Caverns of Mars: Recharged - (in VCS Store)

[+sramirez2008]

I’ll buy this. I like the game and have purchased most of the Recharged games as well. 
 

If you like Caverns of Mars, the AA Store also has the homebrew Conquest of Mars from Champ Games. It’s lots of fun. 

[marss]

In thé store😀

[killersquirel]

15 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

I'd like that too, but it seems like cockpit-based space games have gone out of style. If you haven't already done so, check out Star Raiders on Atari 50 (any platform). They added a "quality of life" layer with status and help, as well as a fast forward button, which makes the game a lot more accessible and playable to modern eyes. A full-on reimagining would be nice but this is a nice intermediate step in that direction. 

 

 

I have Atari 50 on both the Xbox Series X and the Atari VCS.  It is the best way to play Star Raiders by far.  I would love to see a new addition to the series.  The trick is to not get rid of the feel when updating the game.  

[Atari_JaguarVCS]

Picked the game up across all platforms and I’m very pleased with it! It runs perfect and plays great especially on the Atari VCS with the Classic and it plays amazing on the Steamdeck with absolutely no compatibility issues. I don’t know if it’s just my side but I’m noticing frame rate issues on the Nintendo Switch version of the game the further into a run you get, still very playable though and could just be my Nintendo Switch. 

[digdugnate]

3 hours ago, Atari_JaguarVCS said:

Picked the game up across all platforms and I’m very pleased with it! It runs perfect and plays great especially on the Atari VCS with the Classic and it plays amazing on the Steamdeck with absolutely no compatibility issues. I don’t know if it’s just my side but I’m noticing frame rate issues on the Nintendo Switch version of the game the further into a run you get, still very playable though and could just be my Nintendo Switch. 

it's not just your Switch- it does get kind of janky the more stuff goes on.  I was able to mitigate this somewhat by turning off the graphics 'extras'.

 

It's a good game; in my opinion one of the better Recharged titles.

[+SabertoothRetro]

Here's a gameplay only video. In my opinion this is great take on a deep cut from the Atari 8-bit computer era. I really dig the fully destructible environments, weapons types and stackable (and strategic) power-ups. Adds some depth to the original formula - which was basically Scramble.

 

 

 

 

[Dadisajoke]

If you want to check out my review, just hop on over to my site.

 

 

https://dadisajoke.com/blog/f/review-of-caverns-of-mars-recharged-on-the-atari-vcs

[+sramirez2008]

Highly addictive gameplay. I’ll try to play more this weekend. IMO this is one of the best Recharged games.

 

[+sramirez2008]

[Mockduck]

9 hours ago, sramirez2008 said:

Nice, you got #35000! You should submit it here maybe: https://forums.atariage.com/topic/323776-atari-vcs-store-order-number-high-score

[+sramirez2008]

4 minutes ago, Mockduck said:

Nice, you got #35000! You should submit it here

Done 👍

[livingonwheels]

Caverns of Mars doesn't work with the modern controller? Only the classic? When I attempt to start the game with the modern controller, the game firstly says "press space key" and then "press X". Classic controller works fine, but still says "press X" to begin.

[MrMaddog]

1 hour ago, livingonwheels said:

Caverns of Mars doesn't work with the modern controller? Only the classic? When I attempt to start the game with the modern controller, the game firstly says "press space key" and then "press X". Classic controller works fine, but still says "press X" to begin.

 

Same thing happens on the Steam version, just press any button on your controller to start.  PC ports usually detect the keyboard first but will use "button" prompts  when you use a gamepad.

[livingonwheels]

3 hours ago, MrMaddog said:

 

Same thing happens on the Steam version, just press any button on your controller to start.  PC ports usually detect the keyboard first but will use "button" prompts  when you use a gamepad.

Thanks for the reply, but no matter what button I pressed on the Atari modern controller the game would not start. So I experimented a bit and discovered that the Atari modern controller MUST be wired in order for it to be recognized and usable in the game. Matter of fact, when wired,  "press space" isn't seen and neither is "press X", it's been replaced by the proper "press A".

[Mockduck]

1 hour ago, livingonwheels said:

Thanks for the reply, but no matter what button I pressed on the Atari modern controller the game would not start. So I experimented a bit and discovered that the Atari modern controller MUST be wired in order for it to be recognized and usable in the game. Matter of fact, when wired,  "press space" isn't seen and neither is "press X", it's been replaced by the proper "press A".

