What 5200 title(s) do you think need more love (in your own opinion)?

[BIGHMW]

Here are my three titles in which I think are good even though people malign them

 

 

Asteroids (A8/5200 version), as reworked by Paul Lay 

 

Yar's Strike (converted from Lennart Bown's A8 version-to-5200 by Paul Lay)

 

Original 1982 5200 Pac-Man

 

[Cebus Capucinis]

Super Breakout for sure.

[+x=usr(1536)]

Qix.  Beats the A8 version by a mile.

[jetset]

Defender - Incredible home version. The analog controller is a huge step up over the digital control of the 2600 stick. And having the smart bomb button and hyperspace on the controller is the only way to go. I still cannot fathom (on the computer version) how you're supposed to enjoy the game when, by the time you look away to reach for the keyboard to drop a smart bomb or hyperspace away...how you are supposed to enjoy that. Maybe put the keyboard on the floor and use your toes?

 

Realsports Baseball - Just incredible. The pitch options, graphics, music/sound...A great showcase of what the 5200 is capable of. And the non-centering "problem" of the controller is again, like Defender, an upgrade over the digital when you're needing to move quickly. And just for the hell of it, watching a game where the computer plays itself is cool.

 

Robotron - Really, with the joystick coupler there's no game like it. The other home versions imo are crap. A free roaming game you *really* need the control(s) to be "loose".  The 7800 version with the tree trunk immobile joysticks actually causes arthritis (read that on the internet somewhere....must be true). Playing with only one stick...pretty impossible to run right and shoot left then up then left again then run back left and shoot right again. Same for the 400/800 version. And graphics wise, it's surprisingly sharp with very little flicker or slowdown. Considering the 5200 is the "lesser" system, the graphics aren't too off from the 7800 version.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 25, 2022 by jetset
It was the Illuminati

[MrTrust]

Space Shuttle: A Journey into Space: I was always more partial to the 5200 than Colecovision, but the CV has some pretty good ports of computer games and games in that style.  Pickings were much slimmer on the 5200, sadly, but this is a good version of the game.

 

Quest for Quintana Roo: I love all the "intrepid explorer" games of that era.  This one is not the best of them (that tap the walls with the hammer mechanic is wonky), but it has a great feel an atmosphere for its day.  Resource management, exploration, dodging and shooting.  Pretty good stuff.

 

Mountain King: Great graphics, great sound, cool premise, very challenging.  Not so appreciated, but it's definitely worth having in the system.

 

Gorf: The controls are even better than the A8 version.  Maybe you just sick at games, bro.

 

Blue Print: Great music and graphics.  Design stands out against other games of the era. Maybe the definitive home version?

 

There are others I could name, and if we're also considering unofficial titles, the list could get really long.  The 5200 in general is just underappreciated.

[phuzaxeman]

In no particular order:

 

1. Super Breakout

2  Real Sports Baseball

3. Super Cobra

4.  Pac Man (5200 version first console to include intermissions)

5.  Pengo 

[+cjherr]

Asteroids

Countermeasure

K-Razy shootout

Space Dungeon

Star Raiders

The Last Starfighter

Vanguard

 

[BIGHMW]

2 hours ago, cjherr said:

Asteroids 

Agreed on that, especially now since Paul Lay both took the original (somewhat unfinished) prototype and fixed the controls on them to make them much more stable, and he also ported over the A8 version, and then mapped out the complete array of options on it that were left out on the incomplete original prototype on the 5200 keypad AND improved the defense system (shields/hyperspace/flip-over/no-effect) response time from a 500ms delay to a mere 30ms delay, allowing quicker jumps into hyperspace or flipping on the shields or the flip over system, improving both scores and your chances of survival.

[ledzep]

Missile Command - that trak-ball makes it the best out of any version, even with the wrong amount of missile bases.

 

Qix - underappreciated game all around.

 

Space Dungeon - one of the best unintentional 2-player games out there, having a separate pilot and gunner is hours of fun.

