jetset Posted August 16, 2003 Share Posted August 16, 2003 WoW !!! I had forgotten just how awesome this game is! I've had the game but never bothered playing it since I didn't have the dual joystick coupler. I got one today in the mail from ebay. I played for an hour nonstop! Then I moved onto Space Dungeon, which is no slouch either with the djc. Robotron has to be (imho) the best arcade translation for the 5200!! (Yeah there are plenty of equals...Im just on a Robo-kick right now) What do you guys think? Who else has it??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZylonBane Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 5200 Robotron is insanely clunky/chunky. Space Dungeon blows it away technically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetboot Jack Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 Bah ZB Robotron on the 5200 is great. SD moves a fraction of the number of independent software sprites that 2084 does, so what if it is no as smooth, it can't be expected... 5200 Robotron is a very good conversion given the hardware its running on -- go 5200 Robotron I say! sTeVE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sku_u Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 Bah ZB Robotron on the 5200 is great. SD moves a fraction of the number of independent software sprites that 2084 does, so what if it is no as smooth, it can't be expected... 5200 Robotron is a very good conversion given the hardware its running on -- go 5200 Robotron I say! sTeVE Since the PS Robotron came out, this version is well...dated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 It's not bad, but I always thought it could be a wee bit better. It seems kinda clunky and the colors are dull. The 7800 version is by far my favorite. http://www.atariprotos.com/5200/software/r...on/robotron.htm Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Cafeman Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 I've never played 5200 Robotron. I never see it in the wild, maybe I should pick it up at the next expo I attend. I will no doubt forget by then, and besides I also don't think I'd like it since I own it on Digital Eclipse compilations. That is an awful lot of enemies to put up on-screen, I assume the enemies are background graphics. Given that the game is probably 16K I bet it would have been nearly impossible to make it move pixel-by-pixel smooth. I do love Space Dungeon (who wouldn't?!), but it gets a bit choppy sometimes too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetset Posted August 20, 2003 Author Share Posted August 20, 2003 I've never played 5200 Robotron. I never see it in the wild, maybe I should pick it up at the next expo I attend. I will no doubt forget by then, and besides I also don't think I'd like it since I own it on Digital Eclipse compilations. That is an awful lot of enemies to put up on-screen, I assume the enemies are background graphics. Given that the game is probably 16K I bet it would have been nearly impossible to make it move pixel-by-pixel smooth. I do love Space Dungeon (who wouldn't?!), but it gets a bit choppy sometimes too. That's the thing though, the game allows a TON of enimies on screen without flicker, and it is a *little* choppy at times, but not much. I'm not sure how it is accomplished....you just have to play it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goochman Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 When I first got this on my Atari 800 I loved it - It was 'close enough' for me at the time. However, Time has not been kind to this translation IMHO - Chunkyness aside the angle of the missile Up and Down is terrible - It looks as if we're 'shooting from the hip' vs a nice straight line - If that was corrected I would prob still play this rendition but this flaw makes it too frustrating to go back from MAME Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 When I first got this on my Atari 800 I loved it - It was 'close enough' for me at the time. However, Time has not been kind to this translation IMHO Yeah that about sums it up. My friend and I played the hell out of it back in the day (I would shoot, he would move), but I just can't get into it anymore. I have a funny (kinda) story about Robotron and the programmer that I will post when I dig it out of a bunch of e-mails I have stored on my computer. Interesting stuff... Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keir Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 Robotron was the first game I ever played on a 5200 (about 2 years ago) and it convinced me to buy the system and start collecting for it. To this day, I have not played another version. Sadly, I acctually own the 7800 version, just haven't tried it yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Cafeman Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 I have a funny (kinda) story about Robotron and the programmer that I will post when I dig it out of a bunch of e-mails I have stored on my computer. Interesting stuff... Tempest Today is a good day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 Quote: I have a funny (kinda) story about Robotron and the programmer that I will post when I dig it out of a bunch of e-mails I have stored on my computer. Interesting stuff... Tempest Today is a good day. Well it's not that easy, it's in one of the e-mails I got from a former Atari programmer but I don't remember which one. It's not so much of a story as it is an amusing little tidbit. Something about the programmer fixing a bug that had popped up at the last moment and basically killing the game. A substantial portion of the game had to be re-written because of the "bug fix". I'll have more details later. BTW I did manage to track the programmer down, but I didn't have the balls to ask her about it. She really doesn't remember much about those days anyway. Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Cafeman Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 "her" ? What is her name? Did she do other games? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 her" ? What is her name? Did she do other games? Judy Bogart and no she didn't. She was supposed to do a 5200 Garfield game (which is the original reason I tracked her down), but that never got past the drawing board. Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Allan Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 her" ? What is her name? Did she do other games? Judy Bogart and no she didn't. She was supposed to do a 5200 Garfield game (which is the original reason I tracked her down), but that never got past the drawing board. Tempest http://www.atariage.com/software_page.html...wareLabelID=660 Maybe the Al's could update the programmer section for 5200 Robotron Allan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Allan Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 I have a funny (kinda) story about Robotron and the programmer that I will post when I dig it out of a bunch of e-mails I have stored on my computer. Interesting stuff... Tempest We'd all love to hear any of these little tidbits and stories. You should collect them all (if any more) and add them to your protos web site. Allan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 We'd all love to hear any of these little tidbits and stories. You should collect them all (if any more) and add them to your protos web site. Yeah I've been meaning to do that. I have multiple e-mails and interviews from a bunch of programmers that I've been meaning to make a page about. Maybe after I get the 7800 and 8-bit sections up. Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZylonBane Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 Regarding the animation capabilites of the 8-bits, there was an obscure little Robotron clone called Arena 3000 (also released for the BBC and C64). It put about as many enemies onscreen as Robotron, and moved them all in smooth 1-pixel steps. Yeah, it was a little slower at the start of a wave, but the player movement was in a separate loop so you never experienced slowdown. Anyway, my main beef with the A8/5200 version is that the sprites are so terribly drawn. 7800 Robotron runs at exactly the same resolution, but looks much better. And you can't entirely chalk that up to the 7800's larger palette. Heck, the 5200 Brain missiles are two pixels wide! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desolate One Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 I have been looking for a complete 5200 Robotron for the longest time but they just aren't popping up! How much should I expect to pay for one? Or perhaps just the cart and coupler? Anyone have extras? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 5200 Robotron is insanely clunky/chunky. Space Dungeon blows it away technically. You think Space Dungeon is better? SD is another disappointly 'chunky' game and has even worse problems with jumpiness and slowdown than Robotron does. Too bad there wasn't a 7800 port... I have been looking for a complete 5200 Robotron for the longest time but they just aren't popping up! Yeah me too. For some reason the box almost never shows up, and if it does it goes for around $35. I used to think it was because it was an over-sized box, but Space Dungeon seems to pop up with some frequency. Odd... Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetset Posted August 20, 2003 Author Share Posted August 20, 2003 Regarding the animation capabilites of the 8-bits, there was an obscure little Robotron clone called Arena 3000 (also released for the BBC and C64). It put about as many enemies onscreen as Robotron, and moved them all in smooth 1-pixel steps. Yeah, it was a little slower at the start of a wave, but the player movement was in a separate loop so you never experienced slowdown. Anyway, my main beef with the A8/5200 version is that the sprites are so terribly drawn. 7800 Robotron runs at exactly the same resolution, but looks much better. And you can't entirely chalk that up to the 7800's larger palette. Heck, the 5200 Brain missiles are two pixels wide! Um...did you get the pictures backwards? The top pick looks way better. If they are right then I gotta tell you, then the 7800 characters look worse! (imo) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZylonBane Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 Have you actually played the arcade game? Don't you think it's odd that the 5200 player is twice as wide as on the 7800 (and every other version)? If memory serves, he doesn't even move smoothly. It's almost like the whole game is running in character mode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 Have you actually played the arcade game? Don't you think it's odd that the 5200 player is twice as wide as on the 7800 (and every other version)? If memory serves, he doesn't even move smoothly. It's almost like the whole game is running in character mode. Agreed. The 7800 version looks better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy California Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 Regarding the animation capabilites of the 8-bits, there was an obscure little Robotron clone called Arena 3000 (also released for the BBC and C64). It put about as many enemies onscreen as Robotron, and moved them all in smooth 1-pixel steps. Yeah, it was a little slower at the start of a wave, but the player movement was in a separate loop so you never experienced slowdown. There's another very fun clone with tiny characters called Robot Battle, an Apple port by United Software of America (how's that for a company name?). ++ RC ++ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetset Posted August 20, 2003 Author Share Posted August 20, 2003 Have you actually played the arcade game? Don't you think it's odd that the 5200 player is twice as wide as on the 7800 (and every other version)? If memory serves, he doesn't even move smoothly. It's almost like the whole game is running in character mode. Allright, allright....I didnt mean for the thread to be a comparison...The 7800 *should* look better! It's supposed to be a more advanced system. The pics though dont give justice to the comparison though, the top pic looks better (again, imo) And, the character movement is pretty damn smooth (for the 5200)....part of what impressed me so much. It may be better on the 7800, I dont know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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