How the Atari 5200 at my neighbors house made some 2600 titles less fun to play Video

[bigfriendly]

My buddies next door would end up having these five games that I felt like were way better than the 2600 versions.

 

1. Star Raiders- To me one of the coolest space sim type games ever made. It's remarkable how deep it is for its time. When I finally played the 2600 version and saw the galactic chart I knew it was no contest.

2. Pac-Man- Not the most pleasant game to play with the 5200 sticks but still...........

3. Defender- A darn good port that played well and seems to often get lost in the shuffle.

4. Centipede- The sounds feels like they stamped straight from the arcade version. Unfortunately I never had the chance to experience it with the trackball.

5. Joust- The graphics aren't as sharp as the arcade but way better than the 2600 version. No lava troll on the 2600 version and the pterodactyl cheats by switching levels off screen. I was never a huge fan of the floating eggs either.

 

Now, there are some 5200 games that I would rather play on the 2600. I would probably throw many of Activision's titles onto that list. I still enjoy Asteroids, Berzerk, Missile Command and Space Invaders on the 2600. 

 

Atari 5200 games that my friends owned that spoiled their 2600 counterparts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 3 by bigfriendly

[+jeremiahjt]

I know Star Raiders is better on the 8-bit and 5200, but I really enjoy the 2600 version.

5200 Pac-Man is probably my favorite version.

I would probably choose 2600 Defender, but I do not have much experience with the 5200 version.

Centipede is great everywhere.

5200 Joust is great, but 2600 Joust might be my favorite version. I am sure there is some nostalgia there.

 

I think for me, Pitfall II: Lost Caverns would fit this bill. The 2600 version is great, but that second level on the 5200 version is amazing.

[bigfriendly]

1 hour ago, jeremiahjt said:

I think for me, Pitfall II: Lost Caverns would fit this bill. The 2600 version is great, but that second level on the 5200 version is amazing.

I don't think I've ever played the 5200 version so I will have to try it out. It always seemed like (at least to me) that Activision didn't really enhance many of their titles on the superior systems. 

[+jeremiahjt]

8 minutes ago, bigfriendly said:

I don't think I've ever played the 5200 version so I will have to try it out. It always seemed like (at least to me) that Activision didn't really enhance many of their titles on the superior systems. 

Oh man, you are in for a treat. The 5200 and Atari 8-bit computer ports have a whole second level after you are done with the first level, aka the whole 2600 game.

 

As far as Activision not enhancing their games for the 5200, that is usually the case. But not here.

[RangerG]

After seeing Pac-man on the 5200, it really did make playing Pac-man on the 2600 an embarrassment. I don't think people realize that the 5200 was not a flop right out of the door for Atari. If you had one, your friends were impressed with how much closer the games looked to those at the arcade (when compared to common consoles of the day like a 2600, Intellivision, Odyssey 2, or Bally Astrocade).

[+wongojack]

1 hour ago, RangerG said:

After seeing Pac-man on the 5200, it really did make playing Pac-man on the 2600 an embarrassment. I don't think people realize that the 5200 was not a flop right out of the door for Atari. If you had one, your friends were impressed with how much closer the games looked to those at the arcade (when compared to common consoles of the day like a 2600, Intellivision, Odyssey 2, or Bally Astrocade).

And while you are thinking about that, consider what would have happened if they had held and released the 5200 with Pac-Man as a pack in and console only exclusive for the 5200.

Never could have happened because I think they would have missed a Christmas selling Pac-Man, but man would it have changed things for both the 5200 and the reputation of the 2600 version.

[NE146]

"I was there".... I was a pretty big Pacman fan, who bought the 5200 at launch.. and was ultimately disappointed with 5200 Pacman! Sure it obviously looked awesome but just the very small detail of the ghosts being lethal with very slight brushes with their sprite, that you'd get away with in the arcade game... to me was such a negative impact on the gameplay and simply not as fun had they just tweaked that a little. Just saying   Also the stretched playfield wasn't great.   That said, I still LOVE 5200 Joust over the arcade version, and I have for decades. Ditto for Defender.. great titles.

 

Centipede on the other hand.. the 5200 version is great, but I always thought that 2600 Centipede was such a triumph for the system in that it totally captured the fun and gameplay of the arcade game within the limits of the VCS.. much like 2600 Missile Command. I can choose either the 2600 & 5200 versions in either case and be happy.

[+sramirez2008]

16 minutes ago, NE146 said:

That said, I still LOVE 5200 Joust over the arcade version, and I have for decades. Ditto for Defender.. great titles.

100% 5200 Joust is great and Defender plays extremely well with the CX52 joysticks as does Qix. I really like the 5200 port of Qix.