[BIGHMW]

You know about Missile Command, there IS a proper version of it with all three missile bases in it available called Missile Command Plus, it utilizes the 1, 2, and 3 buttons for each of the three missile bases, and the reset button on the controller switches it between the joystick and trak-ball modes, I'll post the rom to my next post here as I'm currently on my tablet as I am posting this. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

[ledzep]

4 hours ago, BIGHMW said:

You know about Missile Command, there IS a proper version of it with all three missile bases in it available called Missile Command Plus, it utilizes the 1, 2, and 3 buttons for each of the three missile bases, and the reset button on the controller switches it between the joystick and trak-ball modes, I'll post the rom to my next post here as I'm currently on my tablet as I am posting this. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

 

Didn't I read somewhere that it was buggy, wouldn't work on real hardware?  I'm only going to try playing a game like that on the actual 5200.  I thought whoever did the work to make it have 3 bases said he didn't have free time to fix it or couldn't figure out what was wrong?  And also something about it didn't have correct trak-ball support, which sounds odd since regular Missile Command is made for the trak-ball, though if it's a port of the A8 version then that would explain the controller problem.

[MrTrust]

4 hours ago, ledzep said:

 

Didn't I read somewhere that it was buggy, wouldn't work on real hardware?  I'm only going to try playing a game like that on the actual 5200.  I thought whoever did the work to make it have 3 bases said he didn't have free time to fix it or couldn't figure out what was wrong?  And also something about it didn't have correct trak-ball support, which sounds odd since regular Missile Command is made for the trak-ball, though if it's a port of the A8 version then that would explain the controller problem.

 

I can confirm that it works on real hardware with the trak-ball, and it is pretty bitchin'.

[ledzep]

21 hours ago, MrTrust said:

 

I can confirm that it works on real hardware with the trak-ball, and it is pretty bitchin'.

 

Thank Odin.  You wouldn't happen to be able to point me to where it is available as a cartridge or, at least, the ROM that works correctly?

[BIGHMW]

Just fired up the laptop, so here are those ROMs for those games you fellow Big Sexy owners have been clammerin' to play since I DID mention them!!!

Missile Command +.bin Asteroids - 5200 Version - Hack.bin Asteroids.bin Yar's Strike.bin

[BIGHMW]

12 hours ago, ledzep said:

 

Thank Odin.  You wouldn't happen to be able to point me to where it is available as a cartridge or, at least, the ROM that works correctly?

(read previous post above)

[CommodoreDecker]

On 10/10/2022 at 9:44 PM, BIGHMW said:

You know about Missile Command, there IS a proper version of it with all three missile bases in it available called Missile Command Plus, it utilizes the 1, 2, and 3 buttons for each of the three missile bases, and the reset button on the controller switches it between the joystick and trak-ball modes, I'll post the rom to my next post here as I'm currently on my tablet as I am posting this. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

 

 

 

Looks like it's still a beta?

 

[Chinese Cake]

Wasn't Rescue on Fractlus better than the A8 Version since it gave you a greater degree of movement with the 5200 sticks?

[phuzaxeman]

7 hours ago, CommodoreDecker said:

 

 

 

Looks like it's still a beta?

 

It's been a while since I played that version but there were some annoying glitches.

[patroclus99]

Ballblazer
Rescue on Fractalus
Zone Ranger
Dreadnaught Factor

 

… because I felt like these third-party titles were not lazily rebadged VCS titles, you actually needed more powerful specs. to play them.  Lucasfilm/LucasArts titles (the first two above) were nigh always a class-act... excepting the trash Disney reboot.  Dreadnaught Factor was very good on the Intellivision, but I like the 5200 version better.

 

Xari Arena

 

… because it has a really nice arcade-vibe, but it’s not a port.  It is a fresh, arcade-title to the SuperSystem library.  Great presentation, great sound, great gameplay… probably one of the best two-player titles ever.  You can play it with two trak-balls, fluid and precise… although I find trak-ball interface overrated; it’s easier to be precise, but awfully slow vs. the lightning-pace responsiveness required.  It works better if you flip it upside down and roll it around all over the floor… use one of those office-chair floor-mats so you don’t scratch-up the floor… and you get a really good workout… but it’s flimsy and it breaks… I’m still waiting for a “5200 Trak-ball Mod!” post-submission.   I’m surprised they didn’t make something like this for the Wii.