JetmanUK Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 (edited) 19 minutes ago, CaptainBreakout said: I love how this thread is shifting into an exploration of obscure PAL games. Back when I could only play NTSC I went to great lengths to obtain the CCE versions of Squirrel, A Misterous Thief, Bobby is Going Home, and Mr Postman. Squirrel and Mr Postman I consider good games. Both have an A-HA moment when you figure out what you are supposed to do. It's also fun discovering all these weird games nowadays. Even the bad ones. I have Bobby and Postman, I do not have Squirrel or Thief, off to YouTube I go... 🤣 Mr Postman is just weird, I like it, but it's so weird. These early games with odd game mechanics are really interesting to me. I feel in pretty much any modern game you'd pick it up and just know how to play, there are strict conventions, or an on screen tutorial tells you. Not so with the early days of gaming, and the 2600 has so many like this, quirky. Great pieces of historical art. Edited March 13 by JetmanUK 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Intellivision Master Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 (edited) 18 minutes ago, CaptainBreakout said: I love how this thread is shifting into an exploration of obscure PAL games. Back when I could only play NTSC I went to great lengths to obtain the CCE versions of Squirrel, A Misterous Thief, Bobby is Going Home, and Mr Postman. Squirrel and Mr Postman I consider good games. Both have an A-HA moment when you figure out what you are supposed to do. It's also fun discovering all these weird games nowadays. Even the bad ones. We're in the PAL zone now. Lol. I have the CCE version of Bank Heist. CCE is a Brazilian company. They're actually still around. https://bootleggames.fandom.com/wiki/CCE Also, I agree that it's fun finding these weird games with different names/artwork. I only have two games with different artwork which are Bank Heist & Normandy Landing. NL is a hack of Commando Raid. I like the artwork of both games. The Bank Heist is a loose cart while NL came with a box. Edited March 13 by Intellivision Master 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Intellivision Master Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 2 minutes ago, JetmanUK said: Mr Postman is just weird, I like it, but it's so weird. The game title reminds me of that song. Please Mr. Postman. Also, weird can be a good thing sometimes. Lol. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetmanUK Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 (edited) 28 minutes ago, Intellivision Master said: The game title reminds me of that song. Please Mr. Postman. Also, weird can be a good thing sometimes. Lol. Absolutely! I love weird games. I'm watching Snail Vs Squirrel right now, I assume that's the game @CaptainBreakout was referring to. EDIT: It is, and I always find Atarimania useful for finding the different names that games are released as, a really good resource. Edited March 13 by JetmanUK 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainBreakout Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 Yes. Squirrel is Snail Vs Squirrel. Although the "Squirrel" looks more like the Teddy Bear... The same one from Mr Postman (and the same code, I'm guessing). I'd like to think he's the mascot of Bit Corp. I bet he had a name too... but maybe only the programmer knew it. A Misterous Thief (and yes that's the spelling on the cartridge) is fun but HARD AF. It's a complete game, as far as I can tell, unlike some of the CCE releases like Immies and Aggies and, debatably, the hideous Pizza Chef. Whoever left a comment on AtariMania regarding Dragon Defender was pretty harsh to it. Well, seems the theme of the discussion is since these games were from a different time, when gameplay was a... less refined art, we can look at them with fresh eyes. What's old is new again! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainBreakout Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 Here's a little present for everyone... A few years ago, I was trying to locate the instructions for Snoopy Vs The Red Baron. Turns out the instructions are actually a poster. There didn't exist any good scans of it in it's entirety, so I rounded up the best images I could find and started to make a composite of the front and the back. It took a long time getting the creases out and fixing the typewriter text. I was planning to reproduce it. (Meantime, I found the original on eBay for a reasonable price, so I stopped the project) Anyways, since I was almost done, I completed it. Attached are the files. They are pretty big, so I had to compress them into JPEGs, but they should be high enough resolution to print if you wanted to. Enjoy. This is one of the best games for the 2600. -I wish it the Red Baron had a little better AI, because once you totally figure him out he's easy. But it's fun getting to that point for sure. 10 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEANJIMMY Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 On 3/13/2024 at 6:53 PM, JetmanUK said: Yeah I actually think Gas Hog PAL plays perfectly fine TBF, I just hit 'zoom vertical' on my TV when I play it and it looks ok then. I haven't compared my two copies of Laser Gates, the renamed and original, but my original may be PAL anyway, I can't remember. Yeah, it's tricky so a little slower plus that very zoom and it'll be fine I'm sure. I wonder which PAL games, if any, are better than the NTSC version. 