What homebrews should I buy from AA?

[+bent_pin]

I'm working out a sale for most of my vintage CPU collection in order to take advantage of @Albert's sale, support some homebrewers, and support AA. I should have at least $500 to spend, maybe a bit more if I can sell the rest. So, the big question is, what should I buy? I'm interested in 2600/5200/7800 games on, some for each system. Homebrews preferred over hacks. As I know very little about the games, I am likely to order everything most recommended in this thread within my budget.

 

@x=usr(1536) @zylon @GoldLeader @Charlie Cat @jeremiahjt @SlidellMan @Cebus Capucinis You are the users I interact with the most and I'd really value your opinions, when you've the time. Everyone else's opinions would be appreciated as well. Let's all have fun spending my money.

 

I'll finish this thread with an unboxing and I'll show you my wicked terrible gaming. It'll be quite embarrassing. You won't want to miss it.

[zylon]

Galagon, Colony 7, Gorf Arcade, Juno First.

[+x=usr(1536)]

On the 7800 side:

• Baby Pac-Man.  It's the only port of this game to any platform, and, speaking as a past owner of the arcade game, it's a damned good one.
• Attack of the PETSCII Robots.
• Popeye.
• Pac-Man Collection 40th Anniversary Edition.
• T:me Salvo*.

For the 2600:

• Draconian.
• Galagon.
• Juno First*.
• Lady Bug Arcade.
• Pac-Man 4K.
• Mappy.

WRT 5200:

• Beef Drop.
• Intellidiscs.
• Rob 'n' Banks.
• Tempest.
• Zaxxon 32K.

Find the demo versions and play them to see if you like them or not, but these are the ones I keep coming back to on each platform.

 

* If you have an extra $50 to spare, pick up an AtariVox+.  These games use it for both voice and savekey support for high scores.  Other games use it for just the savekey functionality, so it's worth having for at least that.

[Cebus Capucinis]

9 minutes ago, x=usr(1536) said:

On the 7800 side:

• Baby Pac-Man.  It's the only port of this game to any platform, and, speaking as a past owner of the actual game, it's a damned good one.
• Attack of the PETSCII Robots.
• Popeye.
• Pac-Man Collection 40th Anniversary Edition.
• T:me Salvo*.

For the 2600:

• Draconian.
• Galagon.
• Juno First*.
• Lady Bug Arcade.
• Pac-Man 4K.
• Mappy.

WRT 5200:

• Beef Drop.
• Intellidiscs.
• Rob 'n' Banks.
• Tempest.
• Zaxxon 32K.

Find the demo versions and play them to see if you like them or not, but these are the ones I keep coming back to on each platform.

 

* If you have an extra $50 to spare, pick up an AtariVox+.  These games use it for both voice and savekey support for high scores.  Other games use it for just the savekey functionality, so it's worth having for at least that.

I wholeheartedly second this entire list. Juno First is still my favorite 2600 homebrew, and definitely add GORF Arcade.

[+jeremiahjt]

I only had a few AtariAge games for the 2600 and 7800 before this sale, I had spent most of my AtariAge purchases on Jaguar games. I went ahead and grabbed Baby Pac-Man, Popeye, and Beef Drop VE (with HOKEY) for the 7800 and Halo and Gorf Arcade for the 2600. All with the box upgrade.

 

There are a good dozen more that I really wanted. Heck, I did not even buy any 5200 games.  I might end up making another order. If I do, the Last Chance 7800 HOKEY games might be my priority: Froggie, Pac-Man Collection, and Keystone Koppers.

[SlidellMan]

I recommend E.X.O for starters.

[+cvga]

If as a kid, you dreamed of Galaga coming out for the Atari 2600 like I did, then Galagon is a must buy. Here's my list...

 

Must haves:

Galagon

Qyx

GORF Arcade

Wizard of Wor Arcade

Zookeeper

 

If you are also considering 7800 games then I'd go:

Baby Pacman

Pacman 40th Anniversary Collection

Space Invaders

Popeye

 

If you have remaining funds:

Bosconian

Juno First

Mappy

Super Cobra Arcade

 

[Grizzly Adam]

Do not miss out on Juno First, it blew me away!

[StormyWeathers]

Dont buy zookeeper, draconian, ladybug, qyx. Awful games 😄😉

[+bent_pin]

I've reached over 10% of my sales goal in the first day of selling.

Here are the standings so far:

Space Invaders 7800, 999
Juno First, 5
Baby Pac-Man, 4
Galagon, 4
Pac-Man Collection 40th AE, 4
Popeye, 4
Beef Drop, 3
Draconian, 3
Gorf Arcade, 3
Mappy, 3
AtariVox, 2
Attack of the PETSCII Robots, 2
Intellidiscs, 2
Lady Bug Arcade, 2
Pac-Man 4K, 2
Qyx, 2
Rob 'n' Banks, 2
T:me Salvo, 2
Tempest, 2
Zaxxon 32K, 2
Zookeeper, 2
Bosconian, 1
Colony 7, 1
E. X. O., 1
Froggie, 1
Keystone Koppers, 1
Ladybug, 1
Super Cobra Arcade, 1
Wizard of Wor Arcade, 1
 

[TeddyBear89]

Star Castle Arcade........really people....no votes?

