioned before, speech in Intellivision games can help with player feedback when limited by Intellivision's graphics system (eg. screen scrolling and text display); so maybe a game like that should be made.

[+Tarzilla]

If you're doing it for the Intellivision, it really should be Robozerk 2047

That was the first version I did. It had only 4 robots, no voice, every room was exactly the same and it took about 20 seconds to walk from one side of the screen to the other

[+Tarzilla]

Regarding Intellivoice, this is what I found on Wikipedia. It's not necessarily the best source of information so correct me if I am wrong. As DZ-Jay pointed out General Instrument developed 59 allophones for general speech synthesis, and that data is on some of their SP0256 chips but not the version in the Intellivoice. I guess Mattel wanted their own speech sounds and ROM space is expensive. So on the Mattel version of the chip there is data for the phrase "Mattel Electronics presents" and all the numbers and maybe a few other words but not the data for general speech. These are more natural sounding than the GI allophone synthesized words but limited. The 59 GI allophones are in the Odyssey2 voice module, so I think its why Missile Domination speech might sound like the Oddyssey2 speech synthesizer. I'm thinking the 59 allophones from GI must be on the Missile Domination cartridge and they must have been sourced from a non Mattel SP0256 chip. Dz-Jay also mentioned that someone out there has the ability to convert recorded voice to Intellivoice data, so I guess we will eventually have a game with naturally sounding speech to check out.

 

Back on topic, should more Intellivoice games have been made? Only six were originally completed. Mattel's policy was to have speech essential to gameplay. Only one game was made where it's optional, and I don't think third party developers had the ability to make voice games. I think optional speech is okay if done well and is not just a gimmick; just like good sound effects. But as was mentioned before, speech in Intellivision games can help with player feedback when limited by Intellivision's graphics system (eg. screen scrolling and text display); so maybe a game like that should be made.

A lot more Intellivoce games should be made, there are lots of legitimate games ideas that could use custom samples, not just speech. The built in allophones have limited use unless the game has a robot talking.

[Guest LiqMat]

Zookeeper arcade game.

[NumbThumb]

Games that should have been made for the Intellivision

 

Spy Hunter (Let´s Compare)

 

One of my favourite games on the C64 for a while. The music (Peter Gunn Theme) was just the coolest at the time...

 

I think an Inty version could look a lot like the C64 game.

 

I agree with DZ-jay on the original idea games, but at the same time I think porting (at least some classics that were not ported back in the day) benefits the Intellivision scene.
I think it raises the interest for the console.

 

Super Dogfight

 

This one is highly addictive.
One of those very simple games that just gets you hooked…
It is a two player only game and this video shows only one guy playing, but I hope you get the idea.

 

Personally I would set it in a space environment, black background with some stars, and replace the clouds with some flickering colors.

The “background story” would be two enemy spaceships (maybe triangular in shape) caught in a space anomaly (the flickering colored clouds).
The space anomaly would be the reason they go out on one side of the screen and appear on the opposite side.

Anyways, it may not look very intriguing but it is. A really fun one-on-one game.

[BladeJunker]

And there's the rub. Considering that Tarzilla is one of those programmers working on Intellivision games with "true knowledge of the hardware," I'm sure he happily feels confident in deeming your request a fool's errand -- and he is telling you so.

But I already know that so how could that be a rub. I deal with being a fool every minute of every day, that's just the nature of having no self esteem so I don't know what the heck he's getting at in the big picture sense. This isn't personal.

 

Mostly when it comes down to the people who have the ability saying "No, never." it kills all future attempts. I had to laugh because I was like "Man why are programmers so literal?" and the answer was apparent in your work dealing with finite defined elements. Schedules aside I'm always surprised when gifted people don't try more things more often, too many restraining elements I guess.

[BladeJunker]

I don't get this comment at all. I don't think I will be the only one to point out that most conversions/ports are lesser versions of their originals and not at all "console maximized."

I'll try to explain that better. When I say console maximized I mean each consoles maximum output, the best each one of them can do which varies. So when I say all ports are approximations of arcade originals is because they are, there is more often than not things cut or reduced.

 

I think you're offering an unrealistic scenario, where every single arcade conversion is painstakingly crafted to find that perfect balance between the hardware strengths, its limitations, and the original arcade's essence. I do not think this is the case at all in any console.

It varies but that is essentially true it just doesn't happen very often to the maximum potential. You know like when Tod Frye made Pac Man on 2600 he actually had a better flicker manager in mind but time and money demanded it get out the door where homebrew put that element in later for a better result.