🤔 I use the zoom as well for many games. As I run the latest debug load, it even shifts the debug info out of sight😊 Commando and Xevious 7800 need vertical zoom plus shift up to show the whole playfield anyway. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEANJIMMY Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 On 3/13/2024 at 7:03 PM, JetmanUK said: Absolutely! I love weird games. I'm watching Snail Vs Squirrel right now, I assume that's the game @CaptainBreakout was referring to. EDIT: It is, and I always find Atarimania useful for finding the different names that games are released as, a really good resource. Atarimania is perfect to compare and to make sure you do not buy the very same game again and again😉 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEANJIMMY Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 21 hours ago, CaptainBreakout said: Here's a little present for everyone... A few years ago, I was trying to locate the instructions for Snoopy Vs The Red Baron. Turns out the instructions are actually a poster. There didn't exist any good scans of it in it's entirety, so I rounded up the best images I could find and started to make a composite of the front and the back. It took a long time getting the creases out and fixing the typewriter text. I was planning to reproduce it. (Meantime, I found the original on eBay for a reasonable price, so I stopped the project) Anyways, since I was almost done, I completed it. Attached are the files. They are pretty big, so I had to compress them into JPEGs, but they should be high enough resolution to print if you wanted to. Enjoy. This is one of the best games for the 2600. -I wish it the Red Baron had a little better AI, because once you totally figure him out he's easy. But it's fun getting to that point for sure. Many thanks for sharing this🤙 I love Snoopy and marked the pages in my old book, when he fights the Red Baron, so of course I love the game😊 Maybe I should look out for the manual🤔 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean_1970 Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 I thought I was out, but I couldn’t ignore the price for this… 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Stamos Mullet Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 3 minutes ago, Sean_1970 said: I thought I was out, but I couldn’t ignore the price for this… How much did they take you for? I still have my original from Easter 1984. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEANJIMMY Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 (edited) 1 hour ago, Sean_1970 said: I thought I was out, but I couldn’t ignore the price for this… NTSC or PAL? My PAL head label has got a blue background. Edit: Ok, after I zoomed in I saw yours was blue too🙃 Edited March 15 by DEANJIMMY 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainBreakout Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 Everyone loves HERO, including me. I wrote a little about my experiences with HERO to new friend and fellow collector in Germany (who I met in this thread, love this place). Ill quote some of my message to him... ... Oh fun comment... Yeah, I also sold my original collection many years ago. I gave almost all my Atari stuff to a kid in 8th grade for a Game Gear (which I'm sure, looking back, he must have stolen). The one game I kept tho? HERO. I remember getting my stuff together to trade to Game Gear Kid. I took out my copy of HERO (and remembered buying it at a yard sale years before... And NOT being disappointed for once spending my allowance on a used Atari 2600 cartridge). I set my Hero cart aside and said to myself "I'm not giving him this one." Still have it! one of my favorites for sure! 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plumbob Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 2 hours ago, Sean_1970 said: I thought I was out, but I couldn’t ignore the price for this… HERO is one of my all time favorite games! I love the simple, colorful layout of the graphics. I was just playing it again last night. I can easily get to level 13, but after that I start to die a lot. I think I got through all the levels once as a kid. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sramirez2008 Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 On 3/13/2024 at 7:33 PM, CaptainBreakout said: Here's a little present for everyone... A few years ago, I was trying to locate the instructions for Snoopy Vs The Red Baron. Turns out the instructions are actually a poster. I was unaware of the poster instructions. I purchased my copy (an open box copy from 1986) years ago and it came with a black & white manual. A quick search on eBay shows other boxed copies with a color manuals (circa 1983) and one with the poster. So it seems that there are several variations of this title, depending on year of manufacture 1983 through 1986. The poster variant is pretty cool.