 

Unless you're one of the few, the brave, the proud that own a Vectrex and have the awesome Star Castle cart this amazing 2600 port satisfies the itch for one of the early 80's GREAT games.

[+bent_pin]

8 minutes ago, TeddyBear89 said:

Star Castle Arcade........really people....no votes?

 

Unless you're one of the few, the brave, the proud that own a Vectrex and have the awesome Star Castle cart this amazing 2600 port satisfies the itch for one of the early 80's GREAT games.

Now in the list, thank you

[+groundtrooper]

21 hours ago, SlidellMan said:

I recommend E.X.O for starters.

E.X.O. isn't even a PORT and hasn't even been officially released. So it's not going anywhere. 

Focus on the ones on the list that are truly LAST CHANCE. I am not poo pooing E.X.O. but it shouldn't even be in play for your current question or dilemma.

[tkarner]

Several of the suggestions, while excellent games, are not on the Last Chance list (Petscii Robots, EXO) so I'd put them on the back burner for now.

 

Hard to make suggestions without knowing your tastes but some of my favorites are:

2600: Gorf, Galagon, Juno First, Draconian

7800: Scramble, Froggie, B*nq, and any of Bob D's Pac-Man games.

[+sramirez2008]

3 hours ago, TeddyBear89 said:

Star Castle Arcade........really people....no votes?

 

Unless you're one of the few, the brave, the proud that own a Vectrex and have the awesome Star Castle cart this amazing 2600 port satisfies the itch for one of the early 80's GREAT games.

Or, you could have both. I’m not in the habit of buying the same game for multiple systems, but I’ve made exceptions for Star Castle, Boulder Dash and Aardvark.
The 2600 port of Star Castle really is amazing.

[juansolo]

Going just from the sale list as you could pick up anything else at a later date:

 

2600
Colony 7 (Trak-Ball version for me)
Draconian
Galagon/Galaga (depending on how deep your pockets are)
Gorf Arcade
Juno First
Pac-Man 4K
RobotWar:2684
Star Castle Arcade
Qyx
The End
Wizard of Wor Arcade

 

5200
Drelbs
Fort Apocalypse
Oil’s Well

Pac-Man Arcade
Scramble

 

7800
Astro Blaster
b*nQ
Baby Pac-Man
Froggie
Galaxian
Keystone Koppers
Moon Cresta
Pac-Man Collection (which ever one floats your boat most there)
Popeye
Space Invaders

 

Stuff that's not going away currently:

 

2600
Dare Devil
Fall Down
Lode Runner
Medieval Mayhem
Space Rocks
Thrust+
Tower of Rubble

 

5200
Adventure II
Intellidiscs
Rob’n’Banks

 

7800
Asteroids Deluxe
Centipede TB
Danger Zone
Dungeon Stalker
Frenzy
Knight Guy in Low-Res World - Castle Days
Slide Boy in Maze Land
Super Circus AtariAge
T:ME Salvo

 

Interestingly that's a shorter list...

Edited June 26, 2023 by juansolo

[+Gemintronic]

I'd focus on games that are going away that have boxes.

 

Keepers should look their best, no?

[+SpiceWare]

16 hours ago, bent_pin said:

Here are the standings so far:

Draconian, 3

Bosconian, 1

 

I don't see a Bosconian in the store, so suspect @cvga mistyped Draconian.

[+cvga]

10 hours ago, SpiceWare said:

 

I don't see a Bosconian in the store, so suspect @cvga mistyped Draconian.

Oops, you are correct. I meant to type Draconian. Great game!

[tkarner]

You know, I'm usually not a fan of homebrews being renamed (Burgertime -> Beef Drop, Robotron -> Robotwar, etc) but in this case Draconian is such a cooler name than Bosconian.

[Corby]

A pacman game for sure!  Get a game with the hokey chip, get that arcade sound feeling!  Definitely a Champs game. 

[+sramirez2008]

Draconian is another homebrew that deserves to be in everyone's collection. If your into shooters, there's nothing better than a multidirectional shooter. Blast Off!

[BrianC]

Definitely recommend rubyQ. Updated Q*Bert with elements from Faster Harder More Challenging Q*Bert, a mode based on classic Q*Bert, and elements missing from the original Q*Bert port like Ugg and Wrong Way (though renamed for this game). 

[+sramirez2008]

Btw, if purchase Juno First (and are into boxes), you could always purchase the Konami box variant by Marc Oberhäuser. Since the coin-op was developed by Konami, I couldn't pass up this box for my collection. Marc's makes a quality product, so you can buy with confidence.👍

 

[Phylax]

I’m new to the scene and haven’t played every last chance game on the list, but Popeye 7800 is an absolute must-own. It is simply the best port of the arcade game. The packaging is top notch as well. 
 

Another vote for Baby PAC-Man from me as well. No other port exists, after all, and I personally love both Pac Man and pinball, so is an easy recommendation. 
 

I’m surprised people aren’t recommending Zippy for the 2600. I find it to be genuinely fun, in addition to being a technical showpiece for the 2600. 
 

I ordered a few carts earlier, but based on everyone’s recommendations I think I’ll pick up a couple more in the next few days.