DracIsBack Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 Got this game last night! Haven't had much time to delve into it the way I'd like but thought I'd give some initial comments. 1. Very ambitious project, especially for a 16-year old game system, based upon 22 year old technology. Atari was quite ahead of their time with a network game with so many options for networking. 2. The graphics are quite good for such limited hardware. There's some decent 3D graphics (albeit simple) running through that little window. The only gripe is that it moves slower and slower the more happy faces you fight against. 3. MEAN 18 seems like a decent translation. Not as good looking as the 7800 version and slower to load, but still a nice project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 I got my copies of Commando and Midi Maze yesterday. I love Commando, I can't believe Atari didn't release it! The graphics are very impressive, and the gameplay is excellent. Even the music (despite what some naysayers seem to think), is impressive. Midi Maze is very cool, but I really haven't gotten a chance to play around with it. It really does seem ahead of its time, and would have made a great addition to the XE line up (Hey Nintendo, where's YOUR networked game?). Mean 18 is decent I suppose (I don't really like golf games), but those load times are terrible. I wonder if they could be improved somehow? Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+davidcalgary29 Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 Got this game last night! Haven't had much time to delve into it the way I'd like but thought I'd give some initial comments. 1. Very ambitious project, especially for a 16-year old game system, based upon 22 year old technology. Atari was quite ahead of their time with a network game with so many options for networking. 2. The graphics are quite good for such limited hardware. There's some decent 3D graphics (albeit simple) running through that little window. The only gripe is that it moves slower and slower the more happy faces you fight against. 3. MEAN 18 seems like a decent translation. Not as good looking as the 7800 version and slower to load, but still a nice project. Just curious -- how do you figure the 8-bits to be, respectively, 16 and 22 years old in 1988-9? Or are you stating that Sunmark's project is very impressive today, given the fact that the 8-bits were released close to 25 years ago (1978-9)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted October 29, 2003 Author Share Posted October 29, 2003 ust curious -- how do you figure the 8-bits to be, respectively, 16 and 22 years old in 1988-9? Or are you stating that Sunmark's project is very impressive today, given the fact that the 8-bits were released close to 25 years ago (1978-9)? The XEGS was released in 1987, so it's a bit over 16 years old as an actual system. However, the technology in the machine was actually developed by 1981 (GTIA graphics chip not in the original 400/800), so the hardware is 22 years old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+davidcalgary29 Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 Ah, I see what you mean now. I do recall reading, though, that GTIA was in fact developed before CTIA, but not shipped until 1981 due to either chip (in)stability and / or problems with the manufacturing process. Perhaps you can correct me on this if I'm wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted October 29, 2003 Author Share Posted October 29, 2003 Wow - didn't know that! The Atari computers were pretty revolutionary for their time, weren't they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+davidcalgary29 Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 Just got my copy of "MIDI Maze" as well. I can't wait to try this out on-line! It should be great fun. I'm glad that "Mean 18" was included here as a bonus; it's kind of "demo-ish". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZylonBane Posted October 30, 2003 Share Posted October 30, 2003 Considering that Midi Maze was ported to the GameBoy (as FaceBall 2000), it's not terribly surprising the old 8-bit Atari can do it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted October 30, 2003 Author Share Posted October 30, 2003 Considering that Midi Maze was ported to the GameBoy (as FaceBall 2000), it's not terribly surprising the old 8-bit Atari can do it too. You're right - I clean forgot about FaceBall 2000. That came in the early 1990s, didn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZylonBane Posted October 30, 2003 Share Posted October 30, 2003 Yup. There was also a SNES version, and possibly others. And I found this interesting site: http://faceball2000.gbadvanzed.com/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+davidcalgary29 Posted October 30, 2003 Share Posted October 30, 2003 The instructions for "MIDI Maze" stated that "MIDI Mate" can be used as an option. I'm drawing a blank here -- what exactly is "MIDI Mate"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted October 30, 2003 Author Share Posted October 30, 2003 Isn't that a Hybrid Arts Midi adaptaor to 8-bit Atari sequencing software? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt Vendel Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 Isn't that a Hybrid Arts Midi adaptaor to 8-bit Atari sequencing software? Yes it is... that how Hybrid Arts started in Midi, the Tramiels consulted with Hybrid Arts and it was Hybrid Arts who got MIDI built into the ST's and the shame is they never got the credit, especially from Atari, that they well deserved. While the Amiga's killer app was its Video-Animation, the killer App of the ST was its built in MIDI abilities. Curt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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