I just checked and do not have this issue, I was using the Modern over bluetooth (and wired) with an attached (wired) keyboard and experienced no issue in controlling or starting with a Modern.

[livingonwheels]

1 hour ago, Mockduck said:

I just checked and do not have this issue, I was using the Modern over bluetooth (and wired) with an attached (wired) keyboard and experienced no issue in controlling or starting with a Modern.

That's weird. I just connected a mouse and keyboard but I'm still unable to use the modern controller wireless in Caverns of Mars (all the other games in my library work fine). What's really unusual though is upon booting the game with the mouse and keyboard attached, I see the opening splash screens in Caverns of Mars for the first time. All this time all I saw was a black screen and heard those splash screen noises. Then the title screen would appear.  I was under the impression that was how it was supposed to be for some odd reason. I now see those opening splash screens whether or not the keyboard and mouse are attached. I wonder what could be causing this. I did upgrade the ram to 16gb and installed a 1tb drive, not long after launch of the console, but doubt that would be the issue. Come to think of it, yesterday I purchased Caverns of Mars and AKKA ARRH and after each purchase, the console became unresponsive (couldn't even press "download" after these purchases). Had to reboot the console manually. One purchase didn't even go through even though I had paid (AKKA ARRH). I had to contact customer service and request they activate it. 

[Atarick]

By far and away one of the most replayable and fun of the Recharged series, a blast. I was thinking of ranking them on playability, fun, and experience and this is where I came out:

 

1. Centipede 

2. Asteroids 

3. Caverns

4. Yars

5. Breakout

6. Black Widow

7. Gravitar

8. Missile Command

[livingonwheels]

For anyone else that may encounter the same issue I had of the modern controller not working with Caverns of Mars, I solved it by going into VCS system settings, choosing "Forget Controller", and then pair it again to the console.

[MrMaddog]

11 hours ago, Atarick said:

By far and away one of the most replayable and fun of the Recharged series, a blast. I was thinking of ranking them on playability, fun, and experience and this is where I came out:

 

1. Centipede 

2. Asteroids 

3. Caverns

4. Yars

5. Breakout

6. Black Widow

7. Gravitar

8. Missile Command

 

That would make for an interesting thread cause everyone has their own list.

[Mockduck]

My take on Caverns of Mars: Recharged
 

 

[WAVE 1 GAMES]

guys I have spent days on end playing this game and although I love it there are several bugs and glitches in this one. 2 different type of instant game over bugs 1 happens during level transition and the other happens at the beginning of a level . There is also a bug where the music will play twice meaning it plays one track on top of another. I am planning on writing a full review on this one but Atari needs to do some update patches on this one. Out of all of the recharged games this one has had the most bugs

[tripled79]

20 hours ago, WAVE 1 GAMES said:

guys I have spent days on end playing this game and although I love it there are several bugs and glitches in this one. 2 different type of instant game over bugs 1 happens during level transition and the other happens at the beginning of a level . There is also a bug where the music will play twice meaning it plays one track on top of another. I am planning on writing a full review on this one but Atari needs to do some update patches on this one. Out of all of the recharged games this one has had the most bugs

I have experienced none of these bugs. Which console are you playing the game on?

[WAVE 1 GAMES]

1 hour ago, tripled79 said:

I have experienced none of these bugs. Which console are you playing the game on?

The VCS ONYX. It happens often too. I could record it. I find it hard to believe others haven't encountered the bugs as they happen frequently. the music bug in particular has only occurred twice for me but once it happens to you, you will know it! its very annoying. 

 

I could uninstall the game and then reinstall but I'm curious to find out who else has seen this 

[Atari_JaguarVCS]

I've experienced the music bug quite a few times both on the Atari VCS and whilst playing the game on my Steam Deck, its quite a weird bug. I've not had any other issue's with the game but it could be doing with a little update just to smooth thing's over.

[Tommy2D]

I just picked up Caverns, on Steam, and I'm really enjoying it.  

 

I'm going to try it, on a big screen with a game pad, but I've been enjoying it on my laptop and it controls really well with the keyboard. 

 

I never wound up buying a VCS (I was close, when it was on super sale) but I'm a genuine fan of the ReCharged series.