 

The entire genesis of Yar's Revenge was because Star Castle wasn't working within the constraints bitd which then got Star Castle through homebrew.

 

During the time of 2600, INTV, and others it was hard to get approval for a game bigger than 4K so a ton of things possible just didn't happen very often or more so in the future with expanded carts.

 

Same can be said about 2.5D engines on 32-bit consoles, quite a few were written to use base system resources generating approximated 3D visuals through raycasting rather than actually making a true 3D engine to use all the hardware accelerated polygons it could generate. So essentially John Carmack was running regular Doom on some very crappy PCs IE. the consoles in the 90s.

 

I find it hard to believe you don't understand these compromises when you work with this stuff. Porting is one big exercise in cutting, reducing, compressing, that is what makes it so hard. If it were just a 1:1 transfer anybody could do it.

 

My point is that a lot of the ports will get played some, impress with some particular technical qualification, and then shelved. I want the Intellivision canon to include really addictive, fun, and enjoyable games that endure the test of time; rather than a bunch of technical demos that showcase one specific thing or another, for the sake of comparing my console versus yours.

I have no doubt limits have been pushed in the past and present, I'm sure developers 30 years ago thought a lot of these homebrews were impossible bitd, a lot of them seem surprised we all still play INTV now lol.

 

I think with IntvBASIC you will see those fun addictive titles you speak of for years to come. But as far as arcade ports that is expert territory in coding, all assembler in most cases. People want those arcade games you seem to say don't matter, I have some favorites but I'm not the only one asking.

 

But limits have been pushed harder. We have impressive games that take advantage of the Intellivision's hardware in ways that nobody thought technically possible 30 years ago. This has nothing to do with converting an arcade game onto the Intellivision.

I have no doubt limits have been pushed in the past and present, I'm sure developers 30 years ago thought a lot of these homebrews were impossible bitd, a lot of them seem surprised we all still play INTV now lol.

 

I think with IntvBASIC you will see those fun addictive titles you speak of for years to come. But as far as arcade ports that is expert territory in coding, all assembler in most cases. People want those arcade games you seem to say don't matter, I have some favorites but I'm not the only one asking for certain ports.

 

I think you're taking the technical challenge of porting code for one CPU to another as the coup de maître of a console's capabilities. I disagree categorically. That is a purely programmer's point of view. I think fun and enjoyable games that people come back to over and over again -- old and new classics -- are what sets one console over another; whether the technical capabilities of the machine are breached or not.

 

-dZ.

French had to look that one up lol, a master stroke hmm. I may be naive technically and INTV is the least like other consoles in that regard of culture but that is a thing I see nearly daily in my searches of all gaming systems. System limit pushing is a common factor of most any forum not just in peer comparison but also with titles against other titles. The closest example on INTV in an internal sense would probably be Donkey Kong versus DK2, we praise the heck out of DK2 because Coleco's version is so terrible. So in that regard minimum and maximum console capacity are measured and evaluated based on a game title.

 

I understand why you don't want to get into that brawl so to speak for console popularity but again that is a thing. What I find frustrating is the diminishing perception of all pre NES consoles and there standing into the future. Over on Sega-16 they have their fight for the future too as Nintendo fanboys rewrite history since the Big N "won" the war against Sega so basically the stance is Nintendo invented everything first lol.

[BladeJunker]

I don't get this comment at all. I don't think I will be the only one to point out that most conversions/ports are lesser versions of their originals and not at all "console maximized."

I'll try to explain that better. When I say console maximized I mean each consoles maximum output, the best each one of them can do which varies. So when I say all ports are approximations of arcade originals is because they are, there is more often than not things cut or reduced.

 

I think you're offering an unrealistic scenario, where every single arcade conversion is painstakingly crafted to find that perfect balance between the hardware strengths, its limitations, and the original arcade's essence. I do not think this is the case at all in any console.

It varies but that is essentially true it just doesn't happen very often to the maximum potential. You know like when Tod Frye made Pac Man on 2600 he actually had a better flicker manager in mind but time and money demanded it get out the door where homebrew put that element in later for a better result.

 

The entire genesis of Yar's Revenge was because Star Castle wasn't working within the constraints bitd which then got Star Castle through homebrew.

 

During the time of 2600, INTV, and others it was hard to get approval for a game bigger than 4K so a ton of things possible just didn't happen very often or more so in the future with expanded carts.

