Season 13 ~ Week 19/20/21 ~ Atari 2600 Homebrew

[AtariSphinx]

Star Castle Arcade (1 B/B): 10,650

 

 

[grayescu]

10 hours ago, danger said:

Not sure if there is any, but do keep in mind the version played here is not the full one. It only has the first 2 caverns and after that it loops. What you might wanna know is that the 2nd cavern introduces the laser barrier corridors, that can be a bit difficult to deal with. Those can be seen in most videos showcasing the game.

Thank you!

[danger]

First sort of decent score, real fun game to play.

Mr Yo-Yo: 72300

 

Also I was messing around with the other game modes too, the co-op one got me by surprise, it's incredibly fun with a friend.

[Atarian7]

9 hours ago, Keir said:

Yeah, that’s the part I’m stuck on.

I can't get past those lasers either.  (so far)

[+jgkspsx]

17 hours ago, Keir said:

Yeah, that’s the part I’m stuck on.

We shouldn’t be playing that version, we have to play the one linked in the thread.

[+jgkspsx]

I have only been able to play Conquest and Mr Yo Yo so far since I have… um… misplaced my more compatible 2600 handheld. Hoping to get time on real hardware this weekend. So far these are two of my favorite 2600 games yet!

 

Thanks to @DaveM’s awesome tips and videos, I have considerably increased my score on Mr Yo Yo. If I’m right that this thing has bad input lag, I expect I should be able to top 100000 on real hardware.

 

 

83550.

[+jgkspsx]

Small and I mean small improvement in Conquest of Mars: 43500

 

 

 

[Keir]

5 hours ago, jgkspsx said:

We shouldn’t be playing that version, we have to play the one linked in the thread.

I am playing the HSC version. It’s the lasers in cavern 2 that I’m stuck on.

[DaveM]

On 12/30/2022 at 6:41 AM, Jasonhrb said:

review written (although it's still "pending" at the moment). Given the work you have put into this, and the fact that you've made it available for us all here, it's the least I can do.

Much appreciated!  So glad the group looks to be enjoying the game, and that the scores are becoming quite impressive!  

 

I went to PRGE this year, and stood back and watched as people tried the game at the AtariAge booth.  Virtually everyone I watched play the game quickly got frustrated and walked away.  Quite disheartening.  So I'm glad it's getting a much better reception here

 

Anyway, my scores for the other games so far.  All the other games are quite impressive.  My scores, not so much. 😄

 

Boom....  I actually had a much higher score than this, but in attempting to hit the game select switch to detonate a couple bombs, I accidentally hit the reset switch and erased my score.  Too frustrated to try again right now.

 

Star Castle...  I'm much better at the arcade version.  It's easier for me to work with a thrust button than pushing the joystick up.  

 

Conquest of Mars...  Took me forever to get past that second screen.  Finally made it to the end of the first cavern.

[Keir]

9 hours ago, DaveM said:

Virtually everyone I watched play the game quickly got frustrated and walked away.

That’s really surprising! One thing I like about the game is that it’s very easy to pick up and is instantly fun. Also the difficulty ramps up nicely so that almost every time I play I get a little better, which encourages me to play again.

[Atarian7]

Mr. Yo-Yo is fun but sometimes I get the controls mixed up.  I was in a frenzy and needed to go down so I pushed the joystick down instead of the fire button.

[classicgamer_27330]

On 12/26/2022 at 11:43 PM, kermit73 said:

Which game?  If Conquest of Mars, just start a new game, kill off your ships right away, and take the photo when your score is shown as the high score.  The high score table can also work for Star Castle or Boom.

It was Mr. Yo Yo

[classicgamer_27330]

On 12/26/2022 at 11:43 PM, kermit73 said:

Which game?  If Conquest of Mars, just start a new game, kill off your ships right away, and take the photo when your score is shown as the high score.  The high score table can also work for Star Castle or Boom.

It was Mr. Yo Yo

[Keir]

On 12/22/2022 at 5:35 PM, Keir said:

BOMB PASS? - This one looks like a bomb with movement lines similar to PASS powerup. It might allow you to pass through bombs, I didn't really get to try it (temporary?).

I confirmed that this is how that powerup works. I also found the best powerup in the game so far - BLAST IMMUNITY! it looks like a person on fire and makes it so you can’t be hurt by your own bombs. There’s one other powerup that I’ve found which looks like a question mark. It makes a beeping noise which stops once the level clears or you die, but I’m not sure what effect it has.

 

Boom - 1,993,600

[danger]

1 hour ago, Keir said:

There’s one other powerup that I’ve found which looks like a question mark. It makes a beeping noise which stops once the level clears or you die, but I’m not sure what effect it has.

It makes you invincible to everything, including enemies, for the duration of the sound. (should last 30 seconds)

[Keir]

17 minutes ago, danger said:

It makes you invincible to everything, including enemies, for the duration of the sound. (should last 30 seconds)

Thanks! I usually get the powerup after defeating all the enemies so I wasn’t able to try that out. I thought I had blown myself up after getting it but I must be remembering that wrong.

[kermit73]

On 12/28/2022 at 7:42 AM, Rickster8 said:

Kermit, are you using a normal Atari 2600 joystick for Mr Yo Yo or some other controller? I am finding it VERY difficult using the normal joystick controller for this game as shooting left or right is super difficult while bouncing up and down at the same time.... I think this game is the funnest out of the four, but very difficult to maneuver as well..... @kermit73

 

I cannot stand the blue demon fishes / birds, whatever they are??? ...... 😡

Yes.  I'm using a standard CX40 on this game.

[classicgamer_27330]

don't know how I did it, but I did it

[Rickster8]

Some more improvement on Mr. Yo Yo.... But still haven't been able to get the gem yet... 🙄

 

 

70,870

 

 

[+jgkspsx]

So… it turns out neither of the games that fail to run on the handheld run on the 7800 through the Concerto cart either. They both blow up during the AtariAge logo animation.

So much for real (kind of) hardware. I really need a Harmony cart.

 

Boom:

Star Castle:

[+jgkspsx]

Real hardware made the “meteor” section of Conquest much easier, but it did not make the lasers (so that’s what those are) easier. I wish the hit detection were just a tiny bit forgiving with those.

 

Conquest of Mars - 46970

 

Played plenty of Mr YoYo, but real hardware did not improve my playing at all - probably the reverse.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

4 hours ago, jgkspsx said:

So… it turns out neither of the games that fail to run on the handheld run on the 7800 through the Concerto cart either. They both blow up during the AtariAge logo animation.

That's really unfortunate.   

 

@batari Can you provide help here?

[+batari]

1 hour ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:

That's really unfortunate.   

 

@batari Can you provide help here?

I'll look tomorrow to be sure, but offhand I believe the issue is that these bankswitch schemes are not yet supported with the current Concerto firmware.

 

However, you can flash Harmony Encore firmware to a Concerto for now and play any game that otherwise works on a Harmony cart. Of course, 7800 games will then not work until you reinstall Concerto firmware.

 

The next Concerto firmware update will expand 2600 compatibility.

[Atarian7]

I have a Harmony encore cart and Star Castle Arcade is jumpy on my TV.  I managed to score just over 4000 though. LOL

The other 3 games work just fine.

 

 

[danger]

Bit of an improvement.

Mr Yo-Yo: 86330