Scrapyard Dog

[walter_J64bit]

Have anyone put a map together of all the worlds of Scrapyard Dog? Where can get a copy of it?

[+Mitch]

Not that I know of, that would be pretty cool though.

 

Mitch

[King Atari]

It's too bad the game didn't come out earlier in the system's life, it could have provided some competition to Super Mario Bros. (though topping it would've been doubtful).

[Brad2600]

Looks like a nice game.

 

What is the premise for it?

 

I'd bid on it if I saw a copy on EBay.

[Cousin Vinnie]

It's a poor man's Super Mario Brothers.

 

A mob guy kidnaps a scrapyard owner's dog for ransom. Long jumps and urban silliness ensues.

 

Cousin Vinnie

[DracIsBack]

I quite like SCRAPYARD DOG - it's long, varied and quite fun. The graphics and sounds are pretty good. My only two gripes ... it can be *REALLY* hard and that ending is a pain in the butt.

[supercat]

I quite like SCRAPYARD DOG - it's long, varied and quite fun. The graphics and sounds are pretty good. My only two gripes ... it can be *REALLY* hard and that ending is a pain in the butt.

242448[/snapback]

 

Any possibility of someone producing a "trainer" for it?

[SteveW]

I only got to that final screen once before, and the last 'boss' was that stupid sliding tile puzzle game! I was so disappointed. I've always hated those things. Naturally, I couldn't complete the puzzle before the saw blade reached the dog. I've never tried playing it all the way to the end again. No point now.

 

Have any of you guys ever reached the end of the Lynx version of Scrapyard Dog, and does it have the same tile game ending? I've never quite made it to the end.

Edited October 2, 2005 by SteveW

[+Mitch]

I only got to that final screen once before, and the last 'boss' was that stupid sliding tile puzzle game! I was so disappointed. I've always hated those things. Naturally, I couldn't complete the puzzle before the saw blade reached the dog. I've never tried playing it all the way to the end again. No point now.

 

Have any of you guys ever reached the end of the Lynx version of Scrapyard Dog, and does it have the same tile game ending? I've never quite made it to the end.

941479[/snapback]

 

Yes, I think it's the "final boss". I never could beat the game on the real console so I cheated and used emulation save states. That's how I beat Water Ski and Tank Command as well.

 

Mitch

[shadow460]

I liked what I played of Scrapyard Dog.

I didn't know you could beat Tank Command--haven't played it much. Now I really hope it comes up on ebay and I can afford it.

 

Pardon me for digressing, but is Tank Command as much fun (or more) than Mean 18, the other R7 title?

 

Okay, okay, I digressed. Scrapyard Dog. Discuss.

[+Mitch]

Water Ski and Tank Command both have a high difficulty ramp. The last level or so are nearly impossible. However, every game is the same so it comes down to memorizing the layout and perfecting your route.

 

Mitch

[DracIsBack]

Water Ski and Tank Command both have a high difficulty ramp. The last level or so are nearly impossible. However, every game is the same so it comes down to memorizing the layout and perfecting your route.

 

Mitch

941878[/snapback]

 

I always found WATER SKI in particular to be really, really tough. Even the first level was crazy hard., IMO.

[Trip_Cannon]

I only got to that final screen once before, and the last 'boss' was that stupid sliding tile puzzle game! I was so disappointed. I've always hated those things. Naturally, I couldn't complete the puzzle before the saw blade reached the dog. I've never tried playing it all the way to the end again. No point now.

 

Yeah, I remember the first time I got to the end and all I could think of is, gees, this is a little weird. Nevertheless, the game had it's moments and I think it's still a standout for 7800 titles...

[DracIsBack]

Yeah, I remember the first time I got to the end and all I could think of is, gees, this is a little weird. Nevertheless, the game had it's moments and I think it's still a standout for 7800 titles...

942552[/snapback]

 

Yeah -- it had some warts (the ending and the high difficulty in spots were biggies for me), but it also vindicated the 7800 in many respects. Until I played SCRAPYARD DOG in 1990, I had my doubts as to whether the 7800 was actually even capable of playing a long, detailed sidescroller like SUPER MARIO or ALEX KIDD. All the 7800 games seemed really short and repetitive. SCRAPYARD DOG was the first title I played that had 17 sidescrolling levels, hidden rooms and all the goodies you'd expect in a sidescroller. Then came MIDNIGHT MUTANTS, COMMANDO and ALIEN BRIGADE ... and I quickly realized that Atari was just being lazy for the first couple of years the 7800 was alive.

[shadow460]

Think about it though. If they produced stuff like Asteroids, Centipede and Galaga for the first few years, they could trounce on Coleco and Mattel for that time period.

Then, in 1986 or 1988 (assuming the 7800 came out in 1984 when it was supposed to), they could just up the programming a bit and compete with Nintendo as well.

I think the 7800 could have bested more than one system if it had been handled right.

I tell some people "my old Atari" has some of the technology found in the PS2! Til PS2, who but an Atari owner knew of backward compatibility?

 

I think Atari's consoles have been way powerful for their times. When I think of over powerful consoles, the 7800, the Lynx, the N64 and the Saturn come to mind.