 

Same can be said about 2.5D engines on 32-bit consoles, quite a few were written to use base system resources generating approximated 3D visuals through raycasting rather than actually making a true 3D engine to use all the hardware accelerated polygons it could generate. So essentially John Carmack was running regular Doom on some very crappy PCs IE. the consoles in the 90s.

 

I find it hard to believe you don't understand these compromises when you work with this stuff. Porting is one big exercise in cutting, reducing, compressing, that is what makes it so hard. If it were just a 1:1 transfer anybody could do it.

 

My point is that a lot of the ports will get played some, impress with some particular technical qualification, and then shelved. I want the Intellivision canon to include really addictive, fun, and enjoyable games that endure the test of time; rather than a bunch of technical demos that showcase one specific thing or another, for the sake of comparing my console versus yours.

 

 

But limits have been pushed harder. We have impressive games that take advantage of the Intellivision's hardware in ways that nobody thought technically possible 30 years ago. This has nothing to do with converting an arcade game onto the Intellivision.

I have no doubt limits have been pushed in the past and present, I'm sure developers 30 years ago thought a lot of these homebrews were impossible bitd, a lot of them seem surprised we all still play INTV now lol.

 

I think with IntvBASIC you will see those fun addictive titles you speak of for years to come. But as far as arcade ports that is expert territory in coding, all assembler in most cases. People want those arcade games you seem to say don't matter, I have some favorites but I'm not the only one asking for certain ports.

 

I think you're taking the technical challenge of porting code for one CPU to another as the coup de maître of a console's capabilities. I disagree categorically. That is a purely programmer's point of view. I think fun and enjoyable games that people come back to over and over again -- old and new classics -- are what sets one console over another; whether the technical capabilities of the machine are breached or not.

 

-dZ.

French had to look that one up lol, a master stroke hmm. I may be naive technically and INTV is the least like other consoles in that regard of culture but that is a thing I see nearly daily in my searches of all gaming systems. System limit pushing is a common factor of most any forum not just in peer comparison but also with titles against other titles. The closest example on INTV in an internal sense would probably be Donkey Kong versus DK2, we praise the heck out of DK2 because Coleco's version is so terrible. So in that regard minimum and maximum console capacity are measured and evaluated based on a game title.

 

I understand why you don't want to get into that brawl so to speak for console popularity but again that is a thing. What I find frustrating is the diminishing perception of all pre NES consoles and there standing into the future. Over on Sega-16 they have their fight for the future too as Nintendo fanboys rewrite history since the Big N "won" the war against Sega so basically the stance is Nintendo invented everything first lol.

[freewheel]

 

The entire genesis of Yar's Revenge was because Star Castle wasn't working within the constraints bitd

 

There's a large heaping of irony happening here.

 

Personally I'd rather have one Yar's Revenge over 10 Star Castles any day. To each their own I guess.

[m-crew]

Maybe all you programmer's could just agree to disagree and as usual let the market decide.. It seems to me this issue of Ports or originals is an individual preference(just like politics, religion, Music ext).. A great game port or original is all good... Thank you!! to all the programmer's cheers!!!! now when is Galaga getting released... lol

[LidLikesIntellivision]

Haunted Adventure Trilogy: a superb sequel to Haunted House!

[BladeJunker]

 

There's a large heaping of irony happening here.

 

Personally I'd rather have one Yar's Revenge over 10 Star Castles any day. To each their own I guess.

I like Yar's Revenge but I also like Star Castle. Is the irony in that we'd have 10 Yar's Revenges for every 1 Star Castle most of the time? Personally with arcade titles especially hard ports you'd definitely want to just pick 1 rather than all of them, life is too short for that kind of work load.

[BladeJunker]

Haunted Adventure Trilogy: a superb sequel to Haunted House!

Are you trying to distract me, because it's working?

[freewheel]

Is the irony in that we'd have 10 Yar's Revenges for every 1 Star Castle most of the time?

 

The irony is that someone started in on a port of an arcade game, realized it would be too much for the hardware (and would end up as a sub-standard port), and instead created one of the best 2600 games of all time. Many people even rank it as THE best 2600 game.

 

Instead of a programmer fighting against the hardware in a vain effort to make yet another arcade port, we ended up with a truly unique classic. Which is kinda what several people have been saying here. It's often a big waste of time to try to port something. Instead, try something new and you can end up with an amazing game.

 

Yar's Revenge supports what people like DZ and Tarzilla are saying in terms of the futility of trying to port every single game to the Intellivision.