👍 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plumbob Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 19 minutes ago, CaptainBreakout said: Everyone loves HERO, including me. I wrote a little about my experiences with HERO to new friend and fellow collector in Germany (who I met in this thread, love this place). Ill quote some of my message to him... ... Oh fun comment... Yeah, I also sold my original collection many years ago. I gave almost all my Atari stuff to a kid in 8th grade for a Game Gear (which I'm sure, looking back, he must have stolen). The one game I kept tho? HERO. I remember getting my stuff together to trade to Game Gear Kid. I took out my copy of HERO (and remembered buying it at a yard sale years before... And NOT being disappointed for once spending my allowance on a used Atari 2600 cartridge). I set my Hero cart aside and said to myself "I'm not giving him this one." Still have it! one of my favorites for sure! Back in the day, I had just 12 Atari games including HERO. And one dat my dad insisted that we sell the Atari if he was to buy us a computer. It didn’t make sense to him to own an Atari and a computer at the same time for some reason. I was excited about getting a computer, so sadly I had to say good bye to my Atari and games. I distinctly remember taking a good hard long look at my HERO game one last time before my dad sold it. I was sad to sell it more so than any other game. anyway, years later when I got a job I was able to collect all my old games again, including HERO 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainBreakout Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 21 minutes ago, sramirez2008 said: I was unaware of the poster instructions. I purchased my copy (an open box copy from 1986) years ago and it came with a black & white manual. A quick search on eBay shows other boxed copies with a color manuals (circa 1983) and one with the poster. So it seems that there are several variations of this title, depending on year of manufacture 1983 through 1986. The poster variant is pretty cool.👍 That's funny, I was unaware of the pamphlet instruction version! I thought there was only a poster version. Pigs in Space also had similar instructions in the form of a poster. It's actually extremely cool. I've considered framing mine, but then I'd never see the back! 😂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sramirez2008 Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 17 minutes ago, CaptainBreakout said: That's funny, I was unaware of the pamphlet instruction version! I thought there was only a poster version. Pigs in Space also had similar instructions in the form of a poster. It's actually extremely cool. I've considered framing mine, but then I'd never see the back! 😂 Hmm...my Pigs in Space is sealed (as I have the ROM on multicart). I may need to open it. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad_from_the_80s Posted March 15 Author Share Posted March 15 An old 3rd-party for 7800. Decent game. There is also a 2600/7800 variant (really just 2600). Comes in a glorified "Activision" cart. Was a pain to get it to load at all, even though it really wasn't dirty. But it does work on 2600+. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shane857 Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 2 hours ago, sramirez2008 said: Hmm...my Pigs in Space is sealed (as I have the ROM on multicart). I may need to open it. Yeh, open it and play it. 💪 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetmanUK Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 I've mentioned Gas Hog before, yeah a few times, but it's only because this is a collecting topic and it deserves to be in everyone's collection 💁🏻 😜 Anyway, I thought I'd share my new high score. This is a tough game, so.im pleased with this, after getting almost 10K on a couple of occasions. 10,130 Can any Gas Hoggers out there share their score too? 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainBreakout Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 45 minutes ago, JetmanUK said: 10,130 Can any Gas Hoggers out there share their score too? I'll give mine a good run when it gets here. 😁 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sramirez2008 Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 4 hours ago, Brad_from_the_80s said: An old 3rd-party for 7800. Decent game. There is also a 2600/7800 variant (really just 2600). Comes in a glorified "Activision" cart. Was a pain to get it to load at all, even though it really wasn't dirty. But it does work on 2600+. Yep…I have the 2600 version. My CIB came with a Sweepstakes Catalog and order form. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeM_ Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 8 hours ago, DEANJIMMY said: NTSC or PAL? My PAL head label has got a blue background. Edit: Ok, after I zoomed in I saw yours was blue too🙃 Yeah. My copy had a very faded end label when I first got it. I didn’t even know it was supposed to be blue until I saw other copies. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean_1970 Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 11 hours ago, John Stamos Mullet said: How much did they take you for? I still have my original from Easter 1984. £54 including postage - cheapest I’ve seen with a picture label on it. Had to clean it, but worked a treat. 9 hours ago, DEANJIMMY said: NTSC or PAL? My PAL head label has got a blue background. Edit: Ok, after I zoomed in I saw yours was blue too🙃 Pretty sure it’s a PAL copy. One of my fave Activision games - don’t think I played it until Activision Anthology on Gameboy Micro. If I hadn’t switched my attention to Atari 8-bit computer games in high school there’s probably a lot of 2600 games I’d have picked up in bargain bins post-crash… 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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