Collecting for the 2600+

[+Intellivision Master]

Just now, Sean_1970 said:

Good find on the shop, I’m browsing now. If you put location as UK the site shows prices in £s. Postage for one cart was £15; well see how it looks with more. They have a few rare ones too!

They have a 30 day return and according to the FAQ's, they clean the carts.

[Dr Karnov]

51 minutes ago, Sean_1970 said:

Played Starmaster twice to completion on Ensign and Leader difficulty without incident, so my NTSC cart seems to be fine with the 2600+.

 

Marauder came in the post today:

Nice wee game. Thought I could do without instructions, but ran out of time hunting robots so I decided they were worth a look 😉

 

Challenge takes a few rounds to get noticeable and then the random starting location put me in the room with the core several times in a row, but I think being able to outrun enemy bullets is the main area where things could be improved. That’s my first Tigervision game since Jawbreaker I think. Threshold should be arriving soon as well, so I’m very curious about that 😊

With Marauder, I eventually figured out that each map is 3 screens wide and 2 screens deep, so in any given room, going up or down will both lead to the same room, and going up (or down) twice will end up with you being in the same room you started in.

 

Since you always start by the right hand exit, if you immediately travel right and then either up or down, you've searched half of the map in the quickest time, so that's best for scoring 

[Sean_1970]

38 minutes ago, Intellivision Master said:

They have a 30 day return and according to the FAQ's, they clean the carts.

8 carts was £22 for p+p, which is aces since some eBay sellers charge that for one!

 

Sadly aside from the pain to my credit card, I have exceeded the capacity of my wall-mounted storage racks and will have to get another one 😩
 

This was an exciting browse and shop; the PlayStation January sale pales by comparison 😅
 

I just bought the 2600+ in October and somehow I have over 50 carts in my collection 😬😅

Edited January 3 by Sean_1970

[Dr Karnov]

9 minutes ago, Sean_1970 said:

8 carts was £22 for p+p, which is aces since some eBay sellers charge that for one!

 

Sadly aside from the pain to my credit card, I have exceeded the capacity of my wall-mounted storage racks and will have to get another one 😩
 

This was an exciting browse and shop; the PlayStation January sale pales by comparison 😅
 

I just bought the 2600+ in October and somehow I have over 50 carts in my collection 😬😅

It's really addictive, buying new carts!!

[BassGuitari]

On 12/11/2023 at 9:20 AM, Lord Thag said:

Radar Lock is hugely underrated. Nobody talks about it. It's basically Afterburner on the 2600 using the Solaris engine. Tough, fun, even has in flight refueling.

 

My theory is that it suffers from 'nobody read the manual' syndrome like so many of the more complex VCS games do. So nobody played it. Which is a shame, it's a great game.

The trouble with Radar Lock is that it's one of those games that punches a little above its weight and uses two joysticks. It can be played with just one, for a while, but it gets really hard when machine guns don't hack it anymore and you have to momentarily distract yourself from the action to reach for the second joystick to arm other weapons. 

 

For that reason, I can't call Radar Lock "great," but I will call it "very good" and certainly underrated. It's been one of my favorite red label titles for many years. 🙂

[+sramirez2008]

On 12/30/2023 at 11:03 AM, Sean_1970 said:

Got this after losing a Defender 2 auction. I’m one of those weirdos to whom having it called Stargate made this worthwhile despite the cart being damaged. Plays pretty good, though not as fast as Defender; possibly due to better visuals and more/varied enemies?

I think I like Stargate more than Defender, but both are good. If you like these games, you may like Stargunner. It's a Defender type clone, YMMV but I like it. However, it has become quite pricey over the years. Love the artwork on this cart. I don't have the manual and probably never will as it's seldom available for purchase on its own.

[JetmanUK]

21 minutes ago, Dr Karnov said:

It's really addictive, buying new carts!!

Tell me about! I am going to count how many I have bought. 😬

I think we need to set up ACA Atari Cart Anonymous. 