I'd thought maybe DC was one, too, but it was really a 128 bit system, although it competed more with PSX and N64 than PS2 and GameCube.

[Trip_Cannon]

Yeah -- it had some warts (the ending and the high difficulty in spots were biggies for me), but it also vindicated the 7800 in many respects. Until I played SCRAPYARD DOG in 1990, I had my doubts as to whether the 7800 was actually even capable of playing a long, detailed sidescroller like SUPER MARIO or ALEX KIDD. All the 7800 games seemed really short and repetitive. SCRAPYARD DOG was the first title I played that had 17 sidescrolling levels, hidden rooms and all the goodies you'd expect in a sidescroller. Then came MIDNIGHT MUTANTS, COMMANDO and ALIEN BRIGADE ... and I quickly realized that Atari was just being lazy for the first couple of years the 7800 was alive.

942567[/snapback]

 

Absolutely, my thoughts exactly... Unfortunately Atari was a lazier for a lot longer. But those final games were pretty amazing and should have been released far before. Where NES had a game like Commando in 1986, Atari had it in 1989. Where NES had Rampage and Double Dragon in 1988, Atari had it, again, in 1989. And, I know these are Nintendo commodities, but classics like Donkey Kong appeared several years later on the 7800.

[DracIsBack]

Absolutely, my thoughts exactly... Unfortunately Atari was a lazier for a lot longer. But those final games were pretty amazing and should have been released far before. Where NES had a game like Commando in 1986, Atari had it in 1989. Where NES had Rampage and Double Dragon in 1988, Atari had it, again, in 1989. And, I know these are Nintendo commodities, but classics like Donkey Kong appeared several years later on the 7800.

942839[/snapback]

 

There's a couple of different issues at play.

 

In 1986. the Tramiels literally threw the 7800 to market with games that were finished in 1984. They cinced on everything right down to cheap black and white labels. They wanted to make a fast buck, even though the games weren't modern anymore.

 

In 1987 and 1988, they had run out of games and decided to be as cheap as possible continuing support by either finishing off old games that were started in 1984 or quickly porting games from other systems that were cheap to license and program. At the same time, they pushed the XE over the 7800, hoping to make it the flagship and sell lots of computer games and peripherals as a result.

 

The XE tanked and the 7800 actually sold better, despite Atari's neglect. By the time they realized the XEGS was dying and they needed to be more competitive on the 7800, it was late 1988, and most of the NES style games weren't ready until late 1989 and 1990. The problem? In 1989, the Genesis and Turbografx came out and largely pushed the 7800 and Master System off of limited shelf space.

 

The most "NES like games" never saw wide release.

[MaDDuck]

Absolutely, my thoughts exactly... Unfortunately Atari was a lazier for a lot longer. But those final games were pretty amazing and should have been released far before. Where NES had a game like Commando in 1986, Atari had it in 1989. Where NES had Rampage and Double Dragon in 1988, Atari had it, again, in 1989. And, I know these are Nintendo commodities, but classics like Donkey Kong appeared several years later on the 7800.

942839[/snapback]

 

There's a couple of different issues at play.

 

In 1986. the Tramiels literally threw the 7800 to market with games that were finished in 1984. They cinced on everything right down to cheap black and white labels. They wanted to make a fast buck, even though the games weren't modern anymore.

 

In 1987 and 1988, they had run out of games and decided to be as cheap as possible continuing support by either finishing off old games that were started in 1984 or quickly porting games from other systems that were cheap to license and program. At the same time, they pushed the XE over the 7800, hoping to make it the flagship and sell lots of computer games and peripherals as a result.

 

The XE tanked and the 7800 actually sold better, despite Atari's neglect. By the time they realized the XEGS was dying and they needed to be more competitive on the 7800, it was late 1988, and most of the NES style games weren't ready until late 1989 and 1990. The problem? In 1989, the Genesis and Turbografx came out and largely pushed the 7800 and Master System off of limited shelf space.

 

The most "NES like games" never saw wide release.

942933[/snapback]

 

 

THANK YOU!!!!

That's about the best summerazation of the 7800/XE/NES story I've heard!

You hit the nail on the head.

Da*n Tramiels.

[popcorn]

Do you guys have a solution for the damn sliding puzzle?

 

[+Propane13]

52 minutes ago, popcorn said:

Do you guys have a solution for the damn sliding puzzle?

 

Yes. I tried to explain how in the Scrapyard Dog maps page.

 

Here's the direct link:

[+Propane13]

Actually, since this thread was started and killed before I created the maps, here's the entire list of maps:

 

https://atari7800.org/scrapyarddogmap.htm

[Giles N]

@walter_J64bit

Here you can watch all the levels of the entire game.

 

 

[Giles N]

Tired of being Louie with the big red nose?

 

Try this hack:

 

One hack has a better-looking Louie.

 

The other hack has you being Scraps the Dog resquing his kidnapped owner.

 

Using the header for the Hack, you can get eternal life, which may make it a lot less frustrating.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 21, 2021 by Giles N

[walter_J64bit]

Thanks!