[Lord Thag]

12 minutes ago, BassGuitari said:

The trouble with Radar Lock is that it's one of those games that punches a little above its weight and uses two joysticks. It can be played with just one, for a while, but it gets really hard when machine guns don't hack it anymore and you have to momentarily distract yourself from the action to reach for the second joystick to arm other weapons. 

 

For that reason, I can't call Radar Lock "great," but I will call it "very good" and certainly underrated. It's been one of my favorite red label titles for many years. 🙂

I don't use a second joystick, I use this. Works great for games like this, Stargate etc. You can use your feet.

[+Intellivision Master]

21 minutes ago, sramirez2008 said:

I don't have the manual and probably never will as it's seldom available for purchase on its own.

https://www.gamesdatabase.org/Media/SYSTEM/Atari_2600//Manual/formated/Stargunner_-_1982_-_Telesys.pdf

[+sramirez2008]

5 minutes ago, Intellivision Master said:

https://www.gamesdatabase.org/Media/SYSTEM/Atari_2600//Manual/formated/Stargunner_-_1982_-_Telesys.pdf

Thanks. I have most of the manuals for my lose carts, but this one is as pricey as the cart whenever it shows up sans cart.

[Sean_1970]

38 minutes ago, sramirez2008 said:

I think I like Stargate more than Defender, but both are good. If you like these games, you may like Stargunner. It's a Defender type clone, YMMV but I like it. However, it has become quite pricey over the years. Love the artwork on this cart. I don't have the manual and probably never will as it's seldom available for purchase on its own.

That’s a pricey game from what I see on eBay, but I do love some Defender so I’ll have to keep an eye out. Shame they never did Defender or Stargate for the 7800…

Edited January 3 by Sean_1970

[+Intellivision Master]

1 minute ago, Sean_1970 said:

Shame they never did Defender or Stargate for the 7800…

Maybe Atari could do enhanced versions of them for the 7800.  Like they did with Berzerk enhanced on the 2600.

[+sramirez2008]

2 minutes ago, Sean_1970 said:

Shame they never did Defender or Stargate for the 7800…

Agreed. As an aside, The 5200 port of Defender is really good and works well with the original joysticks. 

[Lord Thag]

18 minutes ago, sramirez2008 said:

Agreed. As an aside, The 5200 port of Defender is really good and works well with the original joysticks. 

There's an Atari 8-bit Stargate prototype. It's a little rough but very playable and well done. The 7800 could do a game like this, no problem.

[Sean_1970]

22 minutes ago, sramirez2008 said:

Agreed. As an aside, The 5200 port of Defender is really good and works well with the original joysticks. 

Hmmm, I could see a 5200+ or maybe an 800+ or a machine with both cart slots?

 

Regarding the idea of Defender Enhanced, given what exists now I think you’d basically be remaking it from the ground up. Maybe use Stargate as the template given the more faithful look and feel? If you were going to put in the effort for that though probably do a raft of classic Williams games in 7800 glory. I’d think Sinistar, Bubbles and Satan’s Hollow could all get pretty faithful treatments.

Edited January 3 by Sean_1970

[+Intellivision Master]

If there's a certain game you're looking for that you want to try out before buying it, this website can help.  They have a lot of 2600 games including some homebrews as well.  The website is only for playing games of course.  But it's nice to be able to play a game to see if you like it or not.  Also, there are games on there for other consoles too.  

 

https://www.free80sarcade.com/all2600games.php

[Brad_from_the_80s]

Got my art label copy of Superman today in good condition.  Hey I'm slowing down I think but I'm getting surprisingly close to 100 carts now.

[JetmanUK]

1 hour ago, sramirez2008 said:

I think I like Stargate more than Defender, but both are good. If you like these games, you may like Stargunner. It's a Defender type clone, YMMV but I like it. However, it has become quite pricey over the years. Love the artwork on this cart. I don't have the manual and probably never will as it's seldom available for purchase on its own.

It is a good game, and that artwork is lovely!

Edited January 3 by JetmanUK

[BassGuitari]

4 hours ago, Lord Thag said:

I don't use a second joystick, I use this. Works great for games like this, Stargate etc. You can use your feet.

I got a foot pedal controller a few months back that I still need to try out. It's one of those QS (formerly Quickshot, I believe) something-or-others that you used to be able get for song all day on eBay in the 2000s. I think it would be perfect for games like these, or at least a great use of a foot pedal controller! 🙃

 

The ideal controller, of course (imo), would be a big 2-in-1 joystick connecting to both ports that maps the joystick to buttons. Like a rectangular box with a joystick and a 2x3 button panel. Doubledown's probably already built several! 😜

[Lord Thag]

15 minutes ago, BassGuitari said:

I got a foot pedal controller a few months back that I still need to try out. It's one of those QS (formerly Quickshot, I believe) something-or-others that you used to be able get for song all day on eBay in the 2000s. I think it would be perfect for games like these, or at least a great use of a foot pedal controller! 🙃

 

The ideal controller, of course (imo), would be a big 2-in-1 joystick connecting to both ports that maps the joystick to buttons. Like a rectangular box with a joystick and a 2x3 button panel. Doubledown's probably already built several! 😜

Yeah getting one of those custom 'one controller, two joystick ports' custom jobs is on my todo list. There are a couple of 'build to order' options via members here. Just gotta have the cash.

[scifidude79]

7 hours ago, Sean_1970 said:

Played Starmaster twice to completion on Ensign and Leader difficulty without incident, so my NTSC cart seems to be fine with the 2600+.

 

Marauder came in the post today:

Nice wee game. Thought I could do without instructions, but ran out of time hunting robots so I decided they were worth a look 😉

 

Challenge takes a few rounds to get noticeable and then the random starting location put me in the room with the core several times in a row, but I think being able to outrun enemy bullets is the main area where things could be improved. That’s my first Tigervision game since Jawbreaker I think. Threshold should be arriving soon as well, so I’m very curious about that 😊

 

5 hours ago, sramirez2008 said:

I think I like Stargate more than Defender, but both are good. If you like these games, you may like Stargunner. It's a Defender type clone, YMMV but I like it. However, it has become quite pricey over the years. Love the artwork on this cart. I don't have the manual and probably never will as it's seldom available for purchase on its own.

I'm loving these cartridge pics. The retro Sci-Fi artwork on them is fantastic.

 

There are a lot of great shares in this thread. It's cool to see how many people are back to collecting cartridges thanks to the new console. I've got a few inbound from Ebay, including one I bought today on my lunch break at work.

[tradyblix]

Venture is like Ultima -1 lol 

[Slider271]

I accidentally purchased 2 copies of Cosmic Ark off eBay UK to play on the 2600+ and got 2 different cart designs.

 

I’m assuming the one with French, German, Italian and Spanish is the PAL version while the one with the cover image is NTSC? My original UK copy of Atlantis also has the multiple languages rather than a cover image.

 

Or did some UK Imagic releases also have the cover image rather than other languages?

[+LS650]

45 minutes ago, Slider271 said:

 

I can tell you that I have a couple of different Imagic carts with the text multi-language labels.  The ones I have were sold in Canada, so I think they're NTSC but they were sold with these labels in the Quebec market.

[Slider271]

16 minutes ago, ls650 said:

I can tell you that I have a couple of different Imagic carts with the text multi-language labels.  The ones I have were sold in Canada, so I think they're NTSC but they were sold with these labels in the Quebec market.

Thanks for that.

 

Actually, one thing that confused me back then was sometimes seeing the bit about “for use with Atari & Sears Video Games Systems” on occasional carts or in adverts in imported US magazines. We didn’t have Sears over here, so that was very confusing in pre-internet times when me and my mates couldn’t just Google to